Chapter 61 The symbol
Melissa’s POV
Kane stood immediately, his movements fluid and controlled. He looked down at us.His eyes swept the empty hallway, lingering on the shadows like he could see something we couldn’t.
“We should go inside,” he said quietly. “Before anyone sees you like this and starts asking questions.”
He was right. Aria’s cheek was already showing the red mark from Christian’s slap. My dress was wrinkled from tackling him. We looked like exactly what we were…two girls who’d just been in a fight.
Kane extended his hand to me first. I took it, letting him pull me to my feet. Then together, we helped Aria up.
She was trembling. I kept my arm around her waist, holding her steady.
“Can you walk?” I asked softly, reaching out to arrange her hair.
She nodded, but I didn’t believe her. Still, we didn’t have much choice.
She leaned heavily against me as we walked. Kane followed close behind, his presence somehow both comforting and unsettling.
When we pushed through the doors back into the main hall, I refused to let go of Aria. My arm stayed wrapped around her, holding her close, feeling her breath against my shoulder.
Kane led us, his body positioned protectively between us and the approaching crowd. People were too focused on whatever was happening inside to pay much attention to us.
She was shaking. I pulled her tighter.Then something strange happened.
The lights flickered. Causing conversation to die.
And suddenly, symbols appeared on the walls.
They were Projected, I realized. Someone had set up projectors throughout the space. The same symbol repeated
everywhere…on every wall, every column, every surface.
A fierce and powerful and beautiful crowned lion.My breath caught in my throat.
I knew this symbol.
I’d seen it before.On Gavin’s chest. The tattoo over his heart. The one I’d traced with my fingers in that private room, I remember how he’d never explained what it meant to him.
What does this mean?
My hands tightened on Aria as confusion and fear swirled through me. I clutched Gavin's phone tighter, looking round for my mom.
Around us, people were murmuring. Some looked excited. Others looked terrified.
Then a spotlight cut through the darkness, landing on someone in the center of the room.
Jason.
He stood there, with his champagne glass raised, that cocky smile on his face. But there was something different about him now. Something darker. And more theatrical.
The room fell silent. Completely silent.You could hear the collective breath being held.
Jason turned slowly, his eyes sweeping across the crowd. When he spoke, his voice rang out clear and strong.
“I think,” he said, pausing for effect, “we keep forgetting someone important tonight.”
The tension in the room was suffocating.
“The one we should thank for everything.” His smile widened, sharp as a blade. “Lord Zeus. My grandfather.”
The words hit the room like a blow.People gasped. Others whispered . Some looked confused. Others looked like they’d just witnessed something forbidden.
Jason raised his glass higher.
“To Lord Zeus!” His voice boomed through the space. “To Lord Zeus!”
A few voices echoed him hesitantly. Then more. Then more.
“TO LORD ZEUS!”
The chant built, spreading through the crowd like wildfire.
“Blood is thicker than water!” Jason continued, his eyes bright with something manic. Something dangerous. “Blood is thicker than water!”
“BLOOD IS THICKER THAN WATER!”
The crowd was chanting now. The symbols on the walls seemed to pulse with each repetition. The crowned lion watching over everything.
And that’s when I saw Gavin.
He stood at the edge of the crowd, perfectly still in the chaos. His expression was a mask of controlled fury…his jaws were clenched, shoulders rigid, hands fisted at his sides.
Then he smiled.It was the most terrifying thing I’d ever seen.
There was no happiness, or amusement in that smile. Pure, barely contained rage wrapped in civility.
The smile of a man one second away from violence.
People near him stumbled backward. Creating space. Moving away from whatever they sensed in him.
I could feel his anger from across the room. Could feel it like heat radiating off him in waves.
The chanting continued around us. “Blood is thicker than water! To Lord Zeus!”
Without a word, Gavin turned and walked toward the exit.
His movements were controlled. But I could see the tension in every step.
I didn’t think about my actions.I just moved.
“Stay here,” I told Aria, pressing her into Kane’s arms. “Stay with Kane. Don’t move.” I turned to Kane letting him see the worry in my eyes. “Please don’t let go of her protect her, I’ll be back”
“With my life.”
“Melissa…”
But I was already running.
My heels clicked frantically against the marble as I pushed through the still-chanting crowd. The symbols glowed on every surface. Jason’s voice rang out behind me, leading another toast.
I burst through the doors just as Gavin disappeared around a corner.
“Gavin!” I called out. “Gavin please, wait!”
I ran faster, my dress flowing behind me.
I turned the corner….And there he was.
Standing in the shadows of the corridor, his back to me, shoulders heaving like he’d been running. Or like he was fighting to breathe.
“Gavin,” I said, softer now.
He didn’t turn around.
I walked toward him slowly, my heart pounding. When I reached him, I placed my hand on his arm.
When he turned something felt… different.
His eyes found mine. They were dark, intense as always. But something was off. The coldness I usually saw there…that icy control…was less pronounced. His expression was softer somehow. Almost vulnerable.
“Gavin?” I asked, searching his face.
I reached up, cupping his cheek with my hand.
His skin was warm beneath my palm. His jaw still clenched. But when he looked at me, something in my chest twisted.
This was him. This was Gavin.But also… not quite.
“Gavin,” I whispered again, my thumb brushing across his cheekbone.