Blood Oath
na's
ctuary, before the quiet cradle of stone and incense was torn from me like a ripped
in the chapel alone, as I often was when sleep evaded me, seated on the third pew from the altar, fingers curled around
It didn't come tonight. My thoughts were restless. My skin was prickling. M
ely moved faster than a whisper, but now I heard her sandals slappi
like a ghost behind her. Her eyes landed on me, wide
hless. "They've come for
and with thin fingers. "Go. To t
king about?" I asked, sta
ot really. I was abandoned at the convent's gate when I was barely five years old. No name, no history. Only a golden locket
oved-if not with warmth, then at least with duty. I was never adopted. Never claimed. For sixteen y
has come for you felt surr
flickering sconces, to the narrow room I called mine. She grabbed my
acked, shoving books and my locket into the bag, changing out of my nightgown into a modest dress. My fingers trembled as I
rd that name only once before, whispered by an old priest who had mistaken me for someone else
of them. The door swung open without a knock. A man entered first-tall, broad-shouldered, clean-cut in a way that screamed danger dis
handise. His eyes were sharp, gray, and calculating. "Sienna Rosetti?" he asked. I didn't an
used to it." He nodded t
lf. The man tilted his head. He looked almost amused. "You don't h
our es
ask to be
daughter back." That word. Don. It silenced the room. "D
" He stepped closer. "No mistake, Sienna. You've been hidden long enough. Your father has enemies. And now, so do you." A hand cl
d me, gently but firmly, through the convent's ancient halls. My legs moved on autop
ent too-crisp with frost, stained with exhaust fumes a
in the archway, hands clasped to her chest, lips moving in prayer. I wanted to run back.
ey drove for hours. The silence stretched between us like a chasm. I stared out the tinted window, watchi
the sky, I finally spoke. "Why now?" I whispered
You were hidden to protect you. Now it's time to play your part." My throat tightened. "What part?" He gave me a slow, unreadable smi
turned his gaze back t
on't k
at him in horror. "This is insane. You're telling me I was raised in a c
he said
hy
ter laugh escaped me.
're leverage. You're b
um. I wasn't just leaving the convent. I was stepping into a world of guns and secrets. Of power and marriage contracts. Of fathers I'd never met and enemies I didn't k