C17 The slip

ALARIC

I shouldn’t have let it happen.

I never should have lost control—not in front of her.

But the moment those men appeared, threatening Sydney, something inside me snapped. Instinct overrode reason. For centuries, I had hidden what I was. Masked it with discipline, with cold detachment. But when her life was in danger?

My restraint shattered like glass.

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I didn’t go home. I couldn’t. Not when my entire body still burned from the taste of violence. Instead, I vanished into the old city tunnels beneath Stallone Enterprises—places no one but Maya knew existed.

The walls smelled of damp stone and age. Down here, there was no sun, no sound but the echo of dripping water. It was the only place I could breathe.

Maya was waiting.

She leaned against the archway, arms crossed, her expression sharp. “I felt it. From across the city. You slipped.”

I ground my teeth. “I didn’t slip. I protected her.”

“By showing your true face?” she shot back. “By letting your hunger show through? You’re lucky those men ran before you tore their throats out. Or before Sydney—”

I flinched at her name. The memory of her wide, terrified eyes cut deeper than any blade.

“She saw me,” I admitted quietly. “Not all of me. But enough.”

Maya stepped closer, lowering her voice. “And what are you going to do about it?”

I turned away, raking a hand through my hair. “She’s stubborn. Relentless. She won’t let this go.”

“Exactly,” Maya said. “Humans like her dig until they bleed. If you stay, she’ll uncover everything. And if she does…”

“She’ll hate me.” The words tasted bitter.

“Or worse,” Maya whispered. “She’ll love you anyway.”

I closed my eyes, fighting the ache in my chest.

Sydney was reckless, infuriating, naive—but she was also fire. Fire that drew me closer every time, even as I knew it would burn me alive.

I should leave. Walk away before she dragged herself further into my world.

But the thought of never hearing her voice again—never feeling the spark of her stubborn smile—was unbearable.

Maya circled me slowly, like a predator stalking its prey. “Your hunger is getting stronger. Every time you’re near her, I feel it clawing at you. She’s not safe, Alaric. Not from others, and not from you.”

I slammed my fist into the stone wall, cracking it. Dust rained down around us. “I would never hurt her.”

“Not willingly,” Maya said softly. “But tell me—when you kissed her before, did you not use your power? Did you not bend her mind to make her forget?”

I froze.

She knew.

“Yes,” I admitted, my voice hoarse. “I had to. She saw too much. It was the only way.”

“And what happens when hypnosis isn’t enough?” Maya pressed. “What happens the night your hunger overpowers your control, and you don’t just kiss her—you bite her?”

The image ripped through me like lightning: Sydney in my arms, her pulse fluttering beneath my lips, the taste of her blood—

I growled, cutting it off. “That will never happen.”

Maya studied me for a long moment, then sighed. “You’re lying to yourself. You’re already bound to her. If you stay, one of two things will happen: she’ll destroy you… or you’ll destroy her.”

Her words echoed in the darkness.

I should leave Stallone Enterprises. Tonight. Before Sydney’s stubborn curiosity put her in even greater danger.

And yet—my feet refused to move.

Because the truth I couldn’t admit, even to myself, was simple.

I was already hers.

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