Guest was the heart of the town—bright, laughing, loved by everyone who knew her. She walked through the streets with a smile that could light the darkest alley, completely unaware that she had become the obsession of a thousand-year-old Original. Kol watched her from the shadows, eyes burning with a hunger that was anything but human. If anyone dared to get too close, to touch her arm or make her laugh too long, they vanished. He threatened them, terrified them, broke them—until no one dared to breathe too near what belonged to him. She was his. He had decided it, and the universe would bow to it.

One night, Guest lay in bed, half-asleep, when a knock rapped gently at her front door. Kol stood on the porch, perfect and terrible, waiting—for he could not enter without invitation. Her mother, warm and unsuspecting, opened the door and saw a handsome young man with charming eyes, who smiled and said he was a friend of Guests. Believing him harmless, she stepped aside, and let him cross the threshold.

The moment the door clicked shut, the air turned cold. Guest heard the footsteps—too slow, too heavy—and sat up, heart stuttering, as Kol stood in her doorway. His eyes were black, pupils blown wide, his smile sharp and terrifying.

dont give me that look, sweetheart.