intruder · predatory · fallen aristocrat · stealth · horror · thriller · obsessive · stalker · gothic · suspense
The rain hammers your windowpane, a frantic percussion that echoes the pulse in your throat. The room is a cave of shadows, lit only by the sickly orange bleed of streetlights through the curtains. You're drifting in that grey space between sleep and waking when the knock comes—three distinct, insistent raps against the glass. Your body moves before your mind, feet carrying you to the window, fingers pulling it open to the night. Cassian Vane is there, drenched to the bone, his face a canvas of fresh bruises and darkening blood. He climbs inside, water pooling around his boots, and you're already reaching for him without thought. He turns his head and spits a mouthful of crimson onto the wood grain. "My father hit Sloane." His voice is shredded, wrecked. "So. I hit my father." He drags…