Page 3 of Bite of Midnight
My mate.
The soul the Fates promised me long before kingdoms rose and fell.
I’ve searched the world over, followed whispers, crossed oceans, buried centuries. And still, nothing.
Until now.
I step forward, hands braced on the railing as I scan the crowd. Then I see her.
She doesn’t belong here, and maybe that’s why I notice her instantly.
She’s all light. Dressed in yellow, soft curls brushing her shoulders, fairy wings trembling slightly as she steps into the ballroom. She looks like a dream that wandered into a nightmare by mistake.
My breath catches. Not because she’s beautiful, though she is, but because the moment I see her, something ancient and buried deep inside me wakes up.
It hits like fire through my veins, a thousand years of silence shattering in an instant. The tether snaps into place.
Her.
My mate.
I grip the railing until the wood creaks beneath my hand.
“Damien,” a voice murmurs behind me. Rylan, one of my oldest friends, stands in the doorway. His dark eyes flick to the crowd below. “Another year, another crowd. Still searching?”
“Yes.” My voice comes out lower than I intend. “And no.”
He frowns. “No?”
I can’t look away from her. “Because I found her.”
He follows my gaze, spots her near the entrance, and goes quiet. “She’s human.”
“I know.”
Rylan sighs. “You’re sure?”
“I’ve waited a thousand years. I’d know her heartbeat anywhere.”
He studies me for a long moment, then shakes his head. “You should tell the others to stand down. They’ll smell your claim.”
“I will,” I say softly, my throat tightening. “But not yet.”
Because she’s moving through the crowd, awkward and endearing, smiling at strangers while trying to disappear. She doesn’t know she’s walked into a nest of immortals. She doesn’t know half the room is watching her for reasons she’ll never understand.
She doesn’t know she just ended my search.
I leave the balcony and descend the stairs, my heartbeat syncing with hers. The sound of the party fades until it’s onlyherI hear.
Every movement, every breath draws me closer. I lose her in the crowd for a moment, then spot her again near the edge of the ballroom. She looks overwhelmed, clutching her phone like it’s a lifeline.
I’m only a few steps away when she turns too quickly,
and bumps right into me.
The contact is nothing at all. A brush of fabric.
And yet, it’s everything.
