Chapter 5: Ghosts and Vows
1005 Words
Emir Blackwood’s POV
I spent five years underground while the world buried my name. Let them think I was dead. It gave me space to plan.
People forget the dead.
But I never forgot them—Verena, Kian, Rafiq Malik.
And now, her. Zara.
“She’s the key to everything,” I muttered, watching her trace her fingers across the edge of the blood vow etched in glass.
“She doesn’t even know who she is yet,” I added under my breath. “But she will.”
I’d seen her once before, long before Kian ever laid eyes on her. She was eleven. Standing on the edge of a stage after a school play. Smiling like the world hadn’t touched her yet.
And now?
Now she looked like a storm dressed in flesh.
“She’s going to burn you all,” I whispered.
I almost hoped she would.
---
Zara Malik’s POV
“You faked your death.”
I crossed my arms, still staring at the man with Kian’s eyes and a devil’s smile.
Emir shrugged. “Felt easier than killing my brother.”
“So you ran.”
“No. I waited. Watched.”
“For what?”
“For you.”
The words sat heavy between us.
“That’s not creepy at all,” I muttered.
“Zara,” he said gently. “The vow Kian made… it wasn’t just some romantic oath over broken love.”
“I saw the blood vow,” I replied, jaw tight.
“You didn’t understand it.”
“Then explain it.”
He stepped closer. “He didn’t swear vengeance over Verena. He swore loyalty to your bloodline. Your mother’s line.”
“That makes no sense.”
“It does if your family held what was once his.”
I blinked. “You mean the inheritance? That old feud?”
“No. I mean the empire. The legacy. The land, the accounts, the offshore vaults. Your mother didn’t just marry into wealth—she married into power that was stolen.”
“And Kian bound himself to destroy it?”
Emir shook his head.
“He bound himself to serve it,” he said. “But if he breaks that vow, Zara—he loses everything. His name. His power. Even Blackwood Holdings.”
I stepped back, trying to breathe. “Why would he swear something so insane?”
Emir’s voice dropped. “Because he worked for your father once. In darker days. And because he thought he could use you to finish what Verena started.”
I felt my knees falter, but I didn’t let them give way.
“And now?”
“Now?” Emir smiled. “Now he’s breaking. Because he didn’t plan on you fighting.”
---
The door slammed open.
Kian’s voice tore through the room.
“What the hell is this?”
I turned.
He stood there like fury incarnate. Suit wrinkled. Hair tousled. Like he’d run through the house to get here.
His eyes locked on Emir. “You’re supposed to be dead.”
“Yeah, well. So was Dad, remember?” Emir smirked.
Kian ignored him. His gaze snapped to me. “You think he’s your savior?”
He marched across the room and grabbed my wrist.
“He’s worse than me,” Kian growled. “At least I never lied about what I wanted.”
I pulled free. “And what do you want, Kian? Revenge? Blood? Me crying at your feet?”
He stepped closer, voice low. “I wanted your father to suffer. I wanted your family ruined.”
“You succeeded.”
“I didn’t plan on you.”
I laughed coldly. “Oh, please.”
His jaw flexed. “You made me forget everything I came here to do.”
I turned to Emir. “Is that true?”
Emir shrugged. “He hasn’t checked the Crimson logs in two weeks. You’ve distracted him. That’s dangerous, Zara.”
Kian turned on his brother. “You’ve got no place here.”
Emir didn’t flinch. “And yet here I am.”
I stepped between them.
“Stop.” My voice sliced the air. “You both talk like I’m a pawn on some old board. But you’re the ones who turned me into this. Not yourselves.”
Kian's stare sharpened. “You’re playing with fire, Zara.”
“Good,” I said. “Because I finally know how to burn.”
---
Later, I sat in my room, the folder on my lap.
Inside, I found photos of my mother. Handwritten notes. A necklace.
I hadn’t seen it in years. A simple chain with a sapphire charm. It used to hang on her mirror.
Beneath it, a note in faded ink.
He said he would protect you. If I don’t make it… Don’t trust anyone in the Blackwood house. Not even the one who watches you.
I reread the line again.
Not even the one who watches me.
Kian?
No. That would be too easy.
---
I returned to the Crimson Room after midnight.
This time, I came alone.
I walked past the vow. Past the photos. Past the weapons locked in glass.
There was a sealed drawer near the bottom.
I pressed the hidden button I’d seen Emir use.
Inside, it was a key.
And a second file.
This one labeled: Gideon Cross: Operative 01
I flipped it open and gasped.
There, stapled to the first page, was my mother’s death certificate—unsigned.
Next to it, a photo.
Gideon. Smiling. Standing over her grave. Date-stamped a week before the funeral.
He was there. Before anyone knew she had died.
I heard footsteps behind me.
I turned.
Kian.
He looked like he hadn’t slept in days.
His voice came out hollow. “You want the truth, Zara?”
I didn’t move.
“Then get ready to bleed for it.”
Behind him, another figure stepped into the light.
Gideon.
In his hand—
My mother’s necklace.
Still wet with something red.
- Writer
