VEILS OF VENGEANCE

Chapter Six – Shadows of loyalty

The safehouse was quieter than death, and yet Alessia couldn’t breathe. The air felt heavy with smoke and secrets, her lungs refusing to pull enough of it in. She sat on the edge of the sofa, her fingers trembling as they traced the raw patch on her wrist where her bracelet had once been.

That bracelet had been her last tether to normalcy, a delicate chain her mother once told her would bring her luck. Now the bracelet was releasimg codes she didn't know existed. Then it hit her, When Celeste disappeared, they had ripped it off during the chaos of the murder, as if stripping her identity piece by piece.

“Catch.” The metallic glint flashed across the room, and Alessia’s heart stopped. The hacker leaned against the wall, smirk sharp as glass, tossing the bracelet casually before lobbing it into her lap. Her throat tightened. “Where… how did you? It wasn't on my wrist when I tried to escape.”

He shrugged. “Pickpocketing’s a useful habit. One of the guards men had it on him. Figured it wasn’t theirs to keep.” His gaze lingered, and for once there was no mocking edge in his tone. “Doesn’t suit you to look so bare.”

Alessia’s fingers closed around the bracelet, relief flooding her veins. The gesture was reckless, unexpected, but it softened something inside her. The hacker had been a dangerous incarnate since the moment she met him, but in that instant he was… human.

Before she could thank him, the doctor’s voice cut through the quiet. “We’re wasting time.” He was sharpening a blade at the table, every scrape of steel against stone loud in the silence. His eyes flicked to Alessia, unreadable.

“You should know who we are if you’re going to survive this.”

The hacker rolled his eyes. “Finally. The grand introductions.”

Alessia looked between them, her pulse quickening. She had followed them into hiding with nothing but fear and instinct, yet she didn’t even know their names.

The doctor gestured first to himself. “Ronan. I don’t need you to like me, only to listen when it matters.”

The hacker gave a mock bow. “Ezra. I’ll keep you alive as long as it entertains me.”Alessia swallowed.

“And third guy?” she asked softly.

“Lucian.” Ronan replied.

The name slid into her chest like a stone dropping into deep water. Lucian. It anchored her in a way she didn’t expect.

“Now you know,” Ronan said, sliding the blade into its sheath. “Don’t think names make us friends. We’re bound by necessity, nothing more.”

Ezra’s smirk deepened. “Speak for yourself. I’m starting to enjoy our little bride.”

Alessia bristled, heat rising to her cheeks. “I didn’t ask to be your anything.”

His grin widened. “That’s what makes it fun.”

Before Ronan could snap at him, the sound of footsteps echoed down the hall outside the safehouse. Instantly, the room sharpened into silence. Ronan moved first, checking the peephole, his hand sliding to the gun at his side.“Not ours,” he muttered.

The next moment, the door rattled as if someone had thrown themselves against it. A groan followed, pained, ragged. Ronan flung the door open, gun raised, and caught the man collapsing inside.

Blood smeared the floor as he dragged the figure across the threshold. Alessia gasped. It was Lucian himself, his shirt torn, his shoulder bleeding, his face pale beneath the streetlight glow.

Ezra swore under his breath. “What the hell happened to you?” Lucian’s words were weak, rasping, but sharp enough to slice through them all. “Celeste… She's working with the Castillos.” The room froze.

Alessia’s blood ran cold. Her sister’s name hung heavy in the air, poisoned by the weight of betrayal.

Ronan’s face darkened. “You’re sure?” Lucian nodded once, pain etched in his features.

“I saw the deal myself. She isn’t running from Killian. She’s feeding the Castillos everything they need to burn the De Santis empire from the inside out.”

Alessia staggered back, her bracelet slipping in her trembling hand. Her mind reeled, the truth carving deeper than any blade. Celeste wasn’t just gone. She had chosen a side and it wasn’t hers.

Ezra leaned against the wall, smirk gone, eyes sharp as knives. “Well, well. Looks like your dear sister just made us all walking targets.”

Ronan turned to Alessia, his stare unrelenting. “Now you understand. The question is, which one of us are you going to betray first?”

Her voice cracked, but she forced the words out. “I’m not Celeste.”

Lucian, bleeding and grim, met her eyes. “Then prove it.” The weight of the room crushed her, heavy and suffocating. Her choices had narrowed to a blade’s edge, every path stained with blood.

And for the first time, Alessia realized that loyalty here wasn’t given. It was taken, forged in fire—or broken in betrayal.