Chapter 134
**ARIA**
The farther along I got in my pregnancy, the more I felt like time was closing in on me. My belly was round, the twins restless beneath my skin, and every day I felt the weight of their lives pressing against my own. It wasn’t just exhaustion anymore—it was danger.
Everyone knew it. Adam, Austin, Cassius, even Rosalie—they were all watching me more closely, whispering when they thought I couldn’t hear. Alaric wasn’t just threatening us anymore. He wanted my children gone. And as the weeks passed, the more certain I became that he would stop at nothing to make sure they never drew breath.
It was in the middle of one of those hushed conversations that I finally said it aloud:
“I want to see Alex.”
The room went still.
Adam was the first to speak, his voice hard and sharp. “Absolutely not.”
Austin shook his head before I could even argue. “He betrayed us. He almost destroyed everything. You’re not going anywhere near him.”
“I have to,” I said, surprising even myself with how steady my voice sounded. “You all want answers, and so do I. If there’s even the slightest chance he’ll tell me something he won’t tell you, I have to try.”
Rosalie looked at me with wide, worried eyes. “Aria—”
“I’m not asking for permission.” My hand instinctively went to my stomach, protective and determined. “These are my children. If there’s a chance to keep them safe, I’ll take it.”
No one liked it. Adam’s jaw clenched so tightly I thought he’d break his teeth. Austin paced like a caged wolf. But in the end, neither of them could stop me.
The hall leading to Alex’s cell was colder than I remembered. Each step echoed like a drumbeat in my chest. The guards nodded stiffly as they let me through, their eyes full of the same doubt my companions had.
I pushed forward anyway.
***
Alex was sitting on the cot, head bowed, fingers linked loosely in front of him. When he heard me, he lifted his gaze. For a moment, I saw not the traitor, but the man I’d once trusted—the one who’d laughed with us, guarded our secrets, built the walls that were supposed to protect us.
“Aria,” he said softly.
“Don’t say my name like we’re still friends,” I answered, though my voice cracked.
He sighed, leaning back against the wall. “I suppose I deserve that.”
I stepped closer, forcing myself not to flinch at the wards glowing faintly around the bindings that held him. “Why, Alex? Why betray us? Why betray me?”
He looked at me for a long time, his eyes tired, almost hollow. “Not everything was a lie.”
The words hit me like a stone in the chest. I wanted to scream, to demand he explain, but I swallowed it back. “Then what was real?”
“You,” he said simply. “The way you made people believe in something bigger than themselves. The way Adam and Austin would burn the world for you. I didn’t fake those moments,
Aria. I cared. Still do.”
Tears stung my eyes, but I blinked them away. “And yet you still chose him. Alaric.”
His mouth twisted into something between a smile and a grimace. “Alaric offers order in a world spiraling into chaos. But I… I didn’t want this for you.”
“Then help me,” I pressed, stepping closer to the edge of the ward. “If any part of what you said is true, if you ever cared at all—tell me how to stop him. Tell me what he wants.”
For the first time since I’d entered, Alex looked unsettled. His gaze darted to the corners of the room, as if checking for eyes or ears I couldn’t see. He leaned forward, lowering his voice.
“You need to know… he’s not alone. You think the traitors are few, but they’re not. He has more allies inside the walls than you realize.”
My heart dropped into my stomach. “Who?”
He shook his head quickly. “I can’t—”
“Yes, you can!” I hissed. “You said not everything was a lie. Then prove it. Give me a name.”
Alex swallowed, beads of sweat breaking across his forehead. He looked at me then—really looked—and for a fleeting second, he wasn’t the traitor. He was the man I’d once trusted, torn apart by choices too heavy to bear.
“I want you to survive this,” he whispered. “You and the children. If I tell you nothing else, remember this: Alaric isn’t trying to destroy everything. He’s trying to control it. He wants—”
And then his voice broke. His body arched violently, eyes wide with horror, mouth open in a soundless scream.
“Alex!” I shouted, reaching out, but the ward flared bright and pushed me back. His hands clawed at his chest as if tearing at an invisible chain. His lips moved once more, forming words I couldn’t hear—then nothing.
He collapsed to the ground, still and lifeless.
I stood frozen, heart hammering, unable to comprehend what I’d just seen. It was as if something had ripped the life out of him in an instant. A spell. A curse. Insurance against betrayal.
The door slammed open behind me, and Adam and Austin rushed in, weapons drawn, faces etched with panic.
“Aria!” Adam grabbed me, pulling me back from the body. “What happened?”
I shook my head, tears streaming down my cheeks. “He was trying to tell me… something important. And then he just—he just died. Like something killed him from the inside.”
Austin’s gaze darkened as he looked at Alex’s still form. “Alaric,” he growled.
Adam pulled me close, his voice low and fierce. “That’s enough. No more risks like this, Aria. Not while you’re carrying them.”
I wanted to argue, to scream, but the fight drained out of me. My hands fell to my stomach, trembling. The twins kicked, as if reminding me why I’d come here in the first place.
Alex was gone. Whatever truths he had left to tell, they’d died with him.
But one thing was certain—if Alaric could reach into this room, past wards and steel and magic, then none of us were safe.
And time was running out.
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