Friday arrived faster than Trisha expected.
All day the mark beneath her collarbone had been restless.
Not painful.
Just… aware.
Like a quiet pulse beneath her skin.
Every time she tried to focus on work, the warmth returned—faint but persistent, reminding her of something she couldn't see but couldn't ignore either.
Rowan.
The thought slipped into her mind before she could stop it.
She hadn't spoken to him since that day.
But the bond had not let her forget him.
Not even for a minute.
****
By evening she stood in front of her apartment mirror, staring at her reflection with mild frustration.
"It's just dinner," she muttered.
Daniel had chosen a small Italian restaurant near the river. Nothing fancy. Nothing intimidating.
A normal date.
Which was exactly what she needed.
No vampires.
No supernatural bonds.
No silver-eyed predators watching her every move.
Just a regular man asking her to dinner.
She adjusted the neckline of her black dress slightly, making sure the mark stayed hidden beneath the fabric.
It had darkened again over the past few days.
The crescent shape was clearer now.
Sharper.
Almost like a brand pressed into her skin.
Her fingers brushed the spot lightly.
Warm.
Always warm.
Her stomach tightened.
"Stop thinking about it," she whispered.
The bond didn't control her life.
Rowan didn't control her life.
Tonight she was proving that to herself.
****
The restaurant glowed with soft amber lighting when she arrived.
Candles flickered on the tables, casting gentle shadows along the walls while quiet music hummed through the air.
Daniel was already there.
He stood when he saw her, smiling warmly.
"Hey."
Trisha smiled back.
"Hi."
His eyes lit up slightly.
"You look amazing."
"Thank you."
He pulled out a chair for her and sat down across from her a moment later.
For a few minutes, everything felt normal.
Comfortable.
They talked about college, work, random stories from their week.
Daniel was easy to talk to.
Funny without trying too hard.
Kind in a quiet way.
Exactly the kind of person she should want to spend time with.
But the mark began warming again.
At first she ignored it.
Then it grew stronger.
A slow heat spreading beneath her skin.
Trisha shifted slightly in her seat.
"You okay?" Daniel asked.
"Yeah," she said quickly. "Just warm in here."
He chuckled lightly.
"It's the candles. They go overboard with them."
She smiled faintly.
But the warmth didn't stop.
It pulsed again.
Stronger.
Her heart skipped.
No.
No, he couldn't be—
She forced herself to look at the menu again.
Don't look.
Don't check.
You're imagining things.
But the sensation kept growing.
Like someone was standing very close.
Watching.
The same feeling she had felt the night of the party.
Slowly, against her better judgment, she glanced toward the restaurant windows.
Her breath caught.
Across the street, standing beneath a dim streetlamp—
Rowan.
He stood perfectly still beside a black car, hands resting casually in the pockets of his dark coat.
His tall silhouette was unmistakable.
And his silver eyes were fixed directly on her.
The mark flared instantly.
Heat flooded through her chest.
Trisha jerked her gaze back to the table.
Her pulse raced.
He wasn't even inside.
He was just standing there.
Watching.
Exactly like the other night.
Daniel followed her glance curiously.
"Something wrong?"
"No," she said quickly.
But the mark pulsed again.
Rowan was still there.
She could feel him.
******
Across the street, Rowan D'Arcy stood silently beneath the cold glow of the streetlight.
His expression remained calm.
Controlled.
But inside, the bond churned.
He could feel her.
Her nervous heartbeat.
The faint tension in her chest.
Even the moment of warmth when the human male across from her smiled.
Rowan's jaw tightened slightly.
The bond had grown stronger over the past few days.
Stronger than he expected.
Stronger than it should have.
He could feel her emotions flicker faintly across the connection.
Curiosity.
Uncertainty.
A brief flicker of amusement when the man told some ridiculous story.
Rowan's fingers curled slowly inside his coat pocket.
The sensation was… irritating.
Distracting.
He had centuries of discipline.
Centuries of control.
Yet the bond kept pulling his awareness toward her like a thread tightening around his mind.
Inside the restaurant, Daniel reached across the table briefly, brushing Trisha's hand as he laughed.
The contact lasted less than a second.
But the bond reacted violently.
Rowan felt it like a sharp twist beneath his ribs.
Jealousy.
Not hers.
His.
The emotion surged unexpectedly through the bond.
Rowan inhaled slowly.
Dangerous.
The connection was bleeding both directions now.
That had not been part of the plan.
*****
Inside the restaurant, Trisha froze.
The mark burned suddenly.
Hot.
Sharp.
Her fingers tightened around her glass.
"Trisha?"
She barely heard Daniel.
The emotion flooding through her chest was overwhelming.
Dark.
Possessive.
Cold.
Her stomach dropped.
That wasn't her.
That was him.
Rowan.
She turned her head toward the window again despite herself.
He hadn't moved.
But something about him had changed.
His posture was more rigid now.
Still watching.
Still silent.
Her pulse quickened.
"What are you looking at?" Daniel asked lightly.
"Nothing," she said quickly.
But the lie felt weak.
Daniel leaned slightly sideways in his chair to glance outside.
Trisha's heart nearly stopped.
"Wait," he said. "Is someone standing out there watching us?"
Her stomach twisted.
"Probably just waiting for someone," she said quickly.
Daniel studied the street for another moment.
Then he shrugged.
"Creepy though."
The mark flared again.
Rowan had definitely heard that.
*****
Outside, Rowan's silver eyes narrowed slightly.
The human had noticed him.
Annoying.
But not unexpected.
Humans were more observant than most vampires assumed.
Rowan considered leaving.
He had seen enough.
Confirmed enough.
The bond was functioning.
The girl was unharmed.
Her evening was progressing normally.
There was no reason for him to remain here.
And yet his feet did not move.
Inside the restaurant, the man was speaking again.
Leaning forward.
Smiling.
Rowan felt Trisha relax slightly in response.
Another flicker of warmth crossed the bond.
Something unfamiliar stirred in Rowan's chest.
Irritation.
No.
Not irritation.
Something darker.
He had not marked her for this.
*****
Inside the restaurant, the tension slowly eased again.
Dinner arrived.
Conversation resumed.
Daniel told her a ridiculous story about getting lost during a school trip.
Trisha laughed.
Genuinely this time.
For a moment she forgot about the window.
Forgot about Rowan.
Forgot about the bond.
Until the mark burned again.
Different this time.
Not jealousy.
Not anger.
Danger.
Her laughter faded slowly.
Daniel noticed immediately.
"Hey… what's wrong?"
Trisha frowned slightly.
"I don't know."
The feeling was strange.
Sharp.
Alert.
Like standing in the woods and suddenly realizing something was watching you.
Her eyes drifted toward the window again.
The streetlight still glowed.
The black car was still parked.
But Rowan was gone.
Her heart skipped.
He had moved.
The bond pulsed harder now.
Uneasy.
Her gaze scanned the street instinctively.
Nothing.
Just pedestrians walking past.
Traffic lights changing.
Normal city noise.
But the mark wouldn't calm down.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
******
Rowan felt it first.
The moment the predator entered the area.
Another vampire.
Old.
Hungry.
And careless enough to hunt inside his territory.
Rowan's gaze lifted slowly toward the alley across the street.
A shadow moved there.
Too fast for human eyes.
But not for his.
The vampire stepped partially into the streetlight.
Pale skin.
Sharp smile.
Eyes fixed on the restaurant windows.
On Trisha.
Rowan's expression darkened instantly.
The bond pulsed violently between them.
The other vampire tilted his head slightly, studying the girl through the glass.
Then his eyes shifted.
To Rowan.
Recognition flickered.
Followed by amusement.
"Well," the vampire said softly from across the street.
His voice carried easily through the quiet air.
"This is interesting."
Rowan said nothing.
The other vampire's gaze drifted back toward the restaurant.
Toward Trisha.
"Is she yours?"
The mark flared again inside Trisha's chest.
So hot it stole her breath.
She gasped softly.
"Trisha!"
Daniel stood slightly.
"Are you okay?"
But she barely heard him.
Because suddenly the emotion flooding through the bond was terrifying.
Rowan's rage.
Cold.
Controlled.
Deadly.
Across the street, the strange vampire smiled wider.
"I can smell the mark from here," he said lazily.
"How fascinating."
Rowan's voice dropped lower.
"Leave."
The vampire chuckled softly.
"But she looks so… fragile."
Inside the restaurant, Trisha's heart hammered wildly.
Something terrible was happening.
She could feel it.
Through the bond.
Rowan moved.
So fast the motion blurred.
He crossed the street in a single silent stride and grabbed the other vampire by the collar, slamming him against the brick wall beside the alley.
The impact cracked stone.
Inside the restaurant, a glass shattered in Trisha's hand.
Daniel jumped back.
"Jesus!"
Blood dripped from her palm.
But she didn't notice.
Because the bond was flooding her mind with Rowan's fury.
His voice echoed faintly across the connection.
"You will not touch her."
The other vampire only laughed.
"You marked a human."
Rowan's grip tightened.
"Yes."
The vampire's smile turned predatory.
"Then she's a target now."
Inside the restaurant, Trisha suddenly felt something new.
Fear.
Not hers.
Rowan's.
Just for a second.
Then the other vampire moved.
Too fast.
Too sudden.
Rowan's grip slipped for the briefest moment.
And the vampire vanished into the night.
The bond went silent.
Dead silent.
Trisha's breathing became shallow.
Daniel grabbed napkins quickly.
"You're bleeding!"
But Trisha stared toward the dark street outside.
Because Rowan was still standing there.
Perfectly still.
His silver eyes slowly lifted to the restaurant window.
To her.
And even through the glass, even across the street—
She could see it clearly now.
For the first time since meeting him.
Rowan D'Arcy looked afraid.
Then he disappeared into the shadows.
Leaving only one terrifying realization burning in her mind.
The other vampire knew about her.
And now…
He was hunting her.