CHAPTER 25— Taken by the Enemy
869 Words
Kaela’s scream tore through the mansion—
but no one was there to hear it.
The lights didn’t flicker from supernatural power.
They flickered because someone cut the electricity.
Everything snapped into pitch black.
Kaela staggered backward, palms hitting the wall, her breath shaking.
A voice slid out of the darkness—
Human.
Cold.
Smirking.
“You scream just like she did.”
Kaela’s blood froze.
No distorted echo.
No ghostly whispers.
Just a man’s voice.
Deep.
Cruel.
Certain.
Her eyes adjusted—barely—and she saw him standing near the staircase.
Not a shadow.
A man in a dark coat, tall, broad-shouldered, face hidden by the dim glow of emergency lights.
But she saw enough.
His eyes.
Sharp.
Snake-like.
Deadly calm.
The eyes of someone who had killed before.
Kaela’s voice broke.
“You… you’re the Shadow?”
A slow, amused smile curved his lips.
“Not a shadow, darling. That was just Vionn’s fantasy. His guilt talking.”
He stepped forward, boots crushing glass from the shattered frame.
“I am Adrian Vale. And I’ve been waiting for this moment.”
Her heart stopped.
Adrian Vale.
The man Vionn refused to talk about.
The man who ruined Adriana.
The man who’d disappeared after her death.
“You’re supposed to be dead,” Kaela whispered.
He laughed softly.
“I know. Isn’t it convenient? Vionn thinks I’m dead. The Blackwoods buried the truth because they were afraid.”
Another step.
“And you… you’re my way back into their world.”
Kaela backed up until her spine hit the wall.
“Why me?”
Adrian lowered his head a little, studying her with the kind of interest a predator had for prey.
“Because Vionn loves you.”
Kaela’s breath stuttered.
“That isn’t—”
“Don’t lie to me,” Adrian snapped, voice razor sharp.
“I know the look of a man who’s terrified to lose something.
He had it with Adriana.
He has it with you.”
Kaela’s chest tightened, fear clawing inside her.
He smiled again, this time colder.
“And because you’re his wife now… taking you breaks him more than killing him ever could.”
She tried to run.
She didn’t even make it two steps.
Adrian grabbed her from behind, one hand clamping around her waist, the other pressing a cloth to her mouth.
Kaela thrashed violently.
“NO—LET ME—VIONN—!”
“Shh,” he whispered at her ear.
“Call for him. I want him to hear your fear when I send the recording.”
Her stomach twisted.
The chemical smell on the cloth burned her lungs.
She fought harder—kicking, clawing, elbowing him—
Adrian hissed, tightening his grip.
“You’ve got spirit,” he murmured.
“I see why he wants you.”
Kaela’s vision blurred.
Her limbs grew heavy.
The hallways twisted in front of her eyes.
Before she lost consciousness, she heard one last thing:
“Don’t worry, Kaela.
I won’t kill you.
Not yet.
You’re far too valuable alive.”
Her body went limp in his arms.
((She wakes to ropes. Cold air. And his voice))
Kaela jerked awake with a violent gasp.
Her wrists were tied.
Her ankles too.
A metal chair beneath her.
A spotlight burning down on her face.
A warehouse?
An abandoned factory?
She didn’t know.
But she recognized the voice instantly—
“You took longer to wake up than Adriana did.”
Kaela looked up sharply.
Adrian leaned against a metal column, arms casually folded, watching her like she was an experiment.
“Let me go,” she hissed.
He stepped toward her slowly.
“Not until Vionn learns what fear really feels like.”
Kaela’s heart hammered.
“You’re doing this because you hate the Blackwoods?”
He smirked.
“Hate is too small a word.”
He crouched in front of her, eyes locking with hers.
“Vionn took everything from me.
My position.
My life.
My future.”
His expression darkened, twisting into something sharp and bitter.
“And Adriana? She was mine before she was ever his. She was supposed to destroy them for me. But she was weak.”
He leaned closer.
“She chose him.”
Kaela’s breath trembled.
“And now… you will do the same.”
She flinched.
He smiled.
“Don’t worry, I’m not going to hurt you yet.
I need you alive, terrified, and very, very obedient.”
He reached out—
Kaela jerked away.
His smile widened.
“Good. Fight. Vionn loves a woman who fights.”
He straightened.
“I’m sending him a little message. Then we’ll see how fast he comes running.”
He pulled out his phone.
Her stomach dropped.
“Smile for your husband, Kaela.”
*((Meanwhile — Vionn arrives home))
But Kaela didn’t hear this part.
She didn’t know Vionn ran through the mansion like a madman.
Didn’t know he found her broken necklace on the floor.
Didn’t know he destroyed an entire room with his bare hands.
Didn’t know he whispered her name like a prayer and a threat—
“Kaela… I’ll find you.
I swear to God, I’ll kill him.”
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