Chapter 1: The Awakening

She didn't know where she was as she looked around the candle-lit room. The silks underneath her naked body were soft and tantalizing as she writhed on the bed.

That's when her eyes landed on him. His face was shadowed, but she could see a devilish grin lifting the corners of his mouth as he crawled over the expanse of her body.

He gripped her wrists with his cool hand and pinned them above her head. The contours of his muscles were lit by the gentle glow of candlelight but she still couldn't see his eyes.

He brought that beautiful mouth to her lips, but only teased her with a whisper of a kiss. He then ducked his head to the juncture of her neck. She gasped as the sharpness of his teeth grazed her throat.

"I finally found you," he whispered in a hungry growl, before capturing her neck in his mouth.

"Layla!"

Layla gasped awake at the violent shaking her friend was currently delivering.

Mia huffed. "It's about time. We are almost to the museum."

Her friend sat back in her chair, tossing her red hair behind her shoulders and popping her gum.

"Geez, Mia, you didn't have to shake me so hard," Layla mumbled, rubbing her eyes.

"The h*ll if I didn't." Mia snorted, narrowing her green eyes at Layla. "You were snoring. It was disgusting."

Layla chuckled, "Whatever, you liar."

Mia stuck her tongue out at Layla and she returned it with her own tongue. The bus pulled to a stop and Layla and her fellow college mates filed off of the bus.

"Oh my god! I can't believe we are actually in Rome!" Mia squealed, grabbing her friend's arm.

Layla smiled at Mia's enthusiasm, feeling her own excitement bubble through her.

Layla brushed her auburn hair from her hazel eyes and looked down the streets of the Celio district. In the distance she saw the world-famous Colosseum, looming over hundreds of tourists who bustled about the busy streets. It was a beautiful spring afternoon and a perfect day to go sightseeing.

"It's beautiful," Layla said with appreciation.

Mia tugged on her arm, pulling her toward the group where her fellow college mates were standing with their tour director.

"Come on, first we need to visit the museum, then we can go sightseeing!" Mia said with delight.

Layla laughed and allowed Mia to pull her away.

"The Sant'Angelo Museum holds ancient artifacts that date back to 72 AD. There are many ancient and famous relics here that I'm excited to explore with you," the tour director said in her thick Italian accent.

After the director finished her introduction, she signaled for the party to follow her through the front doors of the giant museum.

The lobby opened up to an enormous room with polished marble floors that was filled with tourists of all ages, from young children to elderly couples. There were beautifully sculpted statues and wooden carvings displayed throughout the main entrance and the air held a nuance of floor polish and old books.

Mia and Layla walked toward a particular alabaster sculpture of a nude man.

Mia waggled her eyebrow at Layla lewdly. "Girl, this guy is totally your type," she said with a devious grin as she gestured to the sculpture's naked waist.

Layla burst out laughing. "Gross, Mia," she said, shaking her head and moving on to the next sculpture.

"You're right," Mia sighed, still eyeing the sculpture's package. "He is way too much man for you. I call dibs!"

"He is all yours," Layla snorted.

After the group had finished their tour of the lobby, the tour director took them further into the museum.

As they explored the many exhibits, Layla found herself most attracted to the stone slabs covered in the ancient language.

She was currently majoring in anthropology and her focus was on hieroglyphics and ancient symbols, so seeing some in person gave Layla a thrill of intrigue as she took in as much of it as she could.

Layla followed the exhibit until it turned a corner into a darker room. She stopped and gazed down the hallway. It was empty of people and the dimness made her wonder if the section was closed to the public. Layla turned to see if Mia was nearby, but her friend was across the room chatting with someone.

So she decided to take a quick peek to see what the dimly lit room consisted of. As she walked through the hall, her eyes roved over the different artifacts encased in glass; there were old stone-cutting tools, weapons, utensils, and the like.

But while she walked, a strange chill started crawling up her spine. Layla stopped dead in her tracks, listening to the already quiet room. While she didn't hear anything, there was something electric in the air.

Layla spun in a circle to see if there was anyone else around. Although she couldn't see anyone, she felt as if someone were watching her.

Shrugging off the strange sensation, Layla continued her exploration of the exhibit. That is when she saw a large display in the corner. Curious, she walked toward it.

The exhibit was lit with warm yellow lights and beyond the ropes was a collection of sarcophagus-shaped stones. As Layla looked closer at one of the stone structures, she noticed that there were some ancient-looking symbols etched on the top.

While Layla was no expert on symbols and hieroglyphics, she had done some studying on the topic, so she immediately recognized the symbol for teeth and the devil.

"That's not creepy or anything," Layla muttered to herself.

As she examined the symbols, that electric sensation returned with full force, causing goosebumps to crawl across her skin. When Layla realized that the strange energy seemed to be coming from the coffin-shaped rock, she stepped back with a gasp. Wearily, she eyed the stone coffin for a moment longer.

Suddenly, the stone started to shake ever so slightly until it trembled so hard that the lid of the sarcophagus started to bounce as if it were going to shake right off.

Layla's eyes widened in shock.

Someone's hand landed on her shoulder, causing her to let out a small cry of surprise and spin around.

"Madam, this exhibit has not been opened to the public yet," a man in a security vest said.

"I'm sorry," Layla gasped, then gestured to the shaking coffin, "But lo-" her words died in her throat when she realized that it had gone completely still.

'What the h*ll?' she thought to herself.

Layla stared dumbly at the stone for any sign of movement, but there was none.

"Madam, I'm going to have to ask you to leave," the security guard said sternly.

With one more glance across the exhibit, Layla nodded her head. "Of course, I-I'm sorry about that."

Layla followed the security guard back to the observatory where she was last with her classmates. She walked out into the light expecting to see them, but they had already ventured on through the museum. Layla watched the security guard walk away, her thoughts on what she had just witnessed.

She let out a sigh and whispered, "what in the hell did I just see?"

Layla turned to follow her class when she nearly bumped into someone standing in front of her.

"Sh*t, I'm sorry," she laughed sheepishly, looking up into the young man's face.

The second that their eyes met Layla froze and inhaled sharply as that familiar static sensation she had felt earlier buzzed across her skin.

Electric amber eyes bore into Layla's with shocking intensity. His full mouth was turned down in a frown and his ashy blonde hair brushed against his strong jawline. Layla's heart started to pound and her stomach swirled with excitement. The attraction she felt towards him wasn't only immediate, but shocking.

It took a moment for her to compose herself and when she did, she scanned the looming figure taking in his attire. He wore dated clothing that seemed to be from at least the 1600s.

"Do you work here or something?" Layla asked, trying to compose herself.

Instead of answering her, he asked in a deep seductive voice, "what's your name?"

While this strange person was dazzling Layla's senses with his stunning features, her alarm bells started to ring. There was no way she was going to willingly drop information about herself to a stranger so easily.

"I-uh…" she stuttered, trying to think of something to say.

That's when he smiled at her and revealed a row of brilliantly white teeth with oversized canines.

"I apologize," he said, dipping his chin, "that was too forward. I'm only curious because you don't seem to be from around here."

Although she was thrown off by his change of tone, she was still hesitant to answer his question. After all, he didn't seem like he belonged anywhere in this century.

So she countered with her own question.

"What is your name?"

He watched her for a moment with that intense stare and Layla found herself pinned in place by it. Then the corner of his lip lifted in a smirk as if he were entertained by her dodging his question.

"Atreus," he said simply, his eyes glittering as they roved over Layla.

She swallowed as her eyes lingered on his lips. He looked… hungry for her and the thought thrilled her to her core.

Layla cleared her throat to break the intense interaction.

"Well, it was nice to meet you, Atreus. But I need to catch up with my group," Layla said, with a nervous smile.

She went to walk past the intimidating stranger when he reached out and grabbed her wrist. An undeniable thrill passed through her body like a shockwave.

Layla looked up into his amber eyes and his dangerous expression sent off her alarm bells again.

"You didn't tell me your name," his tone was dark and that dangerous smirk was ever-present.

Layla's lips parted in surprise and his eyes traveled down to her mouth. She looked away quickly pulling her wrist from his soft grip.

"Sorry, I don't give my name out to strangers," she said with a smirk of her own.

Without another word, Layla walked away from Atreus, leaving him staring after her.

While she had tried to keep her composure throughout that entire interaction, her heart was pounding furiously in her chest. As she walked, she grabbed the wrist that Atreus was just holding and held it to her chest.

She could still feel his cool touch against her skin.

Any smart woman would have listened to their instincts and called security after getting grabbed like she just had by a complete stranger. But Layla couldn't stop thinking about his glittering amber eyes. She bit her lip as the sound of his voice echoed in her ears.

Layla was knocked from her reverie at the sound of Mia's voice.

"There you are!" Mia hollered from down a long-windowed hallway. "Where the h*ll did you wander off to?"

"Sorry!" Layla laughed sheepishly. "I took a wrong turn somewhere and got lost."

Mia snorted. "Sure… you were giving yourself a personal tour, weren't you?" she joked. "Now hurry up. I'm starving and I really need a latte."

Layla nodded, only hesitating for a moment to glance behind her, before turning and walking away.