Chapter 93: The Great Reveal
Luca with one swift motion, he flung the door wide.
The hallway beyond was empty.
No shadows, No wrinkled woman, Only cold air pressing against them like the breath of a grave.
But Alessia knew, she knew that something had been there.
The air was thick, wrong, heavy with the residue of something that didn’t belong to the world of the living.
Her knees weakened. Luca’s arm was around her instantly, pulling her against him, steadying her before she collapsed.
"I told you," he murmured against her ear, voice sharp with defiance though his eyes swept the shadows with caution. "No one touches you."
But as he closed the door again, Alessia’s whisper broke through his certainty.
"She touched me, Luca. Inside the dream. And then here. She called me queen."
"She also lay beside me and tricking me to be hallucinating and I wasn’t,,, what did she want "... Alessia said with in her soft calm tone.
The words silenced him.
For a moment, the mafia’s heir, the man who commanded armies, who bent men with a single look stared at her with something close to fear.
And Alessia realized he didn’t doubt her, not for a second.
Whatever haunted her, Luca believed it was real.
****
They didn’t sleep again.
Luca kept her wrapped against his chest, his gun close at hand, his heartbeat steady beneath her ear as though daring the world to strike again.
But Alessia’s eyes refused to close.
Every time she blinked, she saw the wrinkled woman, smiling, whispering, promising power that tasted like ash.
And beneath it all, a whisper crawled through her mind.
Not from the door, not from the dream, but from herself.
You are not only Alessia. You are more....
She buried her face against Luca’s chest, gripping him tighter, as if his warmth could drown out the voice.
The morning came too quickly.
Sunlight spilled across the room, chasing away the shadows, but Alessia’s fear clung like frost to her bones.
Luca was already awake, his hand stroking her hair, his eyes studying her with a softness that warred against the steel in him.
"My woman," he murmured, his voice low and hoarse. "Look at me."
She lifted her gaze, her lashes wet, her lips parted on a trembling breath.
"Last night..." Her voice faltered. "...you believe me, don’t you?"
His smiled at her sweetly.
"I believe you."
The words hit her like both comfort and curse.
"Then what is happening to me?" she whispered.
Luca’s hand cupped her cheek, his thumb brushing her skin with devastating tenderness.
"You are being hunted, amore. Not by bullets, Not by knives, but by something darker. They want to break you. But I swear to you, before they touch even a strand of your hair, I will burn this world to the ground."
His lips met hers then, fierce, claiming, the kiss a vow sealed in fire.
She clung to him, kissing back with desperate hunger, as if she could press all her fear, all her love, all her trembling soul into that moment.
And yet, even as her heart melted into him, the whisper returned in the back of her mind.
"Queen"...Her blood chilled.
*********
The morning after the haunting felt nothing like dawn.
It felt like aftermath.
The Morano estate was quieter than usual, the kind of silence that crawled beneath the skin and whispered that something unseen had been disturbed.
Alessia stood by the window, one hand pressed to her abdomen.
Her reflection stared back at her pale, trembling, uncertain whether she was still herself or something else wearing her skin.
Luca entered silently, shirt half-unbuttoned, his gun holstered but still within reach.
His face bore exhaustion, yet his eyes burned with the same fierce devotion that terrified her and comforted her all at once.
"You haven’t eaten," he said, voice low but firm.
She didn’t turn. "I can’t keep anything down."
He paused behind her, studying her reflection. "Because of last night... or because of our unborn child in you?"
Her lips parted, the air between them thickening.
"I don’t know," she whispered. "But, Luca... it’s not normal. The doctor said everything looked fine, but.... "
"But what?" he asked.
Her fingers trembled over her belly. "Sometimes I feel it moving too soon. And when I do... I hear things. Voices. It’s like the heartbeat isn’t just mine."
Luca’s jaw clenched. He moved closer, wrapping his arms around her waist from behind, resting a hand over hers. "You are frightened," he said, voice deep, steady, commanding the chaos. "That’s all it is."
She turned in his arms, her eyes wide with fear that defied logic. "No, Luca.
The voice that called my name last night... I heard it again. But it wasn’t calling me anymore."
His brows furrowed. "Then who...?"
Every instinct in him the trained killer, the protector, the man locked into silence.
But she wasn’t finished.
"It said... the red moon child is awakening."
Luca’s pulse thundered. He cupped her face gently but firmly, forcing her to meet his eyes. "Listen to me, amore. There’s no such thing. They are trying to get into your head."
Her eyes shimmered with tears. "But what if it’s real? What if the thing haunting me isn’t outside, Luca, it’s inside?"
He gripped her tighter, his voice rough and low. "Then we will face it together. Do you understand? You don’t fight this alone. You don’t breathe without me beside you."
Alessia nodded weakly, but her gaze drifted back to the window, where the moon still hung faintly pale in the morning sky.
Somewhere out there, she could feel it, the same pulse she felt inside her womb.
And though she didn’t understand how, she knew the two were connected.
********
Far across the sea , River Sile, vennth Realm.
The forest had grown colder since dusk.
Donato,Princess elowen, and Jackson moved slowly along the riverbank, their boots sinking into the damp earth.
The sound of the water was steady, hypnotic but beneath it, something darker hummed.
Princess elowen kept glancing behind them. "The Atlans haven’t returned," she murmured, "but something still follows."
Donato said nothing. His eyes were locked on the water , the dark stretch of river that glimmered faintly under the red-hued light filtering through the trees.
Jackson stumbled, catching his breath. "You both see that, right? The water it’s glowing."
It was faint, but undeniable. Threads of crimson light pulsed beneath the surface, like veins beneath the skin of something alive.
Princess elowen’s eyes widened. "It’s responding to something."
Donato stepped closer, the wind brushing his hair back.
The black book was still hidden beneath the water, unreachable yet it called to him, a low thrumming that echoed in his chest like a heartbeat not his own.
He knelt, pressing a palm to the river’s surface.
The cold seared his skin, but the pulse grew stronger.
In his mind, a whisper surfaced.
"Blood answers to blood..."
He flinched, jerking his hand away. Jackson rushed to him, eyes wide. "Donato, What is it?"
Donato’s breath came heavy. "It’s her voice," he said, almost in disbelief. "Alessia’s."
Princess elowen frowned, stepping closer. "That’s impossible."
He turned to her, eyes burning. "No. You don’t understand. Were connected, my bloodline, hers. The Morano power... it flows through us both. The black book knows it. It’s calling because of her."
Elowen’s lips parted in realization. "Then the book won’t appear until the one who carries that blood awakens her true form."
Donato’s chest tightened.
He looked toward the distant horizon where the moon was just beginning to fade into daylight. "Then it means... Alessia is changing."
********
In the Morano estate.
Alessia sat on the edge of the bed, hands folded tightly.
The doctor had come again, nervous and pale as he placed a stethoscope over her belly.
He froze.
"What?" Luca demanded.
The doctor hesitated. "Her heartbeat is normal. But there’s... another rhythm overlapping it. Not quite human, not quite fetal. It’s... resonant."
Luca’s hand tightened around the edge of the table. "Resonant?"
The doctor nodded shakily. "It’s like... two heartbeats trying to synchronize. I have never heard anything like it."
Alessia closed her eyes, whispering. "It’s not two. It’s one heartbeat trying to remember itself."
The room fell silent.
When the doctor left, Luca sat beside her, the weight of everything pressing down.
He brushed her hair back, pressing his lips to her temple. "Tell me what you feel right now."
She hesitated. "Alive. And dying. Both at once."
His breath caught.
Then she added quietly, "Luca, when you touched me this morning, I saw something. A city burning under a red moon. People kneeling... chanting my name."
He rose abruptly, pacing, jaw tight. "No, No, this ends now."
She blinked. "What are you doing?"
"I’m calling Princess elowen," he snapped, grabbing his phone. "i had been calling to hear from her and my brother but all to no avail "... He brought out his phone but when he dialed, there was no connection.
Static hissed, then a voice, faint, distorted, like a recording from another realm.
The Doctor entered the room with a result and a smile across his mouth.
"Congratulations again the Lucas, she’s pregnant with the set of twins ".
Luca felt relived and smile in return.
He peck Alessia on the cheek, he held her hands and whispered, "we are in the together my Amore..."
Alessia hugged him, passionately.
******
In Vinneth, River Sile.
The water began to churn violently.
Jackson stumbled back as the crimson light flared, staining the sky in blood tones.
"Donato... " Elowen cried. "Step away please...."
But he didn’t. He was drawn, like gravity itself had chosen him.
From the heart of the river, the black book slowly began to rise still submerged in a sphere of water that refused to break.
Its surface bled with light, pages fluttering though no wind touched them.
Donato’s eyes widened. "It’s awake."
Princess elowen grabbed his arm. "No it’s testing you. If you touch it before it chooses, it will consume you"
Donato looked down at his hand, blood dripping from his palm where he had touched the water.
"It’s gone," he whispered. "But not lost."
"Then where.... "
He turned slowly, voice hollow. "Maybe it found its way home...... "