He Died Tonight. I Still Want the Divorce.

Sera's POV

On the night my grandmother died, my husband Kael came home trailing blood.

His leather motorcycle jacket was soaked dark red, yet he flashed a savage grin: "I wiped the floor with those bastards tonight!"

For three years, he had treated our home as nothing more than a pit stop between reckless street races.

I’d finally had enough. "After the funeral, we're getting a divorce."

Before the words fully left my mouth, my phone rang. It was his riding partner, Lunn, his voice choking with sobs: "Sera... Kael drove off the cliff tonight. They only recovered bloody pieces of his helmet!"

But the "dead man" was standing right in front of me...

My grandmother Eleanor's casket rested in the center of the living room. I tucked the white burial blanket around her. When I looked up, my heart nearly stopped in the dead silence of the night.

At the end of the hallway stood a towering, silent silhouette.

"Jesus! Who's there?!" I jolted upright, grabbing the heavy vase beside me.

By the dim glow of the corner nightlight, I finally recognized the face. It was my husband, Kael.

His leather jacket was torn open, dark liquid dripping onto the hardwood floor. A sickening, metallic stench of raw blood instantly filled the room.

"Hey, Babe," Kael grinned. There was a bizarre, feverish glint in his eyes. "I smoked all those punks on the Westhaven mountain road tonight. You should've seen me take the Dead Man's Curve. Flawless."

The shock in my chest was instantly incinerated by rage.

"Are you insane?!" I pointed a trembling finger at the casket, keeping my voice low. "Eleanor literally begged you with her dying breath to stop street racing! She just passed away, and you picked tonight to go out?!"

Years of swallowing my frustration broke loose.

"I am so sick of your selfishness, Kael. The minute this funeral is over, we are divorcing. I won't wait another second."

I expected him to blow up or make excuses like he always did. He didn't.

Instead, he let out a dry, rasping chuckle. He took two steps toward me, dragging dark, bloody footprints across the floor.

"Don't say things you don't mean, Sera. I knew she passed. That's why I rushed back as fast as I could, right?"

The heavy stench of raw meat and motor oil washed over me. I instinctively stepped back just as the phone in my pocket began vibrating violently.

Caller ID: Lunn. Kael’s shadow on the road.

I answered with a cold scoff, "Lunn? If you're calling to brag about your wins tonight, go to hell. And tell your partner he's been kicked out of the house!"

"Sera..." Lunn’s voice trembled uncontrollably. He was hyperventilating, choked with mortal terror. "Listen to me! Take a deep breath and don't freak out. Kael... he crashed on the Outer Ring!"

"His bike hit the guardrail and exploded. He went right over the cliff! Search and rescue just got to the bottom. They only found pieces of his visor covered in blood... The cops say there's absolutely zero chance he survived!"

My mind went completely blank.

And in that precise second—a bone-chilling breath brushed against the back of my neck.

"Who's on the phone, Sera?"

Kael's voice came from right behind me.

"Why are you shaking?" The freezing entity leaned an inch closer, his voice slithering into my ear like a snake.

I dug my nails into my thigh with my hidden left hand, forcing my muscles to stop spasming.

"It's Aunt Mary," I said, slowly turning around, forcing my voice to stay level. "She wanted to drive over tonight to mourn Eleanor. I told her it's too late and to come tomorrow."

Kael stared dead at me.

In the suffocating silence, I stopped breathing.

Finally, the suspicion faded from his eyes. He exhaled a long, heavy breath.

"Good," he said, slouching onto the worn sofa. Then, he dramatically dropped his voice. "Sera, remember what I'm telling you: No matter how many times Lunn calls tonight, do not answer. You hear me?"

I swallowed hard. "...Why? How did you get hurt so badly?"

I wanted to hit the light switch for an ounce of security, but then I remembered—the old wiring had burned out on Tuesday, and we couldn't afford to fix it.

The sprawling living room was lit only by a tiny nightlight, twisting Kael's shadow monstrously against the wall.

"Just scratches," Kael said, not even flinching as he glanced at a laceration on his arm that went down to the bone. "We were at the abandoned airfield getting ready to race. Out of nowhere, Mave started blowing up Lunn's phone like a maniac, screaming that her stomach hurt and she was going into labor. You know how Lunn gets with his wife. He abandoned me and took off. If he calls you, he's probably fighting with Mave and trying to drag you into their mess. Do not get involved."

If I hadn't just taken that phone call, I might have bought his story.

Terrified of provoking whatever was standing in front of me, I nodded numbly, slipped my hand into my pocket, and blindly hung up the phone.

"I'll go get the first-aid kit," I muttered, turning toward the bathroom at the end of the hall.

The moment I locked the door behind me, my legs gave out. I slid to the floor, cold sweat instantly soaking through my sweater.

My phone lit up in the dark. A barrage of texts from Lunn flooded the screen, reading like a death warrant:

[Sera! I don't care how much the thing standing in front of you looks like Kael, DO NOT TRUST HIM!]

[HE IS NOT HUMAN ANYMORE!!!]