The world was ending.
The fortress groaned like a dying beast. Fire cracked through the stone, splitting walls apart. The abyss screamed louder than any human throat could, the chained monster thrashing against its bindings, shaking the ground with every pull.
And in the middle of it, Aria knelt, her arms locked around Luca's limp body.
His head lay against her chest, his grey eyes closed, his lips pale. Blood seeped hot between her fingers as she pressed them over the wound at his side.
"Stay with me," she begged, her voice shaking. "Please, Luca, stay with me."
The twins clung to him, their small hands trembling as they shook his arm.
"Papa, wake up," Nico whispered.
"Please don't go," Nino sobbed.
Aria's tears dropped onto his face, falling across his jaw, his mouth. Her sobs shook her whole body.
She had seen death before. She had heard the last breaths of men, smelled the iron weight of blood. But this, this was different. This was Luca. Her Luca.
And she would not let him die.
The beast roared again, jerking against the chains. Fire poured out, bathing the walls in light.
Enzo and Matteo fired their guns again, yelling, trying to hold it back. But their voices were drowned in the thunder.
Enzo's voice barely carried over the roar: "We can't hold it much longer!"
Matteo's reply was raw: "If that thing breaks free... we're all finished!"
Aria's head snapped up, her hair sticking to her tear-streaked face. She looked at the monster thrashing higher, at the chains glowing red, at the abyss spitting fire.
And she looked down at Luca again.
Adrian's ghostly words echoed in her mind: The king's blood seals the door.
But Luca wasn't just blood. He wasn't just a name, or a title, or a weapon. He was flesh. He was fire. He was the man who had hurt her, yes, but who had also carried her, loved her, given her the two boys who were their hearts combined.
And she would not let the beast take him.
"Listen to me!" she screamed over the thunder, her voice wild. "We don't need his death to win. We need his will. His blood isn't a curse, it's the key!"
The words spilled out of her like instinct, like truth. She didn't know how she knew. She only knew she was right.
She gripped Luca's face with shaking hands.
"Luca," she whispered, her tears falling hot. "Fight. You hear me? Fight. Not for me. Not for revenge. Fight for them."
She turned her head to the twins, their wide eyes shining with terror and love. "For Nico. For Nino. For your sons. They need you. I need you. Please, don't let go."
Her lips pressed to his bloodstained mouth. It wasn't soft. It wasn't sweet. It was desperate, burning, a kiss that begged him to live.
And under her lips, she felt it.
A breath. Weak, trembling. But a breath.
Luca's grey eyes opened.
They weren't steady. They weren't whole. But they were alive.
His voice rasped out, broken but burning: "Aria."
Her sob broke open. She kissed his forehead, his cheeks, his lips again, whispering through tears. "Yes. Yes, I'm here. I'm here. Don't stop. Please, don't stop."
He coughed, blood on his lips. His hand found hers, squeezing weakly. His gaze turned, finding the twins clinging to his arm.
Their little voices shook as they whispered together: "We love you, Papa."
Something inside him lit like fire.
He wasn't done. Not yet.
Luca pushed against the stone, dragging himself upright. Aria tried to hold him down, but he shook his head. "No. If I fall, everything falls. I finish this. For them."
His legs shook, blood dripping from his side, but his eyes blazed brighter than the abyss itself.
He staggered forward, gun in one hand, chain in the other, his voice a growl ripped from the last of his strength.
"Get back," he ordered, his tone the king's once more. "All of you."
Aria wanted to fight him, wanted to drag him back into her arms. But she saw it, the fire in his eyes. The refusal to leave his family broken.
She clutched the twins tight and pulled them close, her heart hammering. "Come back to me," she whispered after him. "You come back, Luca."
The monster thrashed again, fire raining from its jaws. One last chain snapped. The room shook, stones falling from the ceiling.
It dragged itself higher, its horns nearly scraping the roof.
But Luca was waiting.
He staggered toward the central seal, the glowing symbols alive with fire. His blood dripped onto them, lighting them brighter. His voice roared over the chaos:
"By my blood, you stay bound!"
The abyss screamed in fury. The beast struck, a massive claw arcing toward him.
Aria screamed. "LUCA!"
But he didn't move away. He raised his arms, spread wide, and let the blood drip heavier onto the glowing seal.
The chains shot upward. Not broken. Not weak. Alive.
They whipped across the beast's body, twisting, wrapping, binding tighter than before. One circled its neck, another its chest, another its arms. The monster roared, thrashing, but the chains only burned hotter, dragging it back toward the abyss.
Its furnace eyes flared. It locked on Luca, its hatred blazing.
But Luca didn't flinch. His voice thundered: "You will not take them from me. Not my wife. Not my sons. Not my family."
And with a final scream, the abyss swallowed the monster whole.
The chamber split one last time, and then went silent.
For a moment, there was nothing but the sound of stone settling and fire hissing out.
Luca stood swaying in the middle of the seal, his chest heaving, blood dripping. His gun slipped from his hand. His knees buckled.
And then he collapsed.
Aria's scream tore through the silence. She ran to him, the twins chasing at her heels, their small voices crying out.
"Papa!"
"Don't die!"
Aria slid to her knees beside him, pulling his head into her lap. His eyes fluttered open weakly. She pressed her hands over his wound again, sobbing.
"You did it," she whispered, her tears falling onto his face. "It's over. You did it. Please, Luca, stay with me. I can't lose you now. Not now."
His lips curved faintly, the smallest smile. "I told you. You're… mine. Always."
Her sob broke. She kissed him, fierce and trembling. "Then live. If I'm yours, you don't get to leave me."
The twins clutched his arms, whispering through their tears: "Stay, Papa. Please stay."
And against all odds, he did.
The fortress didn't collapse. The abyss sealed. The air calmed.
And Luca's chest, though weak, still rose. Still fell. Still lived.
Enzo dropped his gun, his voice hoarse. "He's alive."
Matteo staggered forward, his bloody face breaking into the first smile in years. "The bastard's too stubborn to die."
Aria pressed her forehead to Luca's, sobbing with relief. "We're going home. All of us."
Later, in the quiet of dawn, they emerged from the ruins. The sky was painted gold and rose, the air soft after fire and ash.
Luca walked slowly, leaning on Aria, his arm around her waist, his other hand holding Nino's. Nico walked on Aria's other side, clutching her dress.
The four of them together.
Finally.
Enzo and Matteo followed behind, silent but watchful, like shadows who knew their time was ending.
And when they reached the gates, Luca stopped.
His grey eyes turned back to the burning ruin, the ghosts of his empire. His voice was low, final.
"It ends here. The blood. The war. The mafia."
He turned to Aria, his gaze steady. "I'm done. No more. From now on, it's only us. You. Me. The boys. That's all I want. That's all I'll fight for."
Aria's heart swelled, tears falling again, but these were different. These were soft.
She touched his cheek, smiling through the ache. "Then let's live. Not as king and queen. Not as enemies. As family."
Luca bent, pressing his lips to hers, the kiss slow, sure, sealing not just love but promise.
The twins hugged their legs, giggling through their leftover tears.
And for the first time, the fire inside the king was not for war. It was for home.