SHADOW

CHAPTER FOUR

And then with no thought I jumped.No time to think.

Air rushed past my ears,my gown whipping around me . I landed hard-on both feet.I tried running to catch up to her but she was gone- i was too late.

I looked back planning to go back inside but i froze seeing his gaze settled on me

'He didn't see me ,did he'

By he side stood Godfather Nier with that familiar knowing smirk.

I composed myself immediately and thought of a way to explain what he saw to him,but what did he really see

Before i could speak he asked"Was that serena"

Good he didn't talk about my jump.

"Yes" I said softly-almost a whisper.

"Mmm" And then he left.

ANTONIO's POV

I saw a figure similar to that of serena and tried to catch up to her-I needed to ask her about Aurora,who was she.

And then i looked up and saw her- at the edge of the rooftop.She stood there confidently,as if it was nothing.My breath caught.No hesitation.Just a clean drop.And the she landed. Heels-On concrete,no stumble,no scream.

She rose,graceful,like the landing hadn't rattled a single bone in her body.My instincts screamed-My new wife was full of surprises ,isn't that interesting. But the way she jumped,the flip,the graceful landing reminded me of someone-the only person with such stance, but there's no way someone like Aurora will be her right-she can't be the one.

I felt a prescence beside me,

"Father Neir"

"Does it feel familiar" He asked and i knew what he meant but i refuse to believe that Aurora who couldn't look him in the eye, who couldn't say a line without stuttering could be the city's most dangerous assasin.

She turned and our eyes locked,that eyes was too innocent,the figure to fragile to be her.

"Was that Serena" i asked

"Yes"

"Mmm"I said simply my mind full of questions and more doubt.

"Let's leave shall we"

"Ok"

BACK AT THE DE CANTE's ESTATE

AURORA POV

Aurora stood by the window in her room, watching the courtyard below.

It was almost midnight. The guards had rotated again.She had memorized all of them.

Because that’s what she did. Out of habit

And she needed to do so even more now as it was her means of survival.

And she could feel it - Antonio was watching her differently. This morning at breakfast she noticed his gaze on her was no longer just cold and indifferent, he was curious.

And that was dangerous for her.

She’d made a mistake.

But she wasn't too worried, there's no way he could trace her meek and fragile self to her dangerous past.

Across the estate, Antonio sat in his private study. Lights dim, a single whiskey glass untouched on the desk.

In front of him lay two files.

Aurora Castellano.

Shadow.

The second file wasn’t official. It was a black file compiled from whispers, sightings, and blood trails. A woman who never showed her face. A ghost in the underground fight circuits. A myth to most.

But Antonio had seen her. Once. From a distance. At a weapons auction in Berlin.And he had heard of her countless times, even harmed one of his one too many times .A shadow on the rooftop. Too graceful. Too fast.Too lethal.

He stared at the files side by side. Nothing connected them. Not on paper.

Still…he couldn't shake the feeling away.

He reached for his phone. One number. A secure line.

A voice answered. Raspy. Male. Dangerous.

“You’re not supposed to call this number.”

“I need a trace,” Dante Without greetings.

“Name?”

“She goes by Shadow.”

A beat of silence.

Then: “You're playing with fire, Antonio.”

“I love fire" He said, then hung up.

The next day,they had another set of guests over for dinner at the De Cante estate -they cinsisted of the castellano family.

I slipped away after dinner.The noise,the people were all too much.I needed silence.

The garden nehind the east wing of the estate felt like the only normal place in the estate, it stood out-out of place like,it didn't fit in the bland and minmal decor of the estate.There were no guards at the gates,no whispers or gossip-Just roses,ivy.So colorful.

Then her ear caught something-slow steady footstep and with it came a chilling prescence which made her hair stand,who was that.