Darkness swallowed everything.
For a moment, Luca couldn't breathe. The freezing air rushed past him as he and Adrian fell through the storm.
Then—
Crash!
They slammed into a thick slope of snow halfway down the cliff. The deep snow broke most of the fall, but the impact still knocked the air from Luca's lungs.
"Ah—!" Luca gasped.
Snow slid around them like a small avalanche, carrying them further down the slope until they finally stopped near the base of the cliff.
For a few seconds, Luca just lay there, staring up at the white sky.
The storm continued to rage above them.
Then he remembered.
"Adrian!"
He quickly sat up.
Adrian was lying a few feet away, half buried in the snow. Blood was still spreading across his shoulder where the bullet had hit him.
Luca crawled over immediately.
"Adrian, wake up!"
Adrian groaned weakly.
"I'm… awake," he muttered.
Relief flooded Luca's chest.
"You idiot," Luca said, his voice shaking. "You jumped off a cliff."
Adrian gave a faint smile.
"We're alive… aren't we?"
Luca didn't answer.
Instead, he pressed his hands against Adrian's wound to stop the bleeding.
Adrian winced.
"Careful."
"Sorry."
Luca looked around quickly.
The forest here was darker and deeper, the storm making it almost impossible to see anything clearly.
Above them, the cliff was barely visible through the snow.
"They won't see us down here," Luca said.
"For now," Adrian replied.
Luca swallowed.
"We need shelter."
Adrian tried to sit up but immediately groaned in pain.
"Not… moving far like this."
Luca hesitated.
Then he did something unexpected.
He wrapped Adrian's arm around his shoulder and slowly helped him stand.
"You're not dying here," Luca said firmly.
Adrian looked at him, slightly surprised.
"Didn't know you were this stubborn."
Luca smirked faintly.
"Get used to it."
Step by step, they moved through the snow-covered forest.
The cold was brutal. Luca's hands were numb, and Adrian's breathing was getting heavier with every step.
After several minutes, Luca suddenly stopped.
"There," he said.
Through the trees, a faint orange glow flickered.
A cabin.
Adrian frowned.
"That's… not good."
"Why?"
"Cabins in places like this usually belong to hunters… or worse."
Luca looked back at him.
"Right now I'll take either."
They slowly approached the cabin.
Smoke rose from the chimney.
Someone was inside.
Luca knocked on the wooden door.
For several seconds, nothing happened.
Then—
The door slowly creaked open.
An old man stood in the doorway, his sharp eyes immediately noticing Adrian's bleeding shoulder.
He didn't look surprised.
Instead, he studied Luca carefully.
Then he said something that made Luca's heart stop.
"So…"
"…the Nero bloodline finally returned."
Luca froze.
"You know me?"
The old man stepped aside, letting them inside.
"Oh yes," he said quietly.
"I knew your father."
The fire inside the cabin burned brightly.
And Luca realized something terrifying.
This man might know everything about his past.