Chapter 10 The Shadow Inside the Skin

"What if I told you I'm not afraid to die?"

Selene's voice was calm as she pulled the straps of her black dress tighter.

They were heading to a masquerade gala-something lavish, ridiculous, and perfect for Allegra's next strike.

Dante, buttoning his sleeves, didn't look up. "Then I'd say you're finally beginning to understand what this world really is."

She watched him through the mirror. Every motion of his was precise. Controlled. Beautiful in the way thunder is beautiful-right before it shatters your world.

He stepped behind her, his inked fingers sliding around her waist.

"You'll be surrounded tonight. Everyone in that ballroom either wants you dead, destroyed, or married for your name."

She smirked. "Sounds like a family reunion."

---

Elsewhere.

In a concrete basement beneath a luxury hotel, Allegra Castille lit a candle.

The room was circular. Cold. Windowless.

Six men in suits stood in silence. Beside her, Daniel-her personal surgeon and head of research-opened a metal crate.

Inside lay a girl. Pale as a ghost. Breathing but motionless.

Hair like Selene's. Skin flawless. Veins glowing faintly blue beneath the surface.

Subject V.

Not a clone. Not exactly.

A living embodiment of Selene's rage. Built from stolen DNA, accelerated growth, and neurological mirroring.

"She's ready," Daniel said.

Allegra smiled. "Then tonight, Selene gets to meet the part of herself she buried."

---

At the gala.

The chandeliers glittered like a thousand promises waiting to break.

Selene walked in on Dante's arm, dressed in black velvet and blood-red heels. Her mask was lace and delicate-but her eyes were steel.

Whispers followed them.

"That's the Castille girl..."

"Isn't she dead?"

"Who's the man?"

"Dante Moretti. The Devil of Verona."

The music swelled.

Champagne flowed.

And somewhere among the guests... Subject V moved.

---

Selene paused by the balcony. Her chest felt tight.

Dante slid behind her. "Something's wrong?"

"I don't know. It's like something inside me is... humming. Like static under my skin."

He studied her face, then leaned in. "If anything happens tonight, stay near me."

Before she could answer, someone clinked a glass.

Allegra.

Dressed in gold.

Grinning like a queen who knows her trap has already sprung.

"My beloved sister," Allegra purred into the mic, "has returned from the grave. Isn't she radiant?"

Selene froze.

Allegra lifted a hand.

"And tonight, we welcome a... new member of the family."

---

Then the lights flickered.

Guests murmured. Waiters turned.

From the center of the ballroom, a girl stepped forward.

She looked exactly like Selene.

Except her eyes... were entirely black.

And when she smiled, her teeth were wrong.

Dante reached for his gun.

Too late.

Subject V moved faster than any human.

One twist-she snapped a guard's neck.

A second step-she launched into the air and landed in front of Selene.

Face to face.

Mirror to monster.

"I am what you were supposed to become."

Selene stumbled back.

Dante shot twice-one in the chest, one in the leg.

V didn't bleed.

She laughed.

Guests screamed, scrambling for exits.

V lunged.

But Selene grabbed her-an instinct she didn't understand.

"Don't," she whispered. "Please-"

V flinched.

And for a second... she looked scared.

---

Dante dragged Selene out as Cain, masked and armed, led backup in.

Allegra disappeared into the chaos.

Sirens began to wail.

The building was burning.

And Selene was shaking in Dante's arms.

---

An hour later.

They stood in the safehouse.

Selene curled up on a couch, staring at her own hands.

"She looked like me," she whispered.

"She was built to be you," Dante said. "The perfect assassin. Emotionless. Obedient. Beautiful. Deadly."

Selene looked up. "So... what does that make me?"

He knelt in front of her.

"Tainted," he said. "But real. You feel things she never will. You cry. You bleed. You laugh at the wrong jokes. That's why you're dangerous."

He brushed a strand of hair from her face.

"That's why I'm in love with you."

Her breath caught.

"You don't say things like that."

"I do when it's already killing me."

---

He kissed her.

Soft.

Then rough.

She responded like she was starved.

Clothes fell. Breath tangled. Their bodies met like fire and ice.

And when she rode him, her hands pressed to his chest, Dante whispered, "You're not broken, Selene. You're blooming."

She cried as she came-because something inside her had cracked...

And the darkness didn't own her anymore.

---

Elsewhere.

Subject V sat in a glass cage.

Allegra stood outside, watching.

"She hesitated," Daniel said. "She felt."

Allegra turned cold.

"Then we'll burn that part out of her."