The Drive, the Deception, the Damnation
The flame flickered beside Kaia's trembling fingers, but she didn't drop the flash drive.
She couldn't.
Not yet.
Not when it might hold the final thread of truth about her mother's disappearance… or murder.
A sharp gust of wind blew her coat open as she stood over the grave, staring into the storm-stained sky. Somewhere in that endless dark, Damon was watching—waiting—for her next move.
She didn't owe him anything.
Except the truth.
And a taste of the hell he left her to drown in.
Kaia slid the flash drive into the pocket of her leather jacket and turned on her heel, boots crunching over broken stone and roots. The memory of his hands on her skin still burned like fire under ice. He made her forget everything—even vengeance.
But not for long.
---
Valen Tower. Damon's Office. Midnight.
Damon paced like a caged animal, shirt clinging to his sculpted frame, still stained with blood from the broken chapel.
She'd been there.
She came to him.
And she left.
Again.
You should've locked the damn doors, broken her resolve before she could run,his demon whispered.
But even he knew this wasn't about possession anymore. It was about unraveling the knot that bound them together—knotted with lies, loyalty, and something dangerously close to love.
His phone buzzed.
Unknown Number. One Message.
> "Check your father's old study. There's more you buried than a ring."
No name.
But he knew that tone.
Kaia.
He snatched his keys and was gone in seconds.
---
Valen Estate. 1:17 A.M.
The study was exactly as he left it after Alaric Valen's death—cold, clean, lifeless. Except now, a single envelope lay on the desk.
Inside it: A photo. Grainy. Old. But clear enough to see.
Kaia's mother.
Standing beside Damon's father.
Smiling.
Pregnant.
No.
No, no, no.
The floor seemed to vanish under him. His father—his manipulative, power-hungry bastard of a father—had always whispered about unfinished business.
And Kaia's mother?
She was supposed to have died in an accident.
But what if… she hadn't?
---
Kaia's Apartment.
Kaia plugged the flash drive into her encrypted laptop, heart in her throat. Files loaded. Video footage. Medical records. A scanned contract with the Valen family crest.
Her mother had signed over custody of something.
No—someone.
Her fingers shook as she clicked the final file. A video began to play.
It was her mother, disheveled, whispering into a camera.
> "If you're seeing this, Kaia… they lied to you. Damon's not the enemy. Alaric is. He promised to protect us, but he took everything. Including you."
Kaia reeled.
Her vision blurred. She couldn't breathe. Couldn't move.
The truth wasn't just a knife—it was a bomb detonating under her entire foundation.
Her mother had tried to protect Damon.
And Damon… might have tried to protect her.
But what if he knew all along?
What if he let her rot in her grief, even knowing they were victims of the same man?
---
A Knock. Then a Bang.
Her door flew open.
Damon.
Wild-eyed. Wet from the rain. Still holding the envelope.
Neither of them spoke.
The air snapped like a live wire between them.
Then—
He crossed the room in three strides and grabbed her.
Their mouths collided like war and worship, all teeth and fire. Her laptop hit the floor. His coat fell away. Her shirt tore in half as he pushed her back against the wall.
"Tell me you didn't see it," he rasped against her throat. "Tell me you didn't open that drive."
"I saw everything," she whispered.
"Then you know I didn't want this," he growled, hands gripping her thighs. "But I'll take it now. All of you."
She didn't stop him.
Not when he hoisted her into his arms. Not when he pressed her against the glass wall, her legs wrapped around him. Not when he dragged her deeper into the abyss she used to call vengeance.
She wanted to punish him.
Instead, she surrendered to the ruin.
---
Later…
They lay tangled on the floor, the city lights bathing them in fractured gold.
Kaia turned her head slowly.
"Did you know, Damon?"
He didn't answer at first.
"I knew parts," he admitted. "Not enough to tell you. Not enough to stop you."
"You let me hate you."
"Better you hated me," he said quietly, "than uncover what we were born from."
She sat up slowly, the silk sheet falling from her body.
"Then we're both monsters," she said.
Damon stood, staring out into the night.
"No," he said. "We're just the beginning."
---