Chapter 1 – The Masked Guest

• Cassian Viero didn’t expect his thirty-second birthday to end like this.
• The ballroom at the Viero estate was filled with silk, glass, and too many lies. Crystal masks glittered under gold chandeliers. The music played low, almost distant, while wine poured like water—and no one dared look at him too long.
• They knew who he was.
• Cassian Viero, heir to the most feared mafia family in Italy. The man with blood on his name. The man with a curse on his legacy.
• Everyone had heard the whispers.
• Women who married into the Viero family died within five years.
• Aveline had been no different.
• She once stood beside him—young, beautiful, and silent. Now, the sound of her name could still freeze his lungs.
• But tonight, he saw something that made the ground shift under his feet.
• A woman. Standing at the far end of the ballroom. No mask. Dark hair. Pale skin. Sapphire eyes.
• Wearing a black dress that fit too perfectly to be a coincidence.
• Aveline.
• No.
• It couldn’t be. She was dead. He had buried her himself.
• But she was standing there. Breathing. Watching him.
• And next to her stood a boy.
• No older than four. Dressed in a small tuxedo. Clutching her skirt.
• With eyes—dark, quiet, unreadable.
• Viero eyes.
• His eyes.
• Cassian’s grip tightened around his wine glass.
• "Giorgio," he said under his breath.
• His right-hand man turned toward her and froze. “She’s listed as Anna Belgrano.”
• Cassian didn’t look away. “That’s not Anna. That’s—”
• He didn’t finish the sentence. He couldn’t.
• Because if it was her, then everything he believed was a lie.
• He moved down the steps without a word. People noticed. They always did. When Cassian Viero walked like this, it meant something was about to break.
• She knelt by the boy, gently brushing his hair back. Her voice was low but clear.
• “Luc, what did Mom say? Stay close to me.”
• Cassian stopped cold.
• That voice.
• It was hers.
• The boy looked up—and straight at him.
• The music stopped.
• Even the lights felt dimmer.
• The boy whispered, “Mom said we don’t talk to monsters.”
• Cassian didn’t move.
• He looked at the boy again. Then at her.
• That couldn’t be someone else.
• It was Aveline. And the boy was his son.
• ---
• Five Years Ago
• He remembered the night she disappeared.
• He’d just returned from Naples, his hands still stained from ending an entire rival family.
• She was gone.
• Only blood on the bed and her nightgown left behind. Folded. Neat.
• He turned the city upside down.
• Hired mercenaries. Paid witches. Even dragged answers out of a nun.
• Then the box arrived.
• Inside—a lock of her hair. And a note:
• > She died because of your blood. Don’t look for her.
• He stopped searching.
• Because if she hadn’t been taken—
• If she had run—
• Then maybe she feared him more than she loved him.
• ---
• Now
• She turned to leave.
• He grabbed her wrist.
• It was her.
• “Aveline?”
• She didn’t flinch.
• “I know it’s you.”
• She looked at him—and smiled.
• But the smile wasn’t soft. It was cold.
• “I think you’ve made a mistake, Mr. Viero.”
• His jaw locked. “Don’t lie to me. Is he mine?”
• She looked at the boy. “He’s my son. His Dad is dead.”
• Cassian’s chest tightened.
• “Why?” he said, quieter. “Why disappear if you were alive?”
• Her voice came like a slap.
• “Because you’re a curse. And I won’t let that curse near my son.”
• ---
• Later That Night
• Cassian locked himself in the underground study.
• He replayed the ballroom footage again and again.
• She moved through the light—but her shadow didn’t follow right. It lagged behind. Warped. Wrong.
• And the boy... Luc.
• He had seen him before.
• Not in person. In dreams.
• A little boy, standing in fire, whispering:
• > Father.
• ---
• Elsewhere – Aveline
• In a quiet flat on the edge of the city, Aveline sat beside her sleeping son.
• She held an obsidian pendant. Her mother’s last gift.
• Blood-bound. Protective.
• “I did everything I could to keep you safe, Luc,” she whispered. “But they’re coming.”
• She opened a locked cupboard.
• Inside—a black book. Old, leather-bound. Filled with sigils.
• A golden line shimmered across the page:
• > A Viero child born of fire shall free or destroy the bloodline. But the mother’s blood must be sacrificed.
• She swallowed.
• Cassian could hate her all he wanted. But he didn’t know the real danger.
• Not just the curse.
• But the Council of Ashes.
• And tonight, she felt their scent return.
• ---
• Back at the Estate
• Cassian made one call.
• His Mom answered. The Red Priestess.
• “If she’s alive,” he said, “what does it mean?”
• She laughed. “It means the child is the key. And you, my son, will be destroyed—by your own blood.”
• ---
• He stood in the inner sanctum.
• A room no one entered but him.
• On the ground—an old book, dropped open. As if someone had fled.
• He picked it up.
• The first page bore a name.
• Anna Belgrano.
• He flipped the page. His fingers trembled.
• The next page shifted his breath. His spine stiffened.
• He turned one more page.
• And this time, he didn’t move at all.
• Cassian didn’t follow Aveline out of the ballroom. Not yet.
• He stood there, fists tight at his sides, jaw locked. Her voice was still in his ears. Her smile—sharp, cold, not the way he remembered—burned behind his eyes.
• She didn’t deny it.
• She didn’t confirm it either.
• But the way she looked at the boy when Cassian asked who the father was… she couldn’t lie well. Not to him.
• He exhaled slowly, as if calming a gun in his hand.
• “Boss,” Giorgio’s voice came low. “Should we—”
• “No,” Cassian said. “Let her leave.”
• His men looked confused, but no one spoke again.
• Because when Cassian gave an order like that, they listened. Even if they didn’t understand it.
• ---
• He didn’t return to the party.
• Instead, he walked into his office, shut the door, and poured himself a drink. His fingers didn’t shake—but only because he forced them not to.
• He sat in silence. Not a thought. Not a plan. Just one memory.
• Aveline in his arms. Her head on his chest. Her laugh—small, tired, and only ever real when no one else was around.
• That had been five years ago.
• And now she was back.
• With a boy.
• His son.
• His.
• ---
• Somewhere across the city, Aveline changed out of the black dress.
• Luc was asleep in the other room, curled up in bed with the stuffed bear Cassian had once won for her—before everything went dark.
• She pressed her palms to the sink and stared at her own reflection.
• Not much had changed. Same face. Same eyes. But everything else inside her was different. Older. Sharper. More careful.
• She thought of Cassian’s expression when he saw them.
• Shock.
• Recognition.
• And something else. Something she didn’t want to name.
• Aveline reached for the cabinet. She opened it slowly, fingers brushing over the worn leather of the black spellbook she kept hidden behind old medicine bottles.
• She didn’t open it.
• Not yet.
• She didn’t need magic tonight. She needed control.
• ---
• At the Viero estate, Cassian leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling.
• He knew better than to chase her immediately.
• If she really had survived the blood curse—if she’d protected their child from it—then she hadn’t been hiding from him out of fear.
• It had been choice.
• And he needed to know why.
• His phone buzzed.
• Unknown Number.
• He almost ignored it. Then answered.
• A voice filtered through the speaker—low, female, familiar.
• “You saw the boy?”
• His spine straightened. “Who is this?”
• “You already know.”
• “Why now?” he asked. “Why tonight?”
• The woman didn’t answer right away.
• Then: “Because the Council knows. They found her.”
• The call ended.
• Cassian didn’t move.
• The Council of Ashes. They’d hunted down anyone who tried to escape the curse. Even Viero blood. Especially Viero blood.
• So why was Aveline still alive?
• Why was the boy?
• He stood.
• Everything else could wait.
• ---
• Aveline didn’t sleep.
• She sat by Luc’s bed and listened to his breathing.
• He was just a child. He didn’t know the weight that hung over his name.
• He didn’t know his bloodline carried a price.
• She had tried to hide him. Shield him. Let him grow without the eyes of the mafia or the magic world watching.
• But it had always been temporary.
• She brushed her fingers through his hair.
• When he stirred, he mumbled, “Mom?”
• “I’m here, baby,” she whispered.
• Luc yawned, eyes still closed. “Was that the man from your dream?”
• Her heart skipped.
• “What do you mean?”
• Luc didn’t open his eyes. “The man with the heavy heart. He was looking for you.”
• She froze.
• Luc didn’t dream like other kids. He saw things.
• Not clearly. But enough.
• “Go back to sleep,” she said softly.
• But she didn’t. She sat there until morning.
• ---
• Cassian didn’t go to bed either.
• Instead, he stood in front of the old vault beneath the estate—sealed for years. His father had called it cursed. His grandfather had locked it.
• Cassian opened it.
• Inside were papers, names, symbols… and at the very back, a file.
• Aveline’s file.
• The last entry: Deceased. Buried under the Red Seal. Confirmed by priestess.
• But now she was alive.
• And that changed everything.
• ---
• Two Days Later
• Cassian stepped into the office of a man he rarely trusted—his cousin, Elias.
• Elias Viero ran one of the southern branches. Smart, careful, always smiling.
• Cassian wasn’t in the mood for smiles.
• “You knew,” Cassian said without preamble. “You knew she was alive.”
• Elias leaned back in his chair. “I suspected. But no proof.”
• “You had someone watching her.”
• Elias shrugged. “I had someone watching all of them.”
• Cassian’s hand tightened at his side.
• “Do you have a location?”
• “Not anymore,” Elias said. “She moved. Changed names again. Kid too.”
• “You didn’t think I deserved to know I had a son?”
• “You weren’t ready to be a father, Cass.”
• Cassian didn’t reply.
• ---
• Aveline was packing again.
• She hated this life. The constant running. The new names. The burner phones.
• But she’d rather run forever than let Luc fall into the Viero curse.
• He was too young. Too kind. Too bright.
• Cassian would try to claim him.
• She couldn’t let that happen.
• But deep down, part of her knew—
• One day, she’d have to stop running.
• ---
• Back at the Viero Estate
• Cassian stood at the edge of the estate’s rooftop, wind in his hair, city lights below him.
• He remembered something Aveline once said.
• “You don’t know how to love. You only know how to hold on until everything breaks.”
• At the time, he’d said nothing.
• Now, her words echoed louder.
• He pulled a worn piece of paper from his pocket.
• The boy’s face—captured from surveillance.
• Luc.
• His son.
• Not a ghost. Not a dream.
• Real.
• Cassian folded the paper and tucked it back into his coat.
• He had waited five years.
• He wouldn’t wait another five minutes.