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