CHAPTER 15— His Past Comes for Her
814 Words
The storm hadn’t stopped all night. It beat against the Blackwood mansion like a warning—one Kaela could feel deep in her ribs.
She woke with a jolt.
Not because of lightning.
Not because of a nightmare.
But because someone was standing at her door.
Her breath froze.
A tall figure. Unmoving. Silent.
For a split second, she thought—
The Shadow.
Her heart hammered. “V-Vionn?”
The silhouette stepped forward, and the moment his face caught the dim light, she exhaled in a shaky rush.
It was him.
But something was wrong.
His hair was disheveled, his eyes bloodshot, his shirt half-open, breathing sharp like he’d run miles.
“Vionn… what happened?”
He didn’t answer at first.
He just stared at her like he was seeing a ghost. Or like he was losing the last thread holding him together.
Finally, he whispered, voice cracked:
“He… he was here.”
Kaela blinked. “Who?”
Vionn lifted his eyes to hers.
“The same monster who took Adriana.”
The air turned to ice.
Kaela’s chest tightened. “Vionn… no. That’s impossible. Adriana’s death—”
“WASN’T AN ACCIDENT!”
His voice broke, raw, violent, terrified all at once.
She jerked, startled.
Vionn dragged a hand through his hair, pacing like a man possessed.
“He left a message, Kaela,” Vionn whispered. “On your window.”
Kaela froze. “Wh-what?”
Vionn stepped aside so she could see the fogged glass behind him—words traced with a fingertip.
“She screamed too.
Can you?”
Kaela’s blood turned cold.
Vionn grabbed her arms, almost too tight. “This is why you can’t leave me alone. Why I can’t—god, I can’t risk losing you too.”
She swallowed hard. “Vionn… look at me. You’re shaking.”
He was. His entire body trembled.
Not from fear alone—
From the memory of a loss that had never stopped bleeding.
Kaela touched his cheek gently. “Hey… I’m here. I’m alive. I promise.”
His jaw clenched, eyes dark and pained. “He wants you because of me. Because Adriana wasn’t enough.”
“Enough… for what?” Kaela whispered.
That stopped him.
For a long moment, he didn’t speak.
Then—
“He hunts the women I love.”
Kaela’s breath hitched. “Vionn—”
“No. Listen.”
His voice dropped to a broken whisper.
“He likes taking what I can’t protect.”
He shut his eyes, like saying it stabbed him.
“I don’t deserve to care about you. I know I don’t. But the thought of you disappearing like she did—”
His voice cracked violently.
“Kaela, it’s the only thing that terrifies me.”
Her chest squeezed painfully.
This wasn’t the cold, controlled Vionn she knew.
This was the man beneath the steel—
Bleeding fear.
Bleeding guilt.
Bleeding for her.
Kaela stepped closer, placing her hands over his.
“Then let me help. Don’t shut me out.”
He jerked back slightly, breath sharp. “I can’t. If you know everything—”
“Vionn—”
“YOU WILL HATE ME.”
The words were ripped straight from his core.
Kaela’s voice softened. “Then tell me anyway.”
He opened his eyes.
Dark. Haunted. Unmasking everything he fought so hard to hide.
Finally, he spoke.
“The night Adriana was taken… it wasn’t just her.”
A beat.
A shiver.
“He came for me too.”
Kaela’s heart dropped.
“What… what do you mean?”
Vionn swallowed, throat tight.
“The Shadow wasn’t after her. She just… got in the way. The real target was me. Always has been.”
Her fingertips went cold. “Why you?”
His jaw tightened.
Muscles ticking.
Eyes filled with something she couldn’t read.
“I belong to the Blackwood bloodline, Kaela. The curse that hunts us… hunts the ones we care for. My family hid it. Lied about it. But Adriana—”
His voice broke completely.
“Her death was a warning.”
Kaela stared at him, breath gone.
“And now?” she whispered.
His answer was immediate, visceral, desperate.
“Now he wants you.”
Her pulse thundered.
Vionn stepped closer, gripping her waist like she might vanish. His forehead pressed to hers—broken, feral, protective.
“I swear, Kaela… I won’t let him touch you. I’ll burn the world first.”
Her throat tightened at the way he said it—
not a threat,
but a vow.
A vow soaked in love he didn’t know how to name.
And yet—
Kaela felt it.
Every trembling breath.
Every broken edge.
This was the first time Vionn didn’t hide behind control.
This was the first time he let her see the man terrified of losing her.
And god… it changed everything.
- Writer
