Page 73 of Heir of Darkness

“I’ll see you tonight then,” he told her. “I love you.”

Her breath hitched, still not used to hearing those words. She clicked off the phone, holding it against her rapidly beating chest. He said it so casually, as if he had been saying those words forever. She felt the same way about him, but saying the words out loud scared the hell out of her.

Admitting it to herself had been one thing, but admitting it to Valerio was a completely different ballpark. The first time she said it back wasn’t going to be over the phone when he was miles away. It would be in person so that she would be able to see his face when the words finally came out.

She finished folding the laundry, preparing for a comforting bath afterwards. She soaked with a face mask, letting her muscles relax in the hot water. One of her little romance bookssat on the edge of the tub, but she was too exhausted to pick it up and read. Her brain was already starting to shut off for the night, leaving her ready for bed.

She rinsed off her body and the mask, drying off and changing into her pajamas. She typed out a text to Valerio letting him know she was going to bed and to just meet her there when he got home. Somehow, the day had already passed her by. Taking care of herself was exhausting.

She made her way into the kitchen to grab a glass of water before she actually went to bed. She navigated through the dark apartment, turning on the light above the stove to grab a clean glass from the dishwasher.

With an ice cold water in her hand, she walked to the front door to make sure it was locked—a habit the girls deemed as part of the closing tasks in the apartment. One of them always checked the front door before bed.

The top lock was twisted to the side instead of straight up and down, meaning it was unlocked. Luna frowned. She hadn’t left the apartment the entire day and she was sure she had locked it after Cecilia left. She reached out to turn the lock, double checking that it was actually locked this time.

Luna walked back toward her room, but never got there. A pair of hands wrapped around her mouth, pushing her against an unfamiliar body. She dropped the glass on the floor, struggling against the person behind her. She reached up, attempting to claw at the hands over her mouth, but it did nothing.

The person knocked her into the wall. She thumped against it, a groan escaping her lips at the impact. Luna reached her leg back, kicking it into the intruder’s knee. The hands holding her let go, and she heard a man's voice cursing.

Her adrenaline kicked in in full force, forcing her legs into her room to reach for her phone. She screamed the entire way,hoping that someone in the apartment building would hear her. She grabbed the phone, but he knocked her onto the floor again. The phone slipped out of her hands, right out of reach.

Luna fought against the man at her back, thrashing any way she could to slip out from under him. He didn’t budge. Instead, his hand found her hair, slamming her head against the floor.

Luna could feel the pain immediately, sensing the blood already escaping her nose. “Please don’t,” she begged, but her face met the wooden floor once again. Luna reached backward, remembering what her brother had once taught her when they did self-defense training. She felt for the man's face, finding his eyes in a split second and pushing her thumbs into his eye sockets.

She put all her force into it, hearing his scream of pain as he let go of her hair. Luna twisted to the side, forcing him to fall off of her back. She reached for the phone again, gripping it and standing. She ran out of the room, her heartbeat going a million miles per second. She found Finn’s number immediately, clicking on it and praying to God he answered. Valerio was too far away and she didn’t have Dante’s phone number saved, so Finn was her only option.

She heard him answer. All she could muster out was a “Help!” before the phone was pushed out of her hand, shattering on the floor. The man wrapped his hand around her neck, throwing her back onto the floor. Her back hit the edge of the table, a strained scream leaving her lips.

She attempted to move, but it was no use when he stood over her, leaning down so his body covered hers completely.

“You’re more fucking trouble than I thought you would be, you little bitch,” he spit out, his hands wrapped around her neck. She reached up immediately, scratching at his arms. It didn’t faze him.

His grip tightened, suffocating her. When getting him to release his grip didn’t work, Luna tried to reach up to his face again, only getting a single scratch before he moved out of the way, so he was just out of her grasp. His eyes were bulging and red, but she hadn’t inflicted enough damage on him.

Luna heaved and gasped for air, black dots covering her vision. She slapped against his arm, all fight and strength slipping from her. Her eyes closed despite how hard she tried to keep them open. The only thoughts in her head surrounded Valerio, her brother, and her best friends. One of them would find her dead body right here, and she couldn’t stomach the thought of it.

But it didn’t matter anymore. No one would be coming to save her.

The door slammed open. She could faintly hear a pair of footsteps rushing toward them, knocking the man off her. She inhaled a deep breath, coughing uncontrollably. She could hear the fight happening behind her. The slam of a body into the entertainment center, knocking the TV to the floor.

She mustered up the energy to lift her head, seeing Finn now standing over the man who was seconds away from killing her. Finn’s gun was raised, and he didn’t hesitate to pull the trigger. Luna’s eyes widened, turning away when the splash of blood covered her body like the drizzle of rain during a storm.

She continued gasping for breath. Finn reached out for her, placing it on her shoulder while he spoke to someone on the phone. Luna sat against the floor, unable to turn around to witness the man’s dead body in her living room, staining the cream-colored rug she had vacuumed only a couple of hours prior.

“Luna!” Finn yelled, shocking her out of her daze.

“What?” she whispered, her voice strained and painful.

“I’ve been calling your name,” he said. “What the fuck happened?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know.” It hurt to speak, it hurt to breathe. Everything hurt. Her head, her neck, her face, her back.

“I’ll have someone look over your neck,” Finn said, moving away from her to walk toward the door. She could feel the thumps of footsteps against the floor. He grabbed a blanket off the couch, wrapping it around her shoulders.

Dante walked in first, his eyes wide and frantic.

“Did you call him yet?” He directed the question to Finn.

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