Chapter 3: The Fire I chose
1144 Words
Damien's Pov
I wasn’t always like this.
There was a time I believed in justice, in rules, in black-and-white lines that defined right and wrong. But Raventhorn had a way of erasing illusions. And now, I didn’t believe in anything except control.
Control was clean. Predictable. Quiet.
Until her.
Aria Valentina.
The girl who walked into that auction with fire in her eyes and shackles around her wrists. The girl who refused to look away even when every other woman lowered their head in fear. I saw something in her that night—something dangerous.
Hope.
And God help me, I wanted to destroy it… and protect it at the same time.
---
She didn’t touch her food again this morning. That small act of defiance irritated me more than I wanted to admit. Not because I needed her obedience—but because I hated watching her waste away.
I stood at the edge of the security screen in my study, watching her on the silent monitor.
Curled up on the couch. Eyes distant. Shoulders tight. A woman who refused to cry even when the world ripped her apart.
She reminded me of a wolf. Caged, but not broken.
Luca entered the study without knocking. He never did.
“She’s not eating,” he said, like I didn’t already know.
“She’s testing her boundaries.”
Luca scoffed. “You sound like you’re training a pet.”
My jaw clenched. “Don’t compare her to that.”
“She’s not going to last if you keep playing this mind game.”
“It’s not a game,” I snapped. “It’s the only way to keep her safe.”
“From who? Us?” His voice was sharp.
I turned to him slowly. “You know exactly who. The people who wanted her at that auction… they weren’t bidding for pleasure. They were bidding for power. She’s more than she looks.”
Luca ran a hand through his hair. “She doesn’t even know who she is.”
“Exactly. That’s what makes her dangerous.”
To them.
To me.
---
I visited her that night.
Not to provoke her.
I just… needed to see her.
She was sitting by the window this time, legs tucked to her chest, the city lights painting her in silver and shadow.
She didn’t turn when I entered.
“You always sneak in like a ghost?” she asked quietly.
“No. Just with you.”
She exhaled slowly. “Do you ever get tired of playing god?”
“I don’t play god, Aria,” I said, walking toward her. “I play the devil. It's far more honest.”
That made her look at me. Her eyes were tired, guarded, but burning underneath.
“What do you want from me, Damien?”
Everything.
But I said, “Obedience. Safety. Survival.”
She stood up then, slowly, as if gathering her strength.
“You think I’m some fragile thing you can keep behind glass. But I’m not. I’m not going to melt just because you keep offering me warm food and expensive sheets.”
“Good,” I said. “I don’t want you soft. I want you strong.”
“Why?” she whispered. “So it feels better when you break me?”
“No,” I said, stepping closer. “Because I already know I can break you. But earning your loyalty—that’s something else entirely.”
Our eyes locked. The air between us tightened, heavy with something neither of us wanted to name.
“You bought me,” she said, voice cracking. “You didn’t earn anything.”
I reached up, brushing a strand of hair from her cheek. She flinched but didn’t pull away.
“I didn’t buy you to own you,” I said. “I bought you so they wouldn’t.”
A tear escaped her eyes, but she wiped it away before I could.
“I hate this,” she said. “I hate feeling like a pawn.”
“You’re not a pawn,” I said quietly. “You’re the queen. They just don’t know it yet.”
---
Later that night, I poured myself a drink and stood alone on the balcony, letting the cold bite at my skin. The city stretched out before me—beautiful, toxic, unforgiving.
And I kept thinking about her.
The fire in her. The fragility. The strength she didn’t even know she had.
What was I doing?
Keeping her here. Caging her. Protecting her from wolves while I became one.
But I couldn’t let her go. Not yet.
Not when I’d seen what was inside her.
Not when I knew what was coming.
I’d burn this city to ash if it meant keeping her safe.
---
The next day, Luca cornered me again.
“You’re getting too close.”
“She’s under my protection.”
“Right. Protection,” he scoffed. “You keep telling yourself that.”
“What are you implying?”
“That you don’t just want to protect her, Damien. You want her. And that makes you reckless.”
I stared at him for a long second. “And you don’t?”
He froze.
“You think I don’t see the way you look at her?” I asked. “Like she’s already yours?”
Luca’s jaw tightened. “I’d never cross that line.”
“Then don’t judge me for already standing on it.”
---
That night, Aria came to the study on her own.
Uninvited. Unafraid.
I turned to her slowly, my heart kicking harder in my chest. There was a bruise blooming under her eye. My fists clenched at the sight.
“What happened?” I asked sharply.
“Training room,” she said. “I asked one of your guards to teach me to fight. He didn’t go easy.”
I moved to her, gently touching her chin. “I’ll have him replaced.”
“No,” she said. “I wanted the hit. I need to be strong. I’m tired of being weak.”
“You’re not weak,” I murmured.
She looked up at me, eyes glittering.
“I want to learn. I want to protect myself.”
“Then I’ll teach you,” I said without hesitation.
Her lips parted slightly. “Why would you help me?”
“Because I don’t want a girl who hides. I want a woman who can burn kingdoms.”
She swallowed hard. “Even yours?”
“Especially mine.”
---
That night, something shifted.
She didn’t thank me. Didn’t smile.
But she stayed.
In the study. On the opposite couch. Silent, watching the flames.
And for the first time in years, I felt something dangerous stir in my chest.
Not power.
Not control.
Hope.
And that terrified me more than anything.
- Writer
