The first blow missed my face by inches.
I felt the air shift, sharp and violent, before I even saw the fist. Instinct - not thought - made me stumble back, my heel skidding on the polished stone floor as something smashed into the wall where my head had been a second earlier.
The sound cracked through the hallway like a gunshot.
My heart slammed into my ribs. This is real. This isn't fear anymore. This is danger.
"Elara - down!"
Lucien's voice cut through the chaos, low and commanding. His hand closed around my wrist, yanking me backward just as another figure lunged from the shadows.
Everything fractured into noise and then motion.
I barely registered the attacker - only the flash of rage in their eyes, the smell of sweat and smoke clinging to their clothes, the brutal intent in every movement. This wasn't a warning. This wasn't a scare tactic.
This was an attack.
And it was happening right in front of me.
Lucien moved like he'd been born for this moment. He stepped in front of me, his body like a solid wall, one arm still locked around mine as his other hand came up hard. The intruder grunted, staggering back, but didn't fall.
"Stay behind me," Lucien said without looking at me.
I wanted to argue. I wanted to say I wasn't helpless.
But the second attacker appeared - this one faster, smarter - and the words died in my throat.
My back hit Lucien's chest as he shifted, the impact knocking the breath from my lungs. I could feel his heartbeat through his coat, fast and steady and terrifyingly calm. His arm tightened around me, not possessive - but it felt protective.
"Lucien," I whispered, panic clawing up my spine. "There's two of them."
"I know."
The word was quiet. Deadly.
The hallway lights flickered, casting shadows that stretched and twisted like something alive. One of the men laughed - a low, ugly sound.
"Boss said she'd be easy," he sneered. "Guess he was wrong about the guard dog."
Lucien's jaw tightened. I felt it where my cheek brushed his shoulder.
"She's not part of your contract," Lucien said. "Walk away."
The man grinned wider. "That's not what we were paid for."
My stomach dropped.
Paid.
This wasn't random. This wasn't coincidence. Someone wanted me hurt - or worse.
The second man lunged again. Lucien shoved me sideways, hard enough that I stumbled into the wall, pain flaring in my shoulder. Before I could react, Lucien was already moving, intercepting the attack with brutal precision.
I watched in stunned silence as he fought - controlled, efficient, yet terrifying. Every movement was deliberate. Every strike ended with the other man retreating, cursing, or bleeding.
This wasn't rage.
This was training.
"Run," Lucien said sharply, not turning around.
My feet didn't move.
I couldn't.
The first attacker circled behind him, eyes flicking toward me. Toward me.
"No," I breathed. "Lucien - "
Too late.
The man charged.
Something snapped inside me.
I grabbed the nearest thing - an iron candlestick from a side table - and swung with everything I had. It connected with a dull, awful sound against his arm. He howled, dropping his weapon.
Shock rippled through me. I did that.
Lucien spun, eyes flaring - not with anger, but something sharper. Fear.
"Are you hurt?" he demanded, hands on my shoulders, scanning my face like he was counting bones.
"I...I don't think so," I said, breath coming in jagged bursts.
Behind him, the first man staggered to his feet.
Lucien moved faster than I could follow. A sharp crack echoed through the hall, and the man collapsed, unconscious.
Silence fell heavy and sudden.
I realised I was shaking.
Lucien didn't let go of me. His hands were warm, firm, grounding, and the way he looked at me - like I was something fragile and dangerous at the same time - made my chest ache.
"You disobeyed me," he said quietly.
I swallowed. "You were going to get hit."
His gaze flicked to the fallen men, then back to me. "That's my job."
"I don't care," I shot back before I could stop myself. "I'm not going to stand there and watch you get hurt."
Something shifted between us. Subtle. Electric.
He stepped closer without realising it. Or maybe he did.
"You don't understand what you're stepping into," he said, voice low. "This world will tear you apart if you hesitate."
"I didn't hesitate," I whispered.
Our eyes locked.
For a moment, the hallway disappeared. There was only the space between us, tight and charged and dangerously intimate. I was acutely aware of his breath, his closeness, the way his thumb brushed my wrist where he still held me.
Too long.
He released me abruptly and turned away. "We're leaving. Now."
"Leaving where?"
"Somewhere safer than this."
I followed him down the corridor, my thoughts racing. My shoulder throbbed. My heart refused to slow.
"Who sent them?" I asked.
Lucien didn't answer right away. His silence was worse than any lie.
"Lucien."
He stopped at the end of the hall, one hand braced against the doorframe. When he looked at me, his expression was hard - but his eyes were dark with something else. Something personal.
"This wasn't a warning," he said. "It was a test."
"A test for what?"
"For how close they could get to you."
Cold slid down my spine. "Who is they?"
He hesitated.
And in that hesitation, I knew something terrible was coming.
"You," he said finally, "are more valuable than you realise."
"I don't want to be valuable," I said, my voice shaking. "I just want to be safe."
Lucien's gaze softened, just a fraction. "Those two things don't always go together."
We reached a side entrance. He checked the locks, scanned the dark grounds outside, then turned back to me.
"You're not staying alone tonight," he said.
My pulse jumped. "I...what?"
"This place is compromised."
The word echoed in my head.
"Where will we go?"
Lucien's jaw tightened. "Somewhere no one knows about."
I should have been afraid.
I was.
But beneath the fear was something else - an awareness, a pull, a sense that stepping forward meant crossing a line I couldn't uncross.
He extended his hand.
"Trust me," he said.
I stared at it.
Then at him.
And somewhere deep inside, a quiet voice whispered that everything was about to change.
I took his hand.
The sound of footsteps echoed behind us.
Lucien froze.
Slowly, he turned, pulling me closer to him without thinking.
From the shadows at the far end of the corridor, someone stepped forward - tall, calm, and smiling like they owned the night.
"Well," the stranger said lightly, eyes fixed on me. "Looks like we found her."
Lucien shifted in front of me, his grip tightening.
And I realised with terrifying clarity -
This wasn't over.
It was only beginning.