Page 10 of Secrets Of Blackwood

The words hang between us, heavy with implication. He searches my face, looking for a sign, any sign of which way the scales will tip. But even I don’t know the answer to that—not yet.

“Whatever you decide,” he says, his voice laced with an emotion that sounds like pain, “I’m here.”

It’s the sort of promise that should reassure, but it only serves to remind me of how much we stand to lose. His world is one of shadows and secrets, and if I step into it, there’s no telling if I’ll emerge unscathed—or at all.

“Damien, I…” My voice trails off as uncertainty claws at my resolve. I take a step back, the space that opens between us like a chasm threatening to swallow me whole.

“Think about it,” he urges, his tone gentle yet insistent.

With one last look—a silent plea etched across his handsome features—I turn away. My legs carry me through the labyrinth of shelves, each step echoing the turmoil inside me. I leave him standing there—the guardian of a forbidden threshold I’m not sure I have the courage to cross.

As I flee from the library, the questions pound in rhythm with my racing heart. Can I risk my heart for a chance at something more? Or is the price of passion too steep when paid with pieces of your soul?

4

Chapter Four

DAMIEN

The world falls away as I pace the length of my shadow-drenched room. A predator caught in the confines of his own mind. My thoughts, those treacherous whispers, coil tighter around the image of Lily—her golden hair a halo in the dim light, her bright blue eyes wide and trusting. I try to shove the image aside, but it’s seared into my consciousness, an obsession that’s as relentless as the thrumming need in my veins.

My past, a labyrinth of shadows, stalks me with every step I take. The memories, sharp as broken glass, cut through the defenses I’ve built over the years. I’ve always been the master of control, but with her… with Lily, it’s different. She tempts me to unravel, to expose the raw edges I’ve fought so hard to conceal.

“Dammit,” I mutter, clenching my fists. The room feels like a cage, the walls pressing in, whispering of consequences and ruin. But what’s ruin to a man who’s already been through hell? What’s one more sin to a soul already damned?

The answer is simple as the resolve settles like iron in my chest. I want her. I will have her.

“Complications be damned,” I growl under my breath as I halt my restless pacing. The academy, with its ivy-laced walls and hushed secrets, has become a battleground, and I’m ready to lay siege to claim the prize I never knew I needed until now.

I stride toward the door, my movements certain. A predator focused on his prey. There’s power in the decision made, a potent rush that eclipses the whispers of caution. The air outside is cool against my heated skin, the night alive with the song of hidden desires. It stirs the darkness within me, an echo of the hunger that Lily ignites.

She’s innocence incarnate, a beacon that draws me in, and I’m the darkness that shouldn’t touch her light. Yet I can’t stay away. I won’t.

“Damien Blackwood doesn’t retreat,” I tell myself, the name that commands respect now a battle cry in my silent war. With each step I take towards her, towards the inevitable collision of our worlds, I feel the chains of my past loosen. For the first time, I see a future that isn’t mired in the sins of my lineage.

I may be the monster they whisper about, but for her… for Lily, I’ll become something else. A protector. A lover. A man willing to defy the world to make her mine.

I navigate the labyrinthine hallways of the academy, my senses tuned to the faintest whispers, searching for a sign of her presence. The stone beneath my boots sends a shiver up my spine, its coolness mirroring the calmness that envelops me. I don’t need to search long; intuition guides me toward an ancient oak door at the end of a neglected corridor, its surface scarred with the secrets of bygone eras.

Pushing it open, I find myself in the cloistered embrace of a moonlit garden, where shadows dance upon weathered statues and the scent of jasmine hangs in the air. And there, in the embrace of solitude, stands Lily, bathed in silver light, her golden hair a halo around her delicate features. She’s a vision, ethereal and untouched, and my heart clenches with a ferocity that borders on pain.

“Damien?” Her voice is a gentle caress, laced with surprise as she turns to face me, her gaze bright beneath the sable night sky.

“Couldn’t stay away,” I admit, my voice low, betraying none of the tumult raging inside me. Our eyes lock, and the world tilts, reality narrowing to the space between us, charged with the promise of forbidden things.

We move closer, almost imperceptibly, drawn together by a force we’re powerless to resist. “Why are you here?” she asks, a trace of that inner strength flickering in her tone.

“Because I see you, Lily,” I confess, my words wrapped in honesty. “Not just the surface. But you… all of you.”

Her breath hitches, and I can tell she feels it too—the undeniable connection, the magnetic pull. It’s dangerous, this game we’re playing, but the risk only adds fuel to the fire that rages within.

“Tell me something real,” Lily whispers, stepping into the circle of my arms without touching me, her blue eyes holding mine captive.

“Every scar tells a story,” I say, rolling up a sleeve to reveal a jagged line etched into my skin—a reminder of battles fought and barely survived. “And I’ve got enough stories to fill a library.”

“Scars…” she murmurs, reaching out before pulling back, her own vulnerability laid bare. “They’re not just physical, are they?”

“No,” I agree, my voice rough with the raw edge of memories best forgotten. “The ones inside, they cut the deepest.”

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