LOGINPOV: DamienThe monitors in the war room usually showed nothing but the quiet white snowy mountains But this morning, every screen was lit up playing a tape.Luca was typing so fast and his face was pale. "Boss, you need to see this. Silas isn't hiding anymore. He’s gone loud. He wants the whole world to watch."I walked over to the main console. On the center screen, a news report from the city was playing on a loop. The words at the bottom were bright red: SENIOR COUNCIL MEMBER KIDNAPPED.It was Moretti, One of the oldest men on the High Table. He had survived wars and assassins for thirty years, but someone had snatched him from his own home in broad daylight. His guards were all dead on the grass."He’s started a live stream," Luca whispered. He looked like he wanted to throw up.The screen flickered, and the news was cut off. A grainy video started playing instead.I recognized the room immediately. It was a basement in the old shipyard— the same place where Silas had kept Ser
CHAPTER 122 — “The Quiet Between”POV: SeraThe locket felt heavy in my palm.I was sitting on the edge of the bed in the small, stone-walled room we shared. The fortress was silent now except for the sound of the generators. My father was asleep in the next room, but I couldn't even close my eyes. Every time I did, I heard that scratchy recording of my mother’s voice.Silas was out there in the dark, and he was still using my own heart against me. The door creaked open and Damien stepped in, his silhouette blocking the light from the hallway. He looked exhausted.He didn't say anything. He just sat down on the edge of the bed next to me."I can't stop thinking about it," I whispered, my voice shaking. "How he held onto her things for all these years. It’s like he was always planning to break me."Damien reached out, his large hands covering mine. He gently opened my fingers and took the locket, setting it on the small nightstand. Then, he took both of my hands in his."Look at me, Se
POV: SeraThe mountain fortress was supposed to feel safe, but to me, it didn’t."He's doing it to scare us, Sera," my father whispered, holding a cup of tea with hands that were still shaking . "Don't let him in your head."But Silas was already in our heads.Every hour, Luca would get a new notification. Silas wasn't attacking us yet. Instead, he was destroying every place Damien had ever called home. One by one, Damien’s old safehouses, his secret apartments in the city, cabins in the woods, they were all being burned to the ground. Silas was erasing Damien’s past, making sure the only place left for us was this cold rock.Late that afternoon, the sirens rang."Boss, we’ve got a drone at the main gate," Luca called out, his voice tense. "It’s not armed. It’s... it’s carrying a package."Damien was on his feet in a second, his hand went to his gun. "Don't open the gate. Use the mechanical arm."I followed them to the monitor. On the screen, I saw a small drone hovering outside the
POV: DamienI could still feel the heat from last night. As we sailed across the sea, I could still feel the weight of Sera’s body against mine from the night before. The way the red emergency lights on the yacht illuminated on her petite body, and the way she had looked me in the eye and taken control. I gripped the steering wheel tighter, my knuckles turning white. That memory was the only thing keeping me sane. "Damien?" Sera’s voice was soft, breaking through my thoughts. She was huddled in her coat, her face looked pale."We’re almost there," I said, forcing my voice to stay steady. "I promise."I looked down at Sera as she moved closer and curled against my chest in the small cabin"We’re ten miles out, boss," Luca’s voice crackled over the ship's intercom. "Time to move."Soon, the yacht stopped at the mainland. We moved our gear from the boat to a heavy, armored transport truck hidden in a cave close to the sea.Sera sat in the passenger seat, staring out at the cliffs. Ev
POV: Damien The yacht sailed through the sea, there were no lights, just the faint green glow of the moon on the water. The island was already gone behind us, ahead was the mainland. Everyone was finally asleep. Gideon was tucked into a bunk in the lower cabin, his body exhausted from the sudden move. Luca and Marrow were trading shifts, staring at thermal screens, waiting for any movement that meant the Council were closing in. I was in the main cabin, staring at a digital map of the mountain range we were heading toward. My hands were steady, but my mind was a mess. I’d pulled her out of one hell only to drop her straight back into another. I’d promised her peace, all I had given her was a different kind of war. The cabin door hissed open. Sera stood there, wrapped in a dark sweater that was far too big for her. The red emergency lights carved shadows under her cheekbones and across her collarbones. She didn’t look frightened, there was this hardness in her eyes, that made b
Damien’s pov:The morning on the island started like any other. The sun was warm against the white sand, and the sound of the waves was rhythmic, it almost made me believe in a world without shadows.Sera was in the kitchen, the smell of fresh coffee and tropical fruit filling the air. She was humming a song her mother used to sing, I was standing on the edge of the dock, my eyes were fixed on a small, black bird circling in the sky. My satellite phone, the one I had sworn never to turn back on, buzzed once in my pocket. It was a one-way signal from Luca. A "code red" that bypassed every firewall I had built.I pulled the device out. There were no words, only a single image: a photo of the message Silas had left on the prison wall.THE BIRD HAS NO WINGS, DAMIEN.My grip on the phone tightened until the casing creaked. The peace hadn't just been broken; it had been shattered. The "Ghost" protocol had hidden me from the Council, but it hadn't hidden me from the man who knew my soul.I
Damien’s pov:The drive back was quiet.It wasn't the heavy, suffocating silence I was used to… the kind filled with maps and threats. It was softer. Sera sat next to me, her eyes on the passing city, a small, lingering smile on her face. She looked like she was still lost in the paintings.I didn
Sera’s POV:Morning came softly, the way it always did in this part of the mansion. Light filtered through the tall curtains in pale ribbons, touching the edges of the room like it was afraid to wake me too roughly. For a moment, I lay still, staring at the ceiling, pretending that if I didn’t move
Sera’s POV: My mind is struggling to keep up with everything that happened today. It feels as if someone forced my brain open and poured too many memories into it all at once. Everything feels too fast, too heavy, and too painful to process.I think about the art gallery and how beautiful the pain
Damien’s pov: I could not sleep. I lay in bed with my eyes wide open and stared at the ceiling while the night went by. My mind was busy and restless. I kept thinking about the events of the day over and over again. I remembered the art gallery first. I thought about how soft Sera’s face looked







