Chapter 3 The Man Behind the Blood

Aria's POV

The door rattled again-harder this time.

My breath hitched as I gazed at him. His face transformed instantaneously. The ache didn't disappear, but something colder slid its place. Sharper. Deadlier. The man beside me wasn't just injured anymore-he was ready.

"Stay behind me," he murmured gently.

The command wasn't loud, but it wasn't a request either.

I nodded, heart thumping, leaning myself against the wall as he reached inside his coat. The glitter of metal made my stomach drop. A gun. My palms trembled as reality struck in-I wasn't hiding with a stranger. I was hiding with a man who knew how to murder.

The door blasted open.

A person raced in, shadowy, swift. The roar that followed was deafening. I yelled, clamping my hands over my lips as the man in front of me moved like a force of nature. Precise. Efficient. Terrifying.

It was over in seconds.

Silence fell, thick and stifling.

My knees buckled, but he held me before I struck the ground. His arms closed around me, firm and powerful, holding me upright like he was the only thing keeping me together.

"Look at me," he murmured softly.

I did-and flinched. There was blood on his hands. Not all of it his.

"I'm sorry you saw that," he mumbled, voice scratchy. "You weren't meant to."

My throat stung. "Who... who are you?" I whispered.

For a minute, he didn't answer. His stare probed my face like he was memorizing me, like this moment mattered more than it should. Then his forehead lay against mine, breath unsteady.

"My name is Dante," he said. "And if you stay with me tonight... your life won't ever be the same."

Fear twisted in my chest. So did something else-something frightening, hurting, obvious.

Sirens sounded in the distance.

His jaw stiffened. "We have to go. Now."

He grasped my hand again, fingers lacing with mine, grounding me. I should have pulled away. I should have run.

Instead, I followed him.

We snuck out the back into the night, the city unknowing that my universe had just ripped apart. As we reached a waiting black sedan, he hesitated, turning to me one more time.

"There's something you need to know," he added quietly.

"What?" I asked.

His eyes clouded. "They didn't come for me."

My heart stopped.

"They came for you."