Trisha barely remembered walking home.
The image of Rowan standing across the street replayed in her mind again and again like a scene stuck on repeat.
The black car.
His tall silhouette beside it.
Those silver eyes watching her.
Watching her accept another man's invitation.
She had turned away quickly after that, pretending not to notice him. Pretending the moment hadn't happened.
But the mark had betrayed her.
It had burned.
Burned so fiercely she had nearly dropped her bag.
Now, hours later, the burning still hadn't stopped.
****
Her small apartment felt suffocating.
Trisha paced the room, barefoot on the cold wooden floor. The clock on the wall read 2:17 a.m., but sleep felt impossible.
Every few seconds her fingers drifted to the mark beneath her collarbone.
Still hot.
Still pulsing.
Still alive.
She moved toward the mirror above her dresser and pulled down the collar of her shirt.
The mark stared back at her.
Dark crimson fading into purple, curved slightly like a crescent.
It looked less like a bite now and more like a symbol.
Something deliberate.
Something… permanent.
"This is insane," she whispered.
She had been bitten before.
Mosquitoes.
Dogs.
Even once by her little cousin when they were children.
Everything healed.
Everything faded.
But this mark refused to disappear.
And tonight it had become worse.
The burning came in waves.
Every few minutes the heat flared sharply beneath her skin, spreading outward through her chest like a ripple.
Her breathing hitched.
Why now?
Why tonight?
She already knew the answer.
Rowan.
The moment he saw her with Daniel, the mark had reacted like a live wire.
As if it knew.
As if it cared.
Her stomach twisted.
"No," she muttered.
"This isn't real."
But the heat pulsed again.
Stronger this time.
Trisha winced and grabbed the edge of her dresser.
For a brief moment something strange happened.
An emotion passed through her.
Not her own.
Dark.
Heavy.
Controlled.
Anger.
Her eyes widened.
The sensation vanished just as quickly as it came, leaving her standing breathless in the quiet room.
"What was that?"
Her voice sounded small.
The silence didn't answer.
But the mark throbbed again.
And suddenly the thought appeared in her mind.
Rowan.
*****
She spent the next hour sitting on her bed with her laptop open.
If something supernatural had happened to her, she needed answers.
Google was the only place she could start.
Her search history quickly filled with increasingly desperate questions.
vampire bite effects
vampire mark meaning
vampire bond human
Most of the results were useless.
Fiction forums. Fan theories. Movie trivia.
Nothing helpful.
She scrolled through dozens of pages.
Nothing mentioned a mark that lasted days.
Nothing mentioned burning.
Nothing mentioned feeling someone else's emotions.
Her frustration grew.
She leaned back against the headboard and rubbed her temples.
Think.
Rowan had said something that night.
His voice echoed in her memory.
"I didn't feed. I marked."
Marked.
She typed another search.
vampire marking ritual
More nonsense appeared.
Fantasy books.
Roleplaying websites.
Nothing real.
Trisha sighed and closed the laptop halfway.
Maybe she was overthinking everything.
Maybe it was just a strange reaction.
An infection.
A psychological effect.
Yes.
That had to be it.
Her mind had been through too much lately. The party. The vampires. The killing in the hallway.
Anyone would feel strange after witnessing something like that.
The burning could be stress.
Her thoughts were interrupted when the mark pulsed again.
Hot.
Sharp.
She gasped quietly.
This wasn't stress.
This was something else.
Slowly, she placed her fingers over the mark.
The skin felt warmer than the rest of her body.
Almost feverish.
And suddenly a reckless thought crossed her mind.
What if…
What if the mark reacted to him directly?
Her heart began beating faster.
She hesitated for a moment.
Then she whispered softly into the empty room.
"Rowan."
The reaction was instant.
The mark flared like fire.
Trisha sucked in a breath.
"Oh my God."
She pulled her hand away quickly, staring at the mark in horror.
That wasn't coincidence.
It had reacted the moment she said his name.
Her mind raced.
That meant—
No.
That couldn't mean what she thought it meant.
Her phone buzzed suddenly on the nightstand.
She jumped.
It was just a message.
Daniel.
She picked it up slowly.
Daniel: Had a great time seeing you today. Looking forward to Friday.
Trisha stared at the message for a long moment.
Normal.
Simple.
Safe.
A normal guy asking her to dinner.
No supernatural marks.
No vampires.
No blood.
She typed a reply.
Trisha: Me too.
The moment she hit send, the mark burned again.
Harder.
Her stomach dropped.
"This is ridiculous," she whispered.
It couldn't be reacting to that.
That made no sense.
But the heat lingered stubbornly beneath her skin.
Eventually exhaustion forced her to lie down.
Sleep didn't come easily.
Every time she closed her eyes, she saw Rowan again.
Standing across the street.
Watching her.
Those unreadable silver eyes.
The way the mark had burned when their gazes met.
When sleep finally claimed her, it was restless.
Dreams flickered through her mind like shadows.
Cold eyes.
Dark corridors.
The feeling of someone standing very close behind her.
Watching.
Always watching.
****
Morning came far too quickly.
Trisha woke with a dull ache behind her eyes and the faint memory of dreams she couldn't quite recall.
The mark was still warm.
But the burning had faded slightly.
At least for now.
She showered quickly and dressed for college, choosing a high-collared blouse that hid the mark completely.
If anyone noticed it, questions would follow.
Questions she definitely couldn't answer.
College went fine. She has been distracted lately.
But the walk to the hotel felt longer than usual.
Her thoughts kept drifting back to the research from last night.
Nothing had explained the mark.
Nothing had explained the burning.
Which meant only one person could.
Rowan.
The realization made her uneasy.
She didn't want to talk to him again.
Every interaction with him seemed to pull her deeper into something she didn't understand.
But the mark was getting worse.
And pretending it didn't exist clearly wasn't working.
By the time she reached the hotel entrance, her nerves were already tight.
The lobby was busy as usual.
Guests moving in and out.
Staff rushing between desks.
Everything looked normal.
Yet beneath the surface, Trisha knew the truth now.
Vampires walked these halls.
Predators hiding behind luxury suits and polite smiles.
She walked behind the reception desk and began organizing paperwork.
For the first hour nothing unusual happened.
Then the mark burned.
Not painfully.
Just warm.
Her stomach sank.
She didn't need to look up to know why.
But she did anyway.
Rowan had just entered the lobby.
He moved through the crowd effortlessly, tall and composed in a dark charcoal suit.
People stepped aside instinctively as he walked.
Power radiated from him in quiet waves.
His eyes briefly swept across the reception desk.
Then stopped.
On her.
The mark pulsed again.
Not painful.
Just… aware.
Rowan's gaze dropped slightly to her collar.
Even though the mark was hidden beneath fabric.
His eyes narrowed slightly.
He knew it was reacting.
Before she could look away, Rowan changed direction.
And walked toward the desk.
Trisha's pulse quickened.
He stopped in front of her.
"Miss Hart."
His voice was calm as always.
Too calm.
She forced herself to meet his eyes.
"Mr. D'Arcy ."
Silence stretched between them.
Rowan studied her face carefully.
"You didn't sleep well."
It wasn't a question.
Trisha frowned slightly.
"How would you know that?"
He tilted his head.
"You look exhausted."
She resisted the urge to roll her eyes.
"I'm fine."
Rowan's gaze drifted briefly to her collar again.
The mark warmed immediately.
"You're lying."
Her patience snapped slightly.
"Look, if you came here to analyze my sleeping habits—"
"The mark burned last night."
Her words died instantly.
Rowan watched her carefully.
"It did, didn't it?"
Trisha clenched her jaw.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Rowan leaned slightly closer across the desk.
The scent of something dark and expensive surrounded him.
"It burns when I'm near," he said quietly.
"And when I feel… certain emotions."
Her heart skipped.
"What?"
His silver eyes held hers.
"Anger."
The memory of the hallway flashed in her mind.
The wave of emotion she had felt in her apartment.
The anger that hadn't felt like her own.
Her stomach dropped.
"That's impossible."
Rowan straightened slightly.
"Is it?"
She swallowed.
"You're saying the mark connects us somehow?"
"Yes."
The simple answer sent a chill down her spine.
"How?"
Rowan's expression remained calm.
"You're asking questions you're not ready to hear answers to."
"I'm already living with the consequences for something I didn't want." she snapped quietly.
A few nearby guests glanced over.
Rowan's eyes flicked briefly toward them before returning to her.
"Lower your voice."
She exhaled slowly, trying to control herself.
"Then explain it."
Rowan studied her for a long moment.
Finally he spoke.
"It's a bond."
Her stomach tightened.
"A bond?"
"Yes."
His voice remained calm, almost clinical.
"It connects the vampire to the person they mark."
"How convenient for you."
Rowan ignored the sarcasm.
"The connection strengthens over time."
"Great."
She crossed her arms.
"So what does that mean for me?"
"It means," Rowan said quietly, "you'll start feeling certain things."
"Like your anger?"
"Yes."
Her eyes widened slightly.
"That's insane."
Rowan didn't argue.
Instead he asked softly,
"Did the mark react when you saw your friend yesterday?"
Her cheeks flushed.
"That's none of your business."
His gaze darkened slightly.
"That's not an answer."
"Why do you care?" she demanded.
Rowan's voice lowered.
"Because the mark belongs to me."
Her breath caught.
The possessiveness in his tone made the air feel heavier.
"I'm not your property."
"I didn't say you were."
"Then stop talking like I am."
Rowan held her gaze steadily.
For a moment neither of them spoke.
Then he said quietly,
"You have a date on Friday."
It wasn't a question.
Trisha blinked.
"How do you know that?"
"I heard."
"From where? The psychic vampire network?"
A faint hint of amusement touched his expression.
"You were standing ten feet away from me yesterday."
Her stomach dropped.
"You were that close?"
"Yes."
The mark pulsed warmly again.
She looked away quickly.
"Well, yes," she said stiffly. "I do have a date."
Rowan's expression remained unreadable.
"I see."
She waited for anger.
Jealousy.
Something.
But Rowan simply nodded once.
"You're free to do as you wish."
That calm response surprised her more than anger would have.
"You're not going to threaten him?"
"No."
"You're not going to stalk the restaurant?"
A slight smile touched his lips.
"I make no promises."
She frowned.
"Rowan."
"Yes?"
"Stay out of my personal life."
His eyes softened slightly.
"Then stop standing in mine."
The words hung between them.
Heavy.
Dangerous.
Finally Rowan stepped back.
"For what it's worth," he said quietly, "I hope your date goes well."
Trisha blinked.
"Really?"
"Yes."
Then his eyes flicked briefly to the mark again.
"Though the bond may have other opinions."
Before she could respond, he turned and walked toward the elevators.
The moment he disappeared inside, the warmth of the mark faded again.
Trisha stood behind the desk, staring at the empty space he had left behind.
Friday suddenly felt very close.
And something deep inside her told her that dinner with Daniel was going to be anything but normal.