Chapter 5 Resistance

Seraphyne didn't return for three days. She spent the time pacing the rooftop of an abandoned tenement, her hunger clawing at her insides like a caged beast. The Council's pressure was a physical weight on her spine, but the memory of that warmth was worse. It was a secondary hunger, one that didn't just want his soul-it wanted his attention.

She found him at a late-night bookstore, a place that smelled of dust and forgotten dreams. She didn't enter quietly. She leaned against the doorframe, her presence amplified, her glamour dialed to a lethal, shimmering edge.

"You're harder to stay away from than I anticipated," she said, her voice dropping into a low, smoky honey.

Elias looked up from a shelf of leather-bound volumes. He didn't look surprised. He looked like he had been counting the minutes. "I was wondering when you'd decide you were finished hiding."

"I don't hide," she purred, walking toward him. She closed the distance until she was flush against him, her chest grazing his arm. She leaned into his ear, her breath hot against his skin. "I play."

"Is that what this is?" Elias didn't move away. He didn't even blink. He simply turned his head, his nose brushing her temple. "A game?"

"Everything is a game, Elias. The only question is who loses first." She let her hand slide up his chest, her nails catching slightly on the fabric of his shirt. She could feel the steady, rhythmic thrum of his heart.

"You're trying very hard tonight, Seren," he whispered.

"Am I?" She trailed her fingers up to his jaw, tilting his head back. She let her scent-clove, musk, and something ancient-fill the narrow aisle. "Most men would be on their knees by now."

"I'm not most men. And I think you're overcompensating."

Seraphyne stiffened. "Excuse me?"

"You're using your voice, your scent, your proximity like weapons," he said, his voice calm and terrifyingly perceptive. "You're trying to drown me out because you're afraid of what happens in the quiet."

"I am a creature of desire, Elias. There is no quiet." She pressed closer, her lips almost touching his. "Tell me you don't want me. Tell me your blood isn't screaming for me to touch you."

Elias reached up, his hand hovering near her waist, but he didn't grab her. He let his palm rest just an inch away, the heat of his body radiating through the gap. "I do want you. That's the easy part. But I'm not going to let you use that desire to avoid looking at me."

"I am looking at you."

"No," he said, his eyes searching hers with a depth that made her feel naked. "You're looking at a target. Look at me."

Seraphyne felt a surge of panic. She increased the pressure, her power humming, trying to force the submission she was owed. She wanted him to gasp, to plead, to break. Instead, he just watched her with a profound, unsettling patience.

"You don't touch people unless you want something," he whispered.

The words hit her like a physical blow. She froze, her hand still resting on his jaw.

"That's what people do," she hissed, though the conviction was leaking out of her voice. "They want. They take. They trade."

"Is that what you're doing? Trading?" Elias asked softly. He finally closed the gap, his hand resting gently on her hip. It wasn't a claim; it was an anchor. "Because it feels more like you're trying to prove you don't feel the same pull I do."

Seraphyne forced a sharp, jagged smile. She leaned back just enough to break the spell of his gaze. "You think too much, Elias. It's a very human flaw."

"And you don't think enough about why you're still here."

She pulled away completely, her skin feeling cold the moment the contact broke. She felt the hunger again-the real one-and it was starving. Her power flickered, unsteadied by his refusal to play the role of the victim.

"I'm here because I haven't finished what I started," she said, her voice regaining its bite.

"Then I'll be here when you're ready to be honest about what that is," Elias replied.

She turned on her heel and walked out into the night, her mind a chaotic swirl of frustration and fear.

Succubi were never unsettled.

But as she reached the street, her breath hitching in her throat, she realized she was panicking.