317- When the Monster Spoke My Name
POV Seraphine Valerian:
My eyes filled with tears as I thought of them, of the way he grabbed me and threw me against the tree. He could tear me apart with ease.
I gasped, trapped in his piercing gaze, in panic. Waiting for the worst.
I heard every erratic beat of my heart, curled up, ready to feel the most atrocious suffering. Wasn’t that how Jasmina had been returned to her family? In pieces?
“Seraphine.”
“Ah!”
My fright increased at his low, deep voice, almost a growl as he said my name. I froze, nearly nauseated from so much fear. I was on the verge of losing control of myself.
I wanted to believe it was madness, that none of this could be real. It was too unreal! But I felt everything: cold, panic, pain, despair. He was there. And I was at his mercy. With no chance of escape.
He studied my expression, analyzing me slowly. Focused, serious, still motionless. I felt under a microscope, tiny, disposable.
My terror did not lessen at all, but I began to breathe, to look for a way out or at least an explanation. I used the last of my strength for that. I was still alive. That had to mean something.
I let the air out, pulled it back in. My throat scraped as I finally gathered my voice, almost in a whisper, in Romanian:
“Who… who are you?”
“Don’t you know?”
I trembled violently. I shook my head.
He tilted his angular face slightly, eyes fixed on mine. His nostrils flared, as if he could smell me. A powerful animal, large, invincible. A living threat.
I almost hid my face and cried. That tension was destroying me.
“Do you know me?” I managed to steady my voice a little more.
“No.”
“But…”
“I just learned your name. Konrad told me.” My jaw dropped. Paralyzed, I didn’t even blink, staring at him. Konrad? “Your lover.”
“No…” The rest of the sentence was lost in my confusion.
I tried to understand where my friend fit into all of this. My fear grew when I considered a possibility.
“Did you kill him?”
“Not yet.”
His cold answers made me even more dizzy. But I could sense the emotions beneath the surface, the way he scented me and kept me in his sights. An unstable danger.
“Was it him… was he the one who showed up and tried to save me?” I swallowed hard. I remembered seeing another shadow arrive.
My eyes filled with tears as I imagined him injured in the forest, perhaps bleeding to death.
“When I arrived, he was throwing you against the tree.”
“That’s a lie! It was you!”
A wave of anger struck me, and it helped—it lessened the fear.
I pulled my legs tighter against my chest, one side of my head throbbing nonstop.
The creature didn’t deny it, as if my opinion meant nothing.
“You broke into my house… killed two men and a woman… why… why didn’t you finish me? What am I doing here?”
“You can start by giving me answers. Get up.”
“No.”
When he took another step, I screamed and completely lost control. I hid my face in my arms, crying and trembling.
I waited for the attack. The growl, the beast finally taking over him. His hot breath against my hair. Nothing happened. Silence.
I choked on the sobs that escaped me despite myself. Tears streamed down. I was on the edge emotionally, a breath away from going insane.
“Get up, Seraphine. Now. Or I will pick you up.”
“Oh God… Dad…” Terrified, I raised my face again.
He was closer, about three steps away. So huge and threatening that I almost wished to die right then.
His shoulders were incredibly broad, his chest muscular, with a fine layer of hair. He looked carved from flesh and stone, large arms, enormous hands. And that gaze piercing me, undoing me.
Amid the chaos, the certainty that he wasn’t human, there was also that strange kind of hypnosis. I trembled, lost, with no escape.
I don’t know how I managed to obey. I pressed my cold hands against the floor, trying to find strength in my legs. I managed to stand, still dizzy. My heart hammered in my chest, my whole body trembling.
I nearly fused with the wall. Even standing, he didn’t seem smaller. Two meters tall, solid muscles, an extraordinary beauty. It shook me entirely.
“If I wanted to kill you, I would have attacked already. When I do, you won’t be able to escape me. But for now, I want answers.”
I swallowed thick, rough saliva. When. He would kill me at some point.
I needed to cooperate, buy time, understand. Maybe I could find some chance to escape.
“How long have you lived in that blue house?”
“Days,” I murmured. “I didn’t… I didn’t live with my father.”
“Who is your father?”
“Zorvan Valerian. Barô and Shuvano of the village.”
My knees almost knocked together. I pressed my palms against the wall to keep my fragile balance.
The demon seemed thoughtful.
“The funeral was his,” he said quietly. I nodded. “You came for that. And how did you meet Konrad if you don’t live here?”
“I… through a friendship app.” His thick brows drew together, irritation evident. “It’s true. We’ve been friends for a year, and he… I’ve only met him twice since I arrived.”
My legs steadied a little more. I couldn’t let my guard down, but with the fear slightly contained, I handled the madness better.
“Another woman lived in your house fifty years ago. What did Jasmina mean to you?”
I gasped slowly, panic surging back with full force. I couldn’t lie or avoid the answer. But I was afraid telling the truth would enrage him even more. He killed her. That already meant a lot.
“She was… my grandfather’s sister. My father’s aunt.”
“Your great-aunt. You both share the same blood.” His thick, dark lashes cast deeper shadows over his gaze. His voice was dry and hard. “Both lovers of Konrad.”
“No, I don’t…” I stopped before defending myself, realizing what that implied. I bit my lip, nervous. His gaze lingered on my mouth for a moment, and my stomach twisted instantly. He looked at me again. “But she… died a long time ago. He wasn’t even born.”
The creature smiled. Not with joy—nothing in him softened or ceased to be threatening. I shivered completely, because it was like a wolf ready to attack.
“I am four hundred and thirteen years old. Konrad is five years older than I am.”
“What?”
I opened my mouth, in shock. I denied it. That was too much. It couldn’t be!
“Do you know what we are, Seraphine? Or are you going to pretend he didn’t tell you—even when he chased after you transformed?”
“No, he didn’t… Ah!”
I screamed and shrank when he took three steps, cornering me against the wall. He planted both hands beside my shoulders without touching me. But so close that his chest was right before my eyes, and his scent invaded me. A virile, musky fragrance, different, intoxicating.