All Chapters of His Touch, Her Ruin: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

**Amelia's POV**The room seemed to shrink in on itself. I couldn't breath.With gun raised, Nico stood between me and the doorway. His eyes blazed like charcoal in the gloom.Every part of him had stopped still like death, still like an instinct."Stay behind me," he stated softly."Don't move."I nodded, "Okay." My voice barely a whisper. My heart pounding like a scream in my chest.The door cracked open.Nobody was present though. But the hallways were deserted.Still.Dangerous.Something in the atmosphere had changed. Just as the home was trying to catch breath.Then we heard whispers.Too quiet to be those of sentinels. Footsteps. Too swiftly."Stay nearby, Nico said in a low, strained voice. "Don't glance back." They are within."I swallowed hard staying behind him. I went after him.Smoke and chemicals permeated the passageway. Above, the lights blinked, creating shattered shadows on the walls.The house was weeping. Silently.Then silence shattered like a crack.Rising blade,

**Amelia’s POV**Days flew by so fast. It's the third day already, and Nico was out of bed.Not fully healed. But condition is stable and a bit okay.He is already moving and walking like he is fully healed. He moved like a marble, old, stiff, carved from something ancient and unyielding. His bandages hid beneath a black tailored vintage shirt, open just enough to reveal the shadow of pain beneath power.Even as he is not fully healed. He still looked like a war incarnate.Standing by the hallways, I watched him. Just out of view. He hadn’t spoken to me for days now. He barely even looked my way since he woke up.Maybe it was the pain.Or maybe… he was retreating. Or that just how he is. I don't know.Then I saw her.She didn’t retreat. She entered the house arrogantly.Celine walked beside him like she was met to be on his arm. Draped in a skin tight coat, red lips curved with ownership. Her fingers curled around his wrist with all the ease of familiarity.I didn’t even realize my fi

**Amelia's POV**The silence between us was heavier than any door Nico had ever slammed behind me.He guided me toward one of the rooms adjacent to the main hall, a spot I had never been. Books lined the walls. embers glowed low from a fireplace. The door closed with a delicate but decisive click.After that, nothing but silence.He kept quiet.He didn't move.He simply stood there. Looking at me as if he couldn't determine whether I was a burden... or the answer to one he didn't know how to solve.Cross my arms tightly across my chest. Why did you bring me back?His voice was soft. "Because you don't get to leave."“That's not a real answer,” I shot back.He didn't budge.I moved closer, heart pounding. You cannot simply drag me into your world, make me feel things I do not understand, then cast me away like I'm some liability to you.He growled. Then took one step toward me, "You are a liability,"“I am not your prisoner.” I snapped."No," he said bitterly. "You are worse. You are s

As I near the north side, the snow crunched under my feet. Though the wind cut like razors through the trees, I couldn't sense the cold.I was seething anger.I found myself with memory. deeply buried memories.I sensed him, the spirit I buried. clawed its way out from the death.Their weapons drawn, eyes sharp, Matteo and two other males proceeded. But I knew within me that this was not about capturing shadows.This was about sending a signal.Scanning the tree line. My breathing came slowly.Then I saw it, a form just out of reach. In the darkness.But close enough to be spotted but not near enough to hit.A teaseA reminder.Ignoring Matteo's warning growl, I step forward alone.The form did not move.He was tall. Familiar.However, distance and fog clouded him.Still I spoke, my voice soft and deadly. "Show your face, Lucas."The shadow grinned. I could see the curve of his mouth even from here.But the man did not move closer.He just placed something down on the snow.Then went

**Amelia’s POV*”I yawned softly, snuggling closer to what I thought was my pillow. It felt unusually warm and comforting. But as my fingers trailed across its surface, something felt wrong.It was firm… not soft. My heart skipped. My head was still a little fogged, the fever trailing its last fingers through my system. I opened my eyes slowly, only to realize it wasn’t a pillow at all.And I wasn’t alone on my bed.I turned my head slowly.Nico.He was lying beside me, his shirt slightly unbuttoned, the faint morning light brushing over his features. The crease between his brows was still there, even in sleep, like his mind never stopped calculating, but he look peaceful.My breath caught.We shared a bed.Not for love.Not for pleasure.He had stayed. Through the night. For me.My chest ached in a way I didn’t understand.I should have moved. But i didn’t. I should have looked away. But I didn’t.I watched him instead.The rise and fall of his chest. His eyes closed. The faint scar