CHAPTER 115: THE CITY OF THE BURIED HEART

Alessia felt a violent jerk, a sensation like being pulled on an invisible thread.

Her awareness snapped back into her own body, but the chilling command still vibrated in the air. "You are the Red Moon blood child... and you must come and answer tonight."

The voice wasn’t just in her ears; it was in her blood. It was the ancient echo Vàlká had warned her about, the call that had drawn her mother away. She clapped a hand over her mouth to stifle a scream. Her eyes darted toward the house—Luca.

He was still sleeping, his presence a comforting, solid anchor she was desperately trying to reach.

But the pool was calling louder.

The water wasn’t silver mist tonight; it was a churning black void reflecting a moon so intensely red it looked like a gaping wound in the sky.

"No," Alessia forced out, stumbling backward. "I won’t."

Her resistance was met with an invisible shove. She was propelled to the edge of the pool, her bare feet meeting the cold stone.

She saw her reflection.... not her own face, but a fractured, older image of a woman with the same wide, terrified eyes, only this woman’s cheeks were stained with tears of blood.

"You must fulfill the pact, child of Morano. The gate will not open without the key."

The water began to foam, spitting droplets that sizzled as they hit the courtyard tiles.

The red veins Vàlká had shown her were now visible on the surface of the pool, pulsing like a monstrous, submerged heart.

Suddenly, her stomach cramped, a sharp, blinding pain that stole her breath.

She doubled over, clutching her abdomen.

This wasn’t just fear; this was a physical reaction, a rejection from the life she carried.

The babies were reacting to the curse.

"Stop... Leave them alone... " she cried, tears finally breaking free.

The pain receded, replaced by a cold, numbing calm. The commanding voice softened, coiling around her mind with false reassurance. "We only seek what is owed. The city of men awaits, Alessia, Find the heart that was buried there. Only that artifact can seal the breach."

The Unspoken Agreement

Alessia woke up on the bedroom floor, gasping. The sun was a harsh, white disk fighting to break through the clouds. Luca was beside her, his face a mask of exhaustion and controlled fury.

"You’re doing it again," he said, his voice flat and dangerous.

He helped her onto the bed, his hands moving with meticulous, almost clinical care. "You’re sleepwalking. You’re leaving the house. The groundskeeper found the back gate ajar at dawn."

"I don’t remember," she whispered, rubbing her eyes. The dream, the calling already felt like wisps of smoke, but the fear was a hard knot in her chest.

"That’s the problem," he stated, pacing the room.

He ran a hand through his hair, his unbuttoned silk shirt clinging to the defined muscles of his back. "First the pool, now the gate. You’re walking right out of my protection, Alessia, and I won’t allow it."

She watched him, her mind sharp despite the exhaustion.

He was protecting her from the physical world, from his enemies, but he was blind to the spiritual war she was fighting.

How could she tell the ruthless head of the Morano Family that she was being puppeted by an ancient Blood Moon curse?

"I know what I have to do," she finally said, sitting up straighter. "It’s what the witch said."

Luca stopped pacing. "The witch on the phone who called you a ’blood child’?"

"No, the one I met in the pool," Alessia corrected, the words feeling utterly absurd yet true. "Lapàtásodà Vàlká. She said I have to find the heart he buried... in the city of men."

Luca’s expression didn’t soften. He walked to the window and looked out, his profile carved in shadow. "That witch is a myth, a legend for frightened people."

"And the curse? Is that a myth too? The one that belonged to your brother?" she challenged.

He turned slowly, his eyes cutting into hers. "I told you what I know about the book, Donato was obsessed with Morano history, with power. He thought that book was the key to an unshakeable empire. He never told me about a ’cursed heart’."

"Then you were wrong about your brother," Alessia insisted, her voice gaining strength. "And you’re wrong about the witch. She warned me about him."

"Who?"

"Lorenzo," she said, the name tasting like ash on her tongue. "He’s opening a gate too soon. He’s the reason all of this is starting."

The name struck a nerve. Luca’s composure finally fractured. His eyes narrowed, and a vein pulsed in his temple. He knew that name.

"Lorenzo di Marco should been dead for years but I spared him," Luca growled. "He was one of the few I saved."

"The witch said he was opening the gate," Alessia insisted. "He’s a shadow, Luca, not just a body in pains. And if he succeeds, our family, your empire, it all falls."

A long, tense silence stretched between them.

Luca was weighing the madness of her story against the undeniable, terrifying fact that she was actively being drawn into danger. He knew the Morano bloodline carried secrets; he just preferred to shoot them rather than believe in them.

Finally, he let out a harsh breath. "Fine," he said, a cold determination setting in. "If this ’heart’ is what the curse wants, then that’s what we’ll find. If it’s an object, I can locate it. But you won’t do this alone. I will take you to the ’city of men’."

"What city is that?" Alessia asked, hopeful but wary.

Luca’s lips curved into a bitter, humorless smile. "The city where the Morano Family was first consecrated to the Blood Moon, the city where Donato spent his last years trying to undo the curse he unleashed.

The city where men go to bury their shame, their power, and their hearts."

He walked to the safe hidden behind the painting and began to pull out passports and cash.

"Verona."..

The Loyal Thorn.

*********

Daisy arrived at Seraphina’s sterile, high-rise apartment on the outskirts of the city.

The door was unlocked.

Seraphina lay on the expensive Persian rug, pale and shaking, the remnants of the severed phone call still hanging in the air.

Her eyes, usually burning with calculating malice, were wide with a profound, unadulterated terror.

"Daisy," Seraphina croaked, reaching a trembling hand out. "The witch... she was here.

She spoke through the phone... her voice burned me."

Daisy didn’t move.

She stood over Seraphina, the silver pistol heavy in her jacket pocket, her calm exterior a stark contrast to Seraphina’s panic.

"What did she say to you?" Daisy demanded, her voice an icy whisper.

"She said... the curse isn’t hers," Seraphina stammered, pulling herself up onto an elbow. "It’s mine. My ancestor made the pact with the Moranos, and now the Blood Moon is collecting its debt.

She said if Alessia opens the full gate, it won’t just take the Morano empire... it will take the entire network of power.

All the families, all the alliances, everything we have ever built."

"And what did she say about Alessia?"

Seraphina’s eyes narrowed, the familiar venom returning, laced with genuine fear. "She called her the key.

That the curse is her. And that if she’s left alive, she will birth the true curse, three shadows for the three houses."

Daisy’s blood turned to ice, Three shadows and the unborn children.

She stepped closer, the muzzle of the hidden gun pressing subtly against Seraphina’s side. "Seraphina... What you are saying is a desperate attempt to justify another attack on an innocent woman."

"It’s the truth.. " Seraphina pleaded. "I only called Luca to warn him, She has to be stopped before she reaches the gate... "

Daisy paused, the fear in Seraphina’s eyes was too raw to be entirely an act.

Seraphina was a viper, but even vipers feared being incinerated.

"The gate," Daisy repeated. "Where is it?"

Seraphina shook her head weakly. "I don’t know. The witch only gave me one place, A name.... A place she said Alessia must never go alone... the city of the red chapel."

Daisy’s mind raced, Red Chapel.... That sounded like something out of a fairy tale, not a city.

"Is that all?" Daisy pressed, pulling the pistol out now and pressing it hard into Seraphina’s ribs.

Seraphina winced, but her gaze was resolute. "Wait... The witch said something else before the line cut out.

She was warning me about... Lorenzo’s shadow."

Daisy frowned. "Lorenzo is dead?."

"No," Seraphina whispered, a chilling certainty in her voice. "The witch said Lorenzo never left the city where his heart was buried. She said he is waiting for her."

Daisy froze, the word resonating with the witch’s earlier warning to Alessia.... Find the heart he buried.

She needed to warn Alessia.

She needed to know what link Verona had to a Red Chapel and Donato’s shadow.

"Stay here," Daisy commanded, her tone final. "If you move, if you call anyone, if you breathe a word of this to anyone but me, I will find you, and I will end this for good."

She turned, leaving Seraphina trembling on the floor, the silver pistol now burning in her hand.

She had to get to a phone, but before she reached the door, it flew open, crashing against the wall.

Standing in the doorway, blocking her escape, was a figure Daisy had not seen since she was a child. He was tall, his suit immaculate, his eyes the same striking blue as Seraphina’s. A cold, mocking smile played on his lips.

"Leaving so soon, Daisy?" Lorenzo asked, his voice smooth and filled with venomous amusement. "But the gate is about to open, and I just arrived to deliver the invitation."

Daisy brought up the silver pistol, her heart thundering against her ribs.

"How are you alive?" she choked out.

Lorenzo’s smile widened, showing a flash of unsettlingly white teeth. "Let’s just say a certain Morano gave me his heart, and now I have to deliver it. Right after I deal with the loyal thorn."

He lunged.

The Promise of the Moon

********

Back in the Morano mansion, Alessia stood with Luca by the window. Two sleek black cars idled on the drive, surrounded by grim-faced guards.

"We leave in one hour," Luca said, zipping up a black leather jacket. "I have a contact in Verona who specializes in locating ’ancient artifacts.’ We find this heart, we destroy it, and we seal your fate away from this curse."

He looked at her, his eyes filled with a fierce blend of love and possessiveness. "When we get back, you’re not leaving my sight. Not for air, not for a walk, not for a goddamn glass of water. Do you understand?"

Alessia nodded, reaching up to gently cup his cheek. "I understand. I love you, Luca."

"I love you more than all this dark history combined," he whispered, leaning his forehead against hers.

As the couple turned to gather their bags, the rain began to fall in heavy, deliberate drops.

The full moon, obscured for the moment by the clouds, was still a tangible, relentless presence.

Alessia looked down at her hand, and the fine, faint crimson veins she had seen in the pool earlier were now faintly visible beneath her skin, tracing a path up her arm like living red threads.

She had to find the buried heart.

Not just for the sake of the curse, but for the life she carried.

But as she walked past the window, she caught her reflection in the glass.

The air around her shimmered, and for a terrifying second, she saw three faint, swirling red shadows. one large, two small, coiling behind her like nascent protectors.

She stopped dead, her hand flying to her stomach.

She could feel the sudden, fierce pulse of life within her.

And in that moment, she knew, the curse wasn’t just through her; it was in them. And its power was beginning to awaken.

Verona was calling, and she couldn’t outrun the ancient blood that now defined her.

She just didn’t know which of Donato’s shadows would be waiting for her when she got there.......