The Devil's Vow

Chapter Twenty-Four - Room Seventeen

THE DEVIL’S VOW

Chapter Twenty-Four

Room Seventeen

The words settled over the room.

A room.

Sofia looked from Dante to Alessandro.

"What does that mean?"

Dante leaned against the table.

"Before the harbour was redeveloped, there was an old private club beneath the warehouses. Most people knew nothing about it."

"What kind of club?"

"The kind of place where powerful men met when they didn't want their names recorded."

Sofia's stomach tightened.

"The Covenant?"

"Sometimes."

Alessandro's eyes narrowed.

"Room Seventeen."

Dante nodded.

"It was where your father met them."

Sofia looked at the photograph again.

Her father's face was younger.

His expression serious.

"Then why would he be standing there?"

"Because he was meeting someone."

"Who?"

Dante shook his head.

"We never found out."

Sofia sighed.

"There's that answer again."

Dante almost smiled.

"I know."

Alessandro stepped toward him.

"When was Room Seventeen closed?"

"Eleven years ago."

The timing made Sofia's blood run cold.

"After Dad disappeared."

"Yes."

"Who closed it?"

Dante looked at her.

"Your father."

Sofia frowned.

"How could he close it if he'd disappeared?"

"He didn't."

She stared at him.

"What?"

Dante pointed at the photograph.

"That's the important part."

He tapped the image.

"This photograph was taken before your father disappeared."

Sofia's heart began beating faster.

"How do you know?"

"Because I was there."

"You took it?"

"No."

"Then who did?"

Dante hesitated.

"Your mother."

Sofia stared at him.

"My mother?"

Dante nodded.

"She took photographs of everything that night."

"Why?"

"Because your father didn't trust anyone."

Sofia looked toward her mother.

Her mother had remained silent throughout the conversation.

Now she slowly walked toward the table.

"I wanted proof."

"Proof of what?" Sofia asked.

"That your father wasn't betraying the family."

Sofia's expression softened.

"You believed him?"

"Of course I did."

"Then why did you disappear?"

Her mother looked down.

"Because I knew someone was watching us."

"Who?"

"I never saw his face."

Sofia closed her eyes.

She was beginning to hate that sentence.

But her mother continued.

"I heard his voice."

Alessandro looked at her.

"Do you remember it?"

She nodded.

"Yes."

"What did he say?"

Her mother looked at Sofia.

"He said something I'll never forget."

"What?"

Her mother's voice dropped.

"When the devil makes a vow, someone always pays for it."

Sofia felt a chill run through her.

The title of the vow.

The words her father had written.

The secrets surrounding Alessandro.

Everything seemed connected.

But she couldn't yet see how.

Alessandro looked at her.

"You okay?"

She nodded.

"Yes."

But he didn't believe her.

---

They decided to return to the harbour the following morning.

Dante warned them against it.

"It's dangerous."

Sofia looked at him.

"So is everything else."

Alessandro almost smiled.

"She's right."

Dante shook his head.

"You two are going to get me killed."

Luca looked up from his phone.

"You're already supposed to be dead."

Dante stared at him.

"That doesn't make me feel better."

For the first time since meeting him, Sofia laughed.

It was small.

But genuine.

Alessandro looked at her.

His gaze lingered.

She noticed.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"You were staring."

"I was."

"Why?"

His mouth curved slightly.

"Because I like seeing you smile."

Sofia's heart skipped.

She looked away.

"Don't."

"Don't what?"

"Say things like that."

"Why?"

"Because..."

She couldn't finish.

Alessandro stepped closer.

"Because?"

She looked at him.

"Because I'm trying to remember that you're supposed to be protecting me."

"And?"

"And you're making that difficult."

His eyes darkened.

"Maybe I don't want it to be easy."

The space between them suddenly felt smaller.

His fingers brushed hers.

Sofia didn't move away.

Neither did he.

Then Luca cleared his throat.

"Room seventeen?"

They immediately stepped apart.

Dante looked amused.

"I think we've interrupted something."

Alessandro gave him a warning look.

"Don't."

Sofia tried not to smile.

---

The harbour looked completely different in daylight.

Tourists walked along the waterfront.

Boats moved across the water.

Restaurants opened their doors.

Nothing about the place suggested that it had once been the centre of a hidden criminal world.

Dante led them toward an older section of the harbour.

"This is where it used to be."

Sofia looked around.

"There's nothing here."

"Exactly."

Alessandro examined the ground.

"What happened to the building?"

"Demolished."

"When?"

"Two months after your father disappeared."

Sofia frowned.

"Who ordered the demolition?"

Dante looked at her.

"Your father."

She stared at him.

"But he was gone."

"That's what everyone thought."

Alessandro crouched near the ground.

"There."

He pointed to a metal plate half buried beneath the dirt.

Sofia knelt beside him.

The plate had a number engraved on it.

17.

Her heart raced.

"Room seventeen."

Dante nodded.

"Yes."

Alessandro pulled the plate loose.

Beneath it was a narrow metal hatch.

Luca stared.

"This wasn't destroyed."

Dante's expression changed.

"No."

Alessandro opened it.

A staircase disappeared into darkness.

Sofia looked down.

"How long has this been here?"

"Eleven years."

She swallowed.

"Then let's find out why my father wanted it hidden."

Alessandro took her hand.

"I'll go first."

She squeezed his fingers.

"Together."

He looked at her.

Then nodded.

They descended.

The air grew colder.

The staircase ended at a steel door.

There was a small keypad beside it.

Luca examined it.

"Four digits."

Sofia looked at Alessandro.

"Any ideas?"

He stared at the keypad.

Then at her.

"Your birthday?"

She shook her head.

"No."

"Your father's?"

"No."

Dante stepped forward.

"Try seventeen."

Luca entered 0017.

Nothing.

Sofia thought about the photograph.

The letter.

The black rose.

Then she remembered something her father used to say whenever she asked him about numbers.

Never choose the number people expect. Choose the number they overlook.

She looked at the keypad.

"Try eleven."

Luca entered 0011.

The lock clicked.

The door opened.

Everyone froze.

Inside was a small room.

A desk.

Two chairs.

A wall covered in photographs.

Sofia stepped inside.

Her breath caught.

Every photograph was of her.

At different ages.

Seven.

Nine.

Twelve.

Fourteen.

Fifteen.

Sixteen.

Then one photograph made her stop.

She was fourteen.

Standing outside her school.

And someone had written beneath it:

THE GIRL IS THE KEY.

Alessandro immediately moved in front of her.

"Dante."

"I didn't know."

Sofia stared at the photographs.

"Someone was watching me."

"Yes."

"For years."

"Yes."

She turned to Alessandro.

His face was hard.

"I should have known."

Sofia shook her head.

"You were sixteen."

"I still should have known."

She stepped closer.

"Alessandro."

He looked at her.

"You didn't fail me."

His eyes softened.

Sofia reached for his hand.

"I don't blame you."

He squeezed her fingers.

Then she looked back at the wall.

One final photograph hung alone.

It showed her father.

But unlike the others, it had a date written beneath it.

Three days after his disappearance.

Sofia stopped breathing.

"That's impossible."

Alessandro stepped beside her.

Dante stared at the photograph.

"Yes."

Sofia touched it.

Her father's face looked tired.

Older.

But unmistakably alive.

Beneath the photograph were four words.

HE KEPT HIS VOW.

Sofia looked at Alessandro.

"Three days after he disappeared..."

Her voice trembled.

"...someone saw him."

Alessandro nodded.

"We're getting closer."

Sofia stared at the photograph.

For the first time, she wasn't searching for a ghost.

She was searching for a man.

Her father.

And somewhere in the darkness beneath the harbour, someone had been waiting eleven years for her to find this room.

Then the lights suddenly came on.

A speaker crackled overhead.

A man's voice filled the room.

"Welcome home, Sofia."

She froze.

Alessandro raised his weapon.

The voice continued.

"You've taken longer than I expected."

Sofia's blood ran cold.

Because she knew that voice.

She had heard it once before.

Eleven years ago.