I didn't know who my sisters were.
Sephora was an excellent fighter but Natalie was incredible. She grabbed the sword from the fallen fighter and moved into action, gliding across the garden, ducking and swinging as one would in a well-practiced dance.
She passed me a smaller knife that I had no idea how to use as well as they did, but when one of our attackers lunged at me, his spear put up high above his head ready to strike down on me, I managed to dodge him, sliding on the floor and jabbing the knife behind him.
“Take Sophia inside!” Natalie yelled out to Sephora. “I'll meet you as soon as I'm done…”
There were only two of the attackers left now and she stood between them, a cold look in her eyes as she wiped the blood that had splattered on her face.
I glanced at Sephora worriedly but she nodded before pulling me by the wrist and leading me back to the manor.
“Don't worry about her,” she said. “Natalie can take care of herself.”
My legs were wobbly as I allowed her to pull me behind her toward the house. I could still hear screams from the distance and Sephora urged us to walk carefully, moving like shadows noiselessly until finally, she pushed open the back door that led to the kitchen and we stepped inside.
The memories of what I had witnessed remained with me, making me sick to my stomach. One of my palms remained pressed to my stomach as we entered the main sitting room of the manor where I came across Isla, thankfully unharmed.
“Oh, Isla,” I cried in relief. I hadn't seen her outside the garden and a small part of me had noticed that worriedly but she was here and unscathed.
“What is happening? I felt dizzy and I decided to lie down for a minute before coming out and all of the…” She glanced around, looking out the window. “The noise and disruption…”
“Have you seen Grace?” I asked softly as I approached her. I knew how heartbreaking it would be for her to hear of what Grace had done and like the last time with Claire, Isla would find this equally hard to believe about her daughter, so I had to be careful. Even though I didn't believe it myself, there must be someone behind Grace’s actions and I strongly suspected Amelia.
“Grace?” Her eyes widened with terror. “No, where is she? My…”
“No, no,” I said, grabbing her hands and squeezing them. “Grace is fine and…”
Something flashed in Sephora's eyes. “Sophia, wait…”
But it was too late.
A loud crash resounded through the manor, causing the walls to tremble as the windows were smashed and several warriors flew into the house, Luther leading them. For a brief moment, raw terror rose in my throat at the thought of Luther coming here to slaughter us in the absence of Callan, but those thoughts were vanquished as soon as they arose when I felt the sharp end of a blade pressed to my throat so hard, the smell of my own blood reached my nose.
I froze.
“Drop your weapon, commander.”
Isla’s voice was frigid against my skin, perforating every inch of my body with its iciness as it slunk into me heavily, unrecognizable. I was pressed to her, my back now to her as one of her arms was wrapped around my shoulder - the hand that was holding a blade to my neck. The hand that had held me comfortingly and reminded me of my mother.
“Let her go, Isla.” Callan’s loud voice reverberated as he strolled into the house calmly, his expression blank of any emotion but his voice filled with well-constrained rage.
I was sure the horror was expressed on my face. It felt like I was stuck in a nightmare, the worst one my subconscious could ever conjure up, but when the knife dug deeper into my flesh and I winced, I was reminded that this was real.
Isla was holding me against a knife.
Isla…
“What are you doing?” I managed through a shaky voice.
“Darling, for all of your stupidity, you can't continue to remain so now.” Her voice sounded strange to my ears like the warm Isla I knew had been replaced by someone else and I refused to believe it. My ears were roaring, blood rushing through them.
“Where is Amelia?” she demanded. “Where is Grace?”
A sobbing Grace was led into the sitting room by an older woman and she was visibly shaken, her hands folded in front of her.
“That's enough now, please.” Grace‘s voice was barely above a whisper.
I could feel Isla’s irritation when she spoke this time. “Where is Amelia?” she barked.
Callan clenched his jaw as his eyes met mine filled with all of the questions I couldn't ask. Through the mind link, I could feel him trying to say something to me but it was disconnected, whatever it is he was trying to say was indecipherable because the mate bond wasn't complete yet but the emotions he conveyed seeped in me, soothing me and calming my nerves - he wouldn't let anything happen to me.
“It is over now, Isla,” Callan said, remaining composed. “Let Sophia go and face your punishment.”
She laughed, the sound hurting my ear. “You are smart, Alpha. I'll give you that at least. How long have you known?”
He watched her carefully. “It was a suspicion, I refused to believe but acted upon regardless.”
“Did you?” she asked in a mocking tone. “Strange, I would have sworn I never gave anyone room to suspect me.”
Callan took a step closer. “Oh, you were perfect, Isla. How hard it must have been for you to have lived for so long under pretense.”
The pain in my neck was beginning to intensify and Isla’s hold wasn't waning. The more the seconds went by, the more my mind began to wrap around what was happening. I was still confused about the bigger picture, but with a crying Grace as usual in the corner, it was not hard to see that I had been right all along.
Someone had been manipulating Grace, it just hadn't been Amelia.
I felt Isla shrug behind me. “When you have a goal and a thirst for vengeance like I do, Callan, pretending to be who I am not is the least of the difficulties involved. Now take three steps back or the Goddess helps me, Callan.”
With gritted teeth, I watched Callan step back. He lifted one of his hands at Luther, who shared a look with the warrior surrounding us and they all continued to remain still, blades poised, holding a fighting stance.
Isla was surrounded; she knew this as well as everyone else did but she was refusing to give up. If she was going down, she wanted to drag me along and despite his emotionless expression, I could see the fear hidden behind Callan’s eyes.
“Isla, please let Sophia go. I beg of you, she has nothing to do with all of these,” Grace pleaded.
“Shut up!” Isla bellowed. “I should have known you would do this, you've always been so weak, so short-sighted. Where is Amelia? Where is your sister?”
The world came to a screeching halt.