Vera watches as he leans back, completely unbothered, like he had all the time in the world. His golden eyes flicks to Connielia, amusement barely there, but definitely present.


    "I thought to introduce myself," he repeated smoothly.


    Connielia, never one for patience, raised an eyebrow. "And?"


    The guy smirked, slow and deliberate. "And... I haven''t."


    Oh, for fuck''s sake.


    Vera resisted the urge to groan. Why does she always attract the cryptic ones?


    I should leave. I should get up, walk out, and pretend this entire thing never happened. But do I?


    No.


    Because apparently, I have zero self-preservation instincts.


    Connielia, however, has no such restraint. "Great. A walking riddle. Love that," she deadpanned, turning back to Vera. "Seriously, who is this?"


    Vera''s fingers tightens around her coffee cup. Something isn''t right. Everything in her gut scream that much. But saying it out loud? Acknowledging it? That made it real.


    So she keeps quiet. Keep sipping her coffee like the world isn''t shifting around her in way she don''t understand.


    Vera sighs, stirring her now lukewarm coffee with the straw. "No clue. He just sat down and starts acting all mysterious."


    I''m either overthinking this, or I''m about to be a dumbass who ignores all the red flags and gets murdered in a coffee shop.


    "That''s a red flag," Connielia declared immediately.


    The guy chuckles, tapping a finger against his coffee cup. "Harsh."


    "I call it like I see it," Connielia shot back. "And what I see is a guy who could''ve picked literally any other table but decided to be weird instead."


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    Vera bites back a grin. This is why Connielia is her favourite.


    The guy, unfazed as ever, took another slow sip of his coffee before finally relenting.


    "Aurelius."


    Vera blinked. "Huh?"


    "My name." He set his cup down. "Since you are so eager to know."


    Connielia snorted. "Yeah, pretty sure nobody was dying to know."


    Aurelius only shrugs. "Still. Now you do."


    Vera rolls her eyes. Aurelius. It sounded old.


    And then there is the fact that the ghosts are still nowhere in sight.


    It is unsettling. Not that she wanted them to show up, but it feels wrong for them to just... vanish.


    "Something wrong?"


    Vera hesitates.


    Should she say it? That for the first time in years, she isn''t being followed by flickering shadows, even outside the cafe? That the creeping, suffocating weight of their presence had lifted the moment he walked in?


    That would sound paranoid as hell.


    So she shrugs instead, taking another sip of her coffee. "Nope."


    Aurelius watches her for a moment longer before looking away.


    Vera ignored the way her pulse kicked up at the look in his eyes.


    Of course he''s attractive.


    Because the universe is cruel like that. Because if I''m going to be hunted, haunted, and dragged into whatever the hell this situation is, then why not throw in a guy who looks like sin in a leather jacket?


    It''s unfair, really.


    She hates that his voice sound like the kind of thing you got lost in. Deep, smooth, with just enough roughness to make it unfair.


    Absolutely fucking unfair.


    ??? ????·? ??? ?★? ????·???? ???


    Aurelius'' POV :


    Interesting.


    She lied.


    Aurelius don''t blame her. If he is in her position, haunted, paranoid, watching shadows creeping at the edges of her vision, he wouldn''t trust a stranger either.


    Especially not someone like him.


    He drums his fingers against his coffee cup, watching as Vera and Connielia bickering like this is just another normal day. Like Vera isn''t a walking target. Like something isn''t hunting her for years.


    She has no idea how close she come to slipping through the cracks.


    The ghosts, they should be here. He knows their patterns, the way they latches onto a presence, gnawing at it like starving dogs. But today, they are absent.


    Because of him.


    And yet, she glares at me like I''m the problem. She glares at me like I''ve personally ruined her entire day.


    He could feel them. Not here, not physically, but lingering just beyond reach.


    Aurelius exhales quietly, shifting his gaze back to Vera.


    She doesn''t know it yet, but he is the reason she is still breathing.


    Connielia is still side-eyeing him, suspicion plain as day on her face. She is sharp in a way that had nothing to do with supernatural instincts. Just a girl who had learned, through trial and error, how to spot bullshit from a mile away.


    "Alright, Aurelius. What''s your deal?"


    He tilts his head slightly, pretending to consider. "What do you mean?"


    Connielia gave him a look. "You show up out of nowhere, sit at Vera''s table, and expect me to believe that''s just a coincidence?"


    Vera rolls her eyes. "Connie."


    "What? You think it''s normal?" Connielia shot back. "Because I don''t. Guy looks like he walked out of a gothic novel and smells like.. " she squinted, sniffing, "I don''t even know. Expensive cologne and bad decisions?"


    Aurelius'' fingers flex slightly against his cup, the only sign of irritation at being called out.


    Aurelius smirk. She''s not entirely wrong.


    "I like her," he said, taking another sip of his coffee.


    Connielia scoffed. "Yeah? I don''t like you."


    Vera groaned, dragging a hand down her face. "Jesus Christ. Can we not do this?"


    Aurelius just hummed, gaze flicking to the church across the street. The weight of its presence pressed against him, not enough to repel him, but enough to remind him he didn''t belong here.


    Not entirely, anyway.


    Vera follows his gaze, her expression unreadable. She knows something is off.


    Good. She should.


    People like her don''t get to survive long if they trust too easily.


    This isn''t over.


    Not even close.