The night was restless, heavy with a strange tension that Aanya couldn’t shake. Her room, usually her sanctuary, felt different—almost alive. Shadows seemed to stretch farther across the walls, curling and creeping into every corner. Even the moonlight, which streamed through the carved wooden lattice of her window, appeared paler, like it was afraid of being swallowed by the darkness.

Aanya lay awake on her bed, the silk sheets twisted around her legs. Sleep had evaded her, and her mind was a whirlpool of questions and fears. Veer’s words echoed in her head, his warning haunting her: *“You think you know me, but you don’t. And the more you try to understand, the more dangerous it becomes.”*

She pressed her hands against her ears, as if she could block out the memory, but the unease was unrelenting. The air in her room was thick, almost suffocating, and she couldn’t shake the feeling that she was being watched. Her eyes darted to the far side of the room, to the ornate wooden wardrobe that had belonged to her grandmother. For a moment, she swore she saw movement—a flicker, like a shadow slipping away.

Her breath hitched. *Get a grip, Aanya,* she told herself, forcing a shaky exhale. It was just her mind playing tricks, a result of exhaustion and fear.

But then, a noise. It was soft, almost imperceptible, but there—coming from the corridor outside her room. Her heart lurched into her throat, and she sat up, clutching the sheet against her chest. The old wooden floorboards of her family home had a way of creaking, whispering stories of the past, but this sound wasn’t random. It was deliberate, the slow, measured steps of someone—or something—approaching.

Aanya’s entire body went rigid, her pulse pounding in her ears. She strained to hear, her senses heightened, every nerve on edge. The footsteps stopped right outside her door. Silence. It stretched on, long and suffocating, until she was sure she was going to scream just to shatter it.

And then, a whisper. So faint, so low, she almost thought she imagined it. Her name. *“Aanya…”*

She stumbled off the bed, her bare feet hitting the cold floor as she backed away from the door. The whisper came again, more insistent. Whoever—or whatever—was on the other side, it knew her name. Her hands clenched into fists, her nails digging into her palms. She wasn’t the kind of girl who cowered easily, but this… this was something else entirely.

The door handle twisted, and Aanya’s breath caught. Her instincts screamed at her to run, but she couldn’t move, as if the shadows had wrapped themselves around her ankles. The door creaked open, revealing a sliver of darkness beyond. A figure stepped into the room, tall and composed, and she realized she knew that presence all too well.

Veer.

He stood in the doorway, half of his face illuminated by the moonlight, the other half swallowed by shadow. His dark sherwani seemed to absorb the light, and his eyes—those intense, fathomless eyes—fixed on hers.

“Aanya,” he murmured, stepping inside. His voice was soft, but it carried a weight that made her knees weaken. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

Aanya swallowed hard, trying to steady her voice. “How… how did you get in?” she demanded, though her voice came out more as a whisper. Her family’s home was locked up for the night, guards posted at every entrance. There was no way he could have simply walked in.

Veer tilted his head, a ghost of a smile touching his lips. “You ask questions for which you may not want the answers,” he replied. His tone was almost teasing, but the undercurrent of danger was unmistakable.

Aanya’s hands tightened into fists. Fear simmered in her chest, but so did something else—anger, defiance. “You can’t just… walk into my room in the middle of the night,” she said, her voice gaining strength. “This isn’t your home.”

For a moment, something flashed in his eyes. Amusement? Annoyance? It was gone too quickly to tell. He stepped closer, his presence consuming the space around her. “I came because you’re in danger,” he said, his voice low and serious. “And whether you believe me or not, I intend to protect you.”

Aanya’s brows furrowed. “Danger? From what?” Her mind was spinning, trying to process what he was saying. This was the man she was supposed to marry, but he felt more like a stranger with every passing second.

Veer’s jaw tightened, and his gaze drifted to the window, where the pale moonlight was slowly being swallowed by gathering clouds. “There are things moving in the shadows, things that don’t care for the boundaries of your world. They know about you, Aanya. They know what you mean to me—and to them.”

The way he said it, with a mixture of vulnerability and resolve, made her heart ache in a way she couldn’t explain. But she wasn’t ready to trust him, not when he was wrapped in so much mystery. “What am I supposed to believe?” she whispered, her voice cracking. “That I’m some kind of target in a war I don’t understand?”

Veer’s eyes softened, and for the first time, he looked almost human—almost broken. He reached out, and Aanya flinched, but he only brushed a lock of her hair from her face, his fingers gentle. “Believe this,” he said, his voice raw. “I would never let anything harm you. Even if it costs me everything.”

The sincerity in his words took her breath away. For a fleeting moment, she felt safe, but that feeling was shattered when the window behind them suddenly burst open, a gust of wind whipping through the room. The shadows surged, swirling around them like a living force, and Aanya’s fear spiked as she clung to Veer, her body reacting before her mind could catch up.

He pulled her close, his arms wrapping around her protectively, and she felt his body tense, as if he was preparing for a fight. The room grew colder, and the shadows thickened, forming shapes that seemed almost… alive.

“Stay behind me,” Veer commanded, his voice steel. His eyes, once warm, now burned with a fire she hadn’t seen before, and for the first time, she realized that whatever he was protecting her from was more real—and more terrifying—than she had ever imagined.

The darkness had come for her, and it wasn’t going to wait for her to be ready.