~ISSA
Yulia looked pale.
She looked afraid and I hated that she was plagued by fear. I wanted her to know that there was no reason to be scared with me by her side.
‘If you had taken out every trace of Helena that day, then none of this would have happened. Fucking coward!’ Iran roared within me.
I gritted my teeth in an attempt to bite him down. That was when Yulia moved her lips like she was about to speak.
“I-”
My phone suddenly buzzed and I took it out to see that it was a call from Iris. Why the fuck was Iris calling me?
“Who is it?” Yulia asked.
“Iris,” I answered. “I’ll ignore it.”
“Answer her!” Albus suddenly cut in as he frowned as if he had seen something.
The urgency in his voice startled me and I answered the call.
“Issa, it’s Andrea! They- she. . . I-” She was wailing. She sounded terrified. I had never heard her this vulnerable before.
“Calm down, Iris. Where are you?”
“A- at our house,” she stuttered.
“I’m coming over immediately.” I ended the call and rose to my feet. “She seems too shaken. It’s unlike her. I have to go see for myself, seeing as I have out the Alpha behind bars- they are now my responsibility.”
“I’m coming with you.” Yulia also shot to her feet, rather too eagerly.
“I don’t know what’s waiting for me there. You should stay with Albus and find out more about this darkness.”
“It will be best if you do as your mate wants,” Albus answered instead.
I frowned at him. It was almost as if he wanted us out of his house. “We’ll be back.”
I took Yulia’s hand in mine and together, we walked out of the house. We were in my car in no time and I zoomed off.
For some reason, I felt nervous. There was an eerie feeling crawling up my spine and it made it hard for me to focus.
“You can feel it too, can’t you?” Yulia asked.
I shot her a quick glance before focusing on the road again.
“Something is brewing. A storm is coming at us and it might sweep us off our feet,” she muttered.
“What?”
She blinked, as if snapped out of her thoughts and looked at me. “I didn’t realise I said that out loud.”
“What are you afraid of, Yulia?” I finally asked.
She fell silent again. The Craven house came into view.
“I know I shouldn’t be afraid. We exposed Deucalion and we’re closer to finding Helena and ending all this but. . .” She trailed and that was when I felt the gravity of the fear plaguing her.
“But what, Yulia?”
She looked up at me as I began to drive into the Craven Estate.
“But I can feel it. Something is coming.”
I parked the car at that point and killed the engine. She got out just as I did and I held her hands in mine.
“So long as I’m still breathing, I won’t let any harm come to you. I’ll die first before they touch you.”
She shivered. “That’s exactly what I’m afraid of.”
“What?”
“I’m not scared of dying. . . I’m scared that you’re going to die.”
I swallowed hard and I realised the weight of the fear in her moon gray eyes.
“Can you promise me your safety?” She asked.
It was a tough question which I was not certain about.
“Yeah, I thought as much.” She turned and began to head into the house.
I exhaled sharply as an involuntary shiver seized me before going after. We walked in to meet Iris pacing the floors of their house, just by the grand stairs.
She looked up the moment she heard us come in and she ran to me, completely ignoring Yulia.
Her face was a mess. She had cried too much.
“What happened?”
She grabbed my chest. “I can’t find Andrea and Leia anywhere.”
I was about to comment when she revealed an envelope.
“They sent me this.”
Yulia came to stand beside us and when I opened it, I inhaled sharply. It was a thumb which was soaked in blood.
That scent. . .
“It’s Andrea’s!” I exclaimed.
“What did they do to my sister? Why did they hurt her? S- she never hurt anyone!” Iris screamed.
Iris’ phone suddenly buzzed and she gasped. I was about to demand for the phone when she gave it to me.
“This is for betraying her father and her family.” I read out loud.
My heart sank. Could Andrea be dead?
My phone buzzed again this time. It was Miles. “Boss, you need to see this. Come to the center of the city immediately.”
I had a feeling it had something to do with Andrea, the timing was too perfect for it to be a coincidence.
“Come with me, both of you,” I stated as I turned toward my car.
I heard them follow me and we all got into the car. I noticed how she still refused to say or acknowledge Yulia’s presence. Yulia also tried to stay out of her way.
Iris sat in the back while Yulia remained in the front with me.
I brought the car to life and we were speeding down the city as fast as I could. That uneasiness came back again and I knew whatever I was about to see wasn’t going to be good.
As much as I didn’t like Andrea that much, I didn’t hate her either. I just wanted her to be safe. Yet she always had a knack for getting into trouble.
It took us fifteen minutes to get to the center where a crowd had begun to form. There was a tall structure erected in the center and I had no idea what it was.
I parked and all three of us began to make our way to the front. Jamal was already standing beside Miles as they tried to deduce what it was.
“What is going on here?” I asked as we finally burst through the crowd.
“Good, you’re here,” Jamal said and frowned when he saw Iris following us.
“This structure suddenly appeared here. I’m guessing it’s some sort of high teleportation magic. It’s oozing with dark magic though. Helena might be involved,” Miles answered.
“Has anyone approached it?” Yulia asked.
“We don’t know what it is, we can’t just go touch it,” Miles explained.
I was about to speak when the structure started cackling with electricity.
“Something’s happening,” Iris muttered.
“Everyone, get back!” Jamal yelled.
There was a yellow tape surrounding us but stubborn journalists still tried to get through.
The outer parts of the structure suddenly fell apart, revealing something inside.
Well, at first that was what I thought until I saw that someone had been crucified on the cross.
Craven Whore was written in blood on her clothes and the cross itself. There were blood stains all over her and it seemed like she had been tortured unimaginably.
Whoever did this was insane.
“Andrea!” Iris screamed.