Chapter Thirteen — The Father's Warning
1692 Words
Sophia stood motionless, the dead phone still pressed against her ear.
Her father's final words echoed inside her mind.
You must not trust Alessandro.
She slowly lowered the phone.
Alessandro was watching her.
“What did he say?”
Sophia said nothing.
His eyes narrowed.
“Sophia?”
She looked at him.
For the first time since they had met, she couldn't read his expression.
Was he worried?
Was he afraid?
Or was he hiding something?
“He said nothing important,” she lied.
Alessandro stepped closer.
“You're lying.”
Sophia's heart skipped.
“How do you know?”
“Because you can't look at me.”
She looked away.
He reached for her hand.
She pulled it back.
Alessandro froze.
The hurt in his eyes was unmistakable.
“Sophia…”
“I need answers.”
“You'll have them.”
“No.”
Her voice shook.
“I need the truth.”
Alessandro stared at her.
“What truth?”
“About the tattoo.”
His expression changed.
“The Black Crown.”
He said nothing.
“My father.”
Still nothing.
“And you.”
Alessandro looked toward the dark corridor.
“Sophia, this isn't the place.”
“Then where is the place?”
“Somewhere safe.”
She laughed bitterly.
“There is no safe place anymore.”
Before Alessandro could answer, Isabella approached them.
Her face was pale.
“What happened?”
Sophia looked at her.
“My father called.”
Isabella stopped.
“What did he say?”
Sophia hesitated.
Then she answered.
“He told me not to trust Alessandro.”
Isabella's eyes widened.
Alessandro turned toward her.
“Did you know he was going to call?”
“No.”
“Isabella.”
“I swear.”
Sophia studied both of them.
Something was wrong.
Everyone seemed to know pieces of the truth except her.
Then Elena's voice came back to her.
*Mom wasn't the only one who lied.*
Sophia looked toward the corridor where Elena had disappeared.
“We have to find her.”
Alessandro nodded.
“We will.”
“And Marco.”
“Yes.”
“And Gabriel.”
Alessandro's jaw tightened.
“Especially Gabriel.”
They began moving through the crypt.
The underground passage seemed endless.
Old stone walls surrounded them. Ancient symbols were carved into the walls, some almost erased by time.
Sophia stopped suddenly.
“Wait.”
Alessandro turned.
“What?”
She pointed to the wall.
There was a symbol carved into the stone.
A circle surrounding a crown.
Beneath it were two names.
WILLIAMS
MORETTI
Sophia touched the carving.
“It was always us.”
Alessandro stepped beside her.
“Our families.”
She looked at him.
“Why would Jonathan Williams give half the power to the Morettis?”
“Maybe he didn't trust his own family.”
Sophia shook her head.
“Or maybe he knew one family couldn't control it alone.”
A sound came from somewhere ahead.
Footsteps.
Alessandro immediately raised his gun.
“Stay behind me.”
They continued forward.
The footsteps stopped.
A door stood at the end of the corridor.
Alessandro pushed it open.
Inside was a small room filled with old documents.
Sophia walked toward the nearest table.
There were photographs.
Letters.
Maps.
Names.
She picked up one photograph.
It showed her father standing beside Gabriel.
Sophia stared.
“When was this taken?”
Alessandro looked at it.
“Fifteen years ago.”
Sophia turned the photograph over.
There was writing on the back.
**THE NIGHT DANIEL DISAPPEARED.**
Her hands trembled.
“Gabriel was with him.”
“Yes.”
Sophia looked at Alessandro.
“Then Gabriel knows what happened.”
“Probably.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“He knows everything.”
Suddenly, they heard a metallic sound behind them.
Click.
Sophia turned.
The door had locked.
Alessandro rushed toward it.
He tried the handle.
Nothing.
“We're trapped.”
A voice came through a hidden speaker.
“You're finally beginning to understand.”
Sophia froze.
Gabriel.
“Where are you?” she demanded.
“Closer than you think.”
Alessandro aimed his gun toward the ceiling.
“Show yourself.”
Gabriel laughed.
“You still don't understand, Alessandro.”
“Understand what?”
“You were never chosen to protect Sophia.”
Silence.
“You were chosen to lead her here.”
Sophia stared at Alessandro.
He looked shocked.
“That isn't true.”
Gabriel continued.
“Ask him about his father.”
Sophia turned toward Alessandro.
“What about your father?”
Alessandro's face became tense.
“My father died years ago.”
“Did he?”
Gabriel's voice carried a strange amusement.
“Or did he disappear?”
Sophia stepped closer to Alessandro.
“You told me he died.”
“He did.”
“Are you sure?”
Alessandro didn't answer immediately.
That hesitation frightened her.
Suddenly, the lights came on.
A projector activated against the far wall.
An old video began playing.
Sophia saw her father.
Daniel was younger.
He was standing inside the same cathedral.
Beside him stood Alessandro's father.
And between them was Gabriel.
Sophia moved closer to the screen.
Daniel spoke.
“If you're watching this, something has gone wrong.”
Sophia's heart pounded.
“The Black Crown cannot be destroyed by force. It can only be destroyed by the person who inherits it.”
Daniel looked directly into the camera.
“That person is my daughter.”
Sophia's breath caught.
“Me.”
The video continued.
“But there is one thing she must never know.”
The screen went black.
Sophia stared at it.
“What was he going to say?”
Alessandro shook his head.
“I don't know.”
“You're lying.”
“I swear I'm not.”
A second video appeared.
This time, Daniel was standing alone.
His face looked frightened.
“If Sophia ever reaches the Crown, tell her this.”
He leaned closer to the camera.
“The person she trusts most will be the one who decides whether she lives or dies.”
The recording ended.
Sophia's eyes filled with tears.
She slowly turned toward Alessandro.
Neither spoke.
Then a loud crash came from the corridor.
The locked door suddenly opened.
A man stumbled inside.
It was one of the Moretti guards.
He was bleeding.
“Sir…”
Alessandro caught him.
“What happened?”
The guard struggled to breathe.
“They took Elena.”
“Who?”
“Marco.”
Alessandro's expression hardened.
“Where?”
“The cathedral.”
Sophia immediately stepped forward.
“Again?”
The guard nodded.
“But there's something else.”
“What?”
He looked at Sophia.
“They left a message.”
“Where?”
The guard pointed toward the floor.
Sophia followed his gaze.
Blood had been used to write three words.
COME ALONE, SOPHIA.
Alessandro immediately shook his head.
“No.”
Sophia looked at him.
“They have Elena.”
“They want you.”
“I know.”
“You're walking into a trap.”
“I know.”
“Then why would you go?”
Sophia's eyes hardened.
“Because I want my sister back.”
Alessandro grabbed her hand.
“I won't let you go alone.”
Sophia looked at him.
“My father told me not to trust you.”
Alessandro's face fell.
“And you believe him?”
“I don't know what to believe anymore.”
He stepped closer.
“Then believe this.”
His voice softened.
“I would rather die protecting you than watch you walk into that place alone.”
Sophia looked into his eyes.
For a moment, the walls seemed to disappear.
She wanted to trust him.
Every part of her wanted to.
But her father's warning kept echoing in her mind.
Don't trust Alessandro.
Then Sophia noticed something.
Alessandro's wrist.
The tattoo.
The numbers had changed again.
“What happened to your tattoo?”
He looked down.
His face suddenly went pale.
The coordinates were no longer numbers.
They formed a single word.
BETRAYAL.
Sophia stepped backward.
Alessandro stared at the mark.
“I've never seen that before.”
Sophia's heart pounded.
A phone began ringing.
Neither of them moved.
It was coming from inside the guard's coat.
The wounded man looked confused.
Alessandro searched his pocket and pulled out a second phone.
The screen showed one name.
DANIEL WILLIAMS.
Sophia reached for it.
But before she could answer, a message appeared.
SOPHIA, DON'T GO TO THE CATHEDRAL.
Another message arrived immediately.
HE WILL BE WAITING FOR YOU.
Sophia's blood ran cold.
Then a final message appeared.
ALLESSANDRO IS NOT THE TRAITOR.
Sophia stared at the screen.
She looked at Alessandro.
“Then who is?”
The phone rang.
This time, Sophia answered.
“Dad?”
Daniel's voice came through, barely above a whisper.
“You have very little time.”
“Where are you?”
“I can't tell you.”
“Why?”
“Because someone is listening.”
Sophia looked around the room.
“Who?”
Daniel took a breath.
“The person you think is helping you.”
Sophia's heart stopped.
“Who?”
Before Daniel could answer, another voice interrupted the call.
A voice Sophia recognized.
Her mother's.
“Daniel…”
The line went dead.
Sophia slowly lowered the phone.
Alessandro looked at her.
“What happened?”
Sophia stared at him.
“My mother was with him.”
Isabella suddenly appeared in the doorway.
Her face was filled with terror.
Sophia turned toward her.
“You know where my father is.”
Isabella said nothing.
Sophia stepped closer.
“Don't lie to me again.”
Tears rolled down Isabella's cheeks.
“I wanted to tell you.”
“Then tell me now.”
Isabella looked at Alessandro.
Then back at Sophia.
“Your father isn't hiding from the Black Circle.”
Sophia's heart pounded.
“Then who is he hiding from?”
Isabella whispered the words that changed everything.
“From the Black Crown itself.”
The lights suddenly went out.
And somewhere beneath the cathedral, Elena screamed.
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