Sira, with eyes full of tears,
held his head to her chest, her hand behind his head,
clinging to him as if trying to keep his soul from collapsing.
Her voice didn't come out…
But it was clear in her embrace, in her trembling fingers, in the beat of her heart.
Night had settled over the city like a velvet cloak, and light summer breezes passed between the skyscrapers, gently caressing faces.
The tower lights sparkled below like scattered jewels on a piece of black velvet, gleaming and fading, while the stars in the sky looked like glowing spheres, some stagnant and some suddenly sparkling as if they wanted to say something.
On Aiden's spacious balcony, Sira sat on the cold marble floor, hugging his body close.
His head rested against her chest, and his eyes were half-closed from fatigue and dizziness.
She held him in her arms as if protecting him from an invisible abyss, and ran her hand behind his head with a tenderness that resembled a plea.
The silence of the night was broken by the distant sound of the city, a faint, blurry hum, while in this high corner... only their hearts beat.
Sira whispered, her voice choked by an unshed tear:
"Should... we go back to the hospital?"
Her whisper carried a tremor, as if she knew the answer beforehand, but hoped for the opposite.
Aiden didn't answer directly.
His chest rose and fell slowly, and a red stain spread on his bandage, touching the sleeve of his white shirt.
He slowly raised his eyes and looked into her brown eyes, whose edges were reddened from crying.
"Sira..."
He said in a hoarse voice, then fell silent.
He swallowed the pain, as if savoring it, before speaking again.
"There's no doctor who can heal a soul... that's been torn apart."
"And no doctor can gather a heart... that's been broken under the feet of betrayal."
He looked at the city sparkling beneath him, as if it were a distant world that didn't belong to him.
"And no one... can bring back a memory that fled from itself."
His words came out slowly, as if each sentence was being extracted from a deep wound.
Then he looked back at her, his gaze full of burning sincerity, his eyes gleaming as if bidding her farewell and clinging to her at the same time.
"Yet..."
He whispered, and a faint smile formed on his lips.
"At the end of every tunnel... even if it's as dark as my heart... there's a small flame of hope."
He paused for a moment, then added in a voice as soft as a breeze:
"I... I'm starting to see it, that faint flame... in your eyes."
Sira froze, feeling her heart shrink and expand at the same time.
In the far corner of the balcony, Rina stood, hand over her mouth, her eyes widening in surprise and worry.
The city sparkled behind them, and the stars watched,
But the moment was theirs alone.
Still... timeless... broken.
The night held its breath for a moment... before it was broken by a sharp sound,
Aiden's phone rang, a ring that was nothing but a harbinger of a new problem.
He stood there, as steady as a steel statue, his features, which a moment ago had been overflowing with warmth and calm, suddenly became as cold as winter frost.
He slowly raised the phone, as if every movement was calculated, then brought it to his ear, while the life in his eyes gradually faded, and hope vanished from them like a flicker extinguished in a storm.
A serious voice on the other end said:
"Sir, we've discovered a series of strange conspiracies at a hotel in the north of the city. Something doesn't seem normal."
Aiden pursed his lips, he didn't answer directly, but allowed a heavy silence to pass, before saying in a low but deep voice:
"Also?"
The word was saturated with a weariness known only to those who carry a weight heavier than their heart.
The man continued with a hesitant voice:
"And Luna... she still refuses to cooperate. She's specifically asking for you."
A faint, subtle smile seemed to form on Aiden's lips, but it was not comforting.
It was more like a reflection of something more dangerous than what was said, then he said in a voice filled with cold confidence and cunning:
"I'll head to the inn first. Send the location immediately."
Then he added, his eyes fixed on the horizon as if planning an attack:
"And Luna? Don't leave her alone. Take our patrol with you. Her mind has surpassed the limits of normal madness... If you let her escape, you'll only find ashes."
He paused for a moment, before concluding with a faint sentence, as if it were a promise:
"After the mission is over... I'll visit her. It's time to give that madness a complete counter-storm."
He quietly hung up the phone, without looking at it again, then slowly turned as if the world had returned to motion after stillness.
Rina watched him, pale-faced, her hand clutching the edge of her sister Sira's shirt.
Aiden's eyes returned to Sira, those sharp gazes that read what was unsaid. Then, in his calm voice, which seemed like a breeze concealing a hurricane, he said:
"Is this your sister?"
Sira, her eyes slightly widened in surprise, answered with a slight stutter that didn't help her attempt at composure:
"Y-yes, Rina is my middle sister..."
Her tone was a mixture of caution and astonishment, but he read what was behind it.
Aiden smiled... but this time the smile was sincere, calm, like someone wanting to offer some reassurance after they had been exhausted by the earthquake.
He approached Rina slowly, with a slight bow, looking directly into her eyes, then extended his hand and said:
"Nice to meet you, Rina... I'm sorry for the mess that happened. It wasn't meant to scare you."
The girl hesitated for a few seconds, then extended her small hand towards his and softly said:
"Nice to meet you."
But Sira wasn't far. She watched the exchange with a worried eye, then stepped forward and said in a decisive tone, yet not without warmth:
"It seems you're leaving. Everything is over, and we're going."
She could have ended her speech there, but she wanted to end the encounter with dignity.
Aiden looked at her for a moment, then a smile formed on his face, one that held much unsaid.
His eyes, which had been glowing an intense black, suddenly sparkled with a soft blue gleam, like a flash of twilight at sunset, deep, saturated with secrets.
He lightly extended his hand and gripped her arm before she could move away, then leaned in slightly and whispered in her ear in a voice only her heart could hear:
"I am the storm, Sira... and you are the only hope within it.
Do you have the strength to face what I hide?"
The air around her froze. Her pulse was no longer regular. But her eyes, despite their turmoil, did not shy away from his.
Then she smiled, that smile that only comes from a woman who has chosen to face, and said with a quiet confidence that pierced the silence:
"If you want me with you...
Then I will be the hope that absorbs the storm until it calms."