Thirty minutes later, I hardly recognized myself.

The teal sequined dress clung in ways that made me blush when I caught my reflection. It wasn’t indecent, but it was bold, striking. My shoulders were bare, my legs longer than I remembered. Zyra had worked her magic on my face, soft smoky shadows and a crimson lip that turned me into someone… braver.

I stared at myself in the mirror, conflicted. “I look…”

“Hot,” Zyra finished, smirking as she tugged on her leather jacket. “And every man in that club is going to wish he knew your name.”

“I don’t want every man in the club,” I muttered. “I just…” My throat tightened. “I just wanted Ethan.”

Zyra’s expression softened in the mirror behind me. For a moment, she didn’t look like my wild, untamable best friend. She looked like the girl who had held me together when my parents died, the one who had sat with me through countless sleepless nights after listening to patients recount horrors that never left my head.

She rested her chin on my shoulder, her eyes meeting mine in the reflection. “I know you did. And you’ll grieve him. But not tonight, Lyra. Tonight is about you.”

Her conviction was enough to get me out the door.

The club was already alive when we arrived, pulsing with neon lights that painted everything in shades of violet and gold. The bass of the music vibrated through my chest before we even stepped inside, the air thick with laughter, chatter, and the electric charge of possibility.

I froze in the entryway, clutching my purse like a lifeline. My nerves screamed, You don’t belong here. You shouldn’t be here. I could almost hear Ethan’s voice in my head, low and disapproving. This isn’t your scene, Lyra. You’re better than this.

Zyra caught the way I hesitated. She looped her arm through mine and pulled me forward. “Don’t even think about backing out. I swear, if you try to bolt, I’ll drag you by your sequins.”

The corner of my mouth tugged upward despite myself. “That’s a threat.”

“That’s a promise.”

We found a spot at the bar, neon lights spilling across the glossy counter. Zyra ordered for both of us—something fruity and deceptively strong, judging by the heat that spread through my chest after the first sip.

I grimaced. “This is dangerous.”

“Exactly,” she shouted over the music.

My eyes wandered as I nursed the drink, the crowd blurring into motion. There were people laughing, dancing, living without hesitation. I envied them, these strangers who didn’t know what it felt like to have their heart splintered only hours ago.

“You’re thinking too much,” Zyra scolded, catching me drifting. She pushed the glass closer to me. “Drink. Feel. Don’t analyze.”

I tried. I really did. But part of me was still back at that restaurant, staring at Ethan’s guilty eyes, hearing the words that undid me. I don’t love you the way I should.

The memory slammed into me, sharp and fresh, and for a second the music dimmed, replaced by the echo of my own humiliation.

“Lyra.” Zyra’s hand landed over mine, grounding me. “Breathe. You’re here. He’s gone.”

I nodded, swallowing hard, and forced another sip of the drink. Sweetness flooded my tongue, heat curled through me. I closed my eyes for a moment, letting the rhythm of the music seep into my bones.

Maybe I could do this.

Maybe I could forget.

Just for tonight.

That was when I felt it—that prickle on the back of my neck, like someone was watching me.

I opened my eyes, scanning the crowd. A shadow lingered at the edge of the dance floor, tall, still, set apart from the chaos around him. For just a heartbeat, his eyes met mine—dark, unreadable, magnetic.

The moment was gone as quickly as it came. Someone moved between us, and the shadow disappeared.

I shook my head, forcing a laugh. Maybe it was just the drink. Maybe it was just me.

Dance with me.”

Zyra’s words cut through the music, her eyes sparkling under the kaleidoscope of lights. She didn’t wait for me to answer—she tugged my wrist, pulling me off the barstool and into the thrumming crowd before I could come up with an excuse.

“I don’t dance,” I tried to protest, my heels catching on the floor as she dragged me toward the pulse of the music.

“Everyone dances!” she yelled back, laughing. “It’s not about skill, it’s about letting go.”

Letting go.

The words twisted something inside me. That was the one thing I couldn’t seem to do. Even now, Ethan’s ghost lingered, clinging to me like smoke I couldn’t scrub off.

But Zyra didn’t give me time to drown in my own thoughts. She planted me in the middle of the dance floor, raised her arms to the beat, and moved like the music was hers. People spun and swayed around us, bodies brushing against mine, the heat of the crowd overwhelming.

At first, I stood stiff, awkward, my arms tucked too close to my body. But Zyra twirled in front of me, grinning like a lunatic, and shouted, “Come on, Lyra! No one’s watching!”

That wasn’t true.

I still felt it—that heavy gaze, invisible and undeniable. Like someone’s eyes were tethered to me, pulling at me through the noise and chaos.

I shook it off and tried to copy Zyra’s movements. Tentative at first, just swaying, shifting my hips, letting the beat guide me. It felt foreign. Vulnerable. But then something happened—maybe the alcohol burned away my hesitation, maybe the music was louder than my grief—suddenly I was moving. Really moving.

The bass thumped in my chest, my hair sticking to the back of my neck. I closed my eyes, just for a heartbeat, and let the sound swallow me.

And for the first time since Ethan broke me, I wasn’t thinking about him.

I was just… there.

Alive.

Zyra whooped, spinning me by the hand until I was laughing breathlessly. “There she is!” she shouted.

I didn’t realize how badly I needed to laugh until it spilled out of me, raw and unsteady.

The drink in my veins, the heat of the crowd, the music—it all blended into something dizzying, something dangerous. I tilted my head back, sucking in air, and when my eyes opened…

He was there.

The shadow from before.

Only he wasn’t a shadow anymore.

Tall. Broad shoulders that cut a silhouette even in the chaos of the strobe lights. His hair was dark, falling slightly across his forehead, his face sculpted like he’d stepped out of some forgotten myth. And those eyes,God, those eyes—locked on me with a focus that made my skin prickle.

He wasn’t dancing. He wasn’t drinking. He wasn’t like anyone else in this place. He was just… watching.

Watching me.

My laugh died in my throat. My heart stuttered, then raced so violently I thought I might choke on it.

“Lyra?” Zyra asked, catching the shift in my expression. She followed my gaze, then raised her brows, grinning. “Oh. Ohhh. Mystery man at three o’clock. He’s been staring at you all night.”

“No, he hasn’t,” I said too quickly, my voice cracking.

Zyra smirked, clearly delighted. “Oh, he absolutely has. And you’ve officially caught the attention of the most dangerous-looking man I’ve ever seen. Congratulations, babe. You’ve got a stalker or a soulmate.”

I shot her a glare, but I couldn’t drag my eyes away from him. Something about him was magnetic, unsettling. The way he stood apart, as if he didn’t belong here either, mirrored the very thing I felt in my bones.

And then he started moving.

Through the crowd. Toward me.

Panic spiked in my chest. My body wanted to move toward him, away from him, I wasn’t sure. My heart screamed both at once.

Zyra leaned in, whispering loudly in my ear. “He’s coming over here. Oh my God, Lyra, don’t you dare chicken out.”

“I’m not—” My voice broke. “Zyra—”

But it was too late. He was there.

The crowd seemed to part around him, unconsciously making space. He was taller up close, his presence heavier, like gravity itself shifted when he approached.

For a moment, he just stood in front of me, those dark eyes searching mine. My breath caught. I couldn’t look away.

Then, his voice low, steady, like velvet dipped in danger.

“You don’t belong here.”

It wasn’t a question.

It was a statement.

Something inside me jolted, sharp and unexplainable. My pulse roared in my ears.

I opened my mouth to respond, to say something—anything—but nothing came out.

Instead, he leaned closer, his words brushing against my skin.

“Leave with me.”

My stomach twisted, heat and fear colliding all at once. My mind screamed,No, but my body traitorously leaned in, caught in his orbit.

And that was the exact moment the lights flickered, the music cut for just a breath, and I swore I saw recognition flash in his eyes. Like he knew me.

Like we weren’t strangers at all.

Before I could move, before I could breathe, the lights snapped back on and Zyra grabbed my arm.

“Lyra—what the hell was that?” she hissed.

I couldn’t answer. My lips tingled where his words had hung in the air. My body still thrummed from his presence.

All I could think was;

Who was he?