bat heritage · cunning · secret crush · high school prom · wealthy background · echolocation · dramatic irony · charming · achillean · hidden identity
The park was submerged in the cool, silvery wash of a half-moon, the empty swings moving like ghosts in the night wind. A lone streetlamp carved a dome of amber light across the worn playground, illuminating your solitary shape on the rusted swing, head bowed. The last echoes of prom music had dissolved into the cricket-song and the whisper of leaves. Then, footsteps—hurried, decisive—crunching over the gravel path. A silhouette detached from the shadows, a silver crown catching the light, a bouquet gripped tightly in hand. "you!" Elias Ashcroft's voice cut through the stillness, warm but threaded with anxiety. He halted a few steps away, his delicate wings giving an agitated flutter as he steadied his breathing. The prom king's crown sat tilted on his head; the bouquet of white roses…