Zara's POV
Dante was dying, and I was dying with him.
His pain tore through me like wildfire. The bullet in his chest might as well have been in mine. I couldn't breathe, couldn't think, couldn't do anything but feel his life slipping away.
"No!" I screamed, running back toward him.
Bullets sprayed the ground around me. I zigzagged, ducked, rolled—pure instinct keeping me alive. Reached Dante and grabbed his arm.
The moment I touched him, energy exploded between us.
His wound... stopped bleeding. His pain dulled. Color returned to his face.
"What—" he gasped.
"I don't know. But we need to move. Now!"
We ran together, my hand locked on his arm. The bond pulsed with power, pushing strength from me into him. Or maybe from him into me. I couldn't tell anymore where I ended and he began.
We made it to a motorcycle parked at the garage exit. Dante threw his leg over, and I jumped on behind him. The engine roared to life.
"Hold on!" he shouted.
I wrapped my arms around his waist as we exploded into the street. Behind us, men in black uniforms poured from the garage, shouting orders.
Dante drove like a demon, weaving through traffic, taking corners that should've killed us. I held on tight, feeling his focus, his determination, his fear that I'd fall.
Finally, after what felt like hours but was probably minutes, we lost them.
Dante pulled into an alley and killed the engine. We sat there, both shaking.
"You saved my life," he said quietly.
"The bond saved your life. I just... I don't know what I did."
"You shared your energy with me. Through the curse." He turned to look at me, and his eyes were different. Softer. "Thank you."
Before I could respond, his phone buzzed. He checked it and cursed.
"What?"
"They're calling me a traitor. Saying I helped you steal the ruby and kill three guards." He showed me the news alert. My face and his were plastered across every screen in the city. Wanted. Dangerous. Armed.
"But you didn't kill anyone!"
"Doesn't matter. Someone's framing us both." He pocketed the phone. "We need to disappear. Get somewhere safe and figure this out."
"Where?"
"I know a place."
The motel was the kind of place you went to disappear. Cracked walls, flickering neon sign, a manager who didn't ask questions as long as you paid cash.
Dante got us a room at the end of the hallway. Inside, I collapsed on the bed while he checked the windows, the locks, every possible entry point.
"We're safe," he finally said. "For now."
I laughed. It came out broken. "Safe? We're cursed, hunted, and wanted for murder. When exactly are we safe?"
"Fair point." He sat in the chair across from me, and I saw how exhausted he looked. The bullet wound was healed—our bond had somehow fixed it—but the cost showed in the dark circles under his eyes. "We have twenty-six days left. We need to complete the trials."
"The trials that will probably kill us anyway?"
"Better than definitely dying from the curse."
I pulled the ruby from my pocket. It glowed softly, almost mockingly. "Why is this thing doing this to us? What did we do to deserve this?"
"Nothing. We're just... unfortunate." Dante leaned forward, elbows on his knees. "But Zara, that thing you did in the garage—sharing energy through the bond—that shouldn't be possible this early. Most cursed pairs can't do that until after the first trial."
"So what does that mean?"
"It means our bond is stronger than normal. Either we're more compatible than most cursed pairs, or..." He hesitated.
"Or what?"
"Or the curse chose us specifically. On purpose."
A chill ran down my spine. "You think someone planned this? Someone wanted us cursed together?"
"I think someone's been pulling strings since the beginning." He pulled out his phone, showed me a file. "I've been investigating the ruby's history. Every person who's stolen it for the past three hundred years? They all had one thing in common—they were threats to the royal family."
My mouth went dry. "Like my mother."
"And my father." His voice hardened. "What if the curse isn't random? What if it's a weapon? A way to eliminate threats by forcing them into impossible trials?"
"But we survived the shooting. We're working together. The curse made us stronger, not weaker."
"Exactly." His eyes met mine. "Which means whoever cursed the ruby didn't count on that. Didn't count on us."
The way he said "us" made my heart skip.
Before I could respond, my phone buzzed. Another message from the masked figure.
This time, it was a video of Marcus. But he wasn't tied up anymore. He was standing, smiling at the camera.
"Hey, Zara," Marcus said cheerfully. "Surprise! There is no kidnapping. This was all a setup to get you and your bodyguard boyfriend in one place. See you real soon."
The video ended.
I stared at the screen, rage building in my chest. "He's working with them. Marcus is working with whoever's hunting us."
Dante's phone buzzed. He checked it and went pale.
"What now?"
"The Prince. He's called a press conference." Dante turned his phone toward me. On the screen, Prince Adrian stood at a podium, looking grave. "He's about to announce something."
We watched as the Prince spoke: "Today, I mourn the loss of my cousin, Princess Elena's daughter, Zara Moretti. She died tonight in a tragic confrontation with royal security. My heart breaks for her loss."
I stopped breathing.
"He's declaring you dead," Dante whispered.
"But I'm not—"
"Which means he's planning to make it true." Dante stood abruptly. "We need to leave. Now. If he's announced you're dead, he's giving his people permission to kill you on sight and call it self-defense."
A knock sounded at the door.
We both froze.
"Room service," a muffled voice called.
"We didn't order room service," I whispered.
The door exploded inward.
Six men in black tactical gear rushed in, guns raised. But the man who walked in behind them made my blood freeze.
It was the Prince himself. Adrian Valdor. Crown Prince of Valdoria.
And he was holding the real Blood Moon Ruby in his hand.
"Hello, cousin," he said to me, smiling. "Surprise—the ruby you've been carrying is a fake. I've had the real one all along." He held it up, and it glowed brighter than ours ever had. "And now that I have both of you exactly where I want you, it's time to tell you the truth about your mothers, the curse, and why you're both going to help me destroy this kingdom."