A harbinger of the shadows to come.
A cold dread settled deep in my gut, creeping through my veins like poison.He hadn’t shown his face, but his intent was etched into every stroke of the letter—he would unravel everything.Everything I had built to keep her safe.
I crumpled the parchment in my fist.The brittle paper crackled like bones under pressure.
This wasn’t just a threat.
It was a promise.
“Amir?Is everything alright?”
Elizabeth’s voice floated in from the kitchen, warm and gentle, unaware of the chill that now clung to the room like a curse.
“Everything is fine, my love,” I called back, masking the storm gathering in my chest.
My gaze drifted to the window, where twilight devoured the last light of day.
And in that deepening dark, I made a vow—quiet but unshakable.
Whatever hunted us, whatever shadows crept from the corners of our lives?—
I would be her shield.
Her sword.
Her sentinel.
And if fate dared to take her from me…
I would burn the world down.
ChapterThirty-Five
ELIZABETH
1798
Tucked deep beneath our cottage, hidden behind layers of stone and sealed by an old oak door Amir never questioned, was my sanctuary—and my sin.A forgotten cellar, once used for storing food and wine, now transformed into something darker, where I came to remember, create, and indulge in the alchemy I once vowed to abandon.
It had been fifteen years since I last saw my sons fight beneath the sun of Rome.
Fifteen years since darkness haunted our every step.
Fifteen years of peace.Of love.Of family.
Amir and I had lived every one of those days together, without separation, without fear, free from the shadow of Salvatore’s name.We had built a life we once thought impossible—a life where laughter echoed through our home, not screams—a life where we were no longer survivors but a family...whole.
Reyna was born that same year, conceived beneath the golden skies of Rome when I visited Roman and Marcellious.It was a moment of love, unity, and hope, and she became our light, our joy, the bond that made Amir and me believe—if only for a while—that we had outrun the shadows.
But shadows had long memories.
And I had long-kept secrets.
The air in the cellar was damp, tinged with earth and mildew, but tonight, it reeked of something harsher.Smoke curled thick and black, acrid and suffocating, wrapping around me like the guilt I had carried all these years.It clung to my skin, clothes, and soul—an old companion I learned to bear, hidden beneath practiced smiles and soft words.
The cauldron hissed and spat, the black liquid within swirling like ink in water—dangerous, volatile, forged not from weeks but years of secrets.Of forbidden work I swore to leave behind...but never truly did.
The scent of Noctyss petals, crushed bone, and sulfur hung heavy in the air, charring my lungs with every breath.It should have driven me away.It should have reminded me of the promises I made.
