He steps out of the shadows, and for a moment, the world freezes. Every memory, every scar, every wrong he’s done—it all rushes back. And yet, my chest tightens in a way it hasn’t in years.

His eyes meet mine. There’s that familiar glint, the same one that used to make me tremble, and I can’t look away. My fingers clench at my sides. I shouldn’t feel this. I shouldn’t care.

But my heart betrays me anyway.

He moves closer, cautious, almost hesitant. I feel it—the old pull, the dangerous gravity that drew me in the first time. It’s maddening. It’s terrifying.

And despite everything, despite the blood on his hands, the choices he’s made, the world that would call him a monster, I feel it again: my heart racing, fast and reckless, for him.