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Ashes & Obsession
Zyra’s POV
The next morning started like any other.
Late wake-up. Quick shower. Layla waiting outside her apartment with a coffee and an impatient look.
“You’re going to get expelled if you keep being late,” Layla muttered as they walked.
Zyra shrugged. “Wouldn’t that be tragic.”
In truth, she was more restless than tired.
The kind of restless that made her want to speed down an empty road at midnight.
But it wasn’t the road she was thinking about.
It was him.
Rogue’s last words from the night before still echoed:
I’m the only one who sees you the way you really are.
It was ridiculous. It was arrogant.
And yet… it felt dangerously true.
---
They stepped into the lecture hall a few minutes late.
Most professors would ignore it.
Caelan didn’t.
His eyes found hers instantly. No words. No scolding.
Just that steady, unreadable stare that made her pulse skip.
Zyra took her seat, pretending to focus on her notes.
But halfway through the class, Caelan walked between the rows, checking students’ work.
She didn’t expect him to stop at her desk.
“You’re not writing,” he said quietly.
“I’m listening,” she replied, without looking up.
“Then you can tell me what I just explained.”
She met his gaze slowly. “I could… but I don’t want to.”
For a moment, his lips almost curved. Not into a smile, but something close.
He leaned down, resting a hand on the edge of her desk.
“You play dangerous games, Miss Veylor.”
The words sent a shiver down her spine. She didn’t move. Didn’t break eye contact.
“I’m good at dangerous games,” she said softly.
His eyes darkened, but he straightened and moved on.
The rest of the lecture felt heavier somehow — like something had shifted between them.
---
That night, her phone buzzed.
Rogue:
Miss me?
Zyra:
In your dreams.
Rogue:
Don’t lie.
She rolled her eyes, but typed anyway.
Zyra:
You’re overconfident.
Rogue:
No. I just know you.
You’ve been thinking about me all day.
She froze for a second. How could he—?
Zyra:
Stop acting like you read minds.
Rogue:
I don’t need to. I see you. I feel you.
Even when I’m not there.
Her stomach knotted. This wasn’t flirting.
It felt like he was reaching through the screen and holding her still.
---
Zyra:
You sound like a stalker.
Rogue:
You wouldn’t be scared even if I was.
Her thumb hovered over the keyboard. He wasn’t wrong.
Zyra:
What do you want from me?
Rogue:
Everything.
She set the phone down, her hands a little unsteady.
---
Caelan’s POV
It was after midnight, but Caelan couldn’t sleep.
He kept replaying her voice in his mind, the way she had leaned back in her seat and met his challenge without blinking.
Most students avoided him.
She looked straight into the fire.
And that…
was dangerous.
He told himself to keep his distance.
Instead, he found himself searching her name online.
Nothing useful — no public profiles, no photos. Just a few scattered mentions in campus lists.
It made him wonder what she did when no one was watching.
---
Zyra’s POV
Her phone buzzed again before she fell asleep.
Rogue:
Sweet dreams, Queen.
She didn’t reply. But she kept the phone close, her thoughts tangled.
Two men.
Two shadows at the edges of her life.
One watching her in daylight.
One haunting her in the dark.
And she…
was letting both in.
---
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