The air inside Liana's bedroom had never felt colder. Not because the window was open or the night was particularly harsh, but because Death itself sat across from her.
Lucien. That's what he said his name was.
He didn't move like a man. He didn't breathe like a man. He sat too still. Too quiet. Like a shadow pretending to have shape.
Liana sat on her bed, legs crossed beneath her blanket, heart hammering against her chest. "So, what now?" she asked, her voice soft, but edged with fear. "You're just going to watch me sleep every night?"
Lucien didn't flinch. "I won't watch you sleep."
She blinked. "That's... comforting?"
"I'll leave before you fall asleep."
She raised an eyebrow. "And return when?"
"Before you wake."
Silence. Awkward, thick silence.
Liana swallowed hard and stared into his face — impossibly beautiful and eerily emotionless. But his eyes… they were less dark than the night she first saw him. Not warm. But alive. Just barely.
"You said you were changing," she whispered. "Why?"
Lucien looked away. "I don't know."
He sounded almost bitter. "You looked at me, and I felt it. The weight. The pull. Like gravity bending the wrong way."
"You make it sound like I infected you."
"You did."
Liana scowled. "Gee, thanks."
He turned back to her. "It's not an insult. It's the truth. I was not made to feel."
She stared at him for a moment, then took a breath. "What are you? Really?"
Lucien stood, walking slowly to her window. His reflection didn't show in the glass. "I was a man once," he said. "A long time ago. I don't remember my name. Just the pain. The moment I died. And then… I became what waits for others."
"A Grim Reaper."
"Yes."
"And there are others like you?"
Lucien nodded. "Hundreds. Each assigned to a part of the world. We don't interfere. We don't feel. We don't remember. That's the law. That's the price of the role."
Liana's breath hitched. "But you remember… me?"
He turned toward her slowly. "You're the first living thing I've noticed in… centuries."
She didn't know what to say.
Lucien stepped closer to her. His presence sent goosebumps across her skin.
"When you looked at me, I felt heat," he whispered. "A spark. Like a heart that forgot it could beat."
Liana's throat went dry.
He stopped an arm's length away. "And now… I can't return to what I was."
"Is that bad?" she whispered.
"It's forbidden."
Suddenly, the air trembled.
Lucien's head jerked toward the shadows in the corner of the room. "They're here."
"Who?"
"Watchers. Reapers who maintain balance. They know I've changed."
"What will they do?"
Lucien's voice was flat. "Erase the threat. You."
A scream caught in her throat. She jumped up from her bed. "I didn't ask for this!"
"I know."
"Then stop them!"
He moved fast — too fast — standing between her and the corner as dark mist spilled from the walls.
Three shadows emerged. Hooded. Silent. Without faces.
Lucien's voice thundered. "She's mine!"
The shadows froze.
"No human claims a Reaper," one hissed.
"She saw me," Lucien replied. "She changed me. Now she cannot die. I've marked her."
Liana's eyes widened. "You what?"
"I bound you to me. The moment we locked eyes."
The shadows hissed louder. One of them stepped forward. "Then you both must be cleansed."
Lucien's fingers twitched — shadows curled around his hand like claws.
"Try it," he growled.
The Watchers hesitated.
"Let her go, Lucien," another one rasped. "And we may still take you back."
He glanced at Liana.
Her lips parted. Her eyes wide. Scared… but not of him.
"No," Lucien said. "She's mine."
And the shadows vanished.
Liana collapsed to her knees.
Lucien dropped beside her, catching her before she hit the ground. His hand hovered above her cheek but didn't touch. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring danger to your world."
She looked up at him. "Why are they afraid of you?"
He didn't answer. Just looked at her — like she was the one who might break.
"You marked me," she said slowly. "What does that mean?"
Lucien's jaw clenched. "It means your soul is no longer yours alone. It echoes mine. They can't take you. And I can't leave you."
"You didn't ask me."
"I didn't have time."
"But now I'm trapped."
He stood up, pacing. "So am I."
She blinked. "You don't want to be?"
His eyes met hers. This time, they weren't cold. They were burning. "I don't know what I want anymore."
Liana rose shakily to her feet. "You feel something, don't you?"
Lucien's voice dropped. "Every second I spend near you… it grows."
A long silence passed between them.
Liana stepped closer. "Then stop pretending you don't care."
He closed the distance in a blink.
His hand reached out, brushing a strand of hair from her face. "If I let myself care," he whispered, "you'll be the end of me."
She whispered back, "Then let me be."
Their lips nearly met — but Lucien froze.
His eyes widened.
"I can't," he rasped. "Not yet."
Then he vanished into smoke.
Far away in the Reapers' Realm…
Three shadows knelt before a throne of bone and ash. A hooded figure sat unmoving, power radiating from its very presence.
"The mortal girl lives," one whispered.
The figure's voice echoed like thunder. "Then she must be erased."
Another shadow interrupted. "Lucien protects her. He's… changed."
The figure stood.
"Then he will fall."
The shadows bowed.
And war began.