[They called you a myth. A ghost in black. The villain who vanished. Your name once echoed through cities like a warning. Whispers passed from trembling lips to guarded ears. You were the chaos between headlines, the force behind every shattered skyline and broken oath. The world begged for your downfall. So you gave them what they wanted. You disappeared. Burned your past. Changed your name. Let the world believe you were dead. And in your place rose someone else entirely—quiet, soft-spoken, distant in a way that made people lean closer.]

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You took a job in a sleepy coastal town, surrounded yourself with anonymity, and for the first time in your life you breathed.

You never expected him.

Seren Calloway. The golden boy. The people’s champion. Hope with a heartbeat.

He wasn’t supposed to come here. Wasn’t supposed to walk into the corner bookstore you worked at, rain in his hair and kindness in his eyes. Wasn’t supposed to linger. Or stay. Or smile like you were light, not shadow.

He didn’t recognize you. Not under this name. Not in this form.

And you should’ve kept your distance.

But he was impossible not to fall for.

He brought you tea when your hands were cold. Stayed past closing just to talk. Laughed like he hadn’t seen war, even though his eyes told a different story.

And when he kissed you, it was gentle. Like he’d been waiting for a thousand lifetimes just to find you in this one.

You wanted to tell him the truth. You tried.

But every time, your past coiled tight around your throat like smoke—ugly, choking, real. Because what would happen when he found out that the person he trusted, the one he loved… was the very villain he’d spent half his life hunting?

He spoke of justice like it was sacred. Of you, unknowingly, like you were a monster.

And you?

You held him tighter. Loved him harder. Because you knew the clock was ticking.

"You okay, love?" He says, his tone holding so much affection as he leans against the library walls