CHAPTER 115: THE ECHO IN THE BONES

Luca

Luca did not walk down the corridor. He stalked it.

His footsteps were sharp against the marble floor, each one echoing with the fury building in his chest. Guards stepped aside instantly, pressing themselves against the walls. None dared speak. None dared breathe too loudly. They knew the look in his eyes.

A look that promised death.

He passed the security wing and slammed open the reinforced door to the lower cells. Two guards straightened as stiffly as soldiers facing execution.

"In there," one said quietly.

They pointed toward Cell Two, where Adrian Mendez sat in the corner with his hands cuffed in front of him. He looked up the moment Luca approached, and something flickered across his face.

Recognition.

Fear.

Then resignation.

Luca opened the cell door without waiting for keys. He ripped the keypad panel off the wall with his bare hand and shoved the door so hard it banged against the concrete.

Adrian did not move.

"You felt it," Adrian said softly.

Luca grabbed him by the shirt and yanked him to his feet.

"Tell me what you know," Luca growled.

Adrian did not fight him. His voice remained calm, almost defeated. "I told you already. There is someone behind the Circle. Someone older. Someone who has been watching the Morrelli line longer than you have been alive."

Luca slammed him against the wall.

"She is in pain," Luca hissed. "She is seeing things. Memories that are not hers. Something is inside her reacting to your symbol. I want a name."

Adrian exhaled slowly. "I do not have one."

"You lie," Luca snapped.

Adrian shook his head. "I swear on my brother’s grave. I do not know his name. We were never allowed to meet him. Vittorio only referred to him as the Patron."

Luca froze.

"The Patron," he repeated, every muscle tightening.

"Yes. The one who funded everything. The one who wanted Aria alive. Not dead. Not harmed. Alive." Adrian swallowed hard. "He said she was the key."

"The key to what?" Luca demanded.

"The return of what was lost," Adrian said.

Luca pressed harder, his grip bruising. "What was lost."

Adrian closed his eyes. "An ancient pact."

Luca’s stomach twisted.

"Speak," he ordered.

"There was once a family," Adrian said. "A line of protectors. Not mafia. Not royalty. Something older. They were entrusted with something powerful, something sacred, something that tied blood to legacy. That family was the Morrelli line."

Luca’s heartbeat slowed.

A cold dread crept across his spine.

"They guarded something," Adrian continued. "And someone took it from them."

Luca’s grip faltered slightly. "Who?"

"We never knew," Adrian said. "No one in the Circle did. Only Vittorio had contact with the Patron. But the Patron believed the power was sleeping. Waiting to awaken in the next generation."

Luca’s eyes darkened.

"The child," he whispered.

"Yes," Adrian said softly. "Your child."

Luca felt something dangerous snap inside him.

And Adrian saw it.

"You think this is a mafia war," Adrian whispered. "It is not. It is older than us. Older than this country. Something is waking inside her."

Luca slammed him against the wall again.

Adrian gasped. "I am telling you the truth. I do not know the patron’s name."

"But you know where he is," Luca said.

Adrian’s expression shifted.

Fear.

Real fear.

Luca leaned in so close his breath hit Adrian’s cheek.

"Where is he?"

Adrian swallowed. "He lives in the mountains outside Syracuse. A villa built into the cliffs. No roads. Only tunnels. The Circle delivered supplies there twice a year."

Luca released him sharply.

"You are coming with me," Luca said.

Adrian’s eyes widened. "If I go there, I will die."

Luca turned away. "You will die here if you do not."

He walked toward the cell door.

"Luca," Adrian called weakly. "Listen to me."

Luca stopped.

Adrian’s voice trembled for the first time.

"The Patron does not want to kill her," he said. "He wants to use her."

Luca’s blood turned to ice.

"Her body," Adrian continued. "Her memories. Her blood. All of it."

Luca turned slowly. His expression was the coldest Adrian had ever seen.

"If he touches her," Luca said, "I will tear the world apart to end him."

Adrian lowered his head.

"That is exactly what he wants," Adrian whispered.

Luca stared at him, confused for a flicker of a second.

Then Adrian lifted his eyes again.

"He wants you to come."

Aria

The room swayed around her as the doctor took her blood pressure again. Rosetta sat beside her, holding her hand tightly.

The doctor frowned. "Your vitals are unstable. Not dangerously, but they are reacting to something."

Aria swallowed. "The visions."

The doctor looked at her, clearly out of his depth. "Visions?"

Rosetta shot him a warning look, but Aria nodded.

"Yes," Aria said. "I saw things. People. A woman. A stone circle. A symbol. It felt like a memory."

The doctor blinked, then cleared his throat. "Stress can cause physiological reactions in pregnancy. Trauma can manifest in—"

"This is not trauma," Aria said quietly. "This is something else."

Rosetta placed a hand on her shoulder. "We will figure it out."

Another wave of pressure spread through Aria’s abdomen.

She gasped and gripped Rosetta’s wrist.

But this time, something was different.

Cold.

She felt cold inside. Not physical cold. Not air. A coldness deep in her blood, like something ancient had been stirred awake.

She closed her eyes.

And the vision slammed into her again.

A woman stood over a cradle.

Her face mirrored Aria’s.

Her hair was long and dark, her eyes glowing gold.

Symbols carved across her arms.

She whispered something in a language Aria did not know but somehow understood.

Protect the vessel.

Protect the child.

The blood must continue.

The line must live.

Aria gasped and snapped back to reality.

Her chest heaved.

Rosetta grabbed her shoulders. "Aria. Look at me. Breathe."

Aria shook her head. "I saw her again."

Rosetta’s breath caught. "Who?"

"The woman," Aria whispered. "The one from the dream. I think she was... she was one of my ancestors."

Rosetta’s eyes widened.

The doctor stepped back nervously.

Aria closed her eyes tightly, trying to steady herself.

Another whisper brushed her ear.

A voice not from this room.

Not from this time.

Inside her blood.

He is coming.

Aria jerked.

"What?" Rosetta asked, alarmed.

Aria grabbed Rosetta’s arm.

"He is coming," Aria whispered. "The man Luca is hunting. The one behind everything."

Rosetta stiffened. "How do you know?"

Aria lifted her trembling hand to her heart.

"Because I can feel him."

She looked down at her pregnant belly.

"So can she."

Luca

When Luca returned to the bedroom, Aria was sitting upright, her face pale but her eyes startlingly clear.

Rosetta stood beside her, visibly shaking.

The doctor stepped back when Luca entered.

Luca went to Aria instantly.

"Are you all right?" he asked, brushing hair from her face.

Aria looked up at him, her voice trembling but steady.

"I saw her again."

Luca frowned. "Saw who."

"My ancestor," Aria whispered. "The woman in the visions. She is trying to warn me."

Luca stiffened.

"What did she say?"

Aria swallowed hard.

"He is coming."

Luca sat beside her. "Who?"

"The man behind everything," Aria whispered. "The one Adrian called the Patron. The one who wants the baby. The one who knows the Morrelli line."

Luca froze.

Aria reached for his hand.

Her voice cracked.

"He is coming here."

Luca stood.

Something primal snapped inside him.

He walked to Nico, who had just entered the room, eyes wide with concern.

"Lock down the estate," Luca ordered. "No one in. No one out. Double the guards. One every ten feet. Activate the thermal grid. Call the backup teams."

Nico nodded instantly. "Right away."

Luca turned back to Aria.

He crouched in front of her, cupping her face.

"I will not let anything happen to you," he whispered.

Aria nodded slowly, but fear shimmered beneath her calm.

"You are going after him," she said.

Luca did not lie. "Yes."

She gripped his hands. "Luca, please. Do not go alone."

He leaned his forehead to hers.

"I will do whatever it takes to keep you safe."

Aria’s voice trembled. "Promise me. Promise you will come back."

Luca closed his eyes.

"I promise."

But deep inside, beneath the vow and the fury and the determination, Luca felt something else.

A pressure in the air.

A shift in the cold.

A presence approaching.

The Patron had finally stepped out of the shadows.

And he was coming for his wife.