Page 20 of Secrets Of Blackwood

“Thank you,” I murmur, my words muffled by the fabric of her cardigan. “For believing in me… in us.”

Her body shakes with a suppressed sob, and I feel her grip tighten. “I just want you to be safe, Lily. You know that, right?”

“I know,” I assure her, pulling back slightly to look into her eyes. The intensity of our gaze exchange is a silent conversation, affirming the weight of our friendship.

“Damien… he’s like a storm. Beautiful and powerful, but so damn dangerous.” Her voice cracks, betraying the depth of her concern.

“And yet,” I breathe out, “he’s the storm I’m willing to weather.”

“God, Lily…” Melissa exhales, a tear finally escaping to trail down her cheek. “Just don’t lose yourself in him, okay? Don’t let his darkness swallow your light.”

“Never,” I say, even as the memory of Damien’s touch—a mix of tenderness and raw desire—sends shivers down my spine. His love is a flame that both warms and threatens to consume me, but I cannot, will not, extinguish it. Not when every cell in my body craves his nearness, his every word, his every caress.

“Promise me you’ll be careful,” Melissa pleads, her voice soft but insistent.

“I promise,” I reply, knowing full well the complexity of the promise I make. Damien’s world is one where passion borders on obsession, where each whispered endearment is layered with the risk of ruin.

We hold each other for a moment longer, two souls caught in the eye of an impending maelstrom. When we finally step apart, there’s a new understanding between us—a shared resolve.

“Let’s face whatever comes,” I say, my determination mirrored in Melissa’s nod.

“Together,” she affirms, and our clasped hands are a seal upon our pact.

As I watch her walk away, her red curls bouncing with a defiant energy, I feel a renewed sense of purpose. Together, we can face the unknown. And I know, deep in the marrow of my bones, that no matter how dark the path ahead, Melissa’s friendship is the beacon that will guide me through.

Returning to the solitude of my dorm room, I close my eyes and allow myself to dream of Damien—the heat of his skin, the strength of his embrace. My heart races with anticipation and fear, but it’s a dance I’m ready to perform, choreographed by a love too potent to deny.

And so, with Melissa’s words etched into my soul, I prepare to step into the tempest that Damien promises, armed with the only truth that matters: love, in all its peril and glory, is worth the risk.

7

Chapter Seven

The hushed whispers of the wind through the aged oaks are my only companions as I trail behind Damien and Lily, their figures a beacon of forbidden desire in the dusky light. My heart beats with a rhythm of vengeance, each step on the damp earth a silent vow. They think they’re hidden here, amidst the tangled branches and under the watchful eye of the moon, but I see everything.

I crouch behind a thick trunk, its bark rough against my palms, and watch them through a veil of leaves. The air is thick with the scent of dewy grass and the impending storm of my making. Damien’s back is to me, his towering frame shielding Lily from view, but I can imagine her—golden hair spilling over her shoulders, innocence personified.

“Damien,” she breathes out, and even at this distance, I can hear the tremble of longing in her voice, a vibration that once resonated within me.

“Shh, Lily.” Damien’s low murmur carries across the space between us. “We have to be quiet.”

I edge closer, risking discovery for just a glimpse of their treachery. My pulse quickens as I catch sight of Damien’s hands, those strong, commanding hands, tracing the curve of Lily’s waist. He draws her closer, and their bodies meld together in a silhouette of passion, igniting a fire of jealousy in my chest.

Lily tilts her head back, exposing the graceful line of her throat, and Damien leans down, his lips meeting hers in a kiss that sears my very soul. It’s a sight so intimate, so raw, it feels like an intrusion to watch, yet I can’t tear my eyes away.

“Damien,” she whispers against his lips, her voice laced with a yearning that matches the hunger in his touch. “I never knew it could be like this.”

“Neither did I,” he confesses, and his fingers thread through her hair, anchoring her to him as though she’s the remedy to all his pain.

Their union is both tender and fierce, a collision of two worlds that were never meant to meet. And as they cling to each other, lost in the solace they find in one another’s arms, a plan begins to form within me, cold and unyielding as the stone beneath my feet.

“Damien, I love you,” Lily murmurs, her voice a soft promise carried on the breeze.

“And I love you,” he replies, his words wrapping around her—and around my heart—like the ivy climbing the academy walls.

A bitter taste fills my mouth, a silent scream building in my throat. This love they share, it’s a betrayal, a blemish upon the legacy of the academy. They may think their secret is safe, cloaked in the shadows of night, but I am the arbiter of their fate.

As I watch them, the intensity of their embrace only fuels the cold fire within me. These moments of theirs, stolen and sweet, will be their undoing. And as they finally part, breathless and flushed with the thrill of their illicit romance, I rise from my hiding place, the specter of their downfall.

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