CHAPTER 122: THE MAN IN THE FOG

The helicopter descended toward the private landing pad on the outskirts of Catania as if the sky itself had finally surrendered its grip. The craft trembled from strain, metal groaning after the battle it had endured, but the moment it broke fully into clear light, the pressure that had threatened to crush it evaporated. Wind steadied. Visibility returned. The blades cut through open air.

Luca kept his arms wrapped around Aria the entire descent. She lay against him with barely any weight at all, her head resting against his shoulder, her breath warm but intermittent. He did not blink once. Not while she slept. Not while her fingers twitched against his shirt. Not while the doctor whispered urgent directions or Rosetta prayed or Nico reported coordinates to the pilot.

He held her like the world could steal her away in the space between heartbeats.

The helicopter touched the ground with a shudder. Gravel scattered beneath the runners. Nico jumped out first with his weapon drawn, yelling orders to the guards waiting in the shadows around the landing pad. Rosetta hopped out next, clutching her rosary, her eyes darting from the quiet field to Aria’s unmoving form. The doctor rushed forward with the portable medical kit.

But Luca did not move for several seconds.

He sat frozen, Aria still in his arms, feeling the faint rise and fall of her chest. It was there. Soft. Fragile. Alive. But each rise was weaker than the one before it.

He drew her closer, his voice a quiet, desperate plea. "Stay with me. I am here. I am right here."

Her eyelashes fluttered. Her lips parted just enough to whisper a faint sound, but no words escaped.

That was enough to break the paralysis.

Luca rose to his feet, carrying her out of the helicopter with steady arms. Rosetta cleared the path ahead of him, pushing aside guards, shouting for more space. Nico barked for additional units to secure the perimeter and ordered a team to shut down the helicopter.

Only when Luca stepped onto solid ground did he feel the weight of reality press into him like a hand around his throat.

The Patron was coming.

Not as mist.

Not as a shadow whispering through walls.

But as a man.

And Aria was far too weak for what awaited them.

The doctor rushed ahead, pacing backward as he inspected Aria’s color, her vitals, the tension in her limbs. "We need a sterile room and controlled conditions. Now. Her oxygen level is unstable. Her blood pressure is barely holding. If she goes into another shock episode, I do not know if her system will recover."

Luca nodded once. "Prepare whatever you need. She is not dying today."

Rosetta touched Aria’s cheek tenuously, her voice trembling as she murmured a prayer in Sicilian, begging every saint she had ever learned for protection.

Aria did not open her eyes.

Luca held her tighter and started toward the black SUV waiting near the edge of the landing pad.

The moment his foot touched the ground beneath the vehicle, the wind shifted. It turned warm, a strange flicker of heat threading through the air like a breath against the back of the neck.

Rosetta felt it first. She looked over her shoulder sharply. "Something has followed us."

Nico unholstered his gun. "What direction."

The wind refused to pick a direction. It circled them slowly, brushing their clothes, their faces, their hair. Not violent. Not cold. Something almost curious. Almost testing.

The doctor whispered anxiously, "We need to get her inside. Now."

Luca moved. He slid into the SUV, holding Aria across his lap while the medical equipment was loaded around them. Rosetta climbed in next to them, clutching Aria’s hand. The doctor took the opposite seat, connecting sensors and preparing an IV. Nico slammed the door shut and climbed into the front passenger seat.

The vehicle sped away, gravel spitting behind its tires.

Inside, the world shrank to the faint beep of Aria’s vitals, the warmth of her cheek against Luca’s chest, and the growing dread curling tightly in the air.

The drive to the emergency estate took fifteen minutes. During those fifteen minutes, Aria’s condition oscillated like a candle flame in a storm. Her breathing would strengthen, then weaken again. Her fingers would curl around Luca’s coat, then fall limp. Her lips would move, forming silent shapes, as if her body were caught between two places. Her eyes remained closed.

But the worst part was the silence.

The silence growing inside her.

Luca recognized it.

It was the same silence he heard before men died.

The car jerked around a curve, and Rosetta gasped softly as Aria’s head rolled against Luca’s shoulder. "Her breathing is slowing again."

The doctor checked the monitor, cursing under his breath. "She is slipping further into syncope. Her body cannot sustain this."

Luca leaned closer, his lips brushing her forehead. "Aria. Listen to me. I am right here. You breathe with me. Match me."

Her eyelashes twitched.

The doctor looked up sharply. "Talk to her. Her neural activity spikes when she hears you."

Luca smoothed her hair back with trembling fingers. "You are not leaving. You promised you would not leave. And I promised you would never fight alone. I am holding you. Do you feel that. I am holding you. You stay with me."

Her lips parted.

A faint breath escaped.

Then another.

A weak voice formed, barely audible. "Luca."

The doctor’s eyes widened. "Her vitals are stabilizing."

Rosetta squeezed Aria’s hand with tears in her eyes. "Cara mia, keep going."

But just as the hope flickered alive, a wave of cold rushed through the SUV.

The baby kicked so violently Aria’s entire body lurched.

The monitor spiked.

Aria gasped, eyes snapping open. White light flickered behind her irises for a single second.

Then her voice whispered, raw and terrified. "He is close."

The lights inside the SUV flickered.

The engine sputtered for half a second.

The doctor grabbed the equipment to steady it. "This interference again. It is the same pattern as before."

"No," Aria whispered, turning her face into Luca’s chest. "It is worse. He is growing stronger."

Luca tightened his hold. "He will not touch you."

Aria pressed her forehead against him. "He is angry. He is not used to being denied."

The wind outside roared against the vehicle windows, slamming into the side like a physical blow.

Rosetta screamed. "We are not alone."

The SUV skidded slightly as the driver fought the wheel. Nico cursed from the front seat. "I have movement on the thermal scanner. But I cannot identify what it is."

The doctor’s hand trembled. "Something is following us."

Aria’s breath hitched. "He is here."

The wind intensified again, swirling around the vehicle in a tight spiral. Leaves lifted from the trees, twisting into the air as though pulled by invisible hands.

Luca pressed his forehead to Aria’s. "Look at me."

Her eyes lifted weakly.

"You stay awake," he whispered. "You do not give him what he wants."

Her chest rose in a trembling breath. "I am trying."

"You are the strongest woman I have ever met," Luca said quietly. "Do not stop now."

Her lips quivered before forming two soft syllables.

"I won’t."

The attack outside suddenly stopped.

The wind fell silent.

Nico swore under his breath. "That is not good. He is waiting for something."

Rosetta clung to the rosary harder. "For what."

The answer came a moment later.

Not spoken.

Felt.

A pull inside Aria’s body so sharp she curled into Luca’s chest with a cry, her hands scrabbling at his shirt. The baby kicked again, frantic, desperate.

Luca wrapped his arms around her. "I have you. Stay with me. Stay with me."

Aria gasped. "He wants her."

The SUV door slammed from the outside, even though no one touched it.

The windows fogged instantly.

Not with condensation.

With spiraling symbols.

Drawn in perfect circles. Layer after layer.

Rosetta screamed. The doctor ducked, shielding his equipment. Nico raised his gun toward the rear window, even though nothing was visible on the other side of the glass.

Aria’s voice cracked. "He is claiming her."

Luca’s heart turned to stone.

"No," he growled, pressing his mouth to her ear. "She is mine. You are mine. Nothing touches either of you."

Aria’s body trembled violently as the pull sharpened. "Luca... he is trying to separate us."

The wind roared.

The symbols vanished.

The trees on both sides of the road bent inward as if bowing.

Then, ahead of them, the road shifted.

Fog crawled across the asphalt, thick and unnatural, forming a shape.

A long shadow.

Tall.

Motionless.

Waiting.

The SUV screeched to a halt.

Nico shouted, "Do not open the doors."

The shadow stood at the front of the headlights, unmoving. The fog curled around its feet like living smoke. A cold presence seeped into the air.

Aria’s breath stopped.

Her fingers tightened around Luca’s hand with unnatural strength.

"He is here," she whispered, voice shaking.

"He is here in the flesh."

Silence dropped like a stone inside the SUV.

Not a single person dared breathe.

The shadow began to walk forward.

Not floating.

Not drifting.

Walking.

One solid step after another.

The earth beneath his feet cracked lightly with each movement. The fog curled around his legs. The headlights flickered as if shrinking back from him.

Rosetta whispered a prayer through shaking lips.

The doctor pressed himself back against the seat.

Nico pointed his gun through the windshield, but the weapon trembled in his hand.

The figure stopped five steps from the SUV.

And the fog peeled back from his face.

He looked like a man.

But his eyes were not human.

They shimmered gold and black, swirling slowly like molten metal. His skin looked ageless. His clothing did not belong to any era Luca recognized. His expression lacked emotion, yet carried the weight of centuries.

He raised one hand.

Not in greeting.

In claim.

Aria gasped and curled against Luca.

Luca held her tighter, meeting the man’s gaze with cold, murderous fury.

The figure tilted his head.

When he spoke, his voice echoed both outside and inside the SUV.

"Bring me the child."

Luca’s voice was ice. "Over my dead body."

The Patron’s eyes narrowed with a faint flicker of annoyance. "That is easily arranged."

Aria screamed as the baby kicked again, harder than before, pain shooting through her body like fire.

The Patron took another step forward.

Luca reached for his gun.

Rosetta cried out.

Nico steadied his aim.

The doctor yelled for the driver to reverse.

And then, all at once, Aria’s body arched in Luca’s arms, a blinding white light exploding from her chest, blasting through the windows of the SUV like a flash of lightning.

The Patron staggered backward.

The fog tore apart.

The earth shook.

Aria collapsed, the light extinguished as quickly as it appeared.

Luca caught her and screamed her name.

Her pulse flickered.

Her eyes rolled back.

She whispered one final sentence before slipping into unconsciousness.

"He found us."