Chapter 62: Summer Dust and Silk Threads II
Mall Incident – Aftermath & Temptation
Everything had stopped.
Not time. Not death. But something else — internal. Unseen. A silence beneath the skin.
Aria stood frozen over the man she'd killed, the crowbar slipping from her fingers, thudding once, then again against broken tile. Her knuckles were raw, blood crusting between them, her chest heaving in short, uneven gasps. It was as if the last seconds hadn't ended but were repeating — echoes looped in her muscles. The warmth of the final blow lingered like phantom heat in her joints.
Her body should've felt strong. Triumphant. Something.
But instead, she felt… wrong. Cold in the places that should be warm. Hollow in the parts that should be full.
Behind her, there was a sudden sharp crack — not the brittle crunch of glass, but something heavier. Wet. Flesh on tile. Aria turned just in time to see a figure lurch from the shadows beyond the boutique — sunlight limping across its mangled limbs. One leg twisted wrong at the knee, and yet it kept coming, dragging itself like a nightmare reassembled from memory.
Its skin sloughed off in patches. Lips peeled back from blackened gums. Its chest heaved with a breath it didn't need.
A roamer.
Aria's throat clenched.
"Selene —!"
But Selene had already turned.
The sound of boots scraping tile echoed as she stepped between Aria and the creature. Her stance shifted instantly — fluid, centered. The half - light of the mall washed cold over her face, turning her features sharp. Her braid snapped behind her like a whip as she lunged.
The roamer hissed.
Selene met it head - on, ducking beneath its first wild swing. She moved like a dancer — every step honed, every strike precise. Her blade slid free of her sheath with a hiss of steel and glinted once in the dying sun.
Aria couldn't move.
Couldn't breathe.
Her legs refused to obey, frozen as the standoff unfolded before her.
The roamer was fast — faster than it should've been. It lunged with rotten force, arms clawing wildly. Selene twisted, dodging its grip by inches, then drove her elbow into its exposed ribs. It stumbled — but didn't fall. Its head snapped toward her with bone-popping sharpness.
Selene ducked, slashing upward — aiming for its throat.
She missed.
The blade bit into its shoulder, spraying dark, congealed blood across her jacket. The roamer didn't flinch. Instead, it surged forward, jaws gaping. Selene caught its wrist, but it was heavier than it looked, and it drove her back, crashing through a cracked mannequin display. They slammed to the ground, limbs tangled.
Aria's heart snapped into overdrive.
Selene was pinned.
"Get off her!" Aria's voice broke as she found her legs and charged, hands scrabbling for the crowbar she'd dropped earlier.
Selene grunted beneath the weight of the creature, her knife arm pinned. The roamer clawed for her face, teeth bared.
Aria didn't think.
She didn't scream.
She moved.
Crowbar in hand, she threw herself forward, crashing the weight of her body into the zombie's side. The blow knocked it off balance, just enough for Selene to roll free. As it twisted to face Aria, she swung again — wild, full - force.
The metal bar connected with its temple.
Crack.
Its head snapped sideways.
Another swing.
Another crack.
It collapsed, twitching, and Selene didn't hesitate. She rose and drove her blade down clean through its skull with surgical finality. The body shuddered once, then stilled.
Breathless silence filled the space.
Selene stayed crouched for a moment, blade still buried in bone. Aria stood over them, chest heaving, crowbar shaking in her grip. Her pulse thudded in her ears. Her arms trembled with exertion, or adrenaline, or something worse.
She'd done it again.
She'd killed. To protect Selene.
Again.
Selene rose, tugging her knife free. She was breathing hard, hair loosened from her braid, a smear of gore on her cheek. She looked at Aria — not with judgment. But with something that twisted sharply inside her. Something that felt like… awe.
"You saved me."
Simple. Unblinking. And somehow, too much.
Aria's hands dropped to her sides. Her fingers twitched as the adrenaline drained, and she staggered a half step back. Her knees felt wrong, like they didn't belong to her anymore. And then —
The shaking hit.
A quake beneath the surface — not fear, but something old. Raw. Her chest trembled. She blinked fast, trying to stay in her skin, trying not to come apart.
Selene's fingers rose. One thumb brushed gently across Aria's cheekbone, slow, deliberate. She wiped away a streak of blood — not Aria's. Still, the gesture made her breath hitch.
Her skin registered the touch before her mind could name it. Selene's fingers were cold. Not dead cold — no, this wasn't that. It was sharp and quiet, the kind of cold that lingers after midnight in the hollow of your throat. Moonlight cold.
And Aria's body responded.
Not with peace.
But with heat.
A slow, molten pulse flared in her stomach and dropped low — deep, hungry, familiar. She took a shaky step backward, bumping into a broken display shelf. Her breath caught in her chest like a swallowed sob.
Selene tilted her head.
"You're still soft," she murmured. "But soft can be deadly."
Her voice was silk. Not gentle — never that. Just smooth. Dangerous in how it made Aria feel: seen, naked, caught in the act of unraveling.
Aria couldn't stop staring. Selene's eyes, like winter fog. Her lips, still parted slightly. Her braid sweeping over her shoulder like it had its own rhythm — like it knew Aria was watching.
"I don't want to be like this," Aria whispered. "I don't want to stop feeling."
Selene moved closer. Not quite touching, but near enough to tilt the entire world sideways. Her breath, when it brushed Aria's neck, was cool. And Aria shivered, not from the chill — but from how that chill ignited something that didn't feel cold at all.
"You're not stopping," Selene murmured. "You're transforming."
The words slipped under Aria's skin. Her knees wobbled. She couldn't move — didn't want to — but her body leaned in, instinctively seeking what it already knew.
Selene's hand slid lightly along her neck, thumb beneath her jaw, anchoring her. Aria's heartbeat jumped against it.
"You already know what your body is doing, don't you?" Selene asked, voice low. "It's not fear. It's not the bloodline whispering. It's just… you."
Aria swallowed hard. "I'm not — I mean, it's not because of —"
Selene's lips curled. "Not your succubus side?" she finished for her. "No. I know. This is you, Aria."
A pause.
"Just you. Wanting me."
The words hit her like a wave, and her breath hitched again. Her thighs brushed together involuntarily, a reflex chasing sensation.
Selene noticed. Of course she did.
A slow smirk tugged at her mouth. "You've had me. Again and again."
"I know," Aria whispered, almost ashamed by how quickly her body responded. "It's just — right now, after everything, I still —"
"You want more."
Not a question.
Aria flushed. Her voice dropped to a murmur. "Yeah."
Selene moved in even closer, hand ghosting over Aria's hip like a threat. Not touching. Just hovering. "Poor thing," she said. "You're not confused. You're just aroused."
Aria's lips parted in a shaky gasp. Her cheeks burned, but she couldn't deny it. Every nerve in her body screamed for Selene. Not out of magical compulsion, not from hunger written into her DNA.
Just want.
Selene's smile turned wicked. "You've already moaned my name with your legs wrapped around me," she whispered. "But look at you. Still trembling. Still flushed. Still so damn needy."
Aria shuddered. "Stop teasing."
"But it's my favorite part."
Selene leaned in, her voice a low whisper against Aria's ear, like a secret only meant for her. "You're going to lie awake tonight, aren't you? Knowing how you taste to me. How you tremble when I touch you. And still aching for more."
Aria whimpered softly. "Selene…"
"Shh," she whispered, lips brushing just behind Aria's ear. "You'll pretend your hand is enough. But it won't be."
She leaned back slowly, letting the space between them stretch just wide enough to ache.
"And the worst part?" Selene added, breath like frost across her throat. "You'll love it."
Aria's thighs clenched again. Her fingers dug into the wall behind her as her body pulsed with want.
Selene stepped back.
"Why are you doing this to me?" Aria said, voice tight with restrained need.
Selene's grin sharpened. "Because you like it."
She turned away. Her silhouette glowed in the last of the sunlight, braid swinging like a pendulum — perfect and cruel.
Aria watched her move toward the hall. She didn't look back.
Until she did.
One slow glance over her shoulder.
That smirk again. All sin and promise.
"You should stretch before bed," Selene said, voice too casual. "I don't want you cramping when I finally touch you again."
Then she disappeared down the hall.
Aria slumped against the wall, thighs pressed tight, her breath short and ragged. She closed her eyes, biting her lip, willing herself to calm down. Her heart pounded with too much memory and not enough release.
It wasn't a curse.
It wasn't magic.
It was her. Just her.
Wanting Selene.
And worse —
Already missing her touch.