Chapter 534: The Seventh Blood
Chapter 534: The Seventh Blood
Chapter 534: The Seventh Blood
The rain followed Isabella and Dante back into Saint Marlowe Hotel.
Alexander Moretti's words remained between them.
Your father left something for you.
Elena walked behind them, silent and pale. Luca leaned against the wall, one hand pressed against his wound.
Dante stopped beside the ruined staircase.
“Luca, can you make it upstairs?”
Luca nodded.
“I've survived worse.”
“You were shot ten minutes ago.”
“I said worse.”
Isabella almost smiled, but the expression vanished when she looked toward her mother.
“You knew about the room.”
Elena looked away.
“I knew your father had hidden something there.”
“What?”
“He never told me.”
“You're lying.”
Elena flinched.
Dante stepped between them.
“Not here.”
Isabella looked at him.
“Where, then?”
“When we're safe.”
“There is no safe anymore.”
Dante held her gaze.
“No. There isn't.”
He drew his weapon.
“So we make this place safe.”
They climbed the stairs.
The second floor was dark. Old portraits hung crookedly against the walls.
Luca stopped at the end of the corridor.
“Room 217.”
Isabella pulled the small key from her pocket.
Her fingers trembled.
Dante noticed.
“You don't have to do this.”
“Yes, I do.”
“Why?”
“Because my father wanted me to find it.”
She inserted the key.
The lock clicked.
Inside was a small hotel room.
A bed.
A wooden desk.
A painting of the Chicago skyline hung above the fireplace.
Isabella stepped inside.
“This doesn't look like a hiding place.”
Dante scanned the room.
“That's why it works.”
Luca entered behind them.
Elena remained in the hallway.
Isabella turned.
“Mom.”
Elena wouldn't meet her eyes.
“Come inside.”
Slowly, Elena entered.
Dante shut the door.
He checked the windows.
“Nothing outside.”
“Give me a minute,” Isabella said.
She walked toward the desk.
Then she noticed something.
A fresh scratch marked one drawer.
Dante saw it too.
“Don't touch it.”
He pulled the drawer open with his gun.
Inside was an envelope.
Isabella's name was written across it.
Not printed.
Written by hand.
She knew the handwriting immediately.
Her breath caught.
“It's him.”
Dante moved closer.
“Antonio?”
She nodded.
“My father.”
Elena covered her mouth.
Isabella picked up the envelope.
There was no seal.
She opened it.
Inside was a single sheet of paper.
Isabella,
If you're reading this, then Blackwater has fallen into the wrong hands.
Do not trust Voss.
Do not trust the council.
And above all, do not believe anyone who tells you I am dead.
Dante read over her shoulder.
“He's alive.”
Elena closed her eyes.
“I knew it.”
Isabella looked at her.
“You knew?”
“I suspected.”
“You let me believe he was dead.”
“I didn't know where he was.”
“But you knew he might be alive.”
Elena's voice broke.
“Your father made me promise.”
“What promise?”
“That I would keep you away from Blackwater until you were ready.”
Isabella stared at the letter.
“I was never given a choice.”
“No.”
Elena shook her head.
“Neither was I.”
Dante took the paper.
“There has to be more.”
He examined the envelope.
Nothing.
Then Isabella noticed the painting.
“Wait.”
She walked toward it.
The frame was crooked.
Dante removed it from the wall.
Behind it was a small metal safe.
Luca whispered, “That's new.”
Dante examined the lock.
“No combination.”
Isabella looked at the letter.
There were three numbers written at the bottom.
7-1-4.
She entered them.
The safe opened.
Inside was a flash drive, a photograph, and a gold signet ring.
Isabella picked up the photograph.
Her father stood beside five men.
She recognized two.
Voss.
And Alexander Moretti.
The other three were strangers.
On the back, someone had written:
Five families. One betrayal.
Dante studied the photograph.
“These aren't all seven.”
“No,” Luca said.
“Who are the others?”
Luca looked frightened.
“The two families that disappeared.”
“Disappeared?”
“They were eliminated.”
“By whom?”
Luca swallowed.
“The council.”
Isabella looked at the flash drive.
“What is this?”
“Probably the reason your father is still alive,” Elena said.
Dante took the drive.
“We need a computer.”
“There is one downstairs,” Luca said.
“No.”
Dante looked toward the door.
“We don't use hotel equipment.”
“Why?”
“Because if Voss has been watching us this long, he probably owns half the technology in this building.”
Luca nodded.
“There is an old office across the street.”
“Good.”
They left the room.
Halfway down the stairs, Dante stopped.
A sound came from the lobby.
Everyone froze.
Dante raised his weapon.
“Back upstairs.”
Isabella whispered, “How many?”
“Four. Maybe five.”
Luca looked toward the rear exit.
“We can get out through the kitchen.”
Dante shook his head.
“Too exposed.”
Elena whispered, “What do we do?”
Dante looked at Isabella.
“We stay.”
She stared at him.
“You want to fight them?”
“No.”
He pulled the flash drive from his pocket.
“We give them something to chase.”
Isabella understood.
“You want them to think we still have this.”
Dante smiled.
“Exactly.”
He handed the drive to Luca.
“Take Elena through the service stairs.”
Luca frowned.
“And you?”
“I'll distract them.”
Isabella grabbed Dante's arm.
“No.”
He looked at her.
“Isabella—”
“We stay together.”
“That's dangerous.”
“So is everything else.”
The footsteps grew louder.
Dante stared at her for several seconds.
Then he nodded.
“Fine.”
He pulled her behind a column.
The lobby doors opened.
Four men entered.
Black suits.
Black gloves.
No insignia.
The first man looked around.
“Where is the girl?”
Dante whispered into Isabella's ear.
“Wait.”
The man stepped forward.
“We know you're here, Isabella.”
Dante looked at her.
She nodded.
He stepped out.
“You found us.”
The men raised their guns.
Dante fired first.
Two weapons clattered across the floor.
Isabella moved behind another pillar and fired at the light fixture.
The lobby plunged into darkness.
Shouts erupted.
Dante grabbed her hand.
“Run.”
They sprinted through the side corridor.
Behind them, gunfire tore through the walls.
They reached the kitchen.
Luca and Elena were waiting.
“Move!”
They rushed through the rear door and into the alley.
Dante slammed it shut.
For several seconds, they ran through the rain.
Finally they reached the office building across the street.
Luca locked the door.
Dante leaned against the wall.
Isabella looked at him.
“You okay?”
“I'm fine.”
“You're bleeding.”
He looked down.
A bullet had grazed his shoulder.
“It's nothing.”
She touched the wound.
“You always say that.”
“And you're always right to worry.”
She smiled faintly.
Then the smile disappeared.
“What happens when we find him?”
Dante looked into her eyes.
“We bring him home.”
“And if he doesn't want to come?”
“Then we'll ask him why.”
Isabella nodded.
The flash drive sat on the desk.
Dante inserted it into an old computer.
The screen flickered.
A video file appeared.
No title.
No date.
Dante clicked it.
Static filled the screen.
Then a man's voice emerged.
Antonio Vale.
“If you're watching this, Isabella, then Voss has already made his move.”
Isabella froze.
Her father's voice continued.
“And there is something you must understand.”
The screen went black.
Then one sentence appeared.
DO NOT LET DANTE FIND THE SEVENTH FAMILY.
Dante stared at the words.
Isabella turned toward him.
“What does that mean?”
Dante didn't answer.
Because beneath the warning, another line appeared.
THE SEVENTH FAMILY IS HIS.