Chapter 69: Just One More Month

Aina

Aina leaped up off her stool, lunging forward and violently shoving Greta backward with all her strength! "What is wrong with you?! Are you crazy?!"

Greta stumbled back, snarling, but before she could strike, Sophia made a loud, sharp popping sound with her lips.

"Ah!" Sophia gasped in utter delight, clapping her hands together. "I got it! I know who Travis Whitelock is!"

She clicked her tongue softly, standing up from her plush sofa and walking over until she was standing directly in front of Aina.

"Well... no," Sophia corrected herself, a sharp, sinister smile curling her lips. "Not Travis Whitelock. But I know a Whitelock. Tell me... do you know Amilia Whitelock?"

Every single drop of warmth drained from Aina’s body. Her blood ran absolute ice-cold. Her heart hammered against her ribs like a trapped bird as she heard her sister’s name. She felt herself trembling violently from the inside out, but she forced her body to remain rigid, locking her jaw so her teeth wouldn’t chatter.

Sophia’s eyes narrowed, her smile growing wider as she leaned in close to Aina’s face. "My... why is your heart beating so fast, little boy?"

Aina forced herself to take a slow breath, swallowing down the copper taste of absolute panic. "N-No... I do not know any such person."

Sophia tilted her head, her blue eyes scanning Aina’s face like a predator examining prey. "That’s weird. I could have sworn that Amilia also had a useless little half-brother named Travis..." Aina let out a forced, nervous laugh, shaking her head. "Well... Whitelock is a very common surname."

Sophia stared at her for three agonizing seconds before casually shrugging her shoulders. "Whatever."

She turned toward Iris and Greta, her voice dropping into a flat, bored command. "Restrain them. Let’s see how much they really know."

Greta lunged forward, her massive hands clamping around Ally’s arms like steel cuffs, hauling her upright and forcing her back against the white-upholstered armchair. Before Ally could fight back, Greta’s heavy boot slammed against the back of her knees, forcing her to kneel. A sharp, glinting silver blade slipped from Greta’s sleeve, pressuring the sensitive pulse point right beneath Ally’s jaw.

Ally gasped, her breath hitching as a thin line of red bubbled against the sharp edge of the steel. "Now then," Sophia murmured, leaning forward with her chin resting in her delicate hands, her bright blue eyes wide with manic amusement. "Let’s try this again, Travis. Where is she?"

"I don’t know!" Aina shouted, trying to surge off her stool, only for Iris to instantly appear beside her. Iris’s cold, dead fingers dug into Aina’s shoulder, pressing down with vampire strength until Aina felt the bone pop and give under the pressure. A sharp cry tore from Aina’s throat as she was slammed back onto the hard wood.

"Wrong answer," Sophia purred softly. She didn’t even look at Aina. Instead, she lazily motioned toward Greta. "Give her a little incentive, Greta. A girl’s skin is so soft... it would be such a pity if it got ruined before the grand ball."

Greta grinned, a low, guttural growl escaping her chest as she drew the blade slowly across Ally’s collarbone. The fabric of Ally’s shirt tore open, revealing a jagged red line that immediately began to seep blood down her chest. Ally clamped her jaws shut, refusing to scream, her body trembling violently as cold sweat mixed with the blood on her skin.

"Stop! Stop it!" Aina screamed, her voice cracking in pure desperation as she kicked out against Iris’s shins. Iris didn’t even flinch, merely tightening her vice-like grip until Aina felt her collarbone creak. "I told the princes already. I don’t know."

Sophia tilted her head, watching Aina’s expression with cold, calculating detachment. "My instincts tell me you’re lying through those pathetic little teeth of yours."

Sophia rose from her seat, her high heels clicking softly against the hard floor as she glided toward Aina. The sweet scent of rich lavender perfume wafted off her, sickeningly suffocating against the iron smell of blood filling the room. She stood right over Aina, looking down as if examining a bug beneath her boot.

"Iris," Sophia said casually, "hold his face up."

Iris shoved Aina’s head back, her icy fingers digging into her cheeks and locking her jaw in place. Aina thrashed, her chest heaving, but she couldn’t break the vampire’s iron grip.

Sophia slowly drew a long, silver hairpin that kept her hair up. The tip was razor-sharp, gleaming under the chandelier lights. She brought the point down, resting it gently right beneath Aina’s left eye, forcing Aina to stare straight into her cold, unblinking glare.

"If you don’t give me a real answer in three seconds," Sophia whispered, her voice dropping into a terrifyingly soft cadence, "I’m going to press this right through your tear duct. I wonder if your future mate would want you if you were blind in one eye?"

"Aina, don’t!" Ally choked out through her blood-slicked lips, struggling against Greta’s hold. "Don’t tell her anything!"

Greta smashed the hilt of her dagger directly into Ally’s ribs. A sickening crack echoed through the lounge, and Ally crumpled sideways, coughing up a spatter of dark blood onto the white carpet.

"One," Sophia counted, pressing the metal point just hard enough to break the surface of Aina’s skin. A bead of blood welled up, stinging terribly as it ran down her cheekbone.

"I’m not lying!" Aina gasped out, her eyes burning with furious tears as she held Sophia’s gaze. "I don’t know where she is!"

"Two..." Sophia continued, her smile fading into a flat, bored mask as she pushed the metal pin a fraction deeper.

Aina squeezed her eyes shut, bracing her entire body for the agony, locking her teeth together so tightly her jaw throbbed. She felt the sharp point bite into her skin, the sharp sensation spreading across her cheek, but she refused to change a single word of her story. Beside her, Ally groaned in agony, her faint breaths ragged and wet, but neither of them gave in. They took every blow, every threat, holding onto their lie with absolute stubbornness.

Suddenly the bell rang out and Sophia let out a heavy, dramatic sigh and pulled the hairpin back, wiping the thin line of blood onto a silk handkerchief, while Greta and Iris threw Ally and Aina to the floor with a tsk.

"Oh, wow," Sophia remarked, dusting off her skirt as she looked down at the two battered girls lying on the floor. "I actually respect your complete dedication to your lies. Truly." She let out a small, dainty giggle. "Anyways... I have combat class now. I really need to go."

Without another word, Sophia, Iris, and Greta turned and glided casually out of the private lounge, leaving the heavy doors to swing shut behind them.

Silence fell over the bloody room. Aina lay on her side, clenching her casted hand, her ribs aching, blood trickling from her lip onto the plush rug. Slowly and painfully, she pushed herself up into a sitting position.

Across from her, Ally pushed herself up against the base of a stool, her face bruised and her left eye swollen shut and blood staining her collar.

The two girls looked at each other through the dim light of the empty lounge. Slowly and with a small smile Ally raised her hand, extending a bruised fist. Aina let out a raspy, painful breath, extending her own blood-stained hand and bumping her knuckles gently against Ally’s.

"Yeah..." Ally whispered, a small, bloody smirk touching her lips. "Just one month to go until the tournament..."

Aina leaned her head back against the wooden leg of the chair, staring up at the grand ceiling as her broken body throbbed.

I hope Roiner is back before this week ends, Aina thought desperately to herself. Because I don’t think I’ll survive another one of this.