LOGIN~ Avelyn ~They didn’t call an ambulance.I realized that the moment Ariana was lifted into the back seat of one of Xander’s cars instead of a stretcher. Blood had already been wiped. Guns were gone. Bodies stayed behind like they never mattered. Someone shut the warehouse doors as if closing a chapter instead of a crime scene.Police would come. Eventually.But not before we were gone.Ariana was unconscious, her head tilted awkwardly against the leather seat, her breathing shallow but steady. One of Xander’s men pressed a cloth to her mouth and nose, murmuring instructions into a phone. I didn’t understand the words, just the urgency.I rode in a different car.Of course I did.Xander didn’t follow either of us. He gave orders, short and final, then disappeared into the night like this was just another mess he had already finished cleaning.That hurt more than I wanted to admit.The drive to the hospital blurred. Streetlights streaked past the window. My hands shook in my lap, stai
~ Avelyn ~I woke up with cold biting straight through my skin on concrete pressing against my skin, it felt damp beneath me.My head throbbed the second I tried to move, and the ache spread down my spine like a warning. I didn’t open my eyes immediately. I listened first. That instinct had kept me alive more times than I liked to admit.I hearth voices.Male speaking lowly without rush somewhere ahead of us. I also heard metal scraping, a lighter clicking, the echo of boots against stone.This wasn’t a room. It was too open and hollow to be called one. When I finally forced my eyes open, the ceiling above me was cracked and stained, pipes running like exposed veins. It looked like a warehouse or something that used to be.The smell gave it away immediately. That old rust and mold mixed with stagnant water.My wrist screamed when I shifted, a reminder of the tight rope cutting my circulation, same with my ankles. And beside me—“Ariana,” I whispered, my voice barely there.She was
~ Avelyn ~I didn’t tell anyone I was leaving and that alone felt like rebellion.The mansion had always to felt like a sealed box and I was sick of how quiet and controlled it was. Every step watched even when no one was visibly present. Since the title shift, the rules had loosened in appearance, but I wasn’t naïve enough to think that meant freedom. It only meant the leash had gotten longer.I dressed carefully. A black turtleneck that brushed my jaw. Long sleeves. Thick pants. Clothes meant to hide everything I didn’t want seen and everything I didn’t want explained. My reflection looked calm enough. My body didn’t feel calm at all.The collar marks along my neck burned faintly beneath the fabric. My wrists were tender. My lower back ached every time I shifted my weight. There were places I didn’t even want to think about yet. Sitting was uncomfortable. Walking took effort. Breathing too deeply reminded me of things I wasn’t ready to replay.I could have called a doctor. Could’ve
~ Avelyn ~The news didn’t come from Xander.That should have been the first warning.I was sitting on the edge of the bed in the room that was apparently mine now, staring at my phone without really seeing it, when there was a knock. Not the casual kind. The kind that came with posture and timing and the certainty that whatever followed would not be optional.A maid stepped in after my permission, eyes lowered like always.“Ma’am,” she said. The title still sounded wrong. “Master Xander requests your presence this evening.”My jaw tightened. “Requests?”She hesitated for half a second. “He asked that you be informed first.”Informed. Of course.“Informed of what?” I asked, already bracing myself.She clasped her hands together. “There will be a gala. In Milan. Two nights from now.”I stared at her. “And?”“And you will be attending,” she added. “With him.”There it was.I let out a breath through my nose, slow and deliberate. “Is this another one of those things where I’m meant to sm
— Xander —The call came before the sun cleared the estate walls.Dominic was already in the study when I arrived, tablet resting against his forearm, posture straight, expression neutral. He waited until I took my seat. He always did. The men who survived around me learned patience early.“Kyle moved again overnight,” he said. “West corridor. Roman territory.”I didn’t react. I poured coffee instead, slow, deliberate.“So they’re still hiding him,” I said. “That means he’s bleeding.”Dominic nodded. “He is. The gunshot wasn’t clean. He collapsed twice during relocation.”Good.Pain made people careless.“How long before they realize keeping him costs more than trading him?” I asked.Dominic glanced down at the screen. “They already know. They’re just deciding who they want to anger more. You, or their own allies.”“They’ll choose wrong,” I said calmly.I reached for the phone on the desk and dialed without announcing the number. The council liked to pretend hierarchy existed among us
~ Avelyn ~I woke up alone.That was the first thing my body registered before my mind even caught up — the absence. The other side of the bed was cold, untouched, like no one had ever been there at all. For a brief, disorienting second, I wondered if I had imagined everything. If the night had been some elaborate fever dream stitched together by exhaustion and fear.Then I tried to move.Pain answered immediately.Not sharp, not sudden, it was the dull, widespread kind that settled deep into muscle and bone, like my body had been worked over and then abandoned. My shoulders protested when I shifted. My thighs burned faintly. Even the simple act of sitting up felt like dragging myself through resistance.I hissed quietly and leaned back against the headboard, letting my head fall against the cool wood. The room was silent. Too silent. No movement, no presence, no sign of him anywhere.Of course he was gone.Xander never stayed for aftermaths. He never hovered. He never explained. What







