Page 44 of Vengeful Melodies

Her lips on my chest, soft but claiming, as if she wanted to brand me like the past meant nothing.

I step into the lounge, forcing my breath steady. Kaiser looks up, eyes sharp—like he can see the chaos spinning just beneathmy skin.

“You’re not fooling anyone, man.”

Bash flicks a cigarette butt into the tray with a lazy flick and smirks.

“Yeah, Alix. You’ve got that ‘about to lose my mind’ look. Should we be worried?”

I want to snap at them, tell them to shut the hell up. Instead, I drop onto the couch, the ache in my back pulsing under the thin fabric. Her mark on me—unmistakable and too damn beautiful to hate.

Kaiser drums his fingers slowly on his thigh, the rhythm scraping at nerves I don’t want exposed.

“Dreya’s trouble,” he says quietly, “not some muse you save with a few chords and promises.”

Bash leans in, voice low and dark.

“She’s fire. Makes you dance or burn. No in-between.”

I meet their eyes, the desperation slipping out, raw and naked.

“I don’t want to burn.”

“Neither does she,” Kaiser replies. “But she’ll make you want it. And you’ll let her.”

The words hit hard—like a punch I didn’t see coming. They see it: the obsession, the pull, the way she’s already got me fractured.

I’m trying to protect her, but inside I’m breaking apart.

Because if she wants someone else—someone darker, someone better—I’ll have to watch her go.

And I don’t know if I can survive that.

Bash stretches, shaking off the tension like dust.

“Enough doom and gloom. Show to kill, road’s long. Focus up.”

Kaiser picks up his guitar, strumming a low chord.

“Music’s what keeps us from tearing each other apart.”

I want to believe it. I want music to save me from losing her.

But deep down, I know: Dreya’s not salvation. She’s reckoning.

And I’m not sure I’m ready for the flames she’s dragging behind her.

Bash flicks his cigarette out the window, grinning like trouble personified.

“If you two keep brooding, I’m charging admission.”

Kaiser laughs.

“‘Alix and Dreya: A Tragedy in Three Acts.’ I’d buy a ticket just to watch the disaster.”

I force a laugh, bitter on my tongue.

“Glad I’m the star attraction.”