Eva couldn't breathe.
Lucien's words echoed in her skull—You know me. You always have.
But it was more than that. It wasn't just familiarity. It was possession.
The moment he spoke, something inside her shifted. A splintering, a fracture in the fragile reality she had built around herself.
"Tell me what's happening," she demanded, forcing herself to meet his impossible gaze.
Lucien studied her, his expression unreadable. Then, with slow, deliberate intent, he reached for her wrist.
The moment his fingers brushed her skin—
The room collapsed.
Darkness surged forward, swallowing the light. And suddenly—
She was somewhere else.
---
A forest. Wet leaves clung to her bare feet. Her hands were slick with something warm, something thick. Moonlight spilled through skeletal trees, illuminating the figure standing before her.
Lucien. But not as she had known him.
His chest rose and fell, ragged and uneven. His mouth was smeared with red. His eyes—those inhuman, shifting eyes—locked onto her, wild and burning.
"Eva." His voice was deeper, raw, not fully human.
She tried to step back, but something in her body fought against the movement. Because this wasn't just a vision.
This was a memory.
And she was not afraid.
---
Eva slammed back into the present, gasping.
She stumbled away from Lucien, her pulse hammering against her ribs.
"What the hell was that?" she demanded.
Lucien exhaled slowly. "You're remembering."
Eva shook her head violently. No. No, this wasn't possible.
"That wasn't real," she whispered.
Lucien's lips curled, but there was no amusement in it. "Tell yourself that if it makes you feel safe."
Then, before she could react, his form began to shift.
It started at his fingertips, the bones lengthening, the nails darkening into something closer to claws. The glow in his eyes deepened, unnatural and consuming. And then—his teeth—
Eva's breath caught.
His canines had sharpened—elongating just enough to make her stomach twist.
She was seeing him now. Not just as a man. But as something more.
Something monstrous.
Something hers.