Chapter One Hundred And Forty Four

Sofia's POV

The knock jolted me awake.

For a second, I wasn't sure if I'd imagined it. The room was too dark, the air thick with the damp scent of salt and metal. A safe house, but it felt more like a prison. The bed beneath me was stiff, the thin blanket doing little to fight off the cold.

Another knock. This time, softer. Almost… teasing.

My pulse quickened.

I sat up slowly, my wrists still sore from how tightly they'd bound me earlier. The restraints were gone now-probably because they knew I had nowhere to run.

The door creaked open before I could say a word.

And there she was.

Elianna.

Dressed in all black, her hair slicked back, her lips curled into a smirk that sent a chill down my spine.

"Rise and shine, sweetheart." She stepped inside, the dim light casting sharp shadows across her face. "Miss me?"

My breath hitched.

Elianna.

Of all the people I expected to walk through that door, she wasn't one of them. I hadn't seen her in days-not since that night when everything turned to hell. A part of me had stupidly hoped she was out of the picture.

But here she was.

Alive. Smirking. Thriving on whatever twisted game she was playing.

"What… the hell are you doing here?" My voice came out hoarse, rough from disuse.

She sighed, tilting her head like I had just asked the dumbest question in the world. "Sofia, Sofia, Sofia." She clicked her tongue, stepping further into the room. "You wound me. I thought you'd be happy to see me."

Happy?

"Happy?" I let out a hollow laugh, shaking my head. "Happy to see the person who almost burned me alive?"

Elianna's smirk didn't waver. If anything, it deepened, her amusement flickering in the dim light like a slow-burning flame.

"Oh, come on now, Sofia. Give me some credit." She took a measured step closer, her black boots silent against the concrete floor. "I wasn't the one holding the match, was I?"

My fingers curled into fists.

"No," I said, my voice sharp. "You just sent someone else to do your dirty work."

She sighed dramatically, placing a hand over her chest like I had wounded her. "Darling, delegating is a skill. You should know that by now."

Rage simmered beneath my skin, but I forced myself to stay still. Reacting was what she wanted. She lived for the mind games, for pushing buttons just to see when someone would break.

I wouldn't give her the satisfaction.

I lifted my chin. "So what now? You finally decided to get your hands dirty?"

Elianna's eyes darkened, her smirk sharpening into something more dangerous. "If I wanted you dead, Sofia, you wouldn't be sitting here having this conversation with me."

My heart pounded, but I refused to let the fear show.

She crouched down beside me, her voice dropping to a whisper. "But killing you outright? That's too easy. Too boring." She reached out, brushing a strand of hair from my face, and I forced myself not to flinch. "Watching you break piece by piece? Now that… that's something worth waiting for."

I clenched my jaw. "Theo will come for me."

She laughed, standing gracefully. "Oh, I know he will. And when he does?" Her smile was all teeth. "I'll be waiting."

She turned on her heel, sauntering toward the door. But just before she stepped out, she glanced over her shoulder.

"Sweet dreams, Sofia."

And then she was gone, leaving behind only the scent of her perfume and the slow, suffocating weight of her words.