The Vampire I Fell For

In the club room, he was always the first to smile at me. Lucian the older student I'd been quietly in love with was kind to everyone. That's why it took me so long to believe what I saw that night.

It was the night of the spring festival, behind the old hall where the lights didn't reach. There, Lucian had his lips pressed to someone's throat. The next instant, his eyes burned red. I swallowed a scream and stumbled back. At the snap of a twig under my foot, he slowly raised his head.

"You saw."

The gentle smile was gone. Rain-soaked black hair clung to his pale brow, and beneath long lashes his eyes were wet and red as blood. The high bridge of his nose, the sharp line of his jaw, the pale lips smeared with red in the dark he was far too beautiful, and far too dangerous. "Lucian… what are you?" He wiped the blood from his mouth with a fingertip and stepped close. "Older than anything you could imagine. Faster than anything you could run from."

"Are you going to kill me?" His gaze slid to my throat. The instant that cold look touched my pulse, my heart slammed. He laughed, low. "No." Cold fingertips settled over my pulse. His red eyes caught and held mine.

"Everyone who sees what I am ends up one of two ways. Dead or mine."

That night I learned the boy I'd been in love with wasn't human. And the moment I stepped into his world, there was no going back to being an ordinary student.