The night air outside the Ward estate was colder than Mira expected. Sharp, biting, almost metallic. It wrapped around her as soon as the heavy doors closed behind her, muffling the last traces of violin music and murmured conversations inside.
She exhaled shakily.
Her heart was still thundering from the confrontation—no, the collision—between Elias and Riven. Their eyes. Their voices. Their nearness.
It was too much.
Too intense.
Too dangerous.
Mira walked briskly down the stone steps, heels clicking in a rhythm that matched her racing thoughts.
I need to go home. I need to breathe.
Snow flurries drifted down from the dark sky, dusting the driveway like scattered diamonds. The Ward security men stood at the edges of the property—still, silent, but watchful.
She kept her gaze straight ahead.
"Miss Mira."
A man stepped out from near the gate. He wasn't in Ward colors—he didn't wear the family's emblem, didn't have the polished discipline or sharp edges of trained security. He stood too casually, hands tucked into his coat pockets, a smirk playing on his lips.
Mira froze.
He wasn't supposed to be here.
"You dropped something," he said, holding up a glimmering pin.
Her rose-gold hair piece. The one she had removed in the powder room. She must've left it—
No.
He couldn't have gotten that close.
"I didn't drop anything," Mira said, voice steadying as she stepped back.
The man clicked his tongue. "Pretty little thing like you shouldn't lie. Makes people think you've got something to hide."
She took another step back.
His eyes darkened. Not with charm. Not with interest.
With intention.
"Stay where you are," he growled lightly.
That was all Mira needed to hear.
Her heart lurched into her throat. She spun around and walked quickly toward the path leading to the main drive—but she wasn't fast enough.
A hand grabbed her wrist.
Hard.
She gasped, turning sharply.
"Let go of me!"
He leaned close, breath hot and sour. "Relax. I'm not gonna hurt you. Unless—"
"Unless what?"
Another voice cut the air like a blade.
Cold. Controlled.
Deadly.
Mira didn't have to turn to know who it belonged to.
Elias.
The grip on her wrist loosened instantly. The man straightened, stepping back, but Elias Ward was already there—moving with the quiet, lethal precision of someone trained his entire life to end threats before they fully formed.
Elias's hand closed around the man's collar. Not violently.
Purposefully.
"I warned the Valente dogs to stay off my property," Elias murmured, voice smooth but seething beneath. "This is the second time one of you wandered too close."
The man swallowed. "I—I wasn't—"
Elias tightened his grip a fraction, cutting off the rest.
"Don't bother lying. You were touching what isn't yours."
His gaze slid to Mira. It burned, but not with anger.
With something else.
Something darker.
Something protective.
The man tried to speak again—then choked, because Elias pressed him against the wall with a single unforgiving push.
"Tell your boss," Elias said softly, "that if he wants to send another messenger, he should send someone who isn't suicidal."
He released him.
The man scrambled away, coughing, disappearing into the dark as quickly as he appeared.
For a moment, there was only silence.
The snow. The moonlight. Mira's uneven breathing.
Elias turned to her.
"Are you hurt?"
Mira shook her head. "No. I'm just… startled."
Elias stepped closer. Not invading—assessing. Guarding. His presence wrapped around her with a force she couldn't understand.
"You should not have been alone outside," he said quietly. "The Valentes are not subtle. They saw you."
"Saw me?" Mira whispered. "Why would they notice me?"
"Because I did."
His answer struck her like a pulse.
Mira held his gaze, her chest tightening.
"That shouldn't matter," she said softly. "I'm no one in your world."
Elias's jaw tensed. For the first time, something flickered behind his calm façade—something almost like contradiction.
"Not anymore."
Her breath caught.
Before she could respond, heavy footsteps echoed from behind them.
"Of course," Elias murmured, almost under his breath.
Riven emerged from the shadows, coat unbuttoned, eyes burning with fury he didn't bother hiding.
"What happened?" he demanded.
He didn't look at Elias.
He only looked at her.
Mira opened her mouth, but Elias spoke first.
"A Valente stray thought he could touch her."
Riven's face twisted with something dangerously close to rage.
"And you handled it alone?" he nearly snarled. "You're supposed to call me for things like this."
"You?" Elias replied, calm but sharp. "This is my territory."
"Then keep it clean," Riven fired back, stepping closer. "Because if someone touches her again—"
"She won't be alone again," Elias cut in. "I'll make sure of it."
Riven's jaw clenched.
Mira felt the tension rise between them like heat off burning asphalt.
"I should go," she whispered, desperate to break the collision forming between them.
Both brothers turned to her at the same time.
"I'll take you home," Elias said.
"No," Riven countered immediately. "She's shaken. She needs someone who won't make her feel like a prisoner."
Mira swallowed hard.
Their eyes locked.
Neither moved.
Neither yielded.
This wasn't just anger.
This wasn't just protectiveness.
This was territorial.
"I can go alone," Mira finally said.
Two voices said the exact same word:
"No."
She blinked—Elias and Riven both speaking in perfect deadly unison. A moment passed, sharp as glass, before they glared at each other again.
Elias exhaled, long and controlled. "Riven. Go inside."
"Make me," Riven said quietly.
Mira stepped between them, hands trembling slightly. "Stop. Please. I just—I just want to go home. Alone."
Riven looked at her. Really looked.
His expression softened.
"Mira…" he began, tone dropping to something gentler than he ever used with anyone else. "You don't understand what's happening. You were targeted."
"I know," she said. "But I can handle going home."
Elias shook his head sharply. "It isn't about handling it. The Valentes saw you. They won't forget your face."
Silence.
Cold.
Heavy.
Mira wrapped her arms around herself, suddenly overwhelmed.
"Please," she whispered. "Please just let me go."
Elias's eyes closed briefly—an internal battle Mira couldn't decipher.
Riven looked away, jaw tight.
Finally, Elias nodded once. "At least let the driver take you."
Mira hesitated, then exhaled. "Fine."
Not ideal—but safer.
Elias signaled to one of the estate's drivers, and a black sedan pulled up. Mira walked toward it, feeling both sets of eyes on her—burning marks she couldn't erase.
She reached the car door.
But before she could open it, Riven was suddenly at her side.
He didn't touch her.
But he leaned close enough that his breath warmed her ear.
"Next time," he whispered, "call for me. Not him."
Mira's chest tightened.
She turned.
But he was already walking away.
Only Elias remained watching her, expression unreadable.
Guarded.
Possessive.
Unwilling to let anything take her from his sight.
"Stay alert," he said softly. "And… don't disappear."
Mira didn't trust her voice, so she nodded and
slipped into the car.
The door closed.
The car pulled away.
The estate faded behind her like a dream she wasn't meant to touch.
But Mira knew one thing with terrifying clarity:
She wasn't leaving that world.
It was following her.
And so were they.