Chapter 11 — The Messenger
1326 Words
Aliyah’s POV
The first thing I felt when I woke up was warmth. Not the blanket. Not the weak sunlight slipping through the curtains. But Adrian.
He’s still sitting in the chair beside me, still awake. His elbows rest on his knees, his head bowed, dark hair falling into his face. He hasn’t moved since last night except to breathe. He didn’t sleep. Not even a moment.
“Adrian?” I whisper.
His head lifts instantly, eyes snapping to me. Alert, like he’s been waiting for me to wake up.
“You okay?” he asks softly.
I nod… though my chest still feels tight. My legs swing over the edge of the bed, and when my feet touch the floor, his hand comes up steady, ready to catch me.
It almost makes me smile, the way he moves like my shadow.
“I’m fine,” I say gently. “Really.”
“You’re not fine.” His voice is low, quiet but raw. “You were almost shot, thrown from a car, chased through half the city. You’re not fine, Aliyah.”
I swallow. “Maybe not. But I'm feeling a bit fine now, I mean it.”
He exhales through his nose, like that both comforts him and destroys him at the same time.
His hand, still half-raised, brushes my wrist. He pulls back quickly, jaw flexing.
Then, there’s a knock at the door.
A soft one.
Adrian is on his feet in a second.
My heart lurches.
“That’s not Alexei,” he murmurs, almost inaudible.
“Then who—”
“Stay behind me,” he orders.
Before I can argue, a second knock comes. Slightly firmer, and deliberate this time.
Adrian moves silently to the small drawer under the nightstand and retrieves a gun. A dark metal glinting under the dim light.
He walks to the front door, posture coiled, and I follow, slowly but determined.
“Aliyah,” he says without turning, “I told you—”
“You told me to stay behind you,” I whisper. And he nodded.
His shoulders tense… then relax the tiniest bit.
He unlocks the door, only an inch to have a peek.
A voice slips through the opening.
“Well, well. I was wondering when you’d open up.”
My blood goes ice cold.
That voice.
The same one from the alley.
The same one who chased us.
Adrian snarls a sound I’ve never heard from him before.
A sound that isn’t human.
“You followed us,” Adrian growls. “Through three decoys. Across a burned trail.”
The man outside chuckles. “You underestimated how badly your uncle wants the girl.”
I blinked. My heart's stopping for a moment. Me?
Adrian’s grip on the door tightens. “Why?”
“Oh, come on.” The voice turns mocking. “Even you must have figured it out by now. Or are you thinking it was just a coincidence she showed up in your life?”
Adrian moves so fast I nearly gasp. He yanks the door wider, gun raised and aimed straight at the man in a black coat, scar over his cheek, smirk dripping venom.
He lifts his hands lazily. “Relax. I’m just the messenger.”
“Then just deliver your message and do nothing else,” Adrian snaps.
“It’s simple.” The man flicks his eyes to me slowly, and calculating.
I step closer to Adrian instinctively.
His smirk grows. “Your uncle believes the girl knows something.”
Adrian stiffens. “She doesn’t know anything! She's innocent. Can't you see that?”
“Oh really? How can you tell? Maybe she has something unconsciously.” The man shrugs. “We have intel, she’s connected to something we need. And we both know, Adrian Lysander, you shouldn't risk your life for just any woman.”
The air shifts. Tense, and electrified.
The man leans forward slightly. “Hand her over by midnight… or we’ll take her ourselves.”
“That will never happen,” Adrian says, voice sharp like a blade.
The man smiles cold. “We’ll see.”
He flicks a card onto the floor and turns to leave.
Adrian slams the door, locks it once, twice, and three times.
He stands there for a long moment, breathing too hard.
“Adrian?” I whisper.
He doesn’t answer.
He just stares at the door.
His shoulders shake once.
A warning c***k in his control.
“Adrian,” I say again, louder.
He spins and grabs the nearest chair, hurling it against the wall with explosive force. The crash echoes through the tiny safehouse.
I flinched.
He freezes instantly. His eyes snapping to me, horror sliding into his expression.
“Aliyah,” he breathes, stepping forward, “I—I’m sorry. I didn’t—I wasn’t—”
“It’s okay,” I say softly.
“It’s not.” He runs a hand through his hair, pacing. “You shouldn’t see me like this.”
“You’re still a human, Adrian. You can feel anything just like everyone else,” I whisper.
He stops walking, turns toward me slowly.
His eyes are full of something raw and fear. Protectiveness. Something deeper.
“I’m terrified,” he admits quietly. “Not of them, not of dying. But because of what I dragged you into.”
His voice breaks.
“I’m terrified of losing you.”
I step closer, slowly, my heart pounding. “I’m still here. As long as I'm with you, you can still do what you have to do.”
“You don’t understand,” he says, shaking his head. “My uncle… he doesn’t want you for just leverage. He wants something else. Something to do with your past... or with your family.”
“I don’t know anything about my—” I reacted but couldn't finish my argument.
“I know.” He steps even closer. “That’s why it scares me.”
Silence hangs between us. Heavy, and trembling.
Then a sudden crash explodes outside the window.
Adrian lunges forward, pulling me behind him, shielding me as the glass vibrates.
“Stay low,” he orders, voice firm, controlled, and dangerously focused.
But I grab his arm.
“Adrian, what can I do?” My voice shakes, but I force the words out. “Tell me. I’m not hiding again while you fight them alone.”
His eyes lock on mine, startled, and almost pained.
“Aliyah—”
“Tell me what to do.”
He stares at me like he’s seeing me for the first time.
And then he hands me a small metal object.
A flash drive.
“Keep this with you,” he whispers. “If something happens to me—”
“Adrian.”
“Promise me. Take this. And if something happens to me...”
“No.”
His jaw clenches. “Aliyah—”
“I’m not promising anything because nothing is happening to you.”
He exhales shakily like he doesn’t know how to hold that kind of hope.
Before either of us can speak again, the floor creaks outside.
Shadows move under the door.
Adrian stiffens.
“They've already tracked us,” he breathes.
Another creak.
A whisper.
Then safety is gone.
Adrian turns to me, cups my face gently but urgently, while his forehead pressing to mine.
“Stay behind me,” he whispers. “Don’t move unless I tell you. Don’t be a hero.”
I whisper back, “You say that to yourself.”
He shudders slightly.
And in that moment, soft and fleeting, and impossibly fragile, he leans in. His lips brush mine barely.
Just enough to steal my breath.
A promise?
A warning?
A goodbye, if things go wrong?
Then a loud bang sounded at the door.
Adrian spins, gun raised, and his voice sharp as fire.
“Aliyah, get down!”
And the world explodes.
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