"This changes everything" he whispered
Elena frowned "what does it mean?"
Adrian's met hers, fierce and conflicted "It means you are not just caught in this Elena...you're a part of it.... maybe the most important part"
Her stomach dropped "No... I can't."
"You can" he cut in his voice sharp...urgent "If the codex chose you.... if the Rose knows you... then the order won't stop until they have you.You are not leverage anymore.You are the key."
The night air seemed colder heavier, pressing in on her from all sides. Elena's mind spun with disbelief... with terror.
But beneath it all a seed of resolv, begin to root.
If the rose had chosen her, then she couldn't hide from it. She would face it with Adrian beside her.
She tightened her crip on the Codex.....lifted her chin and whispered "then we find it before they do."
Adrian's storm-gray grey eyes met hers and for the first time she saw not just the weight of his past but the spark of something new— hope.
And under the blood-stained moon, they made a silent vow.
Together they would chase the Rose.
Or be destroyed by it.
The streets of Verona smoldered with tension. Fires from torches, crackled in distant alleys, faint echoes of the Order's hunt spreading through the city like a sickness. Elena and Adrian moved swiftly, shadows among shadows, their steps muffled against the uneven stones.
Adrian led his movements precise despite the blood staining his coat. Elena followed, clutching the Codex tight to her chest, her mind replaying the vision again and again— the Garden....the Rose.... the veiled woman who had spoken words that haunted her still.
They reached a narrow canal where gondolas swayed, abandoned at this late hour. Adrian crouched, scanning the water, his gray eyes flaked from side to side, sharp and restless.
"They will search every street by dawn" he murmured, "We need to disappear before then."
Elena hesitated "Where can we go?"
Adrian glanced at her his jaw tight "There is someone I swore I had never seen again but we are out of option."
Elena's stomach tightened "Someone you trust?"
A shadow crossed his face "Once... enough that I had rather not. But he owes me and debt like his aren't easily forgotten."
Before she could question further, Adrian helped her into a gondola. He loosed the ropes and took the pole, guide them silently into the waterway. The city's stone bridges loomed overhead, cloaked in moonlight while their reflection rippled like ghosts in the canal below.
The silence stretched until elena finally asked the question clawing at her chest "Cassian....he called you the prodigal son...what did he mean?"
Adrian's grip on the pole tightened "Cassian was my father's prodegy. When my family turned against the Order, he chose them instead. He saw me as week for running. He thinks I betrayed blood but the truth is, he betrayed as long before that night."
Elena studied him, her heart aching at the weight in his voice, "And now he's hunting you."
Elena lowered her gaze to the book, the rose enveloped dressing into her palms. She wanted to deny it to insist. She was nothing more than an artist caught in the wrong's storm but deep down, she knew the vision had changed everything she couldn't escape this now
The gondola drafted beneath and archway and into a wider stretch of water were the ruins of old Verona clung to the banks like scars.
Adrian guided them toward a crumbling tower half hidden. It's windows dark and hollow.
"This is it" he said.
They moored the gondola and climbed onto the bank. Adrian pushed open a heavy door.... it's hinges, groaning and led her inside.
The towers interiors smelled off ash and dust piles of box and scrolls. Please gathered across stone floors, their edges charred in the center of the chamber, a fire burned low in a brazier, casting faint light over a man seated in a carved chair.
He was older than Adrian, with streaks of silver in his dark hair. His features sharp and worn his eyes. However were as piercing as Adrian's— though where Adrian's held storm and restraint, this man's carried secrets and bitterness.
"Adrian", the man said his voice gravely, but steady. "I wondered how long it would take before desperation drove you to my door"
Adrians jaw clenched, "We don't have time for games Marcus."
Marcus leaned forward his gaze flicking to Elena.Then the Codex in her arms. His lips curved into something between amusement and recognition so it's true, the rose has chosen again.
Elena's stiffened "You know about me?"
"Don't you child...not yet. But I know what it means when the Codex stirs". Marcus rose his clock trailing across the floor "Your presence in this is no accident.... the rose call whom it will, and it never calls without reason."
Elena's skin prickled, "Then tell me what reason? why me?"
Marcus studied her for a long moment before shaking his head "The rose doesn't reveal itself fully until the time is right but it always demands a price", his eyes slide back to Adrian, "you know this?"
Adrian fists clenched, "I didn't bring her here for riddles.You need safe passage supplies and information about Cassian."
Marcus's lips twisted, "always demanding never grateful.You are still your father's son."
Adrian temper flared, but Elena stepped forward her voice soft. But firm "Please if you know anything that can help us, tell us."
Marcus's gaze soften slightly though his expression remained guarded "Cassian has grown powerful. The Order listens to him more than ever. If he pursues you personally it means he believes that the Rose is within reach and if he believes it, then the city is no longer safe."
Elena clutched the Codex tighter then "where do we go?"
Marcus moved to a table, cluttered with maps. His fingers tracing one born parchment south across the sea, to the ruins of Carthia. The last time the rose was seen, it was there and the Codex will guide you.
Adrian frowned "Carthia is a graveyard."
Exactly Marcus replied and that is, by the order hesitates, but is Elena has seen the rose, then it calls from there.
Elanas, heart pounded south across the sea, a journey into ruins, whispered about in history. She looked at Adrian searching his face.
Marcus smiled faintly though it held no joy, "They want Adrian.The rose doesn't grand its secrets freely. It tests... it consumes, it destroys those unworthy". His gaze shifted to Elena. "Be certain you're ready to pay the price."
The fire in the Brazil recorded throwing shadows across the Stone walls.The air felt heavy as though the tower itself, bored witness to a vow, neither of them could take back.
Elena squared her shoulders her voice steady. If that's what it takes, "then I will face it....I won't run."
Adrian's storm-gray eyes soften just for a heartbeat, as though her words struck something deep within him.
Marcus studied them both then turned away "Rest here tonight..... by dawn, the Order will sweep this city clean if you mean to survive, you must leave before the sunrise."
Elena excelled slowly exhaustion washing over her. Adrian guided her to a corner were blankets were laid out. She sank down the Codex, still clutched to her chest.
Adrian sat beside her silent. His gaze fixed on the flickering flames.
For a long moment, they said nothing but then Elena whispered "Adrian..."
He turned to her.
"If we find the Rose.... what then?"
His jaw titled, his hand brushed against hers deliberate lingering "Then we decide whether to claim it or destroy it."
Their fingers intertwined the smallest touch, carrying more weight than words. In the glow of dying fire, surrounded by ash and promises, they found a fragile moment of peace.
But outside the city burned and the Rose waited.
The fire light of dawn crept over Verona, painting the canals in pale gold, smoke lingered in the air from fires the aorder had set during their search, and the city felt hollow, abandoned.
Adrian and Elena slipped out of Marcus's tower with packs slung across their shoulders.The Codex was wrapped carefully in cloth hidden beneath Elena's cloak. Marcus had supplied them with forged papers, a small pouch of coins and the name of the ship's captain who could ferry them south without asking questions.
They walked in silence through winding streets until they reached the docks.The sea stretched before them, restless and gray gulls crying overhead. Ships swayed gently, ropes creaking, sales furled against the morning breeze.
Elena inhaled the salty air her heart tone between fear and exhilaration. She had never left Verona, now she was about to cross an ocean, chasing a legend whispered in the dark.
Adrian paused at the end of the pier, scanning the vessels. His expression was hard, calculating, as though every shadow might conceal Cassian's spies.
"Which one?" Elena asked softly.
He nodded toward a weathered schooner with patched sales. "The Erebus Captain Renard. If Marcus says he is trustworthy, he will get us to to Carthia."
They approached a man with a weathered face and sharp eyes leaned against the railing pipe, smoke curling lazily around him, he eyed them with a mixture of curiosity and suspicion.
"Adrian" he said his voice rough like a gravel "Didn't expect you to crawl back from dead."
Adrian's lips tightened "I need passage.... no questions."
Renard chuckled "You never change.... always trouble at your heels." His gaze slid to Elena lingering "and who is this?"
Adrian's stance shifted subtly, protective "My partner."
Elena felt heat rise her cheeks, but lifted her chin, meeting Renards gaze without flinching "Do we have an agreement?"
Renard studied her for a moment before grinning "Bold....I like that..... fine— coin up front and you have got yourselves a birth"
Adrian tossed the pouch Marcus had given them. Renard caught it, weighing it in his hand before nodding, "Welcome aboard, the Erebus. We set sail within the hour."
As they boarded, Elena's pulse quickened, the deck smelled of salt and tar, ropes coiled neatly, sailors moving with practiced efficiency. She clutched the Codex beneath her cloak feeling it's weight as though it pulsed with every step.
Adrian guided her to the bow, where the sea stretched endless before them, the rising sun painted the horizon in fire and gold.
For a moment, this stood silence, side by side.Then Adrian spoke, his voice low "This isn't just a voyage...Elena.....it's an oath. Once we set sail, there is no turning back."
Elena turn to him, her heart steady despite the storm inside, "I made my choice last night.....I am with you."
His storm-gray eyes searched hers, raw and unguarded, slowly he reached for her hand intervening his fingers with her.
"Then together" he whispered "until the end."
The ship's sails unfurled, catching the wind. The Erebus creeked, groaned and then surged forward, cutting across the water. Verona shrank behind them , a city of ashes fading into memory.
Above them, the stars lingered faintly in the dawn sky, witnesses to a vow made not in words but in hearts.
The chase of the Midnight Rose has truly begun.