Shadow bound: The beast within

Chapter 8: War Drums in the Dark

Night fell heavy over the city, but peace never came with it. Somewhere in the distance, drums echoed, a deep, hollow thrum that did not belong to music but to war. Emilio had chosen his timing well.

From the balcony of the Romano estate, Luca watched the skyline. The curse stirred beneath his skin, restless at the scent of danger. He could feel Emilio’s hand moving through the city like a serpent tightening around prey.

Reports came in from all sides. Warehouses burned on the western docks. Romano shipments vanished before they reached their buyers. Men disappeared, dragged off alleys and found with their throats cut, always with the same message carved into their flesh: The Serpent rises.

Emilio was not hiding anymore. He was declaring war.

Inside the estate, the council was chaos. Voices clashed, arguments spilling like broken glass.

“We cannot fight both Emilio and your… condition,” Marco spat across the table. “The men are afraid, Luca. They whisper that you are no longer our Don but some beast wearing his skin.”

Vittorio nodded grimly. “Emilio feeds that fear. He has men spreading stories. Children in the streets already speak of the Romano monster. Every hour we wait, our own people slip away to him.”

Luca’s patience thinned to a razor edge. He rose from his chair, the air shifting with the weight of his presence. “Then let them whisper. Let Emilio think I am a monster. Monsters are feared. And fear can keep men loyal where love fails.”

But even as he said it, he felt the lie in his chest. He wanted loyalty. Not fear.

The room grew tense when Isabella entered, her voice slicing through the storm. “Fear can keep them for a night. But love builds an empire.”

She met Luca’s eyes, not flinching at the shadow burning within them. Her presence steadied him in a way nothing else could, but Marco’s sneer twisted sharper.

“You would listen to her?” Marco scoffed. “To a woman who does not carry Romano blood? No wonder Emilio wins. While he sharpens his blade, we waste time letting an outsider speak in our council.”

The insult cut deep, but before Luca could respond, the ground shook. A low rumble rolled through the estate. Then another. Distant at first, then closer.

The war drums.

The guard burst into the room, panic spilling from him. “Don Luca, the Serpents are here! Emilio has gathered every ally. They march on the eastern wall. Hundreds, maybe more.”

The council erupted. Shouts. Fear. Betrayal. Luca felt his blood heat like fire under his skin, the curse pushing against his bones, begging for release.

He gripped the edge of the table, his knuckles white. “Ready the men. This is no longer whispers in the dark. Emilio wants war, then war is what he will have.”

The council scattered, some to arm themselves, others with eyes too quick toward escape routes. Luca caught it, the hesitation, the doubt. Would they fight beside him, or wait until Emilio broke down the gates to bend the knee?

He turned to Isabella, his voice lower, raw. “When the drums stop, blood will flood these halls. I need you safe.”

She stepped closer, her hand brushing his arm. “If you fall, there is no family left to save. I will not leave you.”

The curse flared at her touch, not with rage but with something fragile, almost human. Hope.

Then the horns blared outside the walls. The Serpents had arrived.

From the balcony, Luca saw them, an ocean of shadows spilling across the fields, torches like stars in the night. And at the front, Emilio on horseback, his serpent crest raised high. His smile reached the walls even from that distance, cold and merciless.

The war drums pounded harder, shaking stone and bone alike.

Luca’s chest burned as the beast inside pressed harder against its cage. For the first time, he wondered if Emilio was right, that to win this war, he would have to become the very monster everyone feared.

The sky thundered as the first volley of fire arrows lit the night.

And the war for the Romano bloodline truly began.

The Serpents have brought the fight to Luca’s gates. Emilio’s army surges forward while doubt eats away inside the Romano estate. Luca must decide whether to embrace the monster within to save everything, or risk losing it all.