Eldur's POV
I should have known. I should have felt it.
The moment Nova showed me that mark, I knew I'd failed her. Not just as the reckless bastard who fell in love with a human girl he should've kept far away from his cursed world… but as her protector.
I'd missed it.
That night—the night the vampire came out of nowhere—I thought I'd fixed everything. I remember holding her close, her body trembling while I growled like some wild beast, dragging healing magic straight from my core and stitching her wounds shut. I combed over every inch of her, or so I believed. But I missed one. One tiny damn scratch. That was all it took.
A shallow graze hidden behind her shoulder blade.
And now it was pulsing. Infecting.
I couldn't even breathe.
Nova was still trembling, standing beside me in her oversized hoodie, her fingers twisting nervously in the hem. I didn't let the panic show. I smiled at her—soft, warm, everything I was not—but inside, Aethros, howled with fury.
