Chapter 8 — The Bloodstone
1653 Words
The forest was silent again.
Too silent.
Serena stood on the balcony, staring into the darkness long after Dante had gone inside.
The silver mark on her palm had finally stopped glowing, but she could still feel its warmth beneath her skin.
The king.
Those words wouldn't leave her mind.
She had spent the last few days trying to convince herself that the supernatural world was simply a nightmare she would eventually wake from.
But nightmares didn't leave symbols beneath your skin.
They didn't make strangers hunt you.
And they certainly didn't make the heir of a powerful mafia family look at you as if he already knew something you didn't.
Serena closed her fingers over the mark.
She needed answers.
And this time, she wasn't going to wait for someone to give them to her.
She turned and walked back into the house.
The library was empty.
Perfect.
She remembered seeing several old books about the Vale family earlier. If her father had spent years hiding the truth from her, there had to be something somewhere that explained it.
She searched the shelves.
Nothing.
She searched the desk.
Nothing.
Then she remembered the vision.
The stone altar.
The red light.
The voice telling her to find the Bloodstone.
Maybe it wasn't simply a vision.
Maybe it was a memory.
Serena closed her eyes.
She concentrated.
The warmth returned to her palm.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then the silver symbol brightened.
A faint image appeared in her mind.
A corridor.
Stone walls.
A door covered in strange markings.
She opened her eyes.
Her breathing quickened.
She knew that corridor.
She had seen it before.
Somewhere inside the Moretti estate.
Serena left the library.
She followed the image in her mind through the eastern hallway, past a staircase, then toward a section of the house she had never entered.
At the end of the corridor stood an old wooden door.
Serena stopped.
Her palm burned.
This was it.
She reached for the handle.
"Don't."
Dante's voice came from behind her.
Serena froze.
Slowly, she turned.
Dante stood several feet away.
His expression was darker than she'd ever seen it.
"What is this place?"
"You shouldn't be here."
"That's not an answer."
"Serena."
She pointed toward the door.
"What's behind it?"
Dante walked toward her.
"Nothing you need to see."
She stared at him.
"Then why does my blood react to it?"
He stopped.
Silence.
That was answer enough.
Serena stepped closer.
"You knew."
"I suspected."
"You knew."
Dante exhaled.
"I knew the chamber existed."
"And?"
"And your father was the last person allowed inside."
Serena's heart skipped.
"My father?"
Dante nodded.
"Why?"
"Because the chamber belongs to the original pact."
She looked at the door.
"What is inside?"
Dante didn't answer.
Serena's patience snapped.
"You keep telling me to trust you while hiding everything from me."
"I'm trying to keep you alive."
"By keeping me ignorant?"
"By keeping you away from things that could destroy you."
She shook her head.
"You don't get to decide what I can handle."
Dante stared at her.
For several seconds, neither moved.
Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small key.
Serena looked at it.
"You're going to open it?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because you're going to find a way inside eventually."
She gave him a look.
"You're learning."
A faint smile almost appeared on his face.
Almost.
He inserted the key.
The lock clicked.
The door opened.
Cold air rushed through the corridor.
Serena stepped inside.
The chamber was enormous.
Stone walls surrounded a circular room.
Symbols covered the floor.
At the center stood a black stone pedestal.
And on top of it was an empty glass case.
Serena stared.
"Where's the Bloodstone?"
Dante's expression became grim.
"It's gone."
Her heart dropped.
"What?"
"The Bloodstone was here."
"When?"
"Twenty years ago."
"Who took it?"
Dante walked toward the pedestal.
"We don't know."
Serena looked around.
"Then why keep the chamber?"
"Because the Bloodstone can't be destroyed."
"Where is it now?"
"We don't know."
She turned toward him.
"But the Vastro family does."
Dante's eyes narrowed.
"Maybe."
"No."
Serena touched the edge of the pedestal.
"They sent that message because they know."
Her palm suddenly burned.
She pulled her hand back.
The symbols on the floor began glowing.
Dante stepped forward.
"Serena, move."
She couldn't.
The room seemed to disappear around her.
A voice echoed inside her head.
**The stone remembers.**
She gasped.
Then another vision came.
Her father.
He was standing in this exact chamber.
He was younger.
A woman stood opposite him.
Serena recognized her immediately.
Her mother.
But there was someone else.
A man Serena had never seen before.
He held a black stone in his hand.
The Bloodstone.
Her father was arguing with him.
Serena couldn't hear every word.
Then she heard one sentence clearly.
"Give it to my daughter."
The vision shattered.
Serena stumbled.
Dante caught her.
"Serena."
She breathed heavily.
"I saw them."
"Who?"
"My father."
Dante's expression changed.
"And?"
"My mother."
He waited.
"And another man."
"What man?"
"I don't know."
She looked at the pedestal.
"But he had the Bloodstone."
Dante's face became unreadable.
"Describe him."
"Dark hair."
"Anything else?"
"He had a scar."
"Where?"
"Across his left hand."
Dante went completely still.
Serena noticed.
"You know him."
Dante didn't answer.
"You know him."
He finally spoke.
"His name is Lucian Vastro."
Serena's blood ran cold.
"The Vastro leader?"
"Yes."
"But he was supposed to be dead."
"He was."
"Then how was he in my vision?"
Dante looked at the glowing symbols.
"Because that wasn't a vision."
Serena frowned.
"What?"
"It was a memory."
She stared at him.
"Whose?"
Dante looked directly at her.
"Yours."
The room seemed to tilt.
"My memory?"
"Your bloodline can preserve memories."
"That's impossible."
"Not in your world."
Serena looked down at her palm.
She suddenly felt very small.
"My father gave Lucian the Bloodstone?"
"No."
"Then why was he holding it?"
"I don't know."
She looked at Dante.
"You're lying."
"I'm not."
"Then find out."
Dante's expression hardened.
"I will."
A sound came from outside the chamber.
Both of them turned.
Footsteps.
Someone was running through the corridor.
Dante immediately pulled Serena behind him.
The footsteps stopped.
Silence.
Then a man's voice echoed from the other side of the door.
"Dante."
Dante's eyes narrowed.
"Who are you?"
A low laugh answered.
"You know exactly who I am."
Serena's blood ran cold.
Dante raised his weapon.
"Lucian."
The door slowly opened.
But nobody stood there.
Only a black envelope had been placed on the floor.
Dante approached carefully.
He picked it up.
Inside was a photograph.
Serena stepped closer.
Her heart stopped.
The photograph showed her father.
Her mother.
And Lucian Vastro.
Standing together.
Behind them was the Bloodstone.
On the back of the photograph were six words.
**Your father never told you everything.**
Serena stared at it.
"What does this mean?"
Dante's voice was quiet.
"It means your father wasn't simply protecting the Bloodstone."
"What was he doing?"
Dante looked at the photograph.
"Making a deal."
Serena's stomach tightened.
"With Lucian?"
"Apparently."
"But why?"
Dante didn't answer.
Another piece of paper fell from the envelope.
Serena picked it up.
There was only one sentence.
**Ask your mother why she betrayed the Morettis.**
Serena's fingers went cold.
"My mother?"
Dante looked at her.
"Serena..."
"No."
She shook her head.
"My mother wouldn't."
"We don't know that."
"You don't know her."
"And you don't know the truth."
She looked at him angrily.
"Then let's find it."
Dante nodded.
"We will."
---
They left the chamber shortly afterward.
Serena couldn't stop thinking about the photograph.
Her mother had always been the calm one.
The protective one.
The person who had raised her after her father's death.
Could she really have betrayed the Morettis?
And what kind of deal had her parents made with Lucian Vastro?
When Serena returned to her room, she immediately called her mother.
It rang once.
Twice.
Three times.
No answer.
She tried again.
Nothing.
Serena stared at the phone.
A terrible feeling settled in her chest.
She sent a message.
**Mom, I need to talk to you. It's important.**
The message delivered.
No reply.
Minutes passed.
Still nothing.
Then her phone vibrated.
One new message.
Not from her mother.
An unknown number.
Serena opened it.
**Stop searching for the Bloodstone.**
Her heart pounded.
Another message appeared.
**Or the next person who disappears will be your mother.**
Serena stood completely still.
Dante entered the room moments later.
One look at her face was enough.
"What happened?"
She handed him the phone.
He read the messages.
His expression turned cold.
"How did they get your number?"
"I don't know."
Dante immediately called one of his men.
"Trace the number."
He ended the call.
Serena looked at him.
"They have my mother."
"We don't know that."
"They threatened her."
"I know."
She swallowed.
"What are we going to do?"
Dante looked at her.
"We find her."
"And if she's with Lucian?"
"Then we find Lucian too."
Serena stared at him.
"And the Bloodstone?"
Dante's eyes hardened.
"We find that first."
She frowned.
"Why?"
"Because whoever controls it controls the war."
Serena looked down at the symbol on her palm.
The silver mark began glowing again.
But this time, something was different.
A second symbol appeared beneath the first.
A small crown.
Dante saw it.
His expression changed.
"What?"
He stepped closer.
Serena looked at her palm.
"What is it?"
Dante didn't answer immediately.
Then he said,
"The pact has chosen."
Serena's heart pounded.
"Chosen what?"
Dante looked into her eyes.
"The king."
Silence.
Serena already knew the answer.
She just wasn't ready to hear it.
"Who?"
Dante's voice was low.
"Me."
Outside, thunder rolled across the night sky.
And somewhere far away, someone was watching the Moretti estate.
Waiting.
Because the Blood Moon was no longer simply approaching.
The war had already begun.
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