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CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO — STRANGER
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2026-02-27 04:37:42Aria's POV
The library was too cold. The air felt thin and clinical, like everything else in the high-tech prison Lucien called a home. I stood against the mahogany shelves, my fingers tightening around the small wooden box. Inside, the silver compasses clinked. The sound was soft, but in the dead silence, it sounded like a warning.
I turned the bent compass over and I felt the tiny, jagged engraving on the back.
J & A.
The letters were old and faded. A was for Aria. That was me. But the J was like a hole in my life. My mind searched for a name, a face, or a voice but I found nothing. The amnesia was a solid wall, cold and unyielding.
Lucien had told me I was alone. When I woke up in that hospital bed, he was the only thing I had. He told me my parents were dead. He said I had no siblings. He said he was the only anchor I had left in a dangerous world.
Liar.
The thought didn't come from my brain. It came from my bones. I looked at the photograph again. Two children stood on a rocky beach. The girl was laughing. The boy, the J from the compass, had his arm around her. It was a protective and possessive grip. He looked like he would never let her go.
I might not be an only child. Maybe I was loved by someone long before Lucien Blackwood ever stepped into my life.
Suddenly, the red light on the security camera in the corner went dark.
The overhead lights followed. One by one, they popped and died. The library was plunged into a heavy, suffocating darkness. The hum of the signal dampeners stopped. The silence was so thick I could hear my own heart hammering against my ribs.
Then, the massive television on the wall sparked to life.
The screen flickered in grainy black-and-white. It showed a nursery with a rocking chair, a crib, and a window looking out at a storm. A low, distorted melody began to play. It was a lullaby, but it sounded like a threat.
A man’s silhouette appeared on the screen. He sat in a chair in the corner of the nursery, his face hidden in the dark. He held a silver compass, flipping it open and shut. He tilted his head. Even through the screen, I felt his gaze. It was heavy and clinical.
"The fortress is leaking, Lucien," the voice rasped. It sounded…rough. "You can change the locks. You can buy the sky. But you can't change the blood."
My breath hitched. The blood.
"She’s starting to look for me, 'Dark Lord,'" the voice continued. It was cold and mocking. "She’s finding the pieces you tried to burn. How long until she realizes her savior is actually her jailer?"
The man stood up. He walked toward the camera until his scarred eyebrow and ash-colored eyes filled the screen.
"See you soon, Little Bird," he whispered.
The screen went black again. The backup generators kicked in, flooding the library with a harsh, emergency red light. The room looked like it had been dipped in blood.
The double doors burst open.
Lucien ran in. He didn't look like the powerful CEO I knew. His tie was loose. His hair was a mess. His silver eyes were wide with a raw, primal terror. He had his gun out, his knuckles white as he scanned the room.
"Aria!" he roared.
He saw me by the shelf. I quickly tucked the wooden box behind my back. He ran to me and grabbed my shoulders. His hands were shaking.
"Are you hurt? Did he touch you?" His voice was frantic. He sounded like a man who was losing everything.
I didn't lean into him. I stood as still as ice, feeling the cold weight of the box against my skin. "He was in here, Lucien. In our house. In your 'impenetrable' system."
Lucien went pale. He looked at the blank screen and ground his teeth so hard I heard the click of his jaw.
"Marcus!" he screamed.
Marcus appeared in the doorway, weapon drawn. "Boss, the firewalls were bypassed from an internal node. He didn't hack us from the outside. He was already in the architecture."
"Wipe the server!" Lucien barked. "Reset every biometric lock in this building. Now!"
As Marcus scrambled to obey, Lucien turned back to me. He tried to soften his face, but the cold desperation was still there, lurking under his skin. He reached out to touch my cheek, his fingers desperate.
"He’s a ghost, Aria. He’s a manipulator. He’s using your amnesia to plant seeds of doubt. He wants to get to me through you."
"He said I was looking for him," I said. My voice was steady, my eyes locked on his. "Why would a stranger say that? And why do you look like you've been caught in a lie?"
Lucien flinched. It was a tiny movement, but I saw it.
"I am trying to keep you alive," he whispered. His voice was thick with a dark, suffocating devotion. "Nothing else matters. Not the past. Not the truth. Only you."
"Is it my life you're protecting?" I asked, stepping back from his touch. "Or is it your hold on me?"
Lucien didn't answer. He looked at the floor, his shadow long and jagged in the red light.
I felt the box in my hand and the photo in my pocket. I was in a cage, and Lucien held the key. But I realized the cage wasn't built to keep Vane out. It was built to keep me in. It was built to stop me from remembering the boy who once held my hand.
I walked past him toward the bedroom. I didn't look back. I could feel his silver eyes on me, filled with a love that felt more like a prison than a sanctuary.
The war for my memory had started. And for the first time, Lucien was afraid.
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