Chapter b195 /b

Sienna’s POV:

I had expected his reaction. The confusion. The disbelief. He was human, after all. He wouldn’t remember me. But then, our first meeting was when we were both quite young, a brief, insignificant blip on my timeline that I hadn’t expected him to recall.

So, I didn’t me him for the nk look on his face.

“Yes, I do. You’re Haider Kovalyova. Elena and Niki’s son.” I said, my voice t, devoid of any emotion. I watched his face, the way his eyes narrowed slightly, the way his brow furrowed in a silent question.

That couple was famous in Velhaven. Not because of any scandals, but precisely because of theck of any. They were the so–called ‘perfect‘ couple, the epitome of a romantic fairytale. Even if I knew better. I had heard their background story, though that was from my aunt. Most people didn’t know, since almost two decades had passed.

But Elena used to be Dmitri’s fiancée, who was Niki’s younger step–brother. Although there was more to the story, and the very end of it, Niki ended up killing Dmitri himself. This was something that the general public didn’t know. I doubted that even Haider knew about this, especially if he didn’t know about our kind. Which was obvious with the fascination in his eyes.

His father hadn’t told him about any of it. So I should refrain from telling him much, either. My aunt’s warning, her pleas for me to give university a chance and to interact with humans more, felt distant and unimportant now. All that mattered was the anomaly sitting across from me, the boy who remembered, the one whose eyes had brought color back to my world even if briefly.

I didn’t quite understand why I had wanted him to owe me a favor. It was just a spur of the moment thing. Which was even more baffling. Because I wasn’t the spur of a moment type of person. It was like his eyes through the visor of my back had somehow enchanted me. He was the person they all called ‘lion‘. I couldn’t help but question, was that nickname only because his name tranted to Lion, or because of his personality? Because of the asional predatory gleam in his eyes?

He frowned, a deep, contemtive line forming between his brows. “Who are you, then? Have we met before?” he asked, his voice curious.

I pursed my lips. “Weren’t you the one who said we had?” I turned the question on him, my head tilting slightly, a silent dare for him to figure it out. But before he could answer, the waitress, a kindly–looking woman with gray hair pulled back in a loose bun, brought our food.

While she ted the table with a practiced, efficient grace, I contemted asking him about his grandfather. The curiosity was a sharp, insistent itch beneath my skin. I wanted to know. Was Sergei Morozov, his grandfather, really a rogue Alpha? He was the only person in his family line prone to bloodshed after all. Who else could it be? The Vetrovs? No, Niki’s father might have been a rich man, but from what I knew and understood, he was a coward through and through. He didn’t have the characteristics of an Alpha,

Even so, I decided better of it. Even if I was curious, it was better that I didn’t go too deep into it. Thest thing I needed was to drag him, and his family, into my world identally. A world I, myself, didn’t want any part of. It would be reckless. And my aunt, for all her frustrating advice, had taught me to be many things, but

reckless wasn’t one of them.

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After she left, I began before he could. I leaned forward slightly, my hands sped on the table, my voice low. “Haider. Even if this information is unlikely to cause you any harm right now, I would suggest you not look any deeper into it. Better yet, it would be best if you forget about what happened that night.”

He went silent, his honeyed pancakes halfway to his mouth. He set his fork down, a soft clink on the te. He frowned, his gaze meeting mine. “That’s not exactly how the human mind works. I can’t just ask it to forget about stuff.” He said.

I pursed my lips then, a flicker of agitation running through me. His reasoning was sound. But he’d taken my words too literally. I was used to giving an order and having it followed. This was a whole new level ofplexity. “Alright. Then at least do me this favor and not speak about this to anyone.”

He bit into the pancake, chewed silently, swallowed, then asked. “Why? You just said no one would believe me.”

I sighed. This was the part where I had to lie. Or, at least, tell a half–truth. “No human would, Haider. But if you happened toe across a vampire? I don’t care about you spouting off about this to anyone, but not all Vampires are like me.” I said. The real reason I didn’t want him to go around spouting all this bullshit was that Aunt Seraphina would find out. And thest thing I needed was her to lecture me on my recklessness, and my tant disregard for the rules.

Yes. It wasn’t out of the ordinary for Vampires to feed on humans. In fact, there were even special establishments, like specific night clubs and bars for it, ces where humans would go willingly, offering themselves up for a price. However, I had been averse to human touch since I was a child. The idea of drinking from a willing, conscious human was a foreign, disgusting thing to me.

My going out to drink from an actual humanst night was an idiotic, spur–of–the–moment thing because my hunger was getting too out of control. Those cold blood bags, with their sterile, metallic taste, were enough to make me less hungry, but they didn’t satiate the itch in my teeth to bite into someone. To feel the warmth of their blood, the frantic beat of their heart, the release of my own desperate hunger. Even if touching a person made me feel disgusted, feeding from humans was in a vampire’s nature.

My eyes trailed up his neck. I swallowed, the motion was dry and painful. My mind once again reminded me of the taste of his blood. The woman’s blood from the night before was also good. But… was it my illusion? It didn’t make me as full as his did. It didn’t fill the gaping, empty hole in my chest. And it certainly didn’t make the world turn to color.

“Earth to Sienna?” He questioned, his voice a soft, low sound that cut through my thoughts. I snapped out of it, my mind reeling. What the hell was I thinking? I couldn’t drink from him anymore. Not when he would remember. That would make things tooplicated. Especially since the feeding causes another effect apart from unconsciousness. Arousal. It was a risk I couldn’t afford to take.

“How do you know my name?” I asked nonchntly, the question a diversion.

He quirked his brow, the gesture so familiar, so disarming. “Professor Shinichiro told me.” He said. I frowned. Who was that? A university professor? I shook my head. That didn’t matter right now.

“Haider. I need you ito /iunderstand that it’s better for the both of us, if you don’t speak about this to anyone. It mightnd you in trouble.” Well, it wouldnd me in trouble mostly. But I had a feeling if I enunciated that then he would be more annoying then he already was being.

“Alright… if you say so. I honestly didn’t have any ns to tell anyone about this either,” he said, his voice

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almost sincere. He then looked down at the food in front of me. I had just been stirring my cup of tea. I hadn’t touched the waffles or pancakes.

“Aren’t you going to eat?” He asked, his voice filled with a genuine, human concern that made twist in a strange, ufortable way.

my

stomach

I pursed my lips, then looked down. The food didn’t really look appetizing. The sight of the syrupy pancakesb, /bthe honey–drenched waffles, it all looked nd.”

I lifted up the cup of tea and began sipping it. He looked at me, his expression a question, as though waiting for my reaction. I quirked my brow. “What?”

“Well, how does it taste? This chai is the best in town, second only to my mom’s.” He smiled, a wide, genuine smile that made the dimples in his cheeks deepen. Oh…

“It’s nice.” I said, unable to muster any of the excitement he was showing. I knew it might be rude of me, but I was trying. I really was. But the truth was, it tasted like nothing. The warmth was the only sensation I could register.

“Is it not to your liking?” He asked with a frown.

I shook my head. “That’s not it…. I hadn’t lied earlier. Vampires can eat food… however… it usually doesn’t taste like anything. Especially when…” I trailed off, the words an ufortable confession.

He seemed taken aback, his eyes wide. “Especially when?”

I pursed my lips, looking at him. There wasn’t a problem with him knowing this right? “Especially when we haven’t had any blood in the past couple hours.” I finished, the words causing him to stiffen.

I expected him to look a little ufortable, or maybe change the subject. But what came out of his mouth next utterly baffled me.

“Do you wanna drink mine then?” he asked.

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