Sophia

Around an hour later, the council members entered the house and I still hadn’t woken up from this nightmare.

“It’s tragic, just tragic,” Blaine said, shaking his head and his long gray fizzled beard followed the motion.

Earl looked at my brother, his wrinkled hand covering his mouth. “There was so much potential in them.”

“Other than someone else in this family,” Langston said, his almost red eyes piercing at me from the other side of the room. He didn’t even try to hide that he rather had me dead on the floor than any of the others. I knew they all weren’t big advocates for me, but his behavior was more than just disrespectful. He acted like a complete dumbass.

“Do you think you can find out who did this?” I asked, turning to Wright.

“I would hope so, but there is a lot to deal with right now,” he said.

“But finding the culprit surely is the priority.”

He glanced around the room before his gaze dropped back to me, a clenched half-smile on his face as he patted my hand. “Of course, it’s very important to find the culprit, but your parents were very influential people and they leave a gaping hole behind. We have to make sure their business runs smoothly, considering it is the primary source of income of the community.”

“It’s not that the entire family is dead,” I pointed out.

He raised a brow and dropped his hand. “No, indeed not.”

More people I couldn’t recognize entered the room and judging by their uniforms, they were police officers, which surprised me. I didn’t think they would bring humans into this case as quickly as they did.

Just like with everyone else, it almost felt like I didn’t exist, like it didn’t even matter whether I was alive or not. They scurried around the room, took pictures and wrote notes, all while not asking me a single question.

“What happened in the room next door?” One of the police officers asked.

“A fire accident,” Pascal answered, throwing me a pointed look as if he warned me to say even one word. I rolled my eyes and sighed. It’s not that it would help my case if I told them I set the room on fire with magic I couldn’t control.

The police officer glanced at me but didn’t ask more. He simply nodded and headed to the other three police officers, reporting his findings.

By the time they carried my family outside the house in body bags, the sun was high in the air. Seeing them that way felt worse than their original bodies. It felt final, like I truly wouldn’t ever see them again, without even a goodbye.

My body felt heavy, as if a massive boulder sat on top of my head, pushing me into the ground. I wish we hadn’t parted the way we did. I wish it hadn’t been with an argument. My lips trembled as I tried to hold the tears back that fought to be released, but my mother always told me to never show weakness in front of strangers and at least now, I should listen to her.

“We’ll contact you for further steps regarding the investigation,” a police officer said to Pascal.

He nodded. “Please do. Thank you for your work.”

The police officer dipped his head and entered his car. They all drove off and I watched them leave the property.

“Shouldn’t they have asked for my testimony?” I asked when they were out of view.

Pascal shook his head. “It’s all taken care of. You should say as little as possible before you bring us all into even more trouble. Why don’t you go to your room and get some sleep while I take care of the rest?”

I tilted my head to the side, staring at the man who raised me my entire life, wondering how he could be so heartless. And how could he think I could sleep right now? My family got murdered and my baby sister is missing. All I wanted was to search in every corner of Tierelia to find her.

“There is nothing you can do right now. Catch up on some sleep. You’ll need the energy,” he said, turning on his heels and entering the house.

I stared back at the empty driveway with a feeling of loneliness I’d never felt before.

Adam

I stared at the banquet before us in utter disbelief. Was there a reason for Samuel to present us with what seemed to be the finest food in all of Tierelia? This must have cost a fortune.

“Look at this feast!”

I glanced at Lucas next to me. He beamed at the food with sparkles in his eyes.

I frowned, not feeling well at the thought of the reason for this. I had the growing suspicion that our last mission might be the reason for this exquisite lunch and he didn’t even wait for dinner to arrive to present it to us.

I wondered what happened to the girl that we brought back last night. Was she fine? No one seemed to be concerned that Samuel might keep her somewhere against her will or why she was here in the first place. And why would they? They didn’t know what went down to get her. In their heads, we might have saved her from a horrific fate. No one knew the truth except me.

The chatter of the other scholars echoed in the dining room, not a single look of doubt, regret, or guilt on their faces. Bile rose in my throat and I took a sip of water to get rid of the burning sensation.

I kept seeing her face in front of my eyes, the last daughter we didn’t know about. I clenched my hands into fists to stop them from trembling. Could I act as if I weren’t part of it? Would she recognize me? I shook my head. No, I couldn’t deceive her like that. I wanted her to remember me. All I wanted was for us to find each other and now it was because of the crime I committed.

Samuel entered the room and spread out his hands before us. “My trusted scholars.”

I let out a deep sigh as I stared at the wide smile that spread over his face, white teeth glistening in the light. He let his gaze roam over the crowd, enjoying all the eyes on him. When his gaze dropped to me, a cold shiver ran down my spine and I straightened my back, forcing a smile.

“Thank you for your hard work! I prepared a generous meal for you today. Take it as a sign of my appreciation for your trust, work, and dedication. Your loyalty and magic makes Tierelia a safer place again!”

An urge to flee the room rushed through me like a wildfire, but I stayed rooted in place, my fingernails pressing into the skin of my clenched fists. Was it my contribution that we received this meal? Are we celebrating the death of a family?

Samuel stayed quiet for a moment, observing us with that off-putting smile on his face. The room filled with excited chatter as my thoughts whirled around in my head. Everything felt too loud and too much.

“Eat to your heart’s content!” Samuel roared, raising his glass of wine into the air and if it was programmed in our brains, we all picked up our glasses and raised them into the air too.

“To Samuel!” We shouted in unison.

He smirked. “To us!”

My heart galloped in my chest and the sour taste of the wine felt like acid when it rushed down my throat. I didn’t want to celebrate what we did but I couldn’t escape here either.

Samuel sat down. “Let’s eat!”

In an instant, everyone piled food on their plates as if they hadn’t seen any food for days.

My vision blurred and my face was burning up. I felt sick, like I had to throw up.

“Are you feeling alright?” Lucas whispered into my ear.

I jumped in my seat and as if my soul rushed back into my body, my vision cleared. I nodded, forcing a smile. “Yes, everything is okay. It’s just a lot of food. Quite overwhelming, don’t you think?”

He pressed his lips into a thin line, arching a brow at me. He didn’t believe me, but we both knew this wasn’t the right place to argue. “Let’s grab something to eat, then.”

I nodded, filling my plate, even if I had no appetite at all. The heavier my plate grew, the sicker I felt. But if I was the only scholar denying his oh-so-kind gesture, it would be too obvious that something was wrong. Lucas was already suspicious of me and if I didn’t get it together, I wouldn’t be able to keep him off my case for long. Who knew what would happen if Lucas found out about what went down last night?

The other scholars had their second share, while I was still stabbing the food on my plate, barely touching any of it. Every bite made my stomach recoil.

When I felt a piercing gaze on me, I glanced up, trying to find the source. I gulped when I met Samuel’s eyes.

I wasn’t sure if he figured out that something wasn’t quite right with me and that I was hiding something or if he was just worried about me. Either way, I raised my glass of wine at him. He smiled and raised his glass as well, toasting towards me, his gaze never leaving mine as he took a sip. I swallowed a huge gulp of wine and nodded in his direction one more time, before shoveling the food into my mouth without tasting any of it.

Samuel might be more attentive than I thought he would be. I needed to keep it together before he would do something I had no control over. Maybe he would make me forget again and I couldn’t let that happen. I must remember this night and I had to help her find her sister. There was no other way around it. The best chance of finding out what happened to her probably was to be within the circle of where it happened. All I needed was a chance to speak to Sophia, and hopefully, she would listen to me without burning me alive.

I glanced back at Samuel, letting out a shaky breath when he wasn’t focusing on me anymore. Starting tomorrow, I had to find a way to speak to her. We would get her sister back, and if it’s the last thing I’d do.