Chapter 66: The Door Turned

Chapter 66: The Door Turned
Ariel POV

The worst part wasn’t the knocking.
Or the fact that Talia’s voice didn’t sound like Talia.
It was the silence between the knocks — the kind that feels like someone is standing there with their ear pressed to the wood… waiting… listening… smiling.

The door handle twitched again.

I swear my heart forgot how to beat for a second.

Damien’s arm shot out instinctively, blocking me with that firm, “don’t even breathe without my permission right now” kind of protection he pulls out when danger is close enough to taste.

“Ariel,” he said quietly, eyes fixed on the door, “stay behind me.”

Yeah, like I planned on doing anything else. I nodded anyway, mostly because my brain was too busy switching between panic and is this how people die dramatically? to form words.

Talia’s voice trembled through the door again.

“Ari… please open. It’s just me, babe.”

Just her.
Right.
And I’m Beyoncé.

Damien shifted slightly, like he was calculating angles and distance. Even his breathing was different — quieter, deeper. The type of quiet people use when they’re preparing to break a neck.

Marcus eased back a single step, his hand sliding toward the holster hidden beneath his jacket. A normal gun, no magic. I didn’t even know why that made me feel safer… but it did.

“Damien…” I whispered, touching his back. “She sounds scared.”

“No,” he said. “That’s not fear. That’s mimicry.”

Mimicry. The word hit my stomach like a cold spoon.

“I don’t understand.”

“You’re not supposed to. Stay behind me.”

I swear if I survive all this, I’m going to enroll in a course titled
‘How Not To Lose Your Mind When Supernatural Entities Start Calling Your Name.’

The knocking stopped.

A long, brittle silence filled the hallway.

Then — softly, way too softly —

tap.

tap.

tap.

Three tiny knocks, like someone gently tapping a teacup with their nail.
It didn’t match Talia at all. She knocked like a tax collector.

My palms started to sweat.

“Damien…” I whispered again.

He didn’t respond this time.

Because he was listening.

Marcus leaned in a bit. “Sir… that voice is layered. There’s a man under it.”

A shiver crawled down my spine.
A man.
The same voice that whispered inside my head like a warm breath against my ear.

Talia spoke again — or rather, the thing using her mouth did.

“Ariel… sweetheart… open the door.”

Sweetheart.

Nope. No. Absolutely not.
That word sounded like someone had dipped it in poison and sugared it to hide the taste.

The lights flickered above us, dimming and brightening like they were breathing.
My fingertips warmed — not the explosive kind of warmth, but a restless itch, like magic pacing behind a locked door inside me.

Damien felt it instantly.

His hand slid down my arm, grounding, steady. “Not here. Not now. Breathe.”

I nodded, forcing air into my lungs even though it felt like inhaling glass.

“Ari…” Talia’s voice cracked again. “Please…”

Then—

A second voice slid beneath hers.

“Ariel… come here.”

My knees buckled so fast I didn’t feel myself drop — Damien caught me before I hit the floor, pulling me behind him so sharply I almost stumbled backward.

“Damien—” I breathed.

“I know,” he said quietly. “It’s him.”

Everything in me tightened — fear, anger, confusion, grief.
The voice that haunted my dreams.
That called to me like he owned parts of me I didn’t even understand yet.

Marcus pressed a hand to the door. His jaw clenched.

“There’s something blocking the lock. I can’t feel movement on the other side. It’s just standing there.”

Talia’s shadow wavered beneath the doorframe, like she was swaying.

Then she whispered one line — this time fully layered, male and female together:

“He says your mother is alive.”

My soul left my body.
Or my body left my soul.
Honestly, I don’t know which one left first.

“What?” I whispered, barely breathing.

Damien stiffened. Hard. His entire spine locked like someone had poured concrete into it. He turned slightly, his eyes flicking toward me — sharp, calculating, protective. A warning lived in that look.

This was bait.
Deadly bait.

Another soft knock.

“Ariel…”
Now it was just the man’s voice. Cold. Curious. Too intimate.
“Open the door.”

My stomach twisted so hard I thought I’d be sick.

“Damien, don’t open it. Please. Something isn’t—”

“I’m not opening anything,” he said firmly.

Marcus gave a subtle nod, confirming the order.

The door handle trembled again.

Slowly.
Deliberately.
Like someone was playing with it just to watch us break.

Then it twisted harder.

The metal rattled, vibrating with force.

Talia whimpered — her real voice this time. “Ariel… run.”

And then—

CLICK.

The lock…
unlocked itself.

No hand turned it.
No key.

Just a soft, polite click.

My heartbeat slammed into my ribs.

“Back,” Damien ordered Marcus.

Marcus lifted the gun.

Damien braced his body in front of mine like a wall made of muscle and fury.

I clutched his shirt, not caring how desperate I looked. “Damien… don’t—”

He pushed the door open a fraction.

A shadow fell into the room.

No —
a body.

Talia collapsed forward, limp, unconscious, her hair spilling across the floor like a dark puddle.

I dropped to my knees instantly.

“Talia? Talia!” My hands shook as I touched her cheek. She was warm, breathing fast but steady. No bruises, no injuries.

She just… dropped.

Marcus scanned the hallway with his gun up. “Hall’s empty. Cameras are offline.”

Offline. Convenient.

Damien crouched beside me, placing a hand on my shoulder.

“She’s alive,” he murmured. “You didn’t do this. Do you hear me? You didn’t hurt her.”

But guilt coiled inside me anyway, wrapping around my ribs.

“I’m so tired of everyone getting pulled into this because of me,” I whispered.

Damien turned my face toward his with two fingers — gently, firmly.

“This isn’t your fault. They’re using people to get to you. That’s not on you.”

My throat tightened.

I leaned over Talia again — and something strange twisted through me.

Like a memory that wasn’t mine flickered behind my eyes.

I blinked.

And suddenly

I saw Ethan. Laughing and
Talking to someone I couldn’t see his/her face clearly.

The shock made me jerk back so hard I nearly fell.

Damien caught me instantly. “Ariel? What did you see?”