Chapter 4 — The Siege
1779 Words
The first explosion shook the Moretti estate before anyone could react.
Serena stumbled backward.
The windows rattled violently, and somewhere downstairs, alarms screamed through the house.
Dante's guards moved instantly.
"Positions!"
Men rushed through the corridors, weapons drawn.
Serena's heart hammered.
"What is happening?"
Dante caught her arm.
"Stay behind me."
Another explosion sounded.
Closer this time.
The entire floor trembled.
Serena grabbed the wall to steady herself.
"Are they inside?"
"Not yet."
Dante's eyes moved toward the windows.
"But they're trying."
A guard rushed toward them.
"Sir, the east perimeter has been breached."
Dante's expression hardened.
"How many?"
"We're still counting."
"Get everyone to the underground shelter."
The guard hesitated.
"And you?"
"I'll handle it."
Serena immediately shook her head.
"No."
Dante looked at her.
"What?"
"I'm not going underground while you stay here."
"This isn't a negotiation."
"I know."
"Then listen."
"No."
Dante stared at her.
Serena surprised herself with how steady her voice sounded.
"You're the one who told me that my bloodline has something to do with all of this. If they're here because of me, then I deserve to know what I'm being dragged into."
Dante stepped closer.
"You don't understand what these people are capable of."
"Neither do you understand what I'm capable of."
The words left her mouth before she could stop them.
Dante's eyes dropped to her glowing palm.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then another explosion shook the house.
Dante made his decision.
"Fine."
He turned to his men.
"Take her to the west corridor."
Serena frowned.
"You said fine."
"I said I'd let you stay close."
"That's not the same thing."
"It is tonight."
He started walking.
Serena followed.
They hadn't made it ten steps before a gunshot echoed through the hallway.
One of the guards dropped.
Serena screamed.
Dante pushed her behind him.
"Down!"
More gunshots followed.
The guards returned fire.
The hallway erupted into chaos.
Serena crouched against the wall, trying to breathe.
This couldn't be real.
Yesterday she had been worried about ordinary things.
Work.
Family.
Dinner.
Her future.
Now she was hiding inside a mafia estate while armed strangers attacked the people protecting her.
A shadow moved at the end of the corridor.
Dante raised his weapon.
"Show yourself."
Nothing.
Then a man stepped into view.
He wore a dark mask.
He wasn't holding a gun.
Instead, he held a small silver blade.
Dante's expression changed.
"You're not Moretti."
The man smiled.
"No."
He looked directly at Serena.
"I'm here for the Vale."
Serena's stomach dropped.
Dante stepped in front of her.
"You'll have to get through me."
The masked man laughed.
"That's exactly what we planned."
Two more men appeared behind him.
Dante fired.
The first man ducked.
The others scattered.
Dante moved with terrifying precision.
Serena watched as he fought.
There was nothing careless about him.
Every movement was calculated.
Every decision was immediate.
He wasn't simply dangerous.
He had been trained for this.
A man rushed toward Serena from the side.
She didn't see him until he was already close.
Dante did.
He crossed the distance between them in seconds.
The attacker swung.
Dante blocked the strike and drove him backward.
The silver blade fell.
Dante kicked it away.
"Serena, move!"
She ran.
But the moment she reached the corner, she felt something.
Heat.
The same heat she'd felt in the underground chamber.
She looked at her palm.
The symbol was glowing brighter than before.
A strange pressure filled the hallway.
The masked man noticed.
His eyes widened.
"The blood."
Dante looked toward Serena.
"Get away from her!"
The man ignored him.
"It's awakened."
Serena stepped backward.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
The man smiled.
"You will."
Then he raised his hand.
The lights exploded.
Darkness swallowed everything.
Serena heard Dante shout her name.
Then she felt someone grab her.
She screamed.
A hand covered her mouth.
She fought.
The person dragged her backward.
Then something inside Serena snapped.
The symbol on her palm flashed.
A burst of silver light exploded from her body.
The attacker was thrown across the hallway.
Serena fell to the floor.
Silence.
She stared at her hand.
The glow slowly faded.
Dante stood several feet away.
He wasn't looking at the attacker.
He was looking at her.
Serena looked up.
"What did I just do?"
Dante didn't answer.
"Dante."
He walked toward her.
His expression was different.
Not fear.
Something more complicated.
"Did you do that?"
"I don't know."
"Try."
"I don't know!"
Her voice cracked.
"I didn't even think. I just..."
She looked at the unconscious attacker.
"I felt angry."
Dante crouched in front of her.
"Did you feel anything else?"
Serena swallowed.
"Heat."
"Pain?"
"No."
"Fear?"
She shook her head.
"Not then."
Dante looked at her palm.
"Your power responds to emotion."
"What kind of power?"
"We don't know yet."
Serena stared at him.
"How can you say that so calmly?"
"I'm not calm."
She looked at his face.
For the first time, she noticed it.
His hand was bleeding.
"You've been shot."
Dante glanced at his arm.
"It's nothing."
"You're bleeding."
"I've had worse."
Serena stood.
"Sit down."
He looked at her.
"What?"
"You heard me."
"Serena—"
"Sit."
Something about her tone made him pause.
He finally sat on the edge of a nearby table.
Serena grabbed a piece of cloth from one of the damaged curtains and wrapped it around his arm.
Dante watched her silently.
"You don't have to do this."
"I know."
"Then why?"
Serena tightened the cloth.
"Because you're bleeding all over the floor."
A faint smile appeared.
"That's your reason?"
"It's a good one."
He looked at her.
For a brief moment, the noise of the attack seemed far away.
Then the alarm sounded again.
The moment disappeared.
A guard rushed toward them.
"Sir!"
Dante stood.
"What?"
"The attackers are retreating."
"Why?"
"We don't know."
Dante's eyes narrowed.
"How many?"
"Most of them are gone."
"And the masked man?"
The guard looked toward the unconscious attacker.
"He's alive."
Dante nodded.
"Take him downstairs."
Serena stared.
"You're going to interrogate him?"
"Yes."
"Can I be there?"
"No."
"Why?"
"Because what he knows may be dangerous."
Serena crossed her arms.
"So is everything else in my life right now."
Dante looked at her.
"Serena."
She didn't back down.
"I need answers."
"You'll get them."
"When?"
"When I have them."
She sighed.
"You really love saying that."
"I've noticed."
The guard approached Dante again.
"Sir, there's something else."
"What?"
"We found this outside the eastern gate."
He handed Dante a small envelope.
Dante opened it.
His expression changed.
Serena noticed.
"What is it?"
Dante didn't answer.
She reached for it.
He pulled it away.
"Dante."
He stared at the paper.
Then handed it to her.
Serena read the message.
Her blood ran cold.
**THE VALE GIRL WILL NOT LIVE TO SEE THE BLOOD MOON.**
She looked up.
"What is the Blood Moon?"
Dante's face had become unreadable.
"An event."
"What kind of event?"
"The kind that happens once every generation."
Serena's eyes narrowed.
"And when is it?"
Dante didn't answer.
"Dante."
He looked at her.
"In three weeks."
Serena's stomach twisted.
"Three weeks?"
He nodded.
"What happens then?"
Dante's voice lowered.
"Your bloodline reaches its full awakening."
Serena stared at him.
"And that's why they're hunting me?"
"Partly."
"What else?"
Dante stepped closer.
"If your power fully awakens, you'll become something your enemies won't be able to control."
Serena swallowed.
"And what will I become?"
Dante's eyes met hers.
"I don't know."
That answer frightened her more than anything else.
He turned away.
Serena looked at the message again.
The Blood Moon.
Three weeks.
Her bloodline.
The attacks.
Her father's death.
None of it was random.
Everything was connected.
She just didn't know how.
Yet.
---
Later that night, the estate finally became quiet.
The attackers were gone.
The wounded had been treated.
The security team had doubled.
But Serena couldn't sleep.
She stood by the window in her room, staring at the dark grounds.
Her reflection stared back at her.
She looked the same.
Same face.
Same eyes.
Same person.
Yet nothing about her life was the same anymore.
A soft knock came at the door.
Serena turned.
Dante stood outside.
"What?"
He held something in his hand.
A file.
"Your father left this."
Serena's heart skipped.
"What is it?"
"His personal records."
She took it.
"Why are you giving it to me?"
"Because you deserve to see them."
She looked down at the file.
"Did you read them?"
"Yes."
"What's inside?"
Dante hesitated.
"Things about your family."
"That's vague."
"It's the truth."
Serena opened the file.
The first page contained an old photograph.
Her father.
Her mother.
Her grandmother.
And another man.
Serena's eyes stopped on him.
She knew that face.
She had seen it downstairs.
In the painting.
Dante's father.
She turned the page.
A handwritten note appeared.
Her father's handwriting.
Serena recognized it immediately.
Her hands began shaking.
The note contained only one sentence.
**If Serena's blood awakens, do not let the Moretti heir bind himself to her.**
Serena slowly looked up.
Dante was still standing at the doorway.
She held up the page.
"What does this mean?"
Dante's expression changed.
For the first time since Serena had met him...
he looked genuinely concerned.
"Where did you find that?"
"In my father's file."
He walked toward her.
"Serena, listen to me."
"No."
She stepped backward.
"My father specifically warned me about you."
"Your father was trying to protect you."
"From you?"
"From what the bond could become."
"What bond?"
Dante didn't answer.
Serena's eyes narrowed.
"You knew."
His silence was enough.
"You knew there was a possibility."
"Yes."
"That our bloodlines could become connected."
"Yes."
"How?"
Dante's eyes met hers.
"Because the original pact had a condition."
"What condition?"
His voice dropped.
"If the Vale bloodline awakened..."
He paused.
"...the heir of the Moretti family would become its protector."
Serena stared at him.
"And you're the heir."
Dante nodded.
The room suddenly felt too small.
Serena looked at the symbol on her palm.
Then at him.
"That's why you brought me here."
"Partly."
"Partly?"
Dante stepped closer.
"I brought you here because your enemies are hunting you."
"And the other reason?"
He held her gaze.
"Because if the blood pact is awakening..."
He stopped.
Serena waited.
"...then our families may be bound again."
Neither of them spoke.
Outside, the night sky remained dark.
But somewhere beyond the estate, clouds slowly moved across the moon.
And for the first time, Serena understood that the greatest danger might not be the people outside the gates.
It might be the bond forming between her...
and Dante Moretti.
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