The Devil's Vow

Chapter 17 - The First Grave

The words followed Sofia all the way home.

The truth is inside the first grave.

She had read them so many times that she could almost see Adrian's handwriting whenever she closed her eyes.

"What is the first grave?" she asked.

Alessandro was driving.

"I don't know."

She glanced at him.

"You don't sound surprised."

"I'm trying to figure out what Adrian meant."

"Could it be your mother's grave?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Because we've already opened it."

Sofia looked down at the photograph in her lap.

"Then whose?"

Alessandro was silent.

Luca sat in the passenger seat, scrolling through information on his phone.

"There may be another possibility."

Alessandro looked at him through the mirror.

"What?"

"The Moretti family cemetery."

Sofia's head lifted.

"My family has a cemetery?"

"Most old families do," Alessandro said.

"I've never seen it."

"Because your father stopped using it years before you were born."

"Why?"

Luca turned around.

"The first person buried there was your grandfather."

Sofia frowned.

"My grandfather?"

"Yes."

"Then why would Adrian call it the first grave?"

Alessandro's eyes met hers briefly.

"Because it may be exactly what he meant."

---

The Moretti cemetery was hidden behind an old stone chapel on the outskirts of the city.

There was no sign.

No large entrance.

Nothing that would suggest an entire family had been buried there for generations.

Alessandro parked outside.

Sofia stared through the windshield.

"This place feels abandoned."

"It was," Luca said.

They stepped through the iron gate.

The cemetery was small.

Rows of weathered headstones disappeared beneath overgrown grass.

Sofia walked slowly between them.

Her family name appeared again and again.

Moretti.

She stopped in front of one.

ANTONIO MORETTI.

Her grandfather.

She had never met him.

He had died before she was born.

Alessandro stood beside her.

"This is the first grave."

Sofia looked at him.

"How do you know?"

"The dates."

She crouched beside the headstone.

Nothing appeared unusual.

Then she noticed a small symbol carved near the bottom.

A serpent wrapped around a key.

The same symbol.

"The Covenant."

Alessandro nodded.

Sofia touched the carving.

"Why would my grandfather have this?"

"Maybe he was part of it."

"Maybe?"

"I don't want to assume."

She stood.

"Then let's find out."

Alessandro examined the headstone.

"There."

A narrow line ran through the stone.

Almost invisible.

He pressed against it.

Nothing.

Sofia remembered the inscription on her father's ring.

Love is the key.

She removed the ring from Alessandro's hand.

He looked at her.

"What are you doing?"

"Testing something."

She placed the ring against the carving.

A click sounded.

Both froze.

The stone shifted.

A small compartment opened.

Inside was a folded piece of paper.

Sofia's hands trembled as she took it.

There was only one sentence.

The first betrayal began with a promise.

She looked at Alessandro.

"Whose promise?"

He shook his head.

"We need more."

They searched the compartment.

Nothing.

Luca crouched beside the grave.

"Wait."

He pointed beneath the stone.

A second compartment.

Alessandro opened it.

Inside was a small metal key.

And a photograph.

Sofia took the photograph.

Her heart stopped.

It showed her grandfather.

Standing beside three men.

One was Alessandro's grandfather.

The second was Gabriel.

The third was a man she didn't recognize.

But Alessandro did.

His expression changed.

"That's Adrian's father."

Sofia looked at him.

"Adrian's father?"

"Yes."

"Then our families knew each other before our fathers."

"Apparently."

She turned the photograph over.

There was writing.

Four men. One promise. One betrayal. One family will pay the price.

Sofia stared at the words.

"Which family?"

Alessandro didn't answer.

She looked at him.

"Why do I have the feeling it's mine?"

"Because you're starting to understand."

A voice came from behind them.

Sofia spun around.

Matteo stood between the trees.

His gun was lowered.

But his eyes were fixed on the photograph.

"You're looking in the wrong place."

Alessandro stepped in front of Sofia.

"You followed us."

Matteo smiled.

"No."

He looked at the grave.

"I knew you'd come."

Sofia stepped around Alessandro.

"You knew about this?"

Matteo's eyes settled on her.

"Your grandfather made sure I did."

"What happened between our families?"

Matteo's expression changed.

"You really don't remember."

"I was fourteen."

"You remember more than you think."

Alessandro raised his gun.

"Enough."

Matteo ignored him.

"Your father tried to end the Covenant."

Sofia's heart raced.

"Why?"

"Because he discovered what it had become."

"What had it become?"

"A prison."

She frowned.

"For whom?"

"For everyone."

Matteo looked at Alessandro.

"Your father knew."

Alessandro's jaw tightened.

"My father died believing the Covenant could be controlled."

"He was wrong."

Matteo looked back at Sofia.

"Your father realized that."

"Then why did he disappear?"

Matteo's smile vanished.

"Because he trusted the wrong person."

Sofia's voice shook.

"Who?"

Matteo took a step forward.

"Your mother."

Sofia's chest tightened.

"No."

"She didn't betray him because she hated him."

"Then why?"

"Because she was trying to save you."

Sofia stared at him.

"From what?"

Matteo looked at Alessandro.

"From him."

Sofia turned.

"Alessandro?"

Matteo nodded.

"Your father believed Alessandro's father would eventually use you to restore the Covenant."

Alessandro's expression hardened.

"That's impossible."

"Is it?"

Matteo's voice was almost gentle.

"Ask your father why he made you promise to protect her."

"I know why."

"Do you?"

Matteo smiled.

"Then ask him why he never told you the second half of the vow."

Alessandro's face changed.

Sofia noticed.

"You know something."

He didn't answer.

"Alessandro."

Matteo stepped backward.

"The second half is why your parents disappeared."

Then he turned and walked into the trees.

Alessandro moved forward.

Luca grabbed his arm.

"Don't."

"He knows something."

"And he wants us to chase him."

Alessandro stopped.

Sofia stared at the trees.

"He wanted us to find this grave."

"Yes."

"And now he's gone."

"Yes."

She looked down at the photograph.

"Then this was never about stopping us."

Alessandro looked at her.

"It was about leading us somewhere."

---

That night, Sofia couldn't sleep.

She stood in the bedroom doorway, staring at the ring on the table.

The house was silent.

Too silent.

She picked it up.

The metal felt cold against her fingers.

Then she heard footsteps behind her.

She turned.

Alessandro stood there.

"Can't sleep?"

"No."

"Neither can I."

He walked closer.

For a moment, they simply looked at each other.

"Do you believe Matteo?" she asked.

"About your mother?"

"Yes."

He hesitated.

"Part of me does."

"And the other part?"

"Doesn't want to."

Sofia understood.

"Because if he's right..."

"Then everything we've believed about our families is wrong."

She nodded.

Alessandro reached for her hand.

"Whatever the truth is, we'll find it."

She looked at him.

"Together?"

His fingers tightened around hers.

"Together."

She smiled.

Then leaned forward.

Their lips met.

A slow, gentle kiss.

When they separated, Sofia rested her forehead against his chest.

For a few seconds, the secrets disappeared.

There was no Covenant.

No Matteo.

No missing parents.

Only them.

Then Alessandro's phone vibrated.

He looked at the screen.

His expression changed.

"What?"

He handed the phone to Sofia.

A message had arrived from an unknown number.

You found the first grave.

A second message appeared.

Now find the last person your father trusted.

Sofia stared at the screen.

Then another message arrived.

And this time, don't trust Alessandro.