The rain hammered St. Magnus University like it wanted to erase every sound, every color, every life from the courtyard.
Cobblestones shimmered under the dim lights, reflecting the gothic arches like broken silver.

Aisha Verma pulled her coat tighter around her shoulders. The chill wasn’t just from the rain—it crawled under her skin, whispering something she couldn’t name. Every gust of wind carried a voice. Every shadow seemed to breathe.

It’s just rain, she told herself. Just rain.
But her heartbeat didn’t listen.

And then she saw him.

Reyan Kael.

He stood at the library doorway, half-soaked, half-shadow. The rain dripped from his dark hair, tracing sharp lines down his jaw. His eyes—cold, unreadable, yet alive—locked on her like she’d just stepped into a secret she wasn’t supposed to find.

Aisha froze.
Her lungs forgot to move.
Her pulse began to race like it wanted out of her body.

He didn’t smile. Didn’t move. Just watched.

There was something about him—something magnetic, dangerous, too calm for a storm this wild. He looked like he belonged to the darkness outside. Or maybe, the darkness belonged to him.

Her fingers tightened around the strap of her bag. She wanted to turn, to walk away—but her body refused to obey.

Then—

“Hey, you okay there?”

The teasing voice snapped her back.

Zara, her roommate, appeared out of nowhere, drenched and grinning, her umbrella practically useless.

“Unless you’re planning to seduce him with your eyes,” Zara laughed, “come inside before you turn into ice.”

Aisha opened her mouth to deny it, but no sound came. Reyan’s gaze still held her, heavy and deliberate. Her skin burned under it—like a secret touch she couldn’t explain.

He pushed off the doorway, walking toward her, slow and certain.

“You’re new,” he said, voice low, smooth, and oddly teasing. “I notice things. People like you… tend to stand out.”

Her throat tightened. “I—I just transferred.”

“Good,” he murmured, the faintest curl of a smirk touching his lips. “Small talk bores me.”

Her pulse jumped. His words shouldn’t have affected her, but they did—like they carried a hidden meaning meant only for her.

Zara, oblivious to the tension, rolled her eyes.

“Okay, mystery boy. We’ll see you around.”

Reyan didn’t even glance at her. His attention stayed locked on Aisha, steady and unrelenting.

“Curiosity,” he said softly, “has a price. Sometimes dangerous… sometimes irresistible.”

Aisha’s breath hitched.
That brush of his hand—just a passing touch when he handed her dropped notebook—sent a current straight through her veins.
She wanted to pull away.
She wanted him to do it again.

And then, her phone buzzed.

Dr. Karan Malhotra, the university psychiatrist.

Aisha, fire never forgets. Neither do those who are part of your past.

Her fingers went cold. The words didn’t make sense—but her heart reacted as if they did.

When she looked up, Reyan’s gaze was already on the screen, then back on her. That calm, consuming look.
He didn’t ask. He didn’t need to.
He already knew something.

Rain slowed outside, but the storm inside her refused to rest.

They walked together through the old stone corridor. Her steps echoed in sync with his, the dim lights reflecting off the slick floor. The air between them thickened—charged with something unnamed.

“You’re tense,” Reyan said quietly. “Scared… or excited?”

She blinked up at him, heart pounding. “I… I don’t know.”

“Don’t lie,” he murmured, closer now. “I notice every little thing. Every shiver. Every heartbeat.”

Aisha swallowed hard. His voice had that calm kind of dominance—the kind that didn’t need to be loud to control everything around it.

When Zara left to grab her assignment papers, silence fell.
Only their breaths filled the air.

He leaned just enough for her to feel the warmth radiating off his body. The scent of rain, leather, and something dangerously intoxicating filled her lungs.

Her eyes darted to his lips before she could stop herself.
He noticed.
And smiled.

“Careful,” he said, voice barely a whisper. “Some storms don’t end when they should.”

Later that night, in her dorm room, Aisha sat by the window.
The city lights blurred behind the rain-soaked glass. Her sketchbook lay open—pages filled with fire, shadows, and faceless figures. She traced one flame with her fingertip, lost in thought.

Every image burned with the same eyes.
His eyes.

She wanted to believe it was nothing—just curiosity. But every time she blinked, she saw him standing there again, rain sliding down his face, voice whispering danger.

Her phone lay silent now, the message still on the screen.
“Fire never forgets.”

She whispered into the night, as if to test the truth of it.

“Neither do I.”

And for the first time, she felt it—
that haunting certainty that her life wasn’t hers anymore.

Her heart?
Already claimed.

By a man she didn’t know,
and a storm that refused to die.

Outside, lightning cracked across the night sky. A brief flash lit the campus courtyard—and for just a second, she saw him again.

Reyan Kael.
Standing in the same spot where she’d met him.
Watching her window.

And when the thunder followed,
it sounded like a warning.

🔥 End of Chapter 1 – The Storm He Brought 🔥