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I knew something was wrong even before I opened my eyes. The gloom in my chest only intensified when I took in the quiet darkness of my room. Everything looked the same, but at the same time, it didn’t feel the same. I slowly tugged my sheets aside and reached for my blades. A slight breeze from my open window brushed my skin as I rose to my feet.

Heart pounding, I slowly cracked my door open, but nothing seemed amiss. But not even two steps out, something from the shadow came at me. Something fast and hard that knocked me out in an instant. My back went slamming against the hard floor, and my blades slipped out of my grip as two heavy bodies pinned me down in a perfect hold that I had no way of getting out of unless one of them got distracted.

“Where are the codes, bitch?” asked the man who squeezed his hand around my neck, cutting off my airway, more and more by the second. There was no doubt they were here for more than just my life.

“I don’t have them,” I gritted out, and his stubby fingers only squeezed more, making dancing spots appear at the edge of my vision and blood rush away from my head.

This was bad. Terribly bad. I counted about four of them in total. And they had already taken advantage of me.

A loud thud of a door opening reverberated through the air, followed by Ella’s shocked voice, “What’s happening here?”

I struggled on the floor as one of the men simply smiled and made his way to her. And I sucked in a huge gasp of air as the man finally let go of my neck, but didn’t let go of me.

“Run,” I shouted through my burning throat. “Get out of here.”

But before Ella could react, he jumped on her, pinning her against the wall, and a scream tore from her lips as her panicked eyes flew to mine.

Through the corner of my eye, I saw Ari’s door squeak open, and she padded out, rubbing her sleepy eyes in confusion, but stopped abruptly. Her eyes went so wide I feared they would jump out of her head. She simply stood there in shock, her face paling a few shades as her gaze remained fixed on me. Only I could tell she wasn’t really seeing me, but a familiar scene from our past.

Before the last man could reach her, my foot finally came into contact with my blade, and I put all my strength into my hips and pushed away from the floor. The sudden change of motion sent the Surman holding me toppling over the floor.

Not even wasting a second, I took the opportunity and plunged my blade straight into his chest. I didn’t have a second to breathe before the other one grappled me, pressing a gun to my head.

“Fucking behave bitch, or they die,” he screamed in my ear. His touch on my body felt like a thousand worms crawling on my skin, but right now, the only thought pervading my head was to save my sisters.

The last man made it a point by digging his gun into Ari’s side, who was still in a frozen state, lost to the world.

“Leave them both alone,” Ella shouted, her eyes blazing at the men holding both of us. Her protest was met with a knife against her throat as the man on top of her snickered for her to shut up.

What do I do? Think, Belle. Think.

Instead of fighting back, I completely relaxed my body, going slack. And the man holding me tightened his grip. “Good, now tell me, where’s the file? I know you fucking have it.”

Only I didn’t. Did Heath Glen send these men for me after he realized my identity? Did Arkane still not let his circle know that he’d gotten the codes back? Knowing Arkane, he must’ve devised a marvelous plan for it, but somehow, his plans seemed to bite me.

Even if I had the codes or didn’t have them, I was going to die either way. So I needed to think fast.

“Like I said, I don’t have it,” I said to the man. I couldn’t see much of him in the darkness, but he was tall, at least a foot taller than me, and built like a heavy fighter. My strength would be of no use against him, so the right technique at the right time was the key. Be smart, Belle.

“Don’t lie,” he snarled.

“I really don’t….” Mid-conversation, I curled my shin around his leg and sent a sharp kick to his heel. Taken aback, he howled in pain, his gun flying out of his hand as he fell back to the floor.

I immediately snatched my remaining blade and threw it across the room. For a second, no one spoke a word—only a loud gasp followed by the man holding Ari falling face-first, my blade poking out between his eyes. Ari simply stood there, not even batting an eye.

“Fuck,” cursed the man holding Ella and hurled toward me at high speed.

“Take Ari and get out of here,” I screamed to Ella, raising my fists as the man came at me with his knives. As far as I could see, he didn’t have a gun, and that was enough for me.

I landed a front kick to his jaw, and he fell back. Before I had a second to catch my footing, the other man was on his feet, landing a heavy kick on my back that made me lose my balance. And my eyes went straight to Ella, who didn’t listen but stood there, wide-eyed as she watched me.

“Go, Ella,” I shouted, quickly leaping back to my feet. “I’ll be fine. Go call for help.”

Something in my voice snapped her into motion, and she almost half-carried Ari, who was still in a frozen state. Their exit calmed something in my heart, but the two men were already coming at me with blind rage in their eyes.

The first man dragged me by my hair and gave me a strong punch on the side of my head, which caused my vision to black out for a second. And just as I fought him, the other was on me. And I knew I wouldn’t be able to hold off for long.

I didn’t know how long it lasted as I kept fighting the two of them, only for one of them to fall down and the next to come at me again and again and beat every inch of me. My arms were losing all strength, my knees were almost going weak, and I knew it hadn’t even been a minute.