CHAPTER XIII
Her Name Was Aurora
The moment she uttered her name — Aurora — it was like a fuse inside me had been lit.
Something about that name… it burned.
Like acid against old wounds I had buried too deep to heal.
My mind screamed, and for a split second, I slipped into an illusion so visceral, it felt real — I imagined raising the gun, pulling the trigger, and watching her fall with a cry of pain. I saw the blood bloom beneath her, the expression of betrayal on her face.
But then…
Reality shattered the illusion like glass beneath my feet.
I hadn't pulled the trigger.
Someone else had shot her.
And in a strange twist of fate, I was the one who had to save her.
---
I dragged her bloodied body into the car, her weight unfamiliar yet eerily light — as if she wasn't real, as if she was still part of that illusion. We reached the hospital in time, just barely. The white lights of the emergency room flickered above me like interrogation lamps, as if they knew what I had just imagined doing.
The doctors worked swiftly.
I stood in the hallway, pacing, heart hammering in confusion, rage… guilt?
And then the announcement came:
"She's regained consciousness."
I should have left. I wanted to leave.
But I couldn't.
Too many officers were around.
Too many eyes watching.
And something else held me back.
Something… irrational.
---
When I entered her room, I stopped at the threshold.
She looked… delicate.
Not like the fierce, sharp woman I had exchanged fire with.
Not like the threat I had imagined.
Her face was calm now.
Smooth, almost serene — flushed pink cheeks, rose-tinted lips, slightly parted as she breathed.
She looked like a painting.
No, a weapon disguised as one.
And I hated how perfect she looked.
Because I couldn't afford to feel anything.
I moved closer and gently touched her hand.
"Are you okay now?" I asked.
She opened her eyes, those eyes the color of midnight rain, and gave a faint smile.
"I thought you would've run off by now," she whispered, her voice like velvet soaked in quiet suspicion. "Why are you still here?"
I paused, the answer on my tongue, honest and bitter.
"You."
A spark lit in her eyes — curiosity, mischief, danger.
"Oh, don't tell me," she said with a soft laugh, "You've fallen for me, haven't you? The moment you saw me lying there — bleeding, fragile — something stirred inside you?"
I scoffed, stepping back slightly, trying to protect myself with sarcasm.
"I didn't say anything like that. And I haven't fallen for you. I'm not that reckless. I only stayed because, as one human to another… I thought it was the decent thing to do."
She raised an eyebrow, clearly not buying it.
But her next words held more weight.
"If we ever meet again," she said slowly, voice low and thick like honey laced with poison, "you won't be able to walk away from me."
There was no malice in her tone.
Only certainty.
I swallowed hard, feeling her words slip under my skin like a warning.
"Fine," I said. "Let's see."
I turned toward the door, the back of my neck tingling with tension. Before I could leave, I glanced over my shoulder.
"There are people waiting for you outside. People who actually care. Let them take care of you now."
And with that, I left.
But her name kept echoing in my mind — Aurora.
A name I would never forget.
A name that would follow me like a shadow in every step I took.
A name that, somehow…
felt like the beginning of the end.
The Invitation from Black Mark
After the storm that had been Aurora's hospital visit, I stepped out only to be met by Jenny and Malti. Their faces were drawn, serious — no trace of their usual sarcasm or ease. Something had shifted.
"Nexa," Jenny said, stepping forward. "He's summoned you."
I didn't need to ask who.
My heart already knew.
Black Mark.
The very name felt like a shadow brushing against my spine. He wasn't just my employer — he was the architect of a hundred nightmares, the kind of power you didn't serve out of loyalty, but out of fear and necessity.
He never called anyone unless he had a reason.
And today, I was the reason.
"I'll go," I said quietly, no emotion in my voice — but my mind was screaming. This wasn't just a meeting. This was a descent into the mouth of hell.
I prepared the only offering I had — the severed head of a wealthy businessman whose betrayal had cost us millions. It was still fresh. Still dripping. A symbol of obedience. Of usefulness. Of fearlessness.
Black Mark didn't value words.
He valued proof.
Sliding the cold, rune-etched bracelet onto my wrist — a gift from Black Mark himself — I closed my eyes.
The world around me twisted.
Darkness rippled through the air, and a bitter wind howled in my ears. Within seconds, I was no longer in my world.
I was in his.
---
The atmosphere was suffocating. The skies here bled crimson. The air crackled like broken glass, and the ground beneath my boots was made of something that felt like ash and bone.
Around me stood creatures that shouldn't exist — jagged, monstrous things with twisted forms, glowing eyes, and snarls that vibrated through the air. Soldiers, guards, abominations — all of them loyal to one entity alone.
Him.
I walked through them without flinching.
Fear was weakness here.
And weakness was death.
I climbed a long stairway of black stone toward the throne chamber — a vast, towering hall carved out of living rock and flame. At the end of it sat the ruler of this infernal realm.
Black Mark.
He sat elevated on a throne of skulls and scorched metal, draped in shadow. I couldn't see his face — I never had — but his eyes… they blazed like molten gold, alive with ancient fury and endless desire.
He leaned forward slowly, voice like thunder restrained in velvet.
"Nexa," he drawled, the sound of my name like a brand against my skin. "Tell me… how goes your mission?"
I knelt, lowering my head. "I've made contact," I said. "But… bringing her here won't be easy."
His silence felt heavier than a scream.
"She can only enter your realm by her own will. And leaving?" I dared to look up. "Only if you allow it. That makes this place… a cage. And she is not someone who walks willingly into one."
There was a low rumble, a sound that might have been a laugh — or the growl of something far older than time.
"You like her, don't you?" he asked softly.
My heart skipped.
"You find her beautiful. Pure. Soft," he continued, his eyes narrowing. "That makes you weak."
"I serve you," I replied quickly. "My loyalty hasn't changed."
He leaned back into the shadows. "Good. Because I… like her too. More than you realize."
His voice turned lower, more intimate, as though he were whispering a secret to the dark.
"If I had a body, I'd claim her myself. I would show her what it means to belong to me. But I do not — not yet. I am trapped here, bound by limits even you can't see. But you, Nexa… you are free. Flesh and soul. You have a heart and a face. Use them."
I swallowed hard, a lump forming in my throat.
"You want me to seduce her," I said. "To make her fall for me."
"I want you to make her yours," Black Mark replied. "So she can become mine."
My chest felt tight. I nodded slowly.
"It will be done."
He smiled, barely visible in the shadows. "Good. Because once she's here, she will never leave."
---
As I walked back through the crimson winds and shadow-soaked paths, my thoughts churned. I was caught between two impossible truths.
One: I had made a deal with the devil.
Two: I was beginning to wonder… if I wanted to save her from him, or if I wanted her for myself.
To be continue....