Shadow bound: The beast within

Chapter 5: Shadows of War

The night over Rome burned red with fire. Gunshots rattled through the narrow streets as Emilio’s retaliation began. Cars exploded one after another, their flames licking the sky like demons rising from the underworld. Luca stood at the edge of the Romano compound, the air thick with smoke and the copper scent of blood. His pulse pounded in his ears, faster than the bullets whizzing past the stone walls.

It had come at last. War.

Emilio struck with no warning. Dozens of his men stormed the Romano estate, their faces shadowed by masks, their weapons spraying death into the night. Luca’s cousins fell around him, screaming as bullets tore through flesh. But beneath the gunfire, beneath the chaos, Luca felt something far more terrifying. His curse stirred, clawing at the walls of his restraint. His veins burned like fire, his teeth aching as if they longed to split his jaw and reveal the monster hidden within.

“Luca, inside!” Marco, one of the Romano guards, grabbed his arm. His eyes were wide with terror, not just from the battle but from the strange heat radiating from Luca’s skin. “You are not safe here!”

Safe. The word was meaningless. There was no safety in this war, and no safety from what lived inside him.

Luca ripped his arm free and moved forward, his eyes locked on Emilio’s men tearing through his family’s land. The mafia feud had raged for decades, but tonight it escalated into a firestorm. For Emilio, this was blood vengeance. For Luca, it was the start of something darker.

He leapt into the fray, his movements faster than he remembered them ever being. A soldier raised his rifle toward him, but before the trigger could be pulled, Luca had twisted his arm, bones snapping like dry sticks. The man screamed, and Luca silenced him with a single strike that caved his skull against the stone wall. Blood sprayed across Luca’s face, warm and metallic, and for one heartbeat he felt alive in a way that terrified him.

He was not supposed to feel this way.

Another came at him, knife flashing. Luca sidestepped, too fast, too precise, and drove his fist through the man’s chest. The knife clattered to the floor. When Luca pulled his hand back, it was drenched in blood, his victim collapsing in a lifeless heap.

And then he heard it. The whisper inside his head.

Feed.

The voice was soft, cold, and inhuman. It had whispered before, but tonight it screamed. The curse was rising with the scent of blood, demanding to be released. Luca’s vision flickered, the world swimming in red and black.

He staggered, clutching his head. He could not let it out. Not here. Not in front of his family. If they saw what he truly was, they would fear him more than they feared Emilio.

A gunshot cracked. Marco, the guard who had tried to save him, fell at his feet, blood soaking through his white shirt. Luca turned in time to see Emilio himself emerging from the smoke. He was not hiding behind his men tonight. He walked like a king reclaiming his throne, his black coat swirling around him, eyes blazing with hate.

“Romano!” Emilio’s voice cut through the chaos like a blade. “Your blood ends tonight.”

Luca stepped forward, his chest heaving, his shirt soaked in blood that was not his own. “Then come take it,” he growled, his voice deeper, rougher than it should have been.

Emilio smiled, a cruel, twisted smile. “I heard whispers about you, Luca. That you are not just a man. That there is something inside you. Tonight I will see it for myself.”

The words pierced him. Emilio knew. Somehow, he knew about the curse.

The monster inside Luca surged at those words, as if provoked by Emilio’s challenge. His bones ached, his vision blurred, his heartbeat thundered like a war drum. Emilio raised his gun, but before he could fire, Luca moved. He crossed the distance in an instant, his hand gripping the weapon and crushing it as if it were made of paper. Emilio’s eyes widened, just for a moment, before his men swarmed in to pull Luca away.

Luca fought like a beast unleashed. Bullets tore into him, but instead of dropping him, they only fueled the fire inside. He tore through Emilio’s men, breaking spines, ripping flesh, leaving the ground soaked in crimson. The Romano compound had become a slaughterhouse, and Luca was the butcher.

But every kill brought him closer to the edge. His breath came in ragged snarls, his fingernails lengthened into claws, and his teeth sharpened into fangs. His family had retreated into the mansion, watching in horror through shattered windows. He could feel their fear. He could smell it.

Feed.

The voice roared inside his skull, drowning out the gunfire, drowning out his own thoughts. His eyes locked on Marco’s corpse at his feet, the blood still warm, pooling on the ground. His body moved without thought, his lips parting, fangs glinting.

No.

He forced himself back, clutching his head as the curse screamed to be free. The war outside was nothing compared to the war raging inside him. If he gave in, he would lose himself forever. But if he held back, Emilio would destroy everything.

Emilio’s laughter rang through the smoke. “Yes. I see it now. You are a monster. A cursed heir. No throne, no family, no kingdom belongs to you. Only the grave.”

Luca raised his head, blood dripping from his chin, his eyes burning like twin infernos. He was no longer sure if Emilio was right. The line between man and monster had shattered.

And for the first time, Luca wondered if the war he was fighting was not against Emilio at all, but against himself.

The ground shook as an explosion tore through the estate gates, the roar of fire devouring the night. Reinforcements were coming, but no one knew whose side they were on.

Luca stood in the center of the battlefield, his family watching in terror, his enemy laughing in triumph, his own soul slipping from his grasp.

And then the curse whispered one word louder than all the chaos.

Feed.