The footsteps echoed closer, sharp and deliberate. Aria’s breath caught as the cell door’s lock rattled again. Damien straightened, chains clinking, every muscle in his body going taut.

“Stay behind me,” he murmured.

She almost laughed at the absurdity were shackled, they were trapped, and yet the way he said it made her step closer to him instinctively.

The door swung open.

A man filled the frametall, broad-shouldered, dressed in dark clothes that looked too expensive for a guard. His hair was streaked with gray at the temples, his face rugged, scarred, but his eyes

They were the same stormy gray as Damien’s.

Aria’s pulse stuttered. “Oh my God”

Damien didn’t move. His jaw clenched, but his voice was calm, flat. “I thought you were dead.”

The man’s lips curved into a thin smile. “You’re not the only one with nine lives, boy.”

Aria looked between them, confusion knotting in her chest. “Whowho is he?”

Damien’s voice dropped, each word weighted. “My uncle.”

The man stepped into the room, the guards outside retreating as if his presence alone was enough authority. He shut the door behind him, sealing them in.

“I told them I’d handle you,” the man said smoothly, his eyes flicking to Aria. “And her.”

Aria stiffened under his gaze. There was something colder about him than even the Council leader. He looked at her like she was a problem to be solved.

Damien’s chains rattled as he shifted. “Why are you here, Marcus?”

Marcus Blackwood smiled faintly. “To give you a chance. One you don’t deserve.”

Aria frowned. “A chance at what?”

Marcus’s gaze returned to her. “Survival. Though it depends on how much you’re worth to him.”

She bristled. “I’m not a bargaining chip.”

Marcus chuckled. “Everyone’s a bargaining chip in this game, darling. Some are just more valuable than others.”

Damien’s voice cut through. “Get to the point.”

Marcus’s smile faded. “The Council wants you dead, Damien. That hasn’t changed. But some of us think killing you outright wastes potential. You could be useful.”

Damien scoffed. “Useful? To the same people who slaughtered my father?”

Aria’s chest tightened at the reminder. Marcus didn’t flinch.

“Your father was reckless,” Marcus said evenly. “You’re smarter. And if you play their game, maybe just maybe you and your little bartender here walk out alive.”

Aria’s fists clenched. “Stop talking about me like I’m not in the room.”

Marcus studied her, head tilting. “She’s fiery. I see why you’re keeping her close.” His gaze sharpened. “But fire burns, Damien. And sooner or later, it consumes.”

Damien’s chains scraped against the table as he leaned forward. “If you so much as touch her”

Marcus raised a hand lazily. “Relax. I didn’t come here to harm her. Yet. I came to warn you.”

“Warn me?” Damien asked, voice laced with disdain.

“Yes.” Marcus stepped closer, lowering his voice. “The Council doesn’t just want obedience this time. They want blood. They want to use her to make you bend. And Vivienne” His eyes flickered with something dark. “Vivienne is circling like a vulture. She won’t wait for their permission.”

Aria’s throat tightened. “So whatyou expect us to trust you?”

Marcus smiled thinly. “Trust me? No. But understand this, girl: between Vivienne, the Council, and Damien’s ghosts, you won’t survive a week unless you choose your side carefully.”

Her pulse raced. “My side?”

“Yes.” Marcus’s gaze lingered on her, sharp as a blade. “The Blackwood curse isn’t that they die. It’s that everyone around them does.”

The words hung heavy in the cell.

Aria turned to Damien, searching his face. He didn’t deny it.

“Time’s short,” Marcus said briskly, stepping back. “At dawn, the Council will call you again. You’ll be forced to choose exile, war, or death. And she,” he jerked his chin toward Aria, “is the key.”

Damien’s voice was low, dangerous. “If you think I’ll sacrifice her”

“Then you’ll lose everything,” Marcus interrupted. His hand lingered on the door handle. “I’ll be watching. Don’t disappoint me, boy.”

The door clicked shut behind him, leaving silence that pressed against Aria’s chest like a weight.

She turned on Damien, her voice breaking. “What did he mean? The Blackwood curse? Everyone around you dies? Tell me it’s not true.”

Damien’s jaw clenched, but his silence screamed louder than words.

Aria’s throat tightened. “You should’ve left me at the bar.”

He finally looked at her, his eyes burning with something raw, almost desperate. “And if I had? You’d already be dead.”

Her heart lurched, caught between terror and something else she couldn’t name.

Outside the cell, muffled voices roseVivienne’s among them. And then the sound of keys turning in the lock

The metallic scrape of keys turning in the lock cut through the silence, sharp and final. Aria’s pulse spiked, her chest tightening with dread. She glanced at Damien, but he was already standing taller, his posture shifting, every line of him braced for a fight despite the chains.

The door swung open.

Vivienne stepped inside with the casual grace of a predator. She was draped in crimson silk, her heels clicking against the concrete floor as if this cell were her runway. Behind her, two guards hovered, their faces impassive, their presence suffocating.

“Well,” she purred, eyes sweeping the room before landing on Damien, “isn’t this cozy?”

Aria’s stomach turned. The woman’s beauty was knife-sharp, her confidence dangerous. Every movement screamed control, but her eyes were cold, glitteringburned with something more.

“Vivienne,” Damien said flatly, his voice void of warmth.

She smiled, slow and knowing. “You still say my name like it’s poison. And yet here you are, chained at my mercy.”

“Your mercy?” He scoffed. “Don’t flatter yourself.”

Her gaze flickered to Aria then, deliberate, lingering. “And this must be the little bartender everyone’s whispering about.”

Aria stiffened. “I’m not little. And I’m not your concern.”

Vivienne’s smile widened, predatory. “Oh, darling, you’re my only concern.” She took a step closer, ignoring Damien’s restrained lunge. “Do you have any idea the danger you’re in? Or has Damien been keeping his dirty secrets locked away like always?”

“Leave her out of this,” Damien growled, chains rattling as he moved in front of Aria.

But Vivienne only tilted her head, her expression shifting from amusement to something darker. “You can’t shield her from the truth. She deserves to know what you are.”

Aria’s voice cracked, fear warring with fury. “Then tell me. Because no one else will.”

The words hung in the stale air. Damien stiffened, but Vivienne’s smile turned triumphant.

“Oh, sweetheart,” she murmured, her tone dripping venom, “he’s not your savior. He’s a Blackwood. And Blackwoods don’t love. They destroy.”

The sentence sliced through Aria’s chest. She glanced at Damien, searching his face, desperate for denial, but his silence was louder than any answer.

Vivienne saw it, and her smile sharpened. “See? Even now, he can’t say otherwise.” She circled him slowly, her fingers brushing the cold metal of his chains. “You should thank me, Aria. I’m saving you from the same fate as the others.”

Aria’s heart stuttered. The others?

“What others?” she whispered.

Vivienne’s eyes gleamed. “Ask him.”

Aria’s throat tightened. She turned to Damien, her voice trembling. “Damien, what is she talking about?”

He didn’t move, didn’t speak. His silence was a wall, unbreakable.

Vivienne laughed softly. “Oh, how delicious. He can’t protect you from me, from the truth, from himself.” She leaned in close, her lips near Damien’s ear. “You’ll lose her just like you lost the rest.”

Damien’s head snapped up, his voice lethal. “Get out.”

Vivienne only smiled, her crimson lips curving like blood. “At dawn, the Council will demand your answer. And when you fail to give them what they want” Her eyes slid to Aria, sharp as daggers. “I’ll be here to pick up the pieces.”

She stepped back, motioned for the guards, and swept from the room, her perfume lingering like smoke.

The cell door slammed shut again, leaving silence in her wake.

Aria’s chest heaved, her hands trembling. “Damien,” she whispered, her voice breaking. “What did she mean? Who are the others?”

For the first time since she’d met him, Damien didn’t look invincible. He looked haunted.

: He finally lifted his gaze to hers and whispered, almost broken“They were the ones I tried to love.”