Chapter 143
“You did a great job, Alexis,” Paolo patted Alessia’s head.Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.
“It’s Alessia,” Alessia muttered, her eyes wandering towards Janice, who lay unconscious on the floor. She stared at her hand before letting out a sigh. It was all her fault. She had attacked Janice. It was all her fault, she muttered over again.
For two days now, since they had been miraculously pulled out of Acostan, courtesy of Paolo, Alessia had been at his beck and call. She had done all that he asked her to do, and he promised to give her the freedom she desired, even though she knew it wasn’t true. Yet, she had let him use her. Janice was against all that was happening and had confronted her father, but on his order, Janice had knocked her out. It wasn’t the first time she’d done it, and it wasn’t the second time either.
“I’ll ask the servant to bring in your food,” Paolo smiled, striding to the door.
“My food?” Alessia snarled, her nose wrinkling. “Do you call a slice of bread and water that isn’t enough to quench my taste food? You might as well kill me. Kill me; it will be better than keeping me here!”
Paolo halted and turned slowly to her, his eyes narrowing. “Be careful what you wish for, child.”
“I am ready to die!” Alessia shouted. “What is my use if you only need to control me? I’ve been locked in here for two days now, yet you won’t even let me eat something good!”
“Alessia,” Janice groaned as she started to come awake.
“Janice,” Alessia muttered and broke into a sob. “I am so sorry. I shouldn’t have done what he asked me to do.”
Paolo snorted. “I knew you were weak, but I won’t be discarding you right now. You need to complete all that I need, and you can choose to do whatever you desire with your life.”
Paolo strode out of the room. He just needed Sandro out of Acostan. He needed the Rose as well, and only Alessia had a connection to her. He had kept Alessia since she had a great ability, and with the help of the witches, he had been able to displace Sandro’s current location. Paolo believed that was the first phase.
The second phase would be rendering him powerless and then attacking him unaware.
“Give me good food!” Alessia yelled at him, but he paid no heed.
Paolo had a reason for making her feast on a slice of bread and a little bit of water. He had been told she obtained powers even from the littlest thing, and feeding her well would not only make her stronger, but it would also make her escape where he had placed her. So, he was cautious while trying to avoid such a situation.
“God, I hate him so much. I hate him,” Alessia cried, watching him with blurry eyes as he left, slamming the door hard.
She crawled towards Janice, gripping her warm hands in her cool ones. She rubbed hers against Janice, muttering, “I hope you forgive me. I swear, I don’t know what I was doing. I sensed some forces were at play.”
“I believe you,” Janice whispered, her lashes fluttering against her cheeks. “I believe you never did what you did on purpose.”
Alessia nodded, going in for a hug. Her arms wrapped around Janice’s midsection, and she heard her groan.
“I’m sorry,” Alessia murmured, letting her go. “I should have hardened my mind against his orders.”
“My father is manipulative,” Janice said. “He can go to great lengths to do what he desires, and I should be the sorry one. If I hadn’t brought you here when you were injured, he wouldn’t have had the opportunity to control you.”
“But he didn’t want me,” Alessia said. “He only wants to use me to get the people he desires. I guess I’ll try my best to do that so he will let us go.”
Janice shook her head. “You shouldn’t, Alessia. They did nothing wrong to my father. He’s just hungry for power like I told you, and you shouldn’t let him have his way.”
“I should,” Alessia muttered, her face contorted in a grimace. “I hate Arabella. I hate her so much, and only one of us needs to be in this world. I don’t care about the rest, but Arabella needs to leave, and I’ll do everything to make your father have her.”
Janice gripped Alessia’s shoulder, staring into her eyes. “You don’t hate Arabella, Alessia,” she firmly said.
“She continued, ‘You don’t even know her enough to have such hatred for her. I should be the one saying that, but now realizing all that is happening, I don’t think it’s fair to keep hating on her because she did nothing wrong. She has been a victim, Alessia…'”
“I am a victim too!” Alessia shouted, shrugging Janice’s hands off her shoulder. “I am a victim because of her. The fact that we resembled made me susceptible to many dangers. If we never looked alike, Sandro wouldn’t have captured me, and I’d be in my school right now. But here I am in a world I never knew was supernatural!”
Janice sighed and reached to grip her shoulder again, but Alessia moved out of reach.
“I need to kill Arabella by all means.” Her hands were clenched. “Would you help me do that, Janice? Then we can be together forever.”
“Alessia,” Janice shook her head, her brows furrowing. “This isn’t you speaking. I don’t think you mean all that you’re saying about killing Arabella. She’s your sister, Alessia. And I’m pretty sure you both have something to say to each other.”
“You don’t know me, Janice. And I definitely have nothing to say to that person.” Alessia snapped. “Do you want to be a part of me or not?!”
Janice stared at Alessia for a long time. She was confused. She didn’t know what was going on with her, and she knew it definitely wasn’t the Alessia she fell for. Or was it mere infatuation, and she had interpreted the mate bond as that? Janice’s head reeled as she continued to stare at her. Something had happened to her, and she knew it was her father’s doing.
“Janice!” Alessia yelled, snapping her out of her thoughts.
“I’m sorry, Alessia, but I can’t let you fight innocent people,” Janice muttered, her eyes brimming with tears.
“Innocent people?” Alessia snorted. “It’s just Arabella, and she’s a person. If you don’t want to help me, then so be it. I’ll do it alone. I never needed you in the first place!” Her mind was made up already.
She was going to confront Arabella the next time they saw each other. She wouldn’t spare her.