Chapter 13 Ghosts Don't Fall in Love
Rhea POV
The war room still smelled like smoke and secrets. Solen had left me with more questions than answers, and the faint sting in my arm where he had drawn blood still pulsed like something alive.
We’d walked the silent tunnels together, his hand briefly resting on my shoulder, that fatherly weight I didn’t realize I missed until it was there. Now, as I stood at the junction where his quarters branched off from mine, he gave me a look that was equal parts command and concern.
“Rest, Ghost,” he said. “We’ll have results by morning. Don’t wander.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” I said, even though I always did.
He half-smiled, more a twitch than anything, and vanished into the dim corridor, leaving me in the flickering amber light of Haven-9’s night cycle. My whole body throbbed with exhaustion, but sleep wasn’t ready to claim me yet. My veins still hummed. My shoulder itched around the scar that hadn’t been there yesterday.
I turned toward the barracks, the hum of generators faint behind the dripping pipes. That’s when I saw him, Eron, leaning against the wall like a sin dressed in shadows.
His eyes caught the light, that eerie pale green that never decided whether it belonged to man or monster. His coat hung open, collar up, the picture of rogue charm and danger.
“Following me now?” I asked, my voice dry.
“Only when I’m bored,” he said. “Or worried.”
“Worried? About what? I’m alive. Again.”
He pushed off the wall, stepping closer, too smooth, too careful. “Exactly. That’s not normal, Rhea.”
“No shit,” I said. “You think I planned it?”
He stopped a few feet away. Close enough to smell the faint copper tang of vampire still lingering in his bloodline. “You should leave. Before they decide you’re not worth studying alive.”
I blinked. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me,” he said, his voice dropping. “Grab your gear. I’ve got a way out through the north vents. You’ll be gone before the next shift.”
I stared at him, half expecting him to grin and admit it was one of his jokes. But his eyes, Gods, his eyes, were dead serious.
“Eron, what the hell are you talking about? Solen’s not going to hurt me.”
He stepped forward until the space between us burned. “You don’t get it. You died. You came back. No one does that. They’ll want to know why. What changed. What you are.”
His voice cracked on that last word.
I crossed my arms. “You think they’ll dissect me? That’s your big theory?”
“I’ve seen what happens to things they don’t understand.”
“Things,” I repeated, my jaw tightening. “That what I am now?”
He flinched. “That’s not what I meant.”
“Could’ve fooled me.”
He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck, frustration leaking through the calm façade. “Rhea… I’m trying to protect you.”
“By kidnapping me?”
“By saving you.”
I snorted. “Same thing to you, huh?”
He took another step closer. “You’re not safe here.”
“I’ve been not safe since I was six, Eron.”
“Yeah,” he said quietly. “But this time it’s different.”
And then he kissed me.
No warning. Just fire and fangs and desperation. His mouth crushed mine, cool and hungry, full of everything he’d never said. For half a second, I let him. Maybe because I was tired. Maybe because part of me still remembered what it was to want something simple.
But then...
The second heartbeat in my chest surged. And the third. Both of them pounding, furious, like they were fighting him through me. My veins burned. My shoulder flared hot.
The kiss turned sour and wrong, heavy with something that wasn’t mine.
I shoved him back, my breath ragged. “Eron, no. It doesn’t feel right.”
He froze, his eyes flicking over my face like he was trying to memorize the reason. “You kissed me back.”
“For half a second. Then it felt… wrong. Like something inside me hated it.”
He laughed, low and bitter. “You die once, and suddenly you’re picky.”
“Don’t make this ugly,” I said quietly.
He swallowed hard, his jaw tight. Then his voice cracked, barely a whisper. “Rhea, I fucking love you.”
My brain stalled. “What?”
“I love you,” he said again, louder this time. “And I’m not watching you burn for this rebellion. Not again.”
I blinked at him, half shocked, half annoyed. “You just dropped the L-word on a woman who literally just came back from the dead. Give me a minute to process.”
He managed a small, choked laugh, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “You never make anything easy.”
“That’s why you liked me, remember?”
“Still do.” His voice softened. “Come with me. Please.”
I shook my head slowly. “You know I can’t. This place, these people, they’re my family.”
“Family doesn’t bleed you for answers.”
“Neither do you,” I said, softer now. “But you would if I let you.”
His expression twisted, hurt flashing across it before he turned away. “You don’t know what I’ve done for you.”
“Then tell me.”
He hesitated, just long enough for the lie to form, then shook his head. “You wouldn’t forgive it.”
And then he was gone.
The tunnel swallowed him up, leaving me standing in the echo of something I didn’t have the energy to name. My lips still burned. My chest hurt worse.
I sighed, dragged a hand down my face, and kept walking. The barracks weren’t far.
When I pushed open the heavy door, warmth hit me like a wall, voices, laughter, and the faint hiss of a kettle on the old burner someone had scrounged.
“Rhea!” Sera squealed, nearly upending her mug of tea. “You’re alive!”
“Again,” Maris added, smirking.
Kessa leaned over the bunk rail, wide eyed and grinning like a devil. “We took bets! Sera owes me two credits.”
“Shut up,” Sera said, throwing a pillow at her.
Ryn, the old Ghost, looked up from sharpening a blade and grunted. “You look like hell, kid.”
“Feel worse,” I said, kicking off my boots. “Anyone got whiskey?”
Maris handed me a flask without a word. I took a long swallow, then another. “Bless you.”
They were all watching me like I might sprout a second head.
“So,” Kessa said, her eyes gleaming. “You died.”
“Seems to be the popular theory,” I muttered.
Sera perched on the edge of the cot, frowning. “You don’t… feel different, do you?”
I thought about the three heartbeats inside me, two that weren’t mine and both that had just tried to kill my mood.
“Define different,” I said.
Maris rolled her eyes. “You’ve got that haunted look again. Like you know something we don’t.”
“I know plenty you don’t,” I said, sinking back on the bunk. “And none of it’s comforting.”
Kessa leaned closer, whispering conspiratorially, “Do you think it was the Dragon King’s magic? Or the wolf bite? Or both?”
“Could be divine intervention,” Sera said seriously. “You might be chosen.”
“Or cursed,” Ryn muttered.
I groaned, covering my face with a pillow. “Can we not turn this into a theology debate? I just want five minutes of peace before Solen pokes another hole in me.”
“Fine,” Maris said. “But tomorrow, you’re telling us everything.”
“Tomorrow,” I promised, even though tomorrow already felt like a threat.
As the lights dimmed to night-cycle blue, their chatter softened into the background hum of Haven-9. I lay there staring at the ceiling, tracing the rhythm in my chest. Three heartbeats, each a different tempo.
And somewhere far above, I swore I heard something ancient breathing my name.