The guards hesitated at Adrian's command. The eldest. Nico.
"Now," Adrian snapped, his voice cutting like a whip.
Aria lunged forward, blocking the guards' path with her body. Her arms spread wide, trembling but unyielding. "You will not touch my son!"
The taller guard's jaw tightened. He glanced at the other, uncertain. No one disobeyed Adrian, but no one wanted to strike Aria either, not when she stood like a mother wolf.
Adrian's gaze turned to ice. "Remove her."
They advanced, rough hands prying her away from Nico. She fought like a wild thing, teeth bared, nails raking skin, her voice breaking as she screamed, "Run! Run, Nico!"
But Nico didn't run. He froze, his small fists clenched, tears streaking his face. Nino clung to him, wailing.
"Stop!" Aria's scream cracked the air. "Please, Adrian. He's just a child. He's done nothing to you."
Adrian knelt in front of Nico, his expression calm, almost kind, though his eyes burned with cruelty. "Ah, but he has, Aria. He carries De Rossi blood. That is crime enough."
Nico shook his head, trembling. "I'm not him. I'm not my papa."
Adrian's smile was chilling. "No. You're weaker. But you will serve a purpose all the same."
Aria broke free of one guard, throwing herself between them again, desperation giving her strength. "Take me! Do whatever you want to me, but not him!"
Adrian's expression hardened. He caught her face in his hand, squeezing until she cried out. "Oh, I will take everything, Aria. But first, I want your husband to feel helpless. To know that his bloodline will scream while he watches."
He released her sharply, sending her to the ground. With a flick of his hand, he ordered the guards to drag Nico out.
Nico screamed for his mother as he was hauled through the door. Aria's nails scraped the stone floor until they bled, her cries echoing through the chamber.
Far beneath the fortress, Luca's team moved through the tunnels. The air was damp and smelled of salt and rot. Their flashlights cut thin beams through the darkness, bouncing off rough stone.
"Quiet," Luca hissed. "Every sound carries."
Enzo whispered behind him, his voice tense. "Boss, do you hear that?"
They stopped. From somewhere above came a faint echo, a child's cry. High-pitched, terrified. Nico's voice.
Luca's blood ran cold. His breath stilled. His son.
The sound faded, swallowed by stone.
Matteo grabbed his shoulder. "We're close. He's in there. We'll get him back."
But Luca's hands were trembling with rage. That sound had sliced him open. He wanted to tear through the walls with his bare hands.
Not yet. He forced his fists to unclench. Not yet.
In the upper chamber, Adrian prepared the ritual circle. Candles flickered, shadows dancing across the red markings on the stone. Nico was forced to kneel in the center, his wrists bound with coarse rope.
Aria had been dragged back to the adjoining cell with Nino, the barred door slammed shut. She clutched her younger son, rocking him as tears blurred her vision.
She could see Nico through the bars. Could see him shaking. Could see Adrian's knife glinting in the candlelight.
"Don't do this," she begged, her voice breaking. "He's just a little boy!"
Adrian ignored her. He held the blade over the flame until it glowed faintly. The chamber filled with the smell of heated metal.
Nico's eyes widened, tears falling fast. "Mama!"
Aria screamed, rattling the bars until her palms tore open. "Don't touch him! Please! Please, Adrian, I'll do anything!"
Adrian turned his head slowly, his gaze locking on her. "Anything?"
"Yes!" she cried. "Anything!"
His smile was cold. "Good. Then you'll watch."
And with that, he pressed the tip of the knife against Nico's palm.
Nico screamed as the blade cut a shallow line, bright blood beading instantly.
Aria collapsed against the bars, sobbing. "No! No!"
Adrian caught the drops of blood in a silver bowl, his expression calm, almost reverent. "The first cut is always the hardest," he murmured. "But once the blood flows, the rest is simple."
Down below, Luca's team reached a steel grate blocking the tunnel's end. Beyond it lay faint torchlight and the echo of voices.
Dario motioned for his men to begin cutting the grate. His voice was low, but Luca caught the hint of a smirk. "Still want to rush in, De Rossi? Because from the sound of it, you're already too late."
Luca's head snapped toward him. "What did you say?"
Dario shrugged, unbothered. "I said… maybe Adrian already took what he wanted."
Enzo bristled, ready to lunge, but Luca held him back. His chest heaved, his pulse racing. He could still hear it—the faint echo of his son's scream.
Too late. The thought stabbed through him like a blade.
"No," Luca growled. "I will not be too late."
In the chamber, Adrian released Nico at last. The boy crumpled, his small hand bleeding. Aria reached through the bars, desperate to reach him, but the guards yanked him back.
Adrian raised the silver bowl, red liquid glinting in the candlelight. His eyes gleamed with triumph.
"With this blood, the door opens," he whispered. "With this child, the legacy falls."
He drank.
Aria's scream tore the chamber apart.
Luca's men finally forced the grate loose. Metal clattered against stone, the sound too loud in the suffocating tunnel.
Matteo pressed forward, but Luca grabbed his arm. The tunnel air carried something now—smoke and the faint copper scent of blood.
And above it all… Adrian's laughter.
Cold. Victorious.
Inside, Nico whimpered, clutching his wounded hand. Aria pressed against the bars, her voice raw. "You monster. You'll pay for this. Luca will kill you."
Adrian's smile was terrible. "Perhaps. But by then, it will not matter."
He lifted his hands high, the bowl still half full of Nico's blood, and the markings on the floor began to glow faintly red.
Aria's heart stopped.
It had begun.
Far below, Luca's team surged forward through the narrow corridor, weapons ready. Every second felt like a lifetime.
But as they rounded the last bend, an explosion rocked the tunnel. Stone rained down, choking the air with dust. Men shouted, stumbling, blinded by smoke.
The ceiling cracked. Part of the tunnel collapsed, blocking their path.
Luca fell to his knees, coughing, his hands clawing at the rubble. His voice was hoarse, filled with raw fury.
"Aria! Nico! Nino!"
The tunnel sealed shut above him, Adrian's laughter echoing through the stone.