Chapter 50: Blood In Dust

The cold corridor outside the cellar swallowed me whole, darkness pressing in from all sides. My bare feet slapped against the concrete, echoing louder than I wanted. Somewhere behind me, Dominic’s voice roared like a beast unleashed.

“ISABELLA!”

I didn’t look back.

I couldn’t.

I ran.

Stumbling, panting, my heart crashing against my ribs like it wanted out of my chest. I didn’t know where the hell I was—some underground bunker? A forgotten wing of his estate? I only knew I had to keep moving.

Sirens weren’t blaring yet. No guards swarming. That meant Dominic hadn’t alerted them. Not yet. He was trying to handle it himself. Arrogant bastard still thought he could control everything.

Good. Let him.

Let him die trying.

I turned a corner blindly—and slammed into a door.

Locked.

“Come on,” I hissed, rattling the knob. My hands were slick with sweat and blood from the rope burns, but I didn’t care. I needed a way out. I needed—

Footsteps.

Fast. Angry. Getting closer.

I turned, eyes scanning wildly—and spotted a rusted vent near the floor, half-covered with dust and grime. I dropped to my knees, fingers clawing at the bolts. It wouldn’t move.

“Think, Bella,” I whispered.

Voices now. Dominic wasn’t alone. A second pair of boots. Maybe more.

No.

I grabbed a loose brick beside the doorway—boom—smashed it against the vent cover. Once. Twice. The metal screeched, protesting, then popped loose just enough for me to shove it aside and crawl in.

I didn’t breathe.

Didn’t think.

I slid in, ignoring the pain as rust and metal scraped against my skin. The second I was inside, I heard them reach the door.

“She was here,” Dominic growled. “Find her. NOW.”

They didn’t check the vent. Not yet.

I slithered deeper, the shaft barely wide enough to fit my frame. Darkness closed in around me, the air hot and stale. But I didn’t stop until I reached a junction and took a sharp turn. Only then did I allow myself to breathe.

That’s when the panic hit.

Not the trembling kind. Not the crying, whimpering fear.

No.

This was pure rage.

He’d murdered my parents.

He’d lied.

And he wanted me gone, like I was nothing but an echo of the past.

I clenched my fists.

He didn’t get to win. Not this time.

But then I heard it.

A clang.

The sound of a grate being forced open—from the other end.

Panic surged. I tried to back up, but my body twisted awkwardly in the narrow shaft. The passage was too tight, too rusted. I couldn’t turn around fast enough.

Then hands grabbed my ankle.

“Got her!” someone shouted.

I screamed and kicked, thrashing wildly. My fingernails scraped against the metal as I fought—but it was no use. They dragged me backward, the vent shrieking in protest.

My body hit the concrete hard when they yanked me out.

Dominic towered over me, breathing hard. His hair was tousled, jacket dust-stained, but his fury was ice-cold now.

“You want to be like your father?” he asked, crouching beside me. “Fine. He tried to run too.”

I tried to lunge, scream, anything—but someone jabbed a needle into my neck.

Within seconds, my limbs went slack.

Everything blurred.

The last thing I saw before my eyes closed was Dominic’s smirk.

Elsewhere — Midnight, Blackridge Safehouse

Toby Knight’s jaw clenched as he stared at the flickering screen in front of him. The CCTV footage had been wiped—clean. No trace of Isabella. No trace of the men who took her.

He’d been through twenty safehouses in the last seventy-two hours. Questioned dozens. Pressured more. His patience, once razor-sharp, was now fraying at the edges.

“She was taken from under my nose,” he muttered, voice low, deadly. “Under my nose.”

Across from him, Daniel leaned forward. “We’ll find her, hermano. We always do.”

Toby didn’t speak.

He stood abruptly and crossed the room. The energy in the air shifted—the same way it always did when Toby was close to losing control.

Mike walked in just in time, a phone in his hand. “We traced a burner Dominic’s men have been using. It’s been active near an old estate south of the city. No cameras. No guards at the gates. Like they want to be invisible.”

Toby’s eyes snapped up.

“Dominic,” he said coldly.

“You think he has her?” Daniel asked.

Toby’s hands curled into fists.

“I know he does.”

Steph stepped into the room, arms crossed. “If she’s dumb enough to get herself caught, maybe she’s not worth all this trouble—”

She didn’t get to finish the sentence.

In a blink, Toby was in front of her, one hand slammed against the wall beside her face.

“If you speak about her like that again,” he said, voice like frost, “I’ll forget you’re even part of this crew.”

Steph’s breath hitched. She tried to hold his gaze—but failed.

Toby stepped back. “Get out.”

She fled.

Daniel whistled low. “You’re losing it.”

“I’m focused,” Toby snapped. “And if Dominic laid a single hand on her, I’ll burn his entire legacy to the ground.”

He turned to Mike. “Get the truck. We’re leaving now. I want eyes on that estate. No mistakes.”

Mike nodded, already moving.

Daniel followed, but not before grabbing Toby’s arm. “You think this is about the Serpentines?”

Toby shook his head. “No. This is personal. Dominic’s using her for something. I don’t know what yet.”

But deep down, Toby felt it.

There was something about Isabella he hadn’t uncovered.

And the longer she stayed in Dominic’s hands, the closer that secret came to the surface.

Back in the Cellar – Just Before Dawn

The light above me buzzed.

I blinked, trying to force my eyes to focus. My limbs felt like they weighed a thousand pounds. The sedative was still lingering. But I was awake. Barely.

My hands were bound again, this time chained to the chair.

Blood crusted my lip.

Dominic sat across from me, calm, composed, sipping from a crystal glass.

“I hope you enjoyed your little adventure,” he said dryly.

I didn’t answer.

“You’re going to die in here,” he continued, “but not before I make sure you understand why.”

He stood and walked toward me.

“Your bloodline is a threat. Your name is a threat. You don’t even understand it yet—but I do.”

He crouched beside me, eyes burning.

“And that’s why I’ll be the one to end it.”

I stared at him, fighting the pull of unconsciousness.

He thought I was weak.

But he didn’t know what I was willing to become to survive.

Isabella\- "He wants to break me. But I’ve already burned too long to be undone."

Toby\- "If she breathes, I’ll find her. If she bleeds, I’ll end them."