Bonds

Chapter Izo

-Maya’s POV-

My head felt like a hollow shell, devoid of any thoughts or memories. The very concept of death, something I’d always pushed to the back of my mind, was now a terrifying reality I couldn’t escape.

Would it be like this?

My soul leaving my body, a helpless observer as my physical form grew cold and lifeless?

The inside of my skull was a vast emptiness, yet a searing pain pulsed through my body, so intense it threatened to consume me whole.

Was this it?

Was this what death felt like?

Had I finally received the answer to a question I hadn’t dared to ask myself before?

Then, a noxious stench, sharp and acrid, invaded my senses, snapping me back to a semblance of awareness. It filled the void in my mind, forcing reality back into focus. The hospital. The drive to the airport. The sickening crunch of metal as our car collided with another. The concrete wall looming impossibly close… and then, darkness.

My eyes flew open, a scream tearing from my throat. “Ivy! Nate!

Panic surged through me as I tried to sit up, but my body wouldn’t obey. I was strapped tightly to a rickety wooden chair, my arms and legs secured with rough rope that bit into my skin. Fear, cold and primal, clawed at my throat.

Where was I?

What was happening?

I renewed my struggles, desperate to break free. But with each strained movement, a wave of weakness washed over me. My breath hitched in my throat, and I screamed again, my voice hoarse and raw. “Ivy! Nate! Someone please! Who’s there? Where are my children? Let me go!”

source of the putrid smell becoming horrifyingly clear. I was in a cramped,dimly lit room, the air thick with the stench of sewage and decay. Rough, damp stone formed the walls, and the floor was slick with a layer of grime. A single, flickering bulb cast

and fat, moisture–laden spiders scuttled across them, their movements jerky and unsettling. Exposed pipes snaked along the walls, dripping with condensation that pattered onto the floor in a rhythmic counterpoint to the

weight of heavy shackles. The room was an absolute nightmare, a place reeking of dampness, despair, and

constricting my airways. My mind raced, desperate for answers. Where was I? Who had taken me? Most importantly, where were the twins? The thought of them alone, lost and frightened, sent a fresh wave of terror

of here, I reached out with my mind. But the familiar presence was numb. She was there,

screamed again, my voice echoing off the stone walls, a pathetic sound swallowed by the oppressive silence

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Chapter 128

the dripping water and

me jump. “Will you please shut up? You’re giving me a

sound, and in the flickering light and I saw Adrian standing in the shadows,

that had me paralyzed. “You fucking bastard! Let me go right now! Where

my threats with a dismissive wave of his hand. “Stop the shouting.

to get back at Alex, leave me and

old Alex finally

fear and desperation, flickered to life in my mind. “It was you! You sent

too busy chasing after him to see anything else. Seems you lean

with a mixture of fear

“Don’t flatter yourself, Amaya. You’re not that important for me to blackmail. Alex is the one I want to see suffer and you should’ve joined me when

twins?” My mind raced, desperately searching for an escape plan, anything to

moment, his eyes fixed on me as if he was studying some fascinating specimen. “I can’t believe you still

you have some sick revenge plot with Alex, take it up with

bring you here, Amaya. I’m just here to enjoy the show,” he added with a theatrical flourish, “Besides I

raw with a mixture of terror and fury. “Screw you and screw whatever this is all

lips stretched into a smile that sent shivers down my spine. It wasn’t a friendly smile, it was a smile filled with a chilling amusement, a promise of something dark and twisted. He held my gaze