CHAPTER 15: THE MAN AT THE DOOR
1084 Words
The door opened slowly.
Aria’s breath caught in her throat.
Every instinct in her body screamed danger, but something else held her frozen.
The figure stepped into the dim light.
For a moment, she couldn’t see his face.
And then… The light shifted.
Aria’s heart stopped.
“No,” she whispered.
It wasn’t possible.
It couldn’t be.
Because the man standing in front of her.
Was someone she had watched die in the past?
Her fingers started shaking with the cold chains on her hands.
“You’re… Her voice broke. “You’re dead.”
The man’s eyes locked onto hers.
“Not anymore,” he said.
Her chest tightened painfully.
“Elias”
The name left her lips like that of a ghost.
Elias Varyn… Her father’s Beta.
The man who had stood between her and death the night everything burned.
The man who had fallen.
Ronan spoke softly from behind him.
“I was wondering how long it would take you to recognize him.”
Aria’s head snapped back towards Ronan.
You did this?
Elias didn’t move. Didn’t react. Didn’t even blink.
“No,” Ronan said casually. “He came to me.”
That was worse.
Aria’s eyes returned to Elias.
Why? She whispered.
Why are you here?
Something flickered in his eyes.
Something human.
Something she remembered.
Then it was gone.
I’m here for you, he said.
Her breath seized again.
Ronan smiled so faintly.
“See?” he murmured. “You’re very popular.”
Aria ignored him.
Her entire world narrowed to the man in front of her.
You protected me, she said, with her voice shaking. “You died protecting me.”
Elias stepped closer.
The sound of his boots against stone echoed in the room.
And now, he said quietly, “I’m here to finish what I started.”
Her heart pounded so fast.
That night” she whispered. “You told me to run.”
“I did.”
Why?
Because you weren’t ready.
The words sent a cold chill through her.
“Ready for what?” she demanded.
Elias stopped just a few steps away from her.
Close enough for her to see it clearly now.
His eyes.
They weren’t the same.
They were darker.
Something else lived inside them now.
“Ready to become what you are,” he said.
Aria’s chest tightened painfully.
“I don’t even know what that is.”
You will.
Aria’s breath came faster.
Nothing felt real anymore.
Every truth she had believed was breaking apart, piece by piece.
She looked at him again, searching for something familiar, something safe, but found nothing.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked, with her voice barely steady.
Silence answered her, and somehow, that silence hurt more than any lie.
Her chest tightened, and her thoughts were racing.
If this were the truth… Then everything she thought she knew about herself, her past, and even him, was a lie.
And the worst part?
A small, terrifying part of her still wanted to believe him.
“Tell me,” she said. “Tell me the truth.”
Ronan leaned lazily against the wall, clearly enjoying every bit of the tension.
Oh, this should be interesting.
Elias didn’t look at him.
His attention never left Aria.
“Your parents didn’t die because they were weak,” he said.
Aria froze.
“They died because they refused.”
Her heart slammed violently against her ribs.
“Refused what?”
“To give you up.”
“What?”
Ronan straightened slightly, with interest sharpening so much in his eyes.
Elias continued.
“They knew what you longed for before anyone else,” he said. “They knew what you would become.”
Aria shook her head slowly.
“No…no, that’s not true.
It is…His voice cut through her denial.
They were given a choice, Elias said.
To hand you over or watch everything burn.
“They chose you.”
The words shattered something inside her.
“They chose me” she whispered.
And they paid for it.
Tears burned so much in her eyes.
But she didn’t let them fall.
Who wanted me? she demanded.
Elias’s eyes darkened.
“The Council.”
Silence crashed into the room.
Even Ronan’s expression shifted slightly.
Aria’s voice dropped.
Why?
Elias took one final step closer to her.
Standing directly in front of her now.
“Because you’re not just a conduit,” he said.
Her heart stopped.
“You’re the key.”
The chains around her wrists shook as her power surged violently beneath her skin.
Stronger than before.
“No” she whispered.
Elias’s voice lowered.
“You were never meant to survive that night.”
Her breath hitched.
You were meant to be controlled.
Rage exploded inside her.
“I’m not anyone’s weapon!” she snapped.
The room shook.
Energy cracked through the air.
Ronan’s eyes lit up with interest.
“Now that,” he murmured, “is power.”
But Elias didn’t react.
Neither did he move.
“Good,” he said quietly.
Aria froze.
“What?”
“That anger”, he continued. “That resistance.”
You’ll need it.
Confusion twisted with fury inside of her.
“For what?”
Elias’s expression didn’t change.
For what’s coming.
Suddenly, a violent impact shook the entire structure.
The walls trembled.
Dust fell from above.
Ronan’s smile widened.
“Ah,” he said. “He’s here.”
Aria’s heart skipped.
Kael.
Relief surged immediately.
Then hesitation followed.
Because everything she thought she knew, was changing.
Elias turned slightly towards the door.
“If you go with him now,” he said without looking at her, “you stay weak.”
Her breath caught.
“If you stay” he continued.
“You become unstoppable.”
Her heart pounded violently.
Kael’s roar echoed like thunder.
“ARIA!”
The sound tore through within her.
Elias looked back at her.
“Choose.”
Everything inside her twisted.
Torn between:
The past.
The truth.
The power.
The man who broke her.
The man who might save her.And the man who just returned from the dead.
The door exploded inward.
Woods shattered everywhere on the ground.
Power crashed into the room.
Kael stood there with his eyes blazing.
“Get away from her.”
Aria’s breath hitched.
Because for the first time.
She didn’t move toward him…
And that was the moment everything changed.
And deep down…she knew this truth wouldn’t just change her life…it would destroy it.
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