The storm came without warning.
One moment, the sky above the Armand estate was heavy with dusk, the next, it was tearing open with thunder, like the heavens were at war. Juliette stood at the edge of the old greenhouse, her breath fogging the glass as rain pelted the rooftop.
Lightning cracked and for a second, the garden was alright. She saw movement near the stone angel by the hedges. A figure. Watching.
She turned to run but Elias was suddenly behind her.
"You shouldn't be here," he said, his voice low, his coat dripping from the rain. "Not tonight."
Juliette stepped back, heart hammering. "Why? What happens tonight?"
He didn't answer immediately. His eyes, usually calm like a still lake, were wild now, reflecting flickers of lightning and something darker. Fear? Or was it guilt?
"I found the journal," she whispered, clutching the leather-bound book to her chest. "You lied to me."
Elias's jaw clenched. "I didn't lie. I just didn't tell you everything."
"Same thing."
It wasn't just a journal. It was her grandmother's final entry, sealed in a secret compartment in the attic. It spoke of Elias. Not as the charming groundskeeper... but as something older. Something that had been with the Armand women for generations. Bound by blood. By the moon.
"I want the truth," Juliette demanded. "All of it."
Elias looked at her like he was memorizing her face for the last time. Then, with a shiver in his voice, he said, "You're not cursed, Juliette. You are the curse."
The wind howled through the cracked windowpane, making her hair dance like fire. Her mind spun.
"What are you talking about?" she snapped. "What do you mean I'm the curse?"
"There's a reason your grandmother hid you away," Elias said. "Why did your mother abandon the estate? Every first daughter in your line... she doesn't inherit a curse. She becomes it. You are the vessel for something older than this house. And now, the moon has chosen you."
Juliette's knees buckled, and she gripped the table for support.
"Elias," she whispered. "How do you know all this? What are you?"
He looked away.
That silence was answered enough.
She slapped the book against his chest. "Say it. Tell me who you really are."
"I was once human," he said at last, voice cracking. "Long ago. But when your ancestor made the blood pact, I was bound to this estate, to serve and to protect the one who bears the curse."
"Serve?" Juliette laughed bitterly. "You call this protection? You've been lying to me!"
"I didn't want you to fear me," Elias said. "I wanted you to trust me. To know me before the truth poisoned everything."
Tears threatened to fall, but Juliette blinked them back. "Too late."
Suddenly, the lights in the greenhouse flickered and died.
Only the crimson moon illuminated the space now, casting eerie shadows across Elias's face.
Juliette's breath caught in her throat.
Because something was moving behind him.
Something with glowing eyes.
He turned just in time but it was too fast. A creature lunged from the shadows, throwing Elias against the glass wall. Juliette screamed. The creature was... wrong. All bones and black smoke, its limbs too long, its mouth split open like torn fabric.
Juliette reached for the lantern, smashing it against the creature's back. Fire erupted, and it shrieked, then vanished into smoke.
She rushed to Elias.
He was bleeding from the shoulder, pale.
"That was a Shadow Wraith," he gasped. "The curse is awakening. They're drawn to you."
Back in the mansion, she stitched Elias's wound by candlelight.
Her hands trembled. Not from the blood, but from how close he was. How warm. How fragile he looked now.
"I should hate you," she murmured. "You lied. You let me fall for someone who doesn't exist."
Elias winced. "I never meant to"
"But I do," she said bitterly. "I fell for you. The way you smiled when you read the old books. The way you walk like the earth has secrets only you know. I let you in. And now I can't tell where the truth ends and the lies begin."
Elias gripped her wrist gently. "The only thing I never lied about... is how I feel about you."
Juliette froze.
The rain outside had stopped. The mansion was still.
Their eyes met and something in her shattered. She wanted to hate him. But her heart betrayed her.
And then he kissed her.
Softly. Desperately. Like it was the last kiss he'd ever give.
When they broke apart, Juliette pressed her forehead to his. "I don't know what's real anymore."
"Me," Elias whispered. "This. Us. That's real."
But the moment shattered when the mirror across the room cracked, on its own.
In the reflection, Juliette saw not her face but the face of another woman. Pale. Drenched in blood. Eyes like the crimson moon.
She screamed.
Elias turned sharply. "It's starting."
"The curse?"
"No," he said darkly. "The Awakening."