Chapter 54 —
POV: Lyra
The air changed before I heard him.
A shift—subtle, violent, unmistakable.
My half-closed eyes fluttered open just as the door clicked behind Aren.
He was leaving.
No words. No backward glance.Just the quiet certainty that whatever he had set in motion didn't require his presence anymore.
The moment the door shut, something inside me unraveled.
My chest tightened. Breath turned shallow. My fingers dug into the blanket as if it could anchor me to the bed.
No.No no no—
The room felt too big. Too empty.
Then—
Footsteps.
Not Aren's.
Multiple.
My head snapped toward the doorway.
Two men stood there.
The same ones.
Blood cleaned. Clothes changed. Eyes sharp and hungry in a way that made my stomach drop straight to hell.
My heart slammed so hard it hurt.
Panic didn't creep in this time.
It crashed.
I scrambled backward, breath tearing out of me in broken gasps. My vision tunneled, the walls tilting, spinning.
"No—" My voice shook violently. "Stay back."
One of them smiled.
"She looks worse," he said lightly. "Didn't think she'd break so fast."
I couldn't hear my own breathing anymore.
All I could hear was the roar in my ears.
The room shrank. My skin felt wrong—too tight, too exposed. Every memory clawed its way up at once, uninvited and merciless.
I tried to scream.
Nothing came out.
Then—
"Step away from her."
The voice cut through the chaos like a blade.
Sharp. Controlled. Furious.
Kieller.
The men froze.
My head snapped toward the doorway.
He stood there in a dark coat, eyes silver and lethal, posture relaxed in the way predators get when they've already decided how this ends.
For half a second, my body forgot how to breathe.
Relief hit me so hard it hurt.
"K-Kieller…" My voice broke completely.
The men laughed nervously.
"Wrong room," one muttered.
Kieller didn't move.
"Last chance," he said calmly. "Walk."
They didn't.
The first punch came fast.
Kieller crossed the distance in two strides, fist connecting with bone. The sound echoed—wet, final. One man went down immediately.
The second lunged.
Bad decision.
Kieller twisted, grabbed his arm, slammed him into the wall hard enough to crack plaster. The man cried out.
I watched in stunned silence, heart racing, panic still gripping me but now tangled with something else.
Safety.
Violence exploded in the hallway as another figure rushed forward—
Aren.
"Kieller—"
Too late.
Kieller turned, fist already moving.
It connected with Aren's jaw with a force that sent him staggering backward.
The room went dead silent.
I screamed.
"Stop—!"
My knees buckled.
Everything collapsed inward.
Kieller caught me before I hit the floor.
His arms wrapped around me, strong, unyielding, grounding. I clutched his coat like it was the only thing keeping me from disappearing.
"I've got you," he said immediately, voice low, urgent. "Breathe. Look at me."
I tried.
God, I tried.
But panic had me in its teeth again.
Aren straightened slowly, wiping blood from his lip. His eyes burned—not with pain, but fury.
"This wasn't necessary," Aren said coldly.
Kieller turned, Lyra cradled in his arms like something fragile and irreplaceable.
"Don't you try to bring her in between," Kieller said, voice lethal."This is the first and last warning."
The words landed heavy.
Final.
Aren's jaw clenched—but he didn't move.
Kieller didn't wait.
He lifted me fully—bridal style—and turned away.
The hallway blurred as we moved. My head fell against his shoulder, breath still uneven, tears soaking into his coat.
The last thing I saw—
Aren standing there.
Watching.
Aren — POV
The door shut behind them.
The silence that followed was violent.
I stood there for a long moment, chest rising and falling, blood still warm on my knuckles—not from the fight, but from restraint.
He took her.
Just like that.
I turned slowly and walked back into my room.
The contract lay torn on the table.
I stared at it.
Then I laughed—low, humorless.
"She'll come back," I murmured to the empty room."She always does."
A slow smirk curved my lips.
"Because she doesn't know the truth yet."
The lights dimmed.
And the game—
Was far from over.