7
“No! I didn’t…” Isabelle frantically tried to cover the phone, but the guards held her fast.
“You didn’t?” the masked man sneered, his voice like ice. “Then how did she get here? I think you were plann- ing to use her to double-cross us!” He grabbed a handful of Shane’s hair and pressed a knife to his throat. “Y- ou played dirty, so don’t blame us for what happens next! In five minutes, you can get ready to collect your brother’s corpse!”
4/8
12.04
12.04
Chapter 2
“NO!” Isabelle finally shattered, tears and snot smearing her face. “I was wrong! I was blind! Please, just give me one more chance…”
“Too late!” The blade glinted in the camera’s light. “Since a Tracker is involved, this deal is off! Consider your brother’s life a little welcome gift for her!”
The video cut out. As the screen went dark, Isabelle crumpled as if all the bones had been removed from her body. She looked at me, her expression shifting from confusion to terror, and then she let out a piercing scream and lunged, only to be blocked by Marcus.
“Aria! I was wrong! I was so, so wrong!” Her fingernails dug bloody furrows in the carpet. “I was stupid! I was blind! I shouldn’t have called you a fraud… Please, save my brother! I’m begging you!”
The guests whispered among themselves.
“Well, I guess she believes it now…”
“The Skull Gang is terrified of Trackers. They would never work with one.”
Isabelle suddenly dropped to her knees, the thud echoing in the hall. “Aria, I’ll kowtow to you! I’ll give you any amount of money! I’ll do anything you ask! Just save my brother…”
“Oh?” I finally spoke, my voice devoid of any warmth.
Her face went ashen. Her lips trembled, and she was unable to form words. She raised her hands and began slapping her own face, the sharp, stinging sounds reverberating through the hall.
“I’m a monster! I’m not human!” she sobbed between slaps. “I’m worse than an animal! Please, just think of
Shane… he’s only eighteen… he’s innocent…”
Marcus frowned. “Ms. Vance, the Skull Gang always follows through on their threats. If we wait any longer…”
I looked at Isabelle’s swollen, tear-streaked face and remembered the darkness of the basement in my past life. The teacup in my hand was cold, its condensation like a scar.
Isabelle’s desperate wails continued to fill the hall, a thick, inky despair tainting every corner. Marcus opened his mouth to persuade me further, but the screech of tires tore through the estate’s tranquility, followed by a
servant’s terrified scream.
“Ah! The gate! At the gate, there’s… there’s a…”
The commotion drew everyone toward the main entrance. Isabelle, as if sensing what was coming, shot up from the floor and stumbled forward, pushing her way to the front. Marcus shielded me as we moved with
the crowd onto the veranda.
