Chapter 171: Beneath the Streetlight
Chapter 171: Beneath the Streetlight
Cyrus Calder and Audra Sloane stood beside a quiet three-way intersection not far from The Full Moon Lounge.
At this hour, there were hardly any cars passing through, and public transportation was even less reliable.
Cyrus lifted his phone slightly.
"Do you want me to call you a rideshare?"
Audra shook her head.
"That is not necessary. My driver said he is already on the way."
She hesitated, then added, "You can go home first if you want. He should be here soon."
Cyrus did not move.
"I am not in a hurry."
Audra gave a small nod.
Warmth quietly settled in her chest.
He really did care about her.
The streetlight above them stretched their shadows far across the pavement. Because of the angle, the silhouettes of their arms overlapped enough to make it look as though their shadows were holding hands.
Audra noticed.
For an instant, happiness flickered in her eyes.
Then it disappeared.
She and Cyrus had known each other for quite some time now.
They studied together almost every day.
They spent lunch breaks alone.
They talked about things neither of them discussed much with other people.
Yet they had never even held hands normally.
The glamourkin ring had caused moments far more intimate than that, but those did not feel the same.
Those memories came with uncertainty.
Influence.
A strange loss of control.
Audra stared at their shadows for another moment.
She could not tell whether the feeling rising inside her was regret or something close to it.
Unlike their study sessions, there were no books between them tonight.
Nothing to solve.
Nothing convenient to look at whenever the silence became awkward.
Cyrus had noticed for several minutes that Audra seemed as if she wanted to say something.
She kept hesitating.
He did not know whether he should ask.
The silence stretched.
Her driver was supposedly coming soon, but Cyrus had no idea what "soon" meant.
He was about to find a topic himself when both of them spoke at the same time.
"By the way..."
Their voices overlapped in the otherwise quiet street.
Both stopped.
A small, almost embarrassed smile appeared in their eyes.
Cyrus reacted first.
"You go ahead."
Audra nodded.
"Today I went to a small Halloween parade with some people from class."
Cyrus looked toward her.
"Was it fun?"
"It was."
Audra’s answer came easily.
There was another part she did not say.
She had only gone because Owen was among the people invited.
Since Owen was one of the few classmates Cyrus seemed genuinely comfortable around, Audra had assumed Cyrus would probably be there too.
She had been wrong.
Cyrus looked up at the clear night sky.
"Owen invited me as well, but I had work."
There was a faint note of regret in his voice.
"A parade sounds interesting."
Audra turned toward him.
"You have never been to one?"
"Not that I remember."
Cyrus smiled faintly.
There was resignation in it rather than sadness.
The village where he had grown up had been small enough that ordinary celebrations barely existed.
There had been books.
Scenery.
Long quiet days.
That was about it.
Compared with Grayhaven, his old life now seemed almost primitive.
In the few months since escaping into human society, Cyrus had experienced more variety than he could remember from entire years before.
School.
Work.
Restaurants.
Phones.
Games.
Holidays.
Crowded streets.
People who treated a random Saturday night as a reason to dress like vampires and witches.
Even with large parts of his past already missing, Cyrus could still say with confidence that his current life was richer than what came before.
Audra listened quietly.
Something inside her tightened.
Under the streetlight, Cyrus still carried that distant, cool appearance everyone at school associated with him.
But now she could see something else mixed into it.
A sense of incompleteness.
He was standing here talking normally about Halloween while admitting that he did not even know whether he had ever experienced something similar before.
His own memories were broken.
Yet he was still being gentle with her.
Audra suddenly wanted to give him everything he was missing.
New memories.
Better ones.
Enough of them that the empty spaces no longer mattered.
She knew saying that aloud would sound strange.
So she kept her voice steady.
"If there is another chance later, maybe we can go together."
Cyrus nodded without hesitation.
"If there is a chance, I would like that."
Audra’s heartbeat quickened.
He had accepted.
He had not paused.
He had not searched for an excuse.
To Cyrus, the answer was much simpler.
If another interesting human festival happened, he wanted to experience it regardless.
Going with Audra was perfectly fine.
Even if she changed her mind, he would probably go by himself.
Audra took a small breath and calmed herself.
Then she remembered something.
"What were you going to say before?"
Cyrus blinked.
"Right. I was going to ask whether you were hungry."
Audra thought about it.
"A little. Are you?"
"Kind of."
Cyrus pointed down the street.
"I usually stop at a convenience store after work and buy a meat bun."
Audra followed the direction of his hand.
Cyrus continued, "Wait here for a minute. I can grab something quickly."
Audra agreed before thinking.
"That is fine."
Cyrus immediately turned.
The moment he started walking away, Audra realized she had missed an obvious opportunity.
She could have gone with him.
Why had she agreed to wait?
She parted her lips as though she might call him back.
Then she saw Cyrus already moving quickly toward the intersection.
The words stayed in her throat.
His figure disappeared around the corner.
The street became much quieter.
Audra remained beneath the streetlight.
The soft wind suddenly felt more noticeable.
So did the sound of her own breathing.
Her heartbeat seemed unusually clear.
The darkness around the edge of the road felt deeper now that Cyrus was gone.
Grayhaven was not especially dangerous, but this late at night, with businesses closing and fewer cars passing, the empty street carried a different atmosphere.
Audra could imagine almost anything stepping out from one of the darker side streets.
Yet her mind was not truly focused on fear.
She was thinking about when Cyrus would come back.
Each second seemed longer than normal.
Wind moved lightly through her hair.
A distant car passed without slowing.
Audra looked toward the corner again.
Then a familiar figure appeared.
The strange tension in her chest immediately loosened.
Cyrus had gone and returned quickly.
The moment he saw Audra still standing exactly where he had left her, he relaxed too.
Only after leaving did he realize that waiting alone on a quiet street might not have been the best idea.
Cyrus sometimes forgot that Audra was simply an ordinary human girl.
She was not Daphne, whose physical ability had always seemed suspiciously strong.
She was not Rhea, who could probably overpower half the people Cyrus knew without even transforming.
Audra did not have that kind of advantage.
Fortunately, nothing had happened.
His safeguard was still perfectly fine.
Cyrus jogged the last short distance toward her.
Audra watched him approach beneath the streetlights.
He slowed in front of her and opened his hand.
A warm meat bun rested in his palm.
"For you."
Audra stared for half a second.
Then she accepted it.
"Thank you."
Warmth spread across her hands immediately.
For some reason, it felt as though that heat traveled farther than it should have.
Straight into her chest.
Cyrus opened the second bun he had bought for himself.
They stood side by side beneath the same streetlight, each holding the same simple convenience-store food.
Nothing about the scene should have been special.
They were not in an expensive restaurant.
There was no music.
No flowers.
No deliberate romantic plan.
Just a quiet road, cool night air, and two warm buns bought after work.
Yet Audra’s thoughts became unexpectedly crowded.
They were standing beside each other.
Eating the same thing.
Sharing the same small moment.
Surely that meant the distance between them had become slightly smaller.
Audra took another bite.
The bun was simple but warm, salty, and surprisingly good.
"It tastes really good. Thank you."
Cyrus’s shoulders relaxed slightly.
"I am glad you like it."
He had actually been a little worried.
People had different tastes.
Audra grew up in circumstances very different from his, and Cyrus had no idea whether she would enjoy something as ordinary as convenience-store food.
Apparently she did.
That made this worthwhile.
From Cyrus’s perspective, he had successfully introduced Audra to something he considered good.
That counted as another small improvement in their relationship.
As long as Audra continued viewing him positively, asking to borrow the glamourkin ring someday would become much easier.
That mattered far more than almost anything else.
Cyrus took another bite and looked ahead.
People were unpredictable.
Even someone reliable could change.
A favor could disappear.
A promise could fail.
A person could hesitate at the exact moment he needed them most.
An artifact was different.
If Cyrus could eventually borrow Audra’s glamourkin ring and use it himself, the protection would be in his own hands.
That was the part of his future plan he trusted most.
Audra’s value as a safeguard mattered.
Their growing closeness mattered.
But in the end, the ring was still the decisive piece.