Chapter 75
**ARIA**
The corridor felt impossibly long.
Every step I took, I was convinced the people we passed knew exactly what we had just done in the small dining room. The heat in my cheeks refused to fade, a lingering reminder of the pleasure I’d shared with Adam and Austin. Dressed again, hair hastily smoothed down, I should have felt composed. But instead, I felt exposed.
I kept my gaze fixed ahead, determined not to make eye contact with anyone.
And yet, I swore I could feel their eyes on me. Did that guy we just passed smirk? Did the woman near the staircase glance at me just a second too long? Oh God. They knew. They all knew.
Behind me, Adam and Austin walked with far too much ease, their presence a tangible mix of satisfaction and amusement.
"You're walking like you're guilty of a crime," Adam murmured smoothly beside me, his voice dripping with the kind of aristocratic amusement that only he could manage. "No one cares, Aria."
I shot him a glare. "You don’t know that."
Austin let out a loud, shameless chuckle. "Sweetheart, half this community has fucked in that living room at some point. You’re just part of a long, glorious tradition."
"Could you not?" I hissed, horrified, my eyes darting around to see if anyone had heard him.
He grinned, completely unbothered. "What? It’s the truth."
Adam, ever the refined one, adjusted his cuffs with a knowing smirk. "What Austin is trying—and failing—to articulate with any level of grace, is that you’re overthinking it."
"You’re both the worst," I muttered, quickening my pace toward our room.
Austin leaned in, his voice a low drawl against my ear. "You weren’t saying that ten minutes ago."
I gasped and smacked his arm, but he only laughed, his smugness practically radiating off him. Adam chuckled, shaking his head, while I stormed ahead, desperate to escape before my dignity shriveled up completely.
By the time we reached the room, my embarrassment was still simmering, but the tension between us had shifted into something else—something softer, playful. The moment the door clicked shut behind us, Adam stepped close, fingers ghosting over my arm.
"Are you going to pout all night?" he teased, his blue eyes glinting with amusement.
"I’m not pouting."
Austin dropped onto the bed, stretching out like he owned the place. "You totally are," he added. "It’s cute, though."
I opened my mouth to argue, but the words caught in my throat as something caught my eye.
The book.
It lay open on the desk, its pages spread wide under the soft glow of the moonlight streaming through the window.
I frowned. "Did one of you open that?"
Adam glanced over his shoulder. "No. You put it down last, didn’t you?"
"Yeah. And I closed it."
Austin pushed himself up, his expression skeptical. "Are you sure?"
I turned to him, crossing my arms. "Yes, I’m sure."
He raised an eyebrow. "Because you were pretty distracted when we got back. Maybe you just think you closed it."
I narrowed my eyes. "I know what I did, Austin."
He smirked. "Do you?"
I groaned. "You're insufferable."
Adam sighed, rubbing his temple. "As riveting as this debate is, perhaps we should focus on the fact that the book is open now, regardless of how it got that way."
I huffed but turned back to the desk. He was right. Whether I had left it open or not didn’t change the fact that something was… off.
The pages shimmered in the moonlight, as if dusted with silver. The ink that wasn't there when Adam and I found this book was now dark, crisp, fully formed. I stepped closer, heart pounding. The intricate script curved across the parchment, forming words that had been lost to time—until now.
A full story had appeared.
"That wasn’t there before," I whispered, my fingers hovering over the text but not quite touching.
"No," Adam agreed, his voice quieter now, more serious. "It wasn’t."
Austin joined us at the desk, resting a hand on my lower back as he peered over my shoulder. "What the hell does it say?"
Before I could respond, my phone vibrated in my pocket, shattering the heavy silence.
I flinched, snapping back to reality. My hands fumbled to pull it out, my pulse racing as I saw the name on the screen. Cassius.
I answered immediately. "Cass? What’s—"
"We found something." His voice was tense, clipped.
A shiver ran down my spine.
"What?" I asked, my grip tightening around the phone. "What did you find?"
There was a pause. Then, just before the line cut out, Cassius’s voice came through once more.
"You need to see this for yourself. We are coming back."
The call ended.
I stared at the screen, my heartbeat loud in my ears.
Austin shifted beside me. "Well… shit."
Adam exhaled slowly. "Looks like things just got more interesting."
I swallowed hard, turning back to the book, the glowing script still whispering secrets under the moon’s light.
Something told me that whatever Cassius had found…
It was only the beginning and I have absolutely no idea what to expect.
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