Blood and Bargains

Aurora spent the rest of the day at Maria's apartment trying to make sense of everything. Maria had printed out newspaper articles about the Romano family. Headlines about suspected racketeering, money laundering, bodies that turned up in the river. And at the center of it all was Luciano Romano, described as brilliant, ruthless, and completely untouchable.

"Look at this," Maria pointed to a photo from some charity gala. Luciano in a tuxedo with a blonde socialite on his arm. "This is from last month. The article says he's never been married, never been in a serious relationship. Just a string of beautiful women who never last more than a few weeks."

Aurora stared at the photo. He looked exactly the same as he had last night, except colder somehow. More remote.

"Maybe it's better that you only had one night," Maria said softly. "Men like that, they don't do happily ever after."

By seven thirty Aurora was getting dressed for her meeting with Marcus. She'd hidden copies of evidence at Maria's apartment before everything went to hell. Photos of suspicious transactions, recordings of phone calls, bank statements that didn't add up. It wasn't everything but it was enough to cause problems.

"I still think this is a terrible idea," Maria said as Aurora headed for the door.

"Probably. But I need to hear what he has to say. I need to look him in the eye and let him know that I'm not just going to disappear quietly."

The parking garage on Fifth Street was mostly empty by eight o'clock. Aurora found Marcus waiting by his car, pacing like a caged animal. He looked terrible. His usually perfect hair was messy, his expensive shirt wrinkled, his face drawn with stress.

"Aurora. Thank you for coming."

She stopped about ten feet away from him. "Talk."

"I know how this looks. I know you think I planned all of this, but you have to understand the position I'm in. The people I work for, they don't tolerate loose ends. When they found out about us, about how close you were getting to certain information, they made it clear that something had to be done."

"So you decided to fuck my stepsister."

"That wasn't my idea. That was Elena's. She approached me, said she had a way to solve both our problems. She gets me, Victoria gets you out of the family business, and I get to keep breathing."

"How romantic. And the will? My father's estate?"

"I don't know anything about that. That was all Victoria and Elena."

"But you knew it was happening."

Marcus couldn't meet her eyes. "I suspected."

Aurora pulled out her phone and showed him the screen. "You mean this wouldn't have been necessary?"

Marcus's face went white when he saw the recording app was running. "Aurora, what are you doing?"

"Getting the truth on record. Keep talking, Marcus. Tell me more about these dangerous people you work for."

"Turn that off."

"No."

Marcus lunged for her phone but Aurora spun away, keeping the device out of his reach.

"You always were too smart for your own good," he said, and his voice was different now. Cold. The mask was finally coming off.

"Not smart enough apparently. I actually thought you loved me."

"Love?" Marcus laughed and the sound made Aurora's skin crawl. "Aurora, you were useful. A way into the family business, a source of information, a convenient cover story. But love? Don't flatter yourself."

The words hit like physical blows but Aurora kept recording.

"Elena was right about one thing," Marcus continued. "You never deserved any of it. Too bad you won't be around to see how it all turns out."

Aurora felt the first stirring of real fear. Something in his tone had changed.

He reached inside his jacket and pulled out a knife. Nothing fancy, just a simple switchblade, but the intent was clear.

"I really didn't want it to come to this, Aurora. If you'd just played along, just taken your punishment and disappeared, none of this would have been necessary."

Aurora backed away but there was nowhere to go. Concrete walls on three sides, Marcus blocking the only exit.

"You're insane."

"I'm practical. You know too much, you've got evidence that could destroy everything we've built. You really think I'm going to let you walk out of here?"

Aurora looked around desperately for something she could use as a weapon.

"The police will know it was you."

"Will they? A heartbroken ex-girlfriend commits suicide after losing everything? These things happen."

He was moving closer now, the knife held low and ready. Aurora had two choices. Fight or run.

The new Aurora charged.

She hit Marcus in the chest with her shoulder, driving him back against his car. The knife went flying, clattering across the concrete. They both dove for it but Aurora got there first.

"Stay back."

Marcus laughed. "You're not going to stab me, Aurora. You're too weak. Too soft. You always were."

Maybe he was right. But as Marcus took a step toward her, something inside her snapped.

She lashed out with the knife, not trying to kill him but trying to make him understand that she wasn't his victim anymore. The blade caught him across the ribs, opening a long shallow cut that immediately started bleeding through his white shirt.

Marcus stared at the blood in shock. "You cut me."

"I warned you."

Marcus came at her again, faster this time, and Aurora wasn't quick enough. They went down hard on the concrete, Marcus on top of her, both fighting for control of the knife.

The blade turned toward her and Aurora realized with crystal clarity that she was about to die. The knife pressed against her ribs, the tip just breaking skin. Aurora felt hot blood running down her side.

That's when the rage hit her.

Not anger she'd felt before, but something primal that came from deep in her bones and set her nerves on fire.

The lights overhead exploded in showers of sparks. Every car alarm in the garage started going off at once. The concrete under them cracked with a sound like thunder.

Marcus jerked back in terror, the knife forgotten. "What the hell?"

Aurora didn't understand what was happening, but she could feel power coursing through her veins like electricity. Raw and wild and completely beyond her control.

She pushed Marcus off her and he went flying, hitting the wall with enough force to crack the concrete. The knife was back in her hand though she didn't remember picking it up.

Marcus was trying to get to his feet, blood running from his mouth, his eyes wide with fear and something that might have been recognition.

"You're one of them," he whispered. "You're like him."

"Like who?"

But Marcus was already running, stumbling toward the exit like the hounds of hell were chasing him.

Aurora stood alone in the wreckage of the parking garage, surrounded by broken glass and screaming car alarms, clutching a bloody knife and trying to understand what had just happened.

Her phone was buzzing. A text from an unknown number.

"You need help. Fifth and Main, the old warehouse district. Come alone."

She drove through the city in a daze until she found herself in front of a building that looked abandoned for decades.

A man stepped out of the shadows. Tall, broad shouldered, wearing an expensive suit.

"Hello, Aurora."

Luciano. Of course it was Luciano.

"How did you know?"

"I have people watching Marcus. When they saw you meet with him tonight..." He trailed off, taking in her appearance. The torn clothes, the blood, the knife she was still clutching. "Are you hurt?"

"I don't think so. Not badly anyway."

Luciano's eyes went hard. "He did this to you."

"He tried to kill me."

"And?"

Aurora looked down at the knife in her hand. "I stopped him."

Something shifted in Luciano's expression. Something that looked almost like approval. "Good."

"I don't understand what's happening to me. The lights, the concrete, it was like..."

"Like magic." Luciano's voice was matter of fact. "Because it was magic, Aurora. You're a witch."

The word hit her like a physical blow. "That's impossible."

"Is it? Think about it. The electrical problems when you get emotional. The way my keycard worked for you last night even though it's keyed to my DNA. The way you found your way to my room without knowing where you were going."

Aurora's head was spinning. "Witches aren't real."

"Neither are werewolves, supposedly." Luciano's eyes flashed gold in the streetlight. "Yet here we are."

"Werewolves." Of course. Because apparently her life wasn't crazy enough already. "Marcus said I was like you. He knows, doesn't he?"

"Marcus knows a lot of things he shouldn't. Including the fact that witches and werewolves have been enemies for centuries."

"But you're not enemies with me."

"No." Luciano stepped closer. "I'm not."

Aurora looked around at the abandoned warehouse, at the man who claimed to be a werewolf, at the knife in her hand covered in her ex-boyfriend's blood.

"What happens now?"

"Now you have a choice to make." Luciano pulled a folded paper from his jacket. "Marcus will come after you again. So will Victoria and Elena, once they realize what you are. They'll use your powers against you, find a way to bind you or control you or kill you before you become a threat."

Aurora unfolded the paper. It was a contract, dense with legal language she didn't understand.

"What is this?"

"Protection. Power. Revenge." Luciano's voice was soft but there was steel underneath. "Everything you need to destroy the people who betrayed you."

Aurora scanned the document. Most of it was legal jargon but a few phrases jumped out at her. "Complete obedience." "Physical and emotional submission." "Exclusive property."

She looked up at Luciano. "You want me to belong to you."

"I want you to survive. This is the only way to guarantee that."

"For how long?"

"One year. Twelve months of absolute loyalty, and I'll give you everything you need to take back what's yours. Your father's business, your inheritance, your revenge on everyone who wronged you."

Aurora stared at the contract. A year of her life in exchange for the power to destroy her enemies. It should have been an impossible choice.

Instead it felt like the easiest decision she'd ever made.

"Where do I sign?"

Luciano pulled a pen from his pocket. Aurora took it without hesitation.

The moment the ink touched paper it began to glow with an otherworldly light. Aurora felt heat spreading up her arm, like the contract was branding itself into her very soul.

When the light faded, Luciano was smiling. Not the cold expression from the newspaper photos, but something warm and possessive that made her pulse race.

"Welcome to the Romano family, Aurora." He reached out and traced the line of her jaw with one finger. "Your real education begins now."

Aurora looked down at the contract in her hands. The words seemed to shimmer and shift, and she realized she might have just signed away more than she understood.

But as Luciano's hand settled possessively on the back of her neck, as she felt his power surrounding her like armor, she discovered she didn't care.

Let the world burn. She'd light the match herself.