Chapter 115: ADRIAN’s Secret

I didn’t even make it back to the porch before a voice exploded behind me:

“WHAT DID I MISS?!”

Cassian barreled across the yard like a meteor wrapped in enthusiasm, nearly tripping over Arian’s abandoned toy shovel.

Lucian groaned.

The kids squealed.

I sighed.

Cassian skidded to my side, breathing dramatically like he had sprinted across a desert.

“What. Happened. Where’s Adrian? Why do the kids look like they discovered buried emotional treasure?”

Aria ran to him instantly. “Uncle Cassian! Uncle Cassian! There’s a girl!”

Cassian’s face lit up like Christmas. “A GIRL?”

Arian nodded gravely. “She makes Uncle Adrian act weird.”

“Weird? HOW weird?” Cassian asked, crouching down like a coach preparing for tactical briefing.

Arianna reported, “He stared at her like this—”

And then she widened her eyes, stiffened her body, and dropped her jaw slightly.

Cassian clutched his chest. “OH NO. He froze?? Adrian froze!?”

“Yes,” Aria whispered dramatically.

Cassian stood up straight. “Where is he now?”

I pointed toward the woods. “Talking to her.”

Cassian gasped so loudly three birds took off from the nearby tree. “AND YOU’RE LETTING HIM?! Alone? With feelings?? That man shouldn’t even be alone with a hug!”

Lucian walked over, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “Cassian, calm down.”

“I will absolutely NOT calm down,” Cassian declared. “My brother — my very emotionally constipated, ice-hearted, discipline-obsessed brother — is developing FEELINGS. WE ARE IN A STATE OF EMERGENCY.”

Arian raised his hand. “Uncle Cassian… what’s constipated?”

Lucian shot Cassian a look that belonged in a parental handbook titled This Is Why We Don’t Trust You.

Cassian ignored him. “Alright, troops — assemble.”

The kids lined up instantly.

Cassian pointed at them like a general planning a military operation.

“Arian — surveillance.”

Arian saluted with his binoculars. “Yes, sir!”

“Aria — emotional analysis.”

Aria held up her notebook proudly. “Ready!”

“Arianna — logic and deduction.”

Arianna nodded. “I’ve already drafted theories.”

I groaned. “Cassian—”

He cut me off by gently pressing a finger to my forehead. “Shh. Let the professionals work.”

Lucian looked like he wanted to laugh and strangle him at the same time.

Then Cassian turned to me.

“Where exactly in the woods are they?”

I crossed my arms. “Don’t even think about following them.”

He gasped. Dramatically. Offended. Betrayed. “Me? SPY? On Adrian? Absolutely n—”

He took one step toward the trees.

“Cassian,” Lucian warned.

Cassian froze, smiled like a guilty fox, and then, with a single swift movement—

Sprinted into the trees.

Lucian cursed under his breath and chased after him.

The kids followed, whispering like tiny spies.

And I?

I stayed where I was.

Because Adrian would hear me coming.

But Cassian…

He could sneak through a war zone while tap-dancing.

Inside the woods…

Adrian stood alone in the clearing.

The woman was gone.

But whatever she left behind —

the tension, the confusion, the unbearable awareness —

it wrapped around him like a fog.

He leaned against a tree, head tipped back, breathing deeply as if steadying himself.

He didn’t hear Cassian approach.

Of course he didn’t.

Cassian moved like mischief itself.

He stepped out from behind a tree and announced:

“So… you’re in love.”

Adrian jerked so violently he almost punched him.

His eyes widened, jaw clenched, shoulders stiff. “CASSIAN?!”

Cassian smiled sweetly. “Good morning, brother.”

Adrian exhaled in frustration. “Cassian, I swear—”

“Oh please,” Cassian said, waving a hand. “You think I didn’t notice? We’ve shared a womb—”

“Stop saying that,” Adrian snapped.

“—and a lifetime of emotional avoidance—”

“Cassian.”

“—and now suddenly you’re blushing at mysterious women who show up at dawn—”

“I WAS NOT BLUSHING.”

“Oh my gods, you WERE!” Cassian crowed. “You were blushing like Arian when he saw a butterfly for the first time!”

Adrian pinched the bridge of his nose so hard it looked painful. “Cassian. Leave.”

Cassian ignored him entirely.

“So, who is she? What’s her name? Do you like her? Does she like you? Did she confess her undying devotion? Did you hold hands? Did you—”

“Cassian,” Adrian ground out, “I will bury you in this forest.”

Cassian raised a brow. “That’s a yes.”

Adrian stared at him — long, deep, pained — and Cassian… softened.

Actually softened.

“Hey,” Cassian murmured gently, “I’m teasing because I’m happy for you.”

Adrian looked away.

Cassian stepped closer, voice quiet. “You deserve something good, Adrian. Something real. Something that isn’t built on fear or survival or discipline.”

Adrian swallowed hard.

“I’m not ready,” he whispered.

Cassian nodded. “No one ever is.”

Silence settled. Heavy. Tense. Honest.

Then Cassian grinned again and slapped Adrian’s shoulder. “But when she’s your sister-in-law, dibs on being best man.”

Adrian groaned. “Cassian—”

Lucian burst through the trees, panting. “Cassian, I swear, if you ran ahead of the kids—”

Arian stumbled in behind him, binoculars crooked.

Aria tripped over a root but stood proudly.

Arianna marched in like she owned the forest.

Adrian stared at all of them.

At the love.

At the chaos.

At the family who refused to let him fight this alone.

And something in him cracked.

Something small.

Something quiet.

But something real.

He closed his eyes.

And whispered, almost too softly to hear:

“…I don’t know how to do this.”

Cassian grinned softly. “Then we’ll teach you.”

The walk back to the house was chaos in its purest form.

Cassian was narrating Adrian’s imaginary love life like a sports commentator.

Lucian kept threatening to tape his mouth shut.

The kids were whispering theories like miniature intelligence agents.

Arian: “Maybe she’s a fairy.”

Aria: “No, she looked human. Probably.”

Arianna: “She could be a spirit projection. Or a spy. Or a goddess in disguise.”

Cassian gasped. “A goddess?? A goddess would be PERFECT for Adrian. He needs someone who can smite him when he gets too dramatic.”

Adrian muttered, “I’m not dramatic.”

We all turned and stared at him.

Even the trees seemed to stare.

He glared back. “I’m not.”

Cassian patted his shoulder. “Sure, sweetheart.”

Adrian looked like he regretted every life choice that led him to having siblings.

Back at the porch

I was waiting when they returned, arms folded, trying not to laugh at the disheveled lineup.

Cassian had leaves in his hair.

Lucian looked like he had chased a squirrel for three miles.

Adrian… looked emotionally scrambled.

The kids looked proud of themselves.

Aria ran up first. “We found Uncle Adrian!”

Arian added, “He didn’t kiss her.”

Arianna corrected him. “We don’t know that.”

Adrian walked past all of them and stared at me like please take these children and my siblings away before I lose my sanity.

I smiled sympathetically.

Cassian plopped onto the porch chair, stretching dramatically. “Well, that was fun. So. What’s next? Do we plan the wedding? The proposal? Should I scout romantic getaway spots?”

Lucian pinched his nose. “Cassian—”

“What? You’re acting like I’m jumping ahead. I’m not. I’m simply staying prepared. Love moves quickly if you don’t choke it with awkward silence and emotional repression.”

He pointed at Adrian.

Adrian glowered.

Arianna sat beside Cassian. “I think they should be friends first.”

Cassian gasped as if enlightened. “YES. FRIENDSHIP. The gateway drug to love.”

Adrian’s jaw tightened. “I’m leaving.”

He took exactly two steps before Cassian called after him, “Bring her home next time!”

Adrian didn’t turn around.

But his ears turned red.

We all saw it.

Cassian clapped once, delighted. “Oh, this is going to be AMAZING.”

Lucian finally sat down beside me, exhaling like the world’s most exhausted man.

“You realize,” he said quietly, “Cassian will not let this go for the rest of time.”

I nodded. “I know.”

Cassian leaned back in his chair, eyes sparkling with mischief. “I’m sorry, but when the most unreadable, emotionally frozen, responsible twin finally gets struck by a woman who can make him pause a sentence—that is historical. We need documentation. Archives. Interviews. A full trilogy.”

Arianna nodded, taking notes. “Already started.”

Arian held out his drawing pad. “I drew Uncle Adrian’s face when he saw her.”

It was a stick figure with massive shocked eyes.

Lucian choked on a laugh.

I couldn’t help it either.

Even Adrian stopped walking, shoulders tensing, like he could feel the laughter hitting him from behind.

He turned halfway toward us, eyes narrowing. “What are you laughing at?”

Arian held up the drawing proudly.

Adrian stared.

Cassian fell sideways out of his chair.

Lucian wheezed.

Arianna patted Arian’s head. “Excellent work.”

Adrian took a slow, deep breath — the kind that meant he was mentally counting to ten thousand.

“I’m sparring with Cassian,” he said flatly. “Now.”

Cassian shot upright. “WHAT?! NO. NO. I’M AN INTELLECTUAL. I DON’T FIGHT BEFORE BREAKFAST.”

“You ate two breakfasts,” Lucian muttered.

Adrian took a step forward.

Cassian took three steps back.

Arian held up the binoculars as if offering protection.

Aria hid behind me.

Arianna stood still — because Arianna knew Adrian wouldn’t actually unleash hell in front of her.

Cassian raised both hands. “Alright! Alright! I’ll behave!”

Adrian looked unconvinced but stopped advancing.

Then…

He sat on the porch steps.

Quietly.

Hands clasped.

Eyes unfocused — but not blank, not cold.

Just… troubled.

Cassian, surprisingly, kept silent.

Lucian watched him gently.

The kids played on the lawn.

And I sat beside Adrian, leaving space but not distance.

“You don’t have to talk about it,” I said softly. “But you’re allowed to.”

Adrian didn’t look at me.

But he exhaled. Long, slow, uneven.

“I don’t know what’s happening to me,” he murmured.

Cassian glanced over, softer than I had ever seen him.

Lucian’s face tightened with brotherly worry.

The kids quieted instinctively — sensing the shift in the air.

And Adrian stared at his hands like they held an answer he didn’t understand.

“She looked at me,” he whispered, “like she knew me. Like she saw something in me I didn’t even recognize.”

He swallowed.

“And I… froze.”

Cassian whispered, “Oh boy.”

Adrian’s voice was rough, uncertain.

Fragile in a way I’d never heard from him.

“I’m not built for this,” he said.

“Whatever this is.”

I touched his arm gently. “Maybe you don’t have to be built for it. Maybe you just… let it happen.”

Adrian was silent.

Cassian leaned forward slightly. “Do you want to see her again?”

Adrian didn’t answer.

Which meant:

Yes.

Lucian closed his eyes, almost relieved.

Cassian grinned.

Arianna wrote something in her notebook.

Aria whispered, “He likes her.”

Arian nodded seriously.

And Adrian?

He stared at the trees.

At the place where she had disappeared.

And whispered so quietly the wind almost stole it:

“…I already do.”

Adrian didn’t move for a long time after admitting it.

Not a breath too sharp.

Not a shift too sudden.

He stayed sitting on that porch step as though the world would shatter if he stood.

Night air hummed softly around us, the chirping of crickets weaving into the warm silence. The kids drifted somewhere behind us, whispering conspiratorially on the porch. Cassian sat in a chair like he was witnessing a once-in-a-century celestial event. Lucian remained a pillar of steady calm, watching his brother with the kind of quiet worry only older siblings carry.

But my eyes stayed on Adrian.

The most controlled man I’d ever known.

The most unreadable.

The most impossible to crack.

And yet here he was, cracked open by someone he met only minutes ago.

A stranger who had looked at him with recognition.

And had the nerve — the audacity — to step toward him like she had a claim.

He inhaled slowly, elbows resting on his knees, head bowed.

“I didn’t want this,” he murmured.

Cassian let out a dramatic gasp. “No one ever wants love, Adrian. Love arrives uninvited, kicks you in the ribs, steals your wallet, and sets your house on fire.”

Lucian raised a brow. “Are you describing love or one of your exes?”

“Same thing,” Cassian said with a shrug.

Arianna set her notebook down. “Maybe it’s destiny.”

Adrian’s jaw tightened. “I don’t believe in destiny.”

Arianna crossed her legs primly. “Destiny doesn’t need you to believe in it.”

Cassian pointed triumphantly. “HA! Out-intellectualized by a three-year-old!”

Adrian didn’t even look at him. “She’s not three. She’s a reincarnated ancient scholar pretending to be three.”

Arianna gave a satisfied nod, confirming the assessment.

Lucian leaned forward, tone soft. “Did she… say anything to you?”

Adrian finally lifted his gaze to the trees where she had vanished.

“She said my name.”

A hush fell over us.

Lucian straightened.

Cassian blinked.

The kids froze.

I swallowed. “But she doesn’t know you.”

“No,” Adrian said quietly. “She shouldn’t.”

“So how—”

“She said it like she’d known it forever.”

Something cold slid down my spine.

Not fear.

Recognition.

Because that wasn’t coincidence.

It wasn’t chance.

And it definitely wasn’t normal.

Aria leaned toward Arian. “Maybe she’s magic.”

Arian whispered back, “Or an experiment.”

Arianna corrected them both. “Or fate.”

Cassian clasped his hands dramatically. “Or she’s the embodiment of Adrian’s repressed emotions manifesting into a person.”

Adrian shot him a deadpan glare.

Cassian shrugged. “It could happen.”

Lucian rubbed his forehead. “Can we be serious for two minutes?”

Cassian threw his hands up. “I AM serious. Adrian feeling something is a global event. Shouldn’t we notify the embassy?”

Adrian exhaled slowly, visibly restraining himself from throwing Cassian into the yard.

I rested my hand gently on Adrian’s shoulder.

His body tensed — then slowly, carefully, relaxed beneath my touch.

“Adrian,” I said softly, “what exactly did you feel?”

He closed his eyes.

And without meaning to, he told the truth.

“Panic.”

Cassian stopped breathing. “Panic PANIC? Or… sexy panic?”

Lucian smacked the back of his head so fast Cassian didn’t even dodge.

“Ow—Rude.”

Adrian ignored the exchange entirely.

“She stepped close,” he continued, voice low. “Too close. She looked at me like she’d lost me once. Like she’d been looking for me for a long time.”

Heat rolled through my chest.

A chill followed it.

“And when she said my name,” Adrian whispered, “it felt like something inside me—shifted. Like she… unlocked something I didn’t know I’d locked.”

Cassian snapped his fingers. “Soulmate.”

Adrian’s eyes flashed. “No.”

“FATED BOND,” Cassian tried again.

“No.”

“A dramatic, forbidden, past-life connection?”

“No.”

“A woman you’re going to marry?”

“ABSOLUTELY NOT.”

Arianna wrote something important-looking in her notebook.

Arian whispered, “It’s happening.”

Aria nodded. “Finally.”

Adrian clenched his jaw. “Nothing is happening.”

I inhaled deeply, studying him with all the care a family member gives someone on the edge of emotional discovery.

Adrian was afraid.

Not of danger.

Not of enemies.

Not of weakness.

He was afraid of being known.

Of being seen.

Of being wanted.

Of being chosen.

Because beneath his calm control, Adrian lived in a world of structure and predictability.

Emotions didn’t fit.

Unpredictable people didn’t fit.

Mystery didn’t fit.

But she did.

She didn’t ask permission.

She didn’t knock.

She simply appeared.

And Adrian — for the first time in his life — didn’t know how to stop it.

Cassian finally quieted

Which was alarming in itself.

He leaned forward, elbows on his knees, voice unusually gentle.

“Adrian,” he said quietly, “I’ve known you my whole life. I’ve seen you break bones, break patterns, break enemies… but I’ve never seen you freeze.”

Adrian didn’t respond.

“Not like that,” Cassian continued. “Not the kind of freeze where your brain stops and your heart doesn’t know what to do.”

Lucian nodded, eyes softening. “We’re not teasing you. We’re worried.”

Adrian stared at his hands again.

“I don’t want to be…” His voice broke slightly. “…vulnerable.”

Something inside me ached.

Cassian leaned back, expression soft. “Too late.”

Adrian glared, but there was no heat. Only truth.

“I felt something,” he admitted. “Something I can’t identify, control, or—”

“Suppress?” I offered softly.

He exhaled. “Yes.”

I placed my hand over his, warm and grounding.

“Maybe you’re not supposed to.”

Adrian laughed once — a sharp, broken sound. “I don’t do this.”

Cassian frowned. “Do what?”

“Feel,” Adrian whispered.

The porch went silent.

The world did, too.

Lucian reached forward slowly, resting a hand on the back of Adrian’s shoulder.

“You do,” he said softly. “You always have. You just hide it.”

Adrian closed his eyes.

Cassian’s voice softened more than I’d ever heard.

“Whoever she is… she didn’t break you.”

Adrian opened his eyes.

“She opened you.”

A long, trembling breath left him.

“I don’t want to fall,” he murmured.

Cassian bit his lip. “No one wants to fall.”

Arianna added, “But falling is how you fly.”

Adrian blinked, startled by the simplicity of it.

Arianna looked at him like she understood something adults struggled to see.

Cassian sniffled dramatically. “She’s so poetic. I love her.”

Lucian glared. “Don’t encourage him.”

But Adrian…

Adrian was quiet.

Thinking.

Processing.

Slipping deeper into a confusion he didn’t want — but couldn’t avoid.

I squeezed his hand.

“You’re safe,” I whispered. “Whatever this is… you’re not alone.”

His jaw trembled for half a second.

Barely noticeable.

Except I noticed.

“We’ll figure it out together,” I said gently.

Adrian stared into the night where she had disappeared.

“I don’t know if I want to find her,” he whispered.

“But I know I won’t stop thinking about her.”

Cassian gasped.

The kids froze.

Lucian’s eyebrows shot up.

And I smiled softly.

Because this — THIS — was the beginning.

The moment Adrian stopped running from himself.

And started running toward something.

Someone.

Adrian didn’t move after admitting that.

Not a shift.

Not a breath out of place.

He just stared into the trees, his silhouette carved by moonlight — sharp, rigid, fighting a war entirely inside himself.

And for once… losing.

Lucian glanced between him and Cassian, silently asking the question all three-year-olds had already asked out loud:

Now what?

Cassian answered first, of course.

“We find her,” he declared with dramatic authority.

“No,” Adrian said instantly.

“Yes,” Cassian shot back.

“No,” Adrian repeated.

“Yes.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

Aria sighed. “They’re never going to stop.”

Arianna placed a hand on Aria’s shoulder like a wise monk. “Acceptance is key.”

Arian held up a hand-drawn sign he must have prepared earlier:

SIBLING ARGUMENTS: PLEASE STAY CALM

Cassian blinked. “Why do you have that ready?”

“For emergencies,” Arian replied solemnly.

Cassian beamed with pride. “That’s my nephew.”

Adrian pinched the bridge of his nose. “I am not searching for her.”

Lucian folded his arms. “Then what are you planning to do?”

“Nothing.”

Cassian nearly combusted. “NOTHING? YOU HAVE A MYSTERIOUS FOREST WOMAN WHO KNOWS YOUR NAME, GAZES AT YOU LIKE YOU’RE HER DESTINY, AND YOU—what?—go home and schedule emotional avoidance on your planner?!”

Adrian didn’t blink. “Yes.”

Cassian clutched his chest. “HE SAID IT WITH HIS WHOLE CHEST. I AM GOING TO SCREAM.”

Arianna pointed her pencil at Adrian. “Running from emotions worsens the internal fracture of identity.”

Cassian swooped her into a hug. “You precious, terrifying genius.”

Arianna accepted the hug with dignity.

But Adrian…

He didn’t respond.

Not with annoyance.

Not with sarcasm.

He just kept staring forward.

Silent.

Like he was waiting for something — or someone — to step out of that forest again.

I sat down next to him on the porch steps.

Close enough for comfort.

Far enough for his pride.

“Adrian,” I said gently, “what scares you more? Finding her… or what you felt when she found you?”

His breath hitched — so small, so fast, no one else would’ve caught it.

But I did.

He turned his head away slightly. “Both.”

Cassian’s teasing expression fell away.

Lucian’s posture softened.

The kids quieted, instinctively respectful.

Adrian whispered, “I don’t lose control. Ever.”

“You didn’t lose control,” I said softly. “You reacted. Feelings are reactions.”

He shook his head. “Feelings are liabilities.”

“No,” I replied. “Fear is a liability. But feeling? Feeling is human.”

Adrian let out another breath, shaky this time.

“I don’t know how to do this,” he admitted.

“Good,” Cassian said.

Adrian blinked at him, confused.

Cassian stood and walked down the steps, standing in front of Adrian with unexpected seriousness.

“Because the only things worth having in life…” Cassian said quietly, “…are the things that confuse you, terrify you, or challenge everything you thought you were.”

Adrian stared at him like he’d never seen him before.

Cassian continued, “You already know how to protect. How to fight. How to sacrifice. You mastered all the hard things. But letting yourself want something? Letting someone in? Adrian… that’s the hardest thing any of us will ever do.”

Lucian nodded once, solemn. “He’s right.”

Adrian’s throat bobbed.

His jaw clenched.

He looked away again.

As though even hearing love spoken out loud hurt.

I reached over and placed a hand over his — gentle, warm, grounding.

“You don’t have to understand it today,” I whispered. “But don’t shut the door before you even know what’s behind it.”

Adrian didn’t pull away.

He didn’t move at all.

But the smallest tremor ran through his fingers — a tremor he tried to hide.

Then…

Soft footsteps approached.

Arian, Arianna, and Aria walked down the steps and placed themselves in a little semicircle around him.

Aria hugged his arm.

Arian set his hand lightly on Adrian’s knee.

Arianna put her tiny palm on his shoulder.

And Arianna spoke, voice small but firm:

“It’s okay to be scared.

It means your heart is waking up.”

Adrian froze.

Truly froze.

Not the warrior freeze.

Not the strategic freeze.

But the emotional freeze — the kind that comes from realizing someone saw inside you without your permission.

His jaw trembled.

He swallowed hard.

And he whispered, voice breaking:

“I don’t know how to let someone see me.”

Arianna didn’t hesitate.

“You let us see you,” she said simply.

Something inside him shattered — quietly, invisibly, but undeniably.

Cassian turned away, pretending to wipe his eye.

Lucian stared at the ground, jaw tight.

I felt my own heart squeeze painfully.

Arian said, “We’ll help you.”

Aria nodded hard. “Yeah! We’ll teach you!”

Arianna added, “We’re very good at feelings.”

Adrian huffed a laugh — broken but real.

Then he looked down at the three of them.

And something changed.

A softness.

A crack in the armor.

A breath released after years of holding it.

He pulled the three of them close — awkwardly, like hugging was something he feared he might break — but he did it anyway. He held them, their small heads resting on him, their little arms wrapped around him like anchors.

And Adrian whispered, “Thank you.”

My chest pulled painfully tight.

Cassian bit his knuckle, emotional.

Lucian looked like he could finally breathe again.

And I knew —

I knew —

this was the beginning.

The beginning of Adrian’s unraveling.

His awakening.

His fall.

His rise.

Whatever that woman had awakened in him…

it wasn’t going back to sleep.

When the kids finally ran off to play on the porch, Adrian remained seated beside me, shoulders slumped in a way I had never seen.

Cassian flopped onto the railing. “So. When are we going to find your mystery woman?”

“We’re not,” Adrian said immediately.

“Yes we are,” Cassian replied.

Adrian didn’t even argue this time.

That scared me more than anything.

Lucian leaned forward. “What’s her name?”

Adrian hesitated.

“I don’t know.”

Cassian frowned. “She didn’t tell you?”

“No,” Adrian murmured. “She didn’t have to.”

Cassian blinked. “What does that mean?”

Adrian’s voice dropped into something quiet, haunted.

“I felt her name.”

A chill went through me.

“Adrian,” Lucian said calmly, “what did you feel?”

Adrian stared into the dark forest, voice barely audible.

“Familiarity.

Recognition.

Like I already knew her before she spoke.”

Cassian’s eyes widened. “Like a memory?”

Adrian shook his head slowly.

“No.

Like a promise.”

And the world went still.

Not the comfortable quiet from before.

A thick, weighted silence — the kind that wraps around your ribs and doesn’t let go.

Lucian shifted, brows drawn in a mixture of confusion and concern.

Cassian stood perfectly still, for once not cracking a joke.

Even the kids went quiet, as though sensing something heavy had begun.

I turned fully to Adrian.

“Adrian,” I whispered, “what do you mean… a promise?”

He didn’t respond right away.

He stared into the trees as if the answer lived between the leaves, hidden in the shadows.

Finally, he exhaled — slow, controlled, but trembling beneath the surface.

“There was something in her eyes,” he said. “Not recognition. Not surprise. Something else.”

Cassian tilted his head. “Like what?”

Adrian swallowed hard.

“Like she was relieved.”

Lucian leaned in slightly. “Relieved?”

“Yes,” Adrian murmured. “As if she had been waiting for me.”

The air thickened again.

Cassian opened his mouth — then closed it.

For the first time in his entire existence, Cassian Vale had no punchline.

Adrian continued, voice dropping lower:

“When our eyes met… I felt something inside me shift. Not just emotionally. Physically. Like…”

He hesitated.

“Like something fit.”

A chill ran down my spine.

“Fit?” I echoed.

He nodded. “Like a lock and key.”

Arianna whispered, “A bond.”

Adrian didn’t flinch.

He didn’t deny it.

That scared me more than anything.

Because if Adrian wasn’t denying something emotional…

It was real.

To him.

To whatever part of him connected with that woman.

Cassian folded his arms tightly, staring at Adrian with furrowed brows.

“So she walks out of a night fog, knows your name, looks at you like she’s been searching for you across dimensions, and you—”

“Cassian,” Lucian warned.

But Cassian pressed on, quieter this time.

“—you felt something real?”

Adrian finally looked at him.

And in that look… there was no running.

“There’s something about her,” he admitted. “Something I can’t explain.”

Cassian sat down slowly, rubbing the bridge of his nose like he was preparing himself.

“Well,” he said, voice softer, “that’s terrifying.”

Adrian huffed a tiny humorless laugh. “You’re telling me.”

I watched him carefully — the way he held his hands, the way his shoulders remained straight but tense, the way his eyes flickered like he was seeing something beyond all of us.

Something he didn’t understand.

Something that made him feel alive… and threatened.

“Adrian,” I said quietly, “what did she look like?”

His jaw shifted — not in annoyance, but in thought.

He closed his eyes for a moment, pulling the image forward.

“Her hair was dark… but there was light in it. Like it wasn’t just one color.”

He paused.

“Her eyes were—”

He stopped.

And Cassian leaned forward. “Were what?”

Adrian opened his eyes.

“Unsettling.”

Lucian frowned. “Unsettling how?”

“Like she knew me before I knew myself.”

My muscles tightened involuntarily.

Arianna whispered, “Maybe she saw your soul.”

Arian whispered back, “That’s creepy.”

Aria agreed with a nod. “Very creepy.”

But Adrian wasn’t creeped out.

He was affected.

Deeply.

Troubled.

Confused.

Drawn.

He rubbed the back of his neck — a rare tell of anxiety.

“I don’t get affected by strangers,” he said. “And I don’t get… thrown.”

Cassian nodded slowly. “You got thrown.”

“Yes.”

A pause.

Then Adrian added, almost reluctantly:

“And I didn’t want to walk away.”

The porch collectively inhaled.

Lucian’s brows shot up.

Cassian froze mid-lean.

Arianna dropped her pencil.

Arian stared like this was more shocking than a meteor.

Aria clapped her hands over her mouth.

I blinked.

Then blinked again.

“Wait,” Cassian whispered. “Say that again.”

“No,” Adrian said instantly.

“Say. It. Again.” Cassian repeated dramatically.

Adrian glared. “I said nothing.”

“You said you didn’t want to walk away!”

“I didn’t say that.”

“You EXACTLY said that.”

“I implied nothing.”

Lucian pinched the bridge of his nose. “Adrian—”

“She looked familiar,” Adrian cut in abruptly, as if trying to redirect himself.

But Cassian caught it.

“Oh no you don’t. You’re not changing the topic. YOU HAD AN URGE. ADRIAN VALE HAD AN URGE.”

Adrian’s eye twitched. “Stop talking.”

Cassian gasped dramatically, standing up. “We need to hold a family meeting!”

Lucian grabbed his arm mid-run. “Sit. Down.”

Cassian plopped onto the railing with a pout.

But his eyes stayed glued to Adrian.

“So,” he said slowly, “you’re going back to find her.”

“No,” Adrian said.

“Yes,” Cassian replied.

“No.”

“Yes.”

“NO.”

“Yes.”

Aria raised her hand like she was in school. “I think he wants to but is scared.”

Adrian snapped his head toward her. “I am not scared.”

Arianna shook her head. “He’s scared.”

Arian nodded. “Definitely scared.”

Adrian pointed at them helplessly. “I am NOT.”

Cassian smirked. “Buddy, you are TERRIFIED.”

Adrian’s shoulders stiffened.

I touched his arm gently. “Being scared doesn’t mean you’re weak.”

He didn’t breathe for a moment.

Then…

He exhaled.

Slowly.

Reluctantly.

Honestly.

“I don’t want her,” he whispered, “to have power over me.”

Cassian’s expression softened into something heartbreakingly kind.

“Adrian,” he said quietly, “I hate to break it to you… but she already does.”

Adrian squeezed his eyes shut tightly.

“I know,” he breathed.

And the way he said it—

soft, broken, defeated—

made my chest twist.

Lucian leaned forward, elbows on his knees.

“Adrian,” he said steadily, “what’s the worst thing that could happen if you see her again?”

Adrian let out a humorless breath. “I lose control.”

Cassian tapped his chin. “And the best thing?”

Adrian hesitated.

He hesitated long enough that even the kids leaned in, breathless.

Finally…

His voice emerged tight and quiet.

“I find something I didn’t know I was missing.”

The porch fell silent again.

Because that wasn’t fear.

That wasn’t denial.

That was longing.

Raw.

Honest.

Accidental.

I reached for his hand again.

This time, he didn’t pull away.

He didn’t flinch.

He didn’t pretend he didn’t feel anything.

He accepted it.

And that might have been the biggest shift of all.

Cassian sniffed. Loudly. Dramatically. “Oh no. I’m crying.”

“You’re not,” Adrian muttered.

“I AM,” Cassian insisted, wiping a perfectly dry cheek.

Arianna placed her small hand on Adrian’s knee again.

“You don’t have to find her,” she said softly. “She’ll find you.”

Adrian froze.

Completely.

Cassian whispered, “Why did that sound like a prophecy?”

Arianna shrugged with eerie calm. “Because it is.”

Lucian tried to look unaffected. He failed.

I studied Adrian’s face.

He wasn’t breathing.

“A-Adrian?” I asked gently.

His voice came out like gravel.

“I think she will.”

A shiver crawled down my spine.

Cassian stood like his soul left his body. “I KNEW IT. ADRIAN HAS A DESTINY WOMAN.”

Arian corrected him. “A fated connection.”

Aria nodded. “A love story.”

Adrian glared at all of us.

But the fear in his eyes wasn’t fear anymore.

It was anticipation.

Reluctant.

Unwanted.

Terrifying.

But real.

“Let’s go inside,” I whispered. “It’s getting cold.”

Adrian stood slowly.

But before heading toward the door, he glanced over his shoulder — one last time.

Back at the trees.

Back at the darkness.

Back at the place she vanished.

And he whispered, barely audible:

“Who are you?”

The night gave no answer.

But something in the wind shifted.

And deep, deep in the forest—

A low, almost inaudible hum stirred.

A pulse.

A whisper.

A reply.

Soon.