Burning Bridges, Breaking Chains
The rain had finally stopped, but the air still smelled of smoke and secrets.
Kaia stood in front of the rusted gate of a forgotten estate on the outskirts of the city—the last known address of Margot Reyes, her mother's former confidante. A woman who vanished the same year her mother was killed.
The gate creaked open under her push. Overgrown ivy tangled around the cracked walls like nature itself was trying to erase the place. But Kaia's rage carved through the silence.
She stepped in.
Margot answered the door in silence. Time had weathered her into something brittle and ghost-like, but the moment she saw Kaia, her eyes widened in recognition—and fear.
"You're her," Margot whispered.
"I'm everything you all tried to bury," Kaia replied coldly. "I want the truth. All of it."
Margot hesitated. Then, trembling, she stepped aside.
The living room was dim and cold. Dust danced like ash in the pale light streaming through broken blinds. Margot poured a drink—hands shaking—and finally met Kaia's eyes.
"They found out," she murmured. "About what your mother planned. About the files. The serum. The cover-ups. Damon... his father... everyone was in on it."
Kaia's breath hitched.
She hadn't heard his name on another's lips in this context.
Not like this.
"What did Damon know?" she asked.
Margot's silence was louder than any scream.
Kaia rose, trembling with fury. "You watched her die. You let them bury it. And you let me grow up in the dark."
"I was protecting myself," Margot whispered. "We all were. You don't walk away from the Valens without bleeding."
Kaia didn't reply. Her silence was a promise.
She turned and left without another word, the ghost of her mother's voice screaming behind her ribs.
---
Later That Night — Damon's Penthouse
He hadn't expected her. Not tonight. Not after what happened.
But when the elevator chimed and the door opened—there she stood.
Dripping rain. Crimson lips. Eyes like vengeance wrapped in velvet.
Kaia.
His Kaia.
She didn't wait to be invited in. She stepped forward, water trailing behind her like spilled blood.
"You look like war," Damon murmured.
"I am war," she replied, stepping close enough for their bodies to almost touch. "And you owe me answers."
"Don't come in here looking like temptation and talking about truth," he growled, stepping around her. "You think I'll play fair?"
"I don't need fair," she said. "I just need you weak."
She closed the distance between them, pressing her body to his, her fingers sliding up his chest, her lips hovering near his ear.
Damon stilled.
This wasn't seduction. It was strategy.
And he let her.
Let her guide him backward, toward the edge of the bed, let her unbutton his shirt like she wasn't unraveling everything inside him.
But when her lips finally brushed his, the game shifted.
He gripped her hips, flipped her onto the mattress, and pinned her wrists above her head.
"You think you're in control?" he rasped.
"I don't need control," she whispered, arching against him. "I just need a moment."
That moment stretched—hot, searing, dangerous.
Until it shattered.
Damon pulled back, breath ragged. "You're playing with fire."
She smiled, lips swollen. "Then burn."
---
An Hour Later — Kaia Alone
He was asleep.
She slipped from the bed silently, her pulse still erratic from the storm they'd made of each other.
But she didn't come for pleasure. She came for the truth.
She opened the drawer on the far side of the room—his private study.
Files. Keys. A hidden compartment.
And there it was.
The missing flash drive. Her mother's initials engraved on the side.
Her heart stopped.
She'd given *her* copy to fire.
But he had another.
She took it, clenched it in her fist, and turned to leave—
Only to find Damon watching her from the shadows.
"You really thought you could lie next to me and steal from me?" he asked, voice quiet.
Kaia held her ground. "You really thought you could lie to me for years and I'd never find out?"
Silence.
Heavy. Loaded. Electric.
He stepped forward. Slowly. Dangerous.
"I loved you."
"And you still destroyed everything," she spat.
"Then let me finish the job."
Kaia backed toward the door, breath shaking. "Try me, Alaric. But know this—when I come for you next, it won't be in silk and sighs. It'll be in flames."
She vanished into the night.
And this time… Damon didn't chase her.
But his rage did.
---