Chapter 120: Gotten them back

Chapter 120: Chapter 120: Gotten them back

Amelia froze.

She could feel him—hard and unmistakable against her. The man had absolutely no shame.

Caleb’s voice cut through the moment.

"Let’s go."

Dean finally released her. Amelia immediately stepped away, still flustered, but not before catching the open envy on several of the women’s faces.

She met their stares directly. For a few seconds, neither side looked away. Something quietly satisfied settled in Amelia’s chest.

Yeah. Keep staring.

They entered the elevator and rode it to the third floor. When the doors opened, Caleb led them down the hallway before stopping in front of one of the doors and unlocking it.

"This is your room."

The door swung open. Amelia stared inside.

Bare walls. A simple bed. One desk.

Nothing more.

Reid looked around with open disbelief. "What kind of room is this?"

"She’s not privileged enough for better," Caleb replied flatly. "She’s under punishment."

Enzo raised a hand before either of his brothers could start arguing. "It’s late. We can deal with this tomorrow. Amelia has something she needs to do."

The reminder immediately silenced Reid and Dean. Caleb glanced at the three of them. "You already know where you’ll be staying. Take care."

He turned and walked away without another word. The moment he disappeared around the corner, Reid turned toward Amelia with an easy smile.

"I could stay with you tonight."

"No," Dean said immediately. "I’ll stay with her."

Enzo shook his head once.

"Neither of you will. The only fair way to decide is rock-paper-scissors."

Without another word, the three brothers faced each other.

Amelia stared at them.

Then they began. She watched three grown men seriously compete over who got to sleep in her plain little room, and despite herself, laughter bubbled up inside her.

It was half embarrassment and half something warmer.

"None of you are staying," she said once she finally managed to speak. "I need full concentration if I’m going to try recovering my past-life memories."

Reid placed a hand over his heart, looking deeply offended.

"Did you just admit that I’m such a lovely distraction that you wouldn’t be able to take your eyes off me? That you’d spend the entire time thinking about me?"

Dean shot him a look. "You’re unbearable."

Amelia stared at Reid.

How did he twist my words that fast?

She started herding them toward the door. None of them seemed particularly interested in leaving.

"Next time," she said firmly, "I’ll share a room with one of you—under my own conditions."

That finally got them moving.

Reid leaned in and pressed a quick kiss to her cheek. Dean immediately did the same on the other side.

Enzo stepped closer last. Instead of kissing her cheek, he kissed her directly on the lips.

It was brief, but sweet enough to leave Amelia staring at him for a second.

"Hey," Reid protested immediately. "I want one of those too."

Amelia shoved all three of them toward the hallway.

"Out."

Her face was burning. She pushed them the rest of the way out, shut the door the moment they were clear, and leaned back against it.

Her heart was hammering. Then a small, helpless giggle slipped out before she could stop it.

Would I even be able to handle this side of them?

She stayed there for another moment before crossing the plain room and lowering herself onto the bed. The mattress was hard and unyielding beneath her.

After just over 2 months of soft sheets and proper beds at the Ellington estate, the discomfort felt almost foreign. Still, she settled onto her back, resting her hands lightly over her chest, and closed her eyes.

Her thoughts slowly turned inward. Toward the other version of herself waiting somewhere beyond ordinary sleep.

Her breathing slowed. The hard mattress beneath her faded.

When she opened her eyes again, she was no longer in the academy room. She stood in a vast throne room.

The air felt ancient.

Filled with a power that somehow belonged to her and yet still felt separate from her.

At the far end of the room, seated upon a high throne, was her other self.

Night Menace rose as Amelia approached.

"It’s time..."

"Are you ready to carry this much burden—the same burden I have carried?"

Amelia did not hesitate.

"It’s about time already."

Night Menace studied her for a long moment. "Your life will not be easy from this point forward. You will remember everything. The grief. The pain. Can you truly endure it all?"

Amelia met her gaze. "As much as there is pain and suffering... there will also be the opposite. Right?"

A slow smile curved Night Menace’s mouth. "We are finally going to become one again."

She extended both hands.

Amelia stepped forward and took them. Their foreheads touched.

For one brief moment, everything was still. Then light erupted between them.

It was brilliant and absolute, expanding outward until the throne room itself seemed to dissolve inside it.

When the light finally faded, only one figure remained.

Amelia staggered.

A raw, tearing groan ripped from her throat as the memories slammed into her all at once.

"Aahhhhhh!!!"

Two hundred years.

Two hundred years of life, loss, love, betrayal, and ruin poured through her without mercy.

She screamed. Until her voice broke beneath the sheer weight of everything rushing through her.

She did not know how long it lasted.

Then, as suddenly as it had begun, it stopped.

Amelia stood there, trembling. Tears filled her eyes and spilled freely down her cheeks. The weight of everything she had lived settled deep into her bones.

Is this what I went through?

For two hundred years?

Her tears carried grief and relief at the same time. The memories made one thing painfully clear.

The three men had been hers all along. And they had suffered so much because of her.

Her fingers curled slowly at her sides. Not this time.

This time, she would be strong enough. For herself. And for them.

Amelia wiped her face with the back of her hand, straightened her shoulders, and walked toward the empty throne.

When she sat down, the ancient power of the seat answered her immediately, surrounding her with a familiar force that felt almost like coming home.

She lifted her head.

"I’m coming for the Underworld."

Her eyes hardened. "And I will destroy them... just as I created them."