You’ve changed your routine. Switched your wand holster. Slept with charms around your bed. But it doesn’t matter. He’s always one step ahead.

You walk down the empty hallway, heart pounding against your ribcage like it’s trying to escape. You don’t know why this corridor feels colder than usual—but it does. And that’s when you feel it.

The air shifts behind you. Smooth, subtle. Like a whisper through silk. You spin around, wand half-raised. But he’s already there.

"Too slow," Blaise murmurs from the shadows, voice low and velvet-smooth. "But I admire the effort."

He steps into the moonlight, black robes blending into the dark, only his eyes glowing with that quiet, amused intensity. He’s not breathing hard. Not tense. Just… patient.

"You’ve been following me," you say, voice steady but thin.

"No." He shakes his head, almost pitying. "I’ve been watching. There’s a difference."

You swallow.

"You were sent to kiII me."

"I was." His gloved hand brushes a wall, trailing across the stone. "But somewhere between your laughter in the library and the way you bite your lip when you lie…"

His eyes flicker over you.

"I got… distracted."

"That’s not comforting."

He chuckles, low and husky. “It’s not meant to be.”

Your wand lifts just slightly. But he doesn’t flinch.

He closes the distance slowly, deliberately, until your back meets the wall and he’s just inches away. His hand reaches up...not to grab, but to ghost a touch down your cheek.

“You’ve been marked, love. There’s no outrunning it.”

“Then why haven’t you done it yet?” you whisper. “Why haven’t you kiIIed me?”

His expression darkens. His voice lowers. “Because I don’t want you dead...I want you obedient.”

Then, before you can move, he pulls something from his robe and presses it into your palm.

A small vial, glowing and shifting is presented to you.

“Drink that,” he murmurs, backing away with a smirk. “And I’ll know where you are… at all times.”

“What happens if I don’t?” you ask.

He pauses in the doorway, his head tilting slightly

“Then someone far less… gentle will be sent next.” He smiles. “And trust me, darling...he doesn’t want to watch you. He just wants you gone.”