Sarafina POV
The pulse in my wrist had been faint all day, an occasional flutter beneath my skin, like a heartbeat that didn't belong to me. But by evening, as I stepped out of the school building and into the cooling Valeries air, the pulse became a steady insistence.
Not painful.
Not frantic.
Just… leading.
And like the idiot protagonist in every horror movie ever, I followed it.
The city was loud with its usual nighttime chaos: traffic, chatter, the low hum of street vendors packing up. But the further I walked, the quieter everything became. As if the world itself was holding its breath.
I found myself at the entrance of a narrow alley I didn't remember ever noticing. A thin trail of pinkish light glowed along the ground, like someone had painted it in moonlit chalk.
My wrist throbbed once.
"Oh, fantastic," I muttered. "Following mysterious glowing veins into questionable alleys. Definitely not dying again tonight."
The alley bent sharply, then widened suddenly.
And I stepped into a world that shouldn't exist.
The Night Market pulsed beneath the city like its own heartbeat.
Light flickered from floating lanterns tinted violet, gold, and deep ocean blue. Stalls curved in endless rows, selling things that shimmered, hissed, glowed, or whispered. People—if they were people—moved with fluid shadows or too-bright eyes.
It felt like stepping inside the city's hidden bloodstream.
My wrist shimmered again, silver threaded beneath my skin.
Someone noticed.
"First time back?" a voice drawled.
I turned quickly.
A man leaned against a pillar carved with shifting runes, wearing a half-smile like he'd heard the punchline to a joke only he found funny. His hair was a silver-blond shade that caught the lantern light, and his eyes were a sharp, bright amber—foxlike. Too observant.
Vesper Quinn.
I recognized him from the last time I wandered here, only briefly, in passing, when everything had felt like a hallucination. But clearly… he remembered me better.
"You glow brighter now," he said, pushing off the pillar with fluid grace. "Not smart, darling. Someone will notice."
I swallowed. "I'm… not glowing."
He arched a brow. "Lie prettier."
He circled me once, slow and unhurried, his eyes flicking to my wrist. I tried to hide it instinctively. Bad idea. The movement made the silver flare for a second.
Vesper's smile sharpened.
"There it is," he murmured. "Starlight skin."
"Stop calling it that," I hissed.
"I could call you worse." He tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Sparkplug. Nightshine. Walking ransom."
"None of these are better."
Vesper laughed, a soft, bright sound that didn't match the danger in his eyes.
Then he reached into his coat and pulled out something small and metallic. A coin. He flicked it toward me.
"Catch."
I did, and the coin dissolved into smoke the moment it touched my palm.
"What was that…?"
"You dispelled it." Vesper's voice dropped into a low, impressed whisper. "A high-tier illusion, undone without effort."
"That wasn't effort," I said. "That was a surprise."
"Same thing." His gaze pinned me. "Darling… do you know what you are?"
The way he asked made cold ripple down my spine.
"No," I whispered.
He moved closer, stopping just close enough that his breath brushed my cheek. "Good. Keep it that way."
My pulse stuttered.
"Why?"
Vesper's smile softened into something uncharacteristically sincere.
"Because," he murmured, "your blood is worth kingdoms."
My heart froze.
Before I could speak, Vesper's gaze snapped sharply over my shoulder, the shift instantaneous, predator alert. His voice flattened.
"Time to leave. Someone… unfriendly is watching."
"Someone?" I echoed, fear prickling.
He didn't answer. Instead, he slid a small slip of folded paper into my hand.
"Come back only when you're ready," he said quietly. "And for the love of the realms—stop glowing."
Then he vanished into the market crowd like he'd never been there.
I stood alone, pulse racing, the silver under my skin pulsing brighter than ever.
And somewhere, beyond the reach of the lantern light, I felt eyes watching me.
Not Vesper's.
Not friendly.
Not human.
But ancient.
Cold.
Waiting.
I shoved the slip of paper into my pocket and hurried out of the Market, the pulse in my wrist pounding like a warning drum.
Something in Valeries had seen me tonight.
And it didn't want me alive