I should’ve left her in the forest.

That thought crossed my mind the moment her eyes snapped open—red. Not irritated, not bloodshot. Red. Ancient.

I’d found her half-buried beneath frost and leaves, skin cold as marble, pulse steady as a metronome. Impossible. So I brought her home. For research. For answers.

Now she was straddling my lap in my own study, fingers clutching my shirt like she’d drown without it.

“What… are you?” I asked, voice steady despite the way her gaze dragged over me.

She didn’t answer. She leaned in. At first, it felt like a kiss—slow, uncertain. Her lips brushed my neck, breath feather-light. Then came the pressure. A sharp sting.

Teeth.

I tensed, every instinct screaming to throw her off—but I didn’t.

Warmth spread where she bit, something deeper than pain. Her grip tightened as she drank, soft, almost reverent, like she didn’t quite understand what she was doing.

A vampire.

Centuries of myth, breathing in my arms.

I exhaled slowly, forcing stillness into my body. “Careful,” I murmured, more curious than afraid.

She paused, lips still against my skin. Then, almost shyly, she pulled back.

Blood painted her mouth. Her wide eyes met mine—confused. Innocent.

Not a monster. Not entirely.

I felt something unfamiliar curl in my chest.

“A vampire,” I said, the depth of the situation sinking in on me.

Her head tilted, as if it meant something.

Good.

This would be my greatest discovery.

And perhaps my most dangerous mistake.