It began with pressure.
Not pain.
Not fear.
A pressure deep inside her abdon, as if sothing beneath her skin tightened in response to a distant sound she could not hear. Aria sat up in bed, her hand pressing gently against her belly. The baby kicked, but not in the soft, rhythmic way she had grown used to. This was sharper. Urgent. Almost like a warning.
The room was dim, lit only by the faint morning light filtering through the sheer curtains. Luca had been up for an hour already, pacing the estate with Nico and adjusting patrol schedules. She knew the mont she woke that he was not beside her. The bed cooled too quickly when he left.
Another pulse of pressure spread across her lower belly. Aria inhaled sharply.
"Easy," she whispered to herself. "Take it slow."
She stood, moving one hand to the dresser for support. The floor felt colder than usual. The air carried a faint tallic scent she could not place. She wrapped her robe tighter around herself and walked toward the window.
The fog outside the estate was thicker today, rolling across the property like waves. The garden looked blurred, as though the world was being washed away by sothing unseen. Even the guards seed like small silhouettes swallowed by the morning haze.
Another tightness gripped her stomach. This one is stronger.
Aria exhaled through her teeth.
Sothing was wrong.
It was not labor. She knew that much. It did not feel like contraction. It felt like her body was responding to an external force. A presence. A pressure that was not ant for human senses.
The charm.
Her dream from last night resurfaced in a flash. The symbol is carved in stone. The woman’s voice calling her na. The feeling of sothing old breathing beside her.
Aria gripped the windowsill.
"Luca," she whispered.
She needed him. Not because she was afraid, but because she was certain of sothing now.
The threat was not just outside.
It was connected to her.
To her bloodline.
To her child.
She moved toward the door, but halfway across the room, a sharp wave of nausea stopped her. She bent forward, her hand flying to her mouth. The room spun.
A vision slamd into her without warning.
A stone floor beneath her feet.
A circle of symbols carved in ancient tal.
Hands reaching toward a woman who looked like her but older and stronger.
A child crying in the distance.
The sa symbol as the charm glowing beneath torchlight.
Aria gasped loudly as the vision snapped away. Her knees buckled, and she fell against the bed fra.
She swallowed hard, breathing fast.
This was not a hallucination.
Not a dream.
Sothing inside her rembered.
A mory that was not hers.
She pushed herself upright and forced her legs to move. She reached the door and pulled it open.
"Luca," she whispered again. "Please..."
She stepped into the hallway.
And nearly collided with Rosetta.
"Aria," Rosetta breathed, alard the mont she saw her face. "What happened? You are pale. Sit down. You need to sit."
"I need Luca," Aria said urgently.
"I will get him. Just tell —"
Her body tightened again, a sudden squeeze that forced her to grip the wall. Rosetta’s eyes widened in fear.
"Is it the baby?" Rosetta asked, voice trembling.
"No," Aria said through clenched teeth. "Not the baby. Sothing else."
Rosetta did not hesitate. She grabbed Aria’s arm gently but firmly.
"We are going to the dical room. Now."
"No," Aria shook her head. "I need Luca first."
Rosetta looked torn between panic and obedience. But she nodded.
"Then stay here. Do not move."
And she sprinted down the hall.
Aria pressed her forehead against the cool wall and breathed.
Another vision flickered.
A tall shadow standing over her.
A voice whispering her na.
Not Luca.
Not anyone she knew.
A voice carried by centuries.
Her heart pounded so hard she felt dizzy.
"What are you?" she whispered to the presence she sensed around her. "What do you want?"
The air behind her shifted.
She turned quickly.
No one was there.
But the hallway felt wrong. Heavy. A pressure in the air like sothing invisible brushing her shoulder.
Aria backed away from the empty space. Her hands trembled.
She was not alone.
And whatever followed her was moving with purpose.
Luca
He heard Rosetta before he saw her.
She ran so fast she nearly crashed into Mateo, who had just stepped out of the kitchen with a tray of coffee cups. The tray clattered to the floor, mugs shattering. Luca spun from the command room doorway.
"What happened?" he demanded.
Rosetta was panting, her face pale.
"It is Aria," she gasped. "Sothing is wrong."
Luca did not hear another word.
He was already moving.
His steps echoed through the hall as he sprinted up the stairs. The guards scrambled out of his way. His pulse thundered in his ears, drowning out every thought except one.
Aria.
Aria.
Aria.
He reached the second floor in seconds and saw her imdiately.
She stood near the wall, gripping it for support, her body trembling, her skin pale, her breaths strained.
Luca’s heart dropped into a dark void.
"Aria," he said, rushing to her.
She lifted her head, her eyes glassy with fear.
"Luca," she whispered. "Sothing is happening."
He caught her before she slid down the wall. His arms wrapped around her, lifting her into his chest. Her skin was cold. Too cold. Her pulse raced beneath his fingertips.
He carried her into the bedroom and set her on the bed.
"Tell ," Luca said, brushing hair from her face. "What do you feel?"
Aria swallowed hard. "Pressure. Not pain. Sothing inside . Like... like my body is reacting to sothing outside."
Luca froze.
Aria looked at him with trembling eyes. "It started right after I woke up. Sothing is triggering it."
Luca’s jaw clenched. "Where."
She shook her head. "I cannot explain it. It feels like a mory. Not mine. Sothing old."
Her voice cracked. "Sothing connected to my blood."
Luca’s chest constricted painfully. He grabbed the phone from the nightstand and called the estate doctor imdiately.
"Get to the main suite. Now," Luca ordered.
Then he dropped the phone and took Aria’s hand.
She squeezed his fingers.
"It is not labor," she whispered.
"I know," Luca said, though he was not certain of anything.
"It is the charm," Aria whispered.
Luca stiffened. "What about it?"
"It woke sothing up," she whispered. "Inside . Inside the child. Luca, I saw images. I saw a woman who looked like . I saw a circle of tal with symbols. I saw..."
She stopped, her breath catching.
"What," Luca demanded softly.
"A shadow," Aria whispered. "A tall one. Watching."
Luca’s blood ran cold.
"Aria," he whispered, touching her cheek. "Look at ."
She lifted her trembling eyes to his.
"I will find who is doing this. I will rip him apart. But you need to stay with . Do you understand?"
Aria nodded weakly. "I am trying."
Another tightness gripped her abdon. Her head fell forward, and she groaned softly.
Luca held her shoulders, panic slicing through him like a blade.
The doctor finally burst into the room, followed by Rosetta and a guard carrying dical equipnt.
"Check her," Luca commanded.
The doctor approached quickly, pulling on gloves and squeezing gel onto the ultrasound probe.
Rosetta hovered at the bedside, tears in her eyes. Luca stood behind the doctor, one hand gripping the bed fra so tightly the tal creaked.
The doctor placed the probe on Aria’s belly.
The screen lit up.
A strong heartbeat filled the room.
Luca exhaled sharply.
The baby was fine.
But Aria gasped again, gripping Luca’s wrist with surprising strength.
"Sothing is moving," she whispered. "Not the baby. Sothing else."
The doctor frowned. "Her vitals are elevated. Her blood pressure is climbing too fast."
Aria’s vision blurred for a mont. Another image slamd into her mind.
A burning circle.
An ancient oath.
A hand placed on a woman’s belly.
Whispers in a forgotten language.
A promise sealed in blood.
Aria cried out, her hands flying to her temples.
Luca grabbed her shoulders. "Aria. Stay with ."
Her eyes widened. For one terrifying second, Luca swore he saw them change color. A glint of gold flickered across her irises before vanishing.
The doctor froze. Rosetta gasped.
Aria blinked rapidly. "Luca... sothing is rembering through ."
"What is rembering?" Luca demanded.
She trembled violently. "My blood."
Luca’s breath stopped.
Aria’s voice dropped to a terrified whisper.
"The Morrelli line was not hunted for money. Or power. Or revenge."
Her lips quivered.
"They were hunted because of what they carried. Because of what I carry now."
Her hand moved to her stomach.
Luca felt his heart collapse inward.
Aria swallowed hard.
"Sothing ancient wants her," she whispered. "And it is calling to her through ."
Luca stood slowly. His face changed.
Hard.
Cold.
Unrecognizable.
He moved to the drawer, withdrew his gun, and loaded it with shaking hands.
Rosetta watched him with wide eyes.
"Where are you going?" she whispered.
Luca’s voice was ice.
"To find who touched her blood."
The doctor opened his mouth to object, but one look from Luca silenced him.
Luca leaned over the bed and kissed Aria’s forehead.
"I will be back," he whispered.
She grabbed his hand weakly.
"Luca... do not go alone."
He squeezed her fingers.
"I do not need help."
Then he turned and walked out of the room, his rage filling the entire corridor like a storm ready to strike.
Aria cried out again behind him.
But Luca did not stop.
Whoever had awakened sothing inside his wife had made the worst mistake possible.
They had touched the mother of his child.
And Luca would tear apart the world until it scread their na.
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