Page 47 of Pieces of Halves

Adrian, being an ancient demon, decided to attempt to break the barrier. It has been a few hours, and we have not heard any updates. It makes me anxious that the woman has so much power. There is this nagging feeling that she could escape at any moment. Everyone seems to be certain she would not be able to. Still, the way she glares and watches puts me on edge.

To take my mind off the vile woman, I focus on the catalog Rosie handed me. It’s time to order bulbs for fall planting, and Rosie cannot hide her excitement even in the midst of everything going on.

As much as I enjoy learning about plants, growing them is a different story. My mind keeps going back to Sofia and her schemes. My father and she are similar in a way – both greedy for power and cruel, willing to sacrifice their children if it gets them what they want.

If Sofia is so prepared that she has her mind protected by a spell, why was it so easy to capture her? If she came from a powerful line of demons, why isn’t she fighting back harder?

“Your mind is elsewhere,” Rosie says and places the wide paper on her lap.

“It’s nothing. I am just being paranoid.” I wave my hand dismissively.

“Hm.” Rosie hums and tilts her head at me. “I think you should follow your instincts,” Rosie says with confidence, her dark hair falling out of her bun.

God, this woman is beautiful, confident, and perfect.

My gut says that Sofia is up to something. The problem is that I’m not trained like everyone else is. I am just a girl who likes to study plants and bugs. What could I possibly help with?

Chewing the inside of my lip, I go to the back of the castle. Maybe it is nothing, but I will feel better if I tell Jacob about this uncomfortable, lingering feeling. He will tell me that everythingis fine, he will explain what they know, and my mind will be at ease.

You are just overreacting, I tell myself as I walk through the dark hallway underground. The eerie silence doesn’t help. I am surrounded by powerful beings. They know what they are doing. My feet numbly moving towards the secret room, I chose to follow my gut.

When I walk up to the door, it’s silent. My eyebrows come together. I wonder if they moved her somewhere else. Curiosity takes over, and I place my hand on the handle.

Something cold lands on the back of my head, sending me to the ground. Everything spins, and my body falls. There is nothing I can do to stop myself. I try to keep my eyes open, but they are too heavy. Darkness takes over.

Blinking is difficult, and my head feels like it is splitting in half. Something bad happened, I can feel it, but I don’t remember the last thing I did. Something is digging into my ribs, and sharp pain radiates through my chest. Peeling my eyes open, the world shakes.

There is grass under me – moving. I blink again and notice legs quickly walking. Panic settles in immediately as I notice that I am upside down. Heartbeat going up to my throat, I try to kick, hit, and scramble.

“Finally,” a woman grunts, and I am tossed on the ground.

I hit the hard surface, my shoulder taking the weight of my body. Wincing, I push myself to sit up. Dizzy, I look up and stop breathing. Sofia looks down at me, her brown eyes glaringat me with disgust. My eyes wide, I think fast as I look around, searching for a way to escape.

“Don’t even think about it.” Sofia glares at me. “I mean, you can try, but I have spent forty years of my life fighting and running. Do you really think that you could outrun me?” She mocks, her lips twisting.

“Why?” I croak out.

No matter her reasons, I need to get away.

“Victor will give me what I want to have you back –his experiment.” She scowls. “Let’s go.” She kicks my hip.

At the mention of my father's name, the only thing I can think about is running. Getting up, I move with all the strength I can muster. I manage a few steps before she slams her legs into my shins. I trip, my bones burning as I hit theground again, dirt flying into my mouth.

“You can keep trying to find a way out, and I will keep beating you,” she says and hovers. “I prefer to get to his camp sooner than later.” She gets down and roughly pulls my arms back, tying them together.

My heart is erratically beating in my chest as my mind scrambles. My father will not get his hands on me. Not ever again. I will find a way, even if it means the end of my life.

“You let my father capture you,” I groan as she pushes me to move forward.

She planned this out well. It’s impressive – she managed to collect a lot of information about me as well. It makes me wonder if all this time someone was following us. She knew exactly where I was.

“Of course. I need Victor to give me a few vampire hearts – powerful hearts. The only way to do that is if I have somethingof his.” She laughs. “He won’t give up his kingdom for you, but a few hearts? Probably.” There is bitterness in her tone.

She knows my father well it seems. Enough to be in the know about me and my value to him.

I need to come up with a plan. My mind is running in circles, memories flooding every part of my brain, making it hard to think. Breathing is difficult as I stumble on branches and twigs, occasionally tripping on roots.

Isabella, focus. Think. I take a shaky breath in and shut my eyes tight.

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