Chapter 6 UNDER HIS WATCH.

Chapter 6 UNDER HIS WATCH.
Storm's POV:
   The room went silent after Lucian spoke.
    The word “ Her.” still hung in the air like a death sentence.
    Every pair of eyes turned toward me. The guards’ boots scraped against the marble floor as they began to move toward me.
    For a heartbeat, I considered running, but there was nowhere left to go.
     Then panic gripped me, sharp and suffocating. My chest tightened so violently I couldn’t breathe. The walls seemed to close in, the air thick with the weight of a hundred judging eyes. My legs refused to move.
         Lucian. His finger was pointed straight at me.
       Did he just rat me out?
      After everything? After all I’ve done to stay alive, he’s the one turning me in?
     A wave of heat and terror washed over me. My vision blurred. The room tilted violently; the faces around me twisted into grotesque masks of accusation. My knees buckled. My fingers reached for something, anything, but the marble floor rose up to meet me.
     The sound of boots approaching grew faint. My ears rang. My thoughts frayed at the edges. And just before blackness claimed me, I thought I saw Lucian move.
             Then—nothing.
                  
    Something felt… off. My body felt heavy, every muscle pinned, but a cold awareness whispered that I wasn’t alone. I tried to move, but my limbs wouldn’t respond. A weight pressed against my chest, stealing every bit of air.
      A shadow loomed above me, indistinct, yet my instincts screamed Danger. Flashes of memory cut through the fog: the chaos, the guards, Lucian’s voice—Her.
     My eyes fluttered open just in time to feel it. A rough pressure against my face. A pillow. Someone was smothering me.
     Panic detonated inside me. My lungs screamed for air. My hands clawed blindly at the weight above me, nails scraping skin and fabric.
   “ Let me—!” My voice was strangled, muffled.
    I kicked, twisted, fought like a cornered animal. My body arched, muscles burning, the taste of panic thick in my throat. Each second felt longer than the last. The more I struggled, the harder they pressed.
     A horrifying thought cut through the chaos—Lucian. Was this his doing?
     Adrenaline surged. I screamed again, a raw, feral sound that ripped through the suffocating dark—
          “Storm!”
     That voice, Lucian’s. Snapped through the room like lightning.
      The attacker froze. In that split second, the pressure lifted just enough for air to flood my lungs. Then Lucian was there. His arms locked around the shadow, ripping them off me with a strength that shook the bed.
     I gasped, choking, gulping down air like I’d been drowning. The world around me spun. The attacker slipped away into the shadows before Lucian could pin them down.
     My body trembled uncontrollably. I dragged myself upright, hugging my knees to my chest, still shaking. Every sound in the room felt magnified. The thud of my heart, the rasp of my breath.
     Lucian crouched beside me, chest heaving, eyes blazing in the dim-light.
    “ Hey,” he said quietly, voice low and steady, “ I got you.”
     I reached for him instinctively, my fingers clutching his arm. His presence grounded me, steady and solid.
     “ Calm down,” he murmured, softer now.
     But my body wouldn’t listen. I clung tighter, trembling, as my mind spun through the chaos that had become my life. From being almost married off to Darius, Lucian’s betrayal, and now someone literally trying to eliminate me.
        it felt endless.
      Then I realized I was still pressed against him. My breath caught. I pushed him back abruptly, putting some distance between us, voice sharp and trembling.
     “ If you’re going to kill me,” I snapped, “ Just do it already. I hate suspense.”
    Lucian blinked, caught off guard.
      “ What?”
    I glared at him, heat rising. “ Don’t play dumb. You pointed at me! You turned me in. And now you’re pretending to save me?”
       His gaze hardened, unreadable. A muscle ticked in his jaw. For a moment, he said nothing, just exhaled slowly through his nose, like he was holding himself back.
     Finally, he spoke, voice cool and measured. “ If I wanted you dead, Storm, I’d have let them take you.”
      I frowned, uncertainty cutting through my anger. “ Then why point at me?”
    He leaned in slightly, eyes steady on mine. “ Because if I hadn’t, they would’ve dragged you out in front of everyone. And you wouldn’t have survived the principal’s questioning.”
     I froze. The words sank in, slow and heavy.
    “ So that was you… protecting me?” I whispered.
     Lucian gave a short, humorless laugh, his eyes flicking to the floor. “ Don’t make me sound noble. You’re a problem. And I don’t like loose ends.”
     He was close enough that I could feel the heat radiating off him. My arm brushed against his, and the contact sent a strange, wild shiver through me.
   Then his voice dropped, low and dangerous.
    “ I can keep your identity secret. But you need to understand—if I do, you’ll have to submit to me.”
     My chest tightened, confusion and terror colliding. Submit? What did that even mean? My mind spun, piecing it together. The messages, the stalking, the warnings. He’s been watching me. He’s the one who’s been everywhere…
    Desperation surged. I was alone, vulnerable, surrounded by people who would have killed me without a second thought. Lucian held the only key to survival.
     I swallowed the lump in my throat. My voice came out small, shaky.
      “ Fine…” I whispered, “…I’ll do it. I’ll do… whatever you want. Just don’t tell anyone who I am.”
 His eyes narrowed, piercing into me.  “Good. Then you’ll survive. And maybe… learn your place.”
     I nodded, the words tasting like ashes in my mouth. But fear left me no room for pride. If this was what it took to stay alive, I would do it. And yet, my mind screamed: 
   He’s the one I can’t trust. But also the only one who can keep me alive.
   Lucian’s gaze lingered on me a moment longer, assessing, unyielding. Then his voice cut through the silence, calm but commanding. “ You didn’t kill Dylan.” It wasn’t a question. 
    “ Tell me what really happened.”
      I hesitated. If I told him everything; Darius, the dagger, the curse, he’d think I was insane. But silence meant losing the only person standing between me and a death sentence.
     “ I didn’t kill him,” I said quietly, staring at the floor. “ But someone wants me to take the blame. Someone who knows what I am.”
     Lucian’s eyes narrowed. “ And what exactly are you?”
   I met his gaze and held it this time. “ The girl who shouldn’t have survived.”
     Something shifted in his expression. Recognition, maybe pity, maybe fear. His hand lifted almost involuntarily, brushing a streak of dirt from my cheek. The touch was brief but disarming. He withdrew his hand quickly, like he hadn’t meant to do it.
     For the first time, I saw a crack in his armor, a flicker of something human. He turned away, fists tightening at his sides.
     “ Stay out of sight for the next few days,” he said at last. “ If the principal calls for another investigation, you weren’t there. I’ll handle it.”
 I blinked, hugging my knees tighter. “ Why are you doing this?”
    He paused at the door, half-turned, eyes glinting.
    “ Because I don’t like watching innocent people burn,” he said. “ Even if they’re a pain in the ass.”
    And then, with a final glance, sharp and unyielding: “ Remember… submission is the price for your silence. Cross me, and no one will save you.”
    With that, he turned and left the room.
   My knees pulled to my chest, heart hammering. I didn’t know whether to curse him, thank him… or fear him.
    But one thing was painfully clear: my life, and my very own identity—were no longer my own.