A Kiss in the Rain: A Love That Holds a Little Magic

The first drops of rain began to fall as Lyra Nightingale stepped from the cobbled streets of Elderbrook into the shadowed doorway of Thornwick's Antiquarian Books. The brass bell above the door chimed with an otherworldly resonance that seemed to echo longer than it should have, and she paused, listening to the sound fade into the depths of the shop's mysterious interior.

Thunder rumbled overhead, and she pulled her emerald cloak tighter around her shoulders. The storm had come from nowhere, transforming what had been a perfectly clear autumn afternoon into something wild and electric. The very air seemed to hum with possibility, making the fine hairs on her arms stand on end.

"Fascinating weather we're having," came a voice from somewhere among the towering bookshelves.

Lyra turned toward the sound, her heart giving an unexpected flutter. A young man emerged from between the stacks, carrying a leather-bound tome that seemed to shimmer faintly in the lamplight. He was perhaps a year or two older than her own twenty-two years, with dark hair that curled slightly at the edges and eyes the color of storm clouds. There was something about him that made her think of old magic and forgotten legends.

"It came out of nowhere," she replied, finding her voice despite the strange breathlessness that had overtaken her. "One moment the sky was clear, and the next..."

"The next, the very heavens opened as if summoned by some ancient power?" He set the book down on a nearby reading table and approached her, his movements graceful and sure. "I'm Kieran Ashworth. I don't believe we've met, though I feel as if I should know you."