Chapter Seventy Three

CHAPTER SEVENTY-THREE

ARIA

My eyes snapped open, revealing the dark, musty room I was in. My head was pounding, as if someone had hit me with a brick. At some point during the car drive, the men in masks had placed something over my nose, knocking me unconscious. The air in the room was thick with the smell of dampness and decay, churning my stomach. Panic gripped me as I tried to move, only to find my wrists chained to the cold, hard floor.

‘No..not again,’ I thought as tears burned at the corners of my eyes.

My heart raced, pounding in my ears like a war drum. And that was when I remembered Isa had been captured with me.

“Isa!” I called out, my voice trembling.

From the shadows, I heard her soft but steady voice. “I’m here, Aria. I’m awake.”

I blinked, trying to adjust to the dim light. My eyes finally focused on my best friend a few feet away; her own hands were also bound. Relief washed over me. She was alive. But it quickly turned to guilt. Tears spilled down my cheeks as the w