♚
Inna's pov
I drifted in and out of consciousness, she felt paralyzed as I lay there watching the lamp above my face in and out of focus. A sheen of sweat graced my forehead as my body began to itch all over.
They didn't give me a droplet of water to drink.
The cell was barely six feet by four.
The walls were the same thick grey stone as the dwellings of the region, but instead of a wide window with a flower box, there was a mean small barred opening with thick metal bars and no glass.
Letting the air refresh and the rotten smell of the disgusting blood come out in their free air was a relief, helping to alleviate the stench of festering sewage but in the cold seasons, it let in a wicked draft and reduced the temperature to near freezing.
I was freezing to death.
It was no brighter inside than the gathering gloom of dusk, even at midday.
I scanned the cell again before I let the darkness consume me fully again- time for sleep.
The metallic sound reverberated through the air, jolting me back to consciousness. My senses came alive, though my mind remained in a hazy state. She strained to listen, the sound of the metal object scraping against the ground growing louder. Curiosity compelled me to stay, to see who had entered my cell.
"Little Red is awake?"
A girl's voice filled the room, accompanied by the rhythmic play of a knife and the glint of my pendant in her hand.
"Nice necklace you've got here, Red," Ace taunted, a mischievous glint in my eyes. "It used to have a little ship inside, but don't worry, I turned it off."
The girl rose from her seat and took leisurely steps toward the chained me, her boots leaving droplets of blood in their wake. The first sight I beheld was her, a figure splattered with evidence of violence. I mustered the courage to speak, my voice steady despite the circumstances. "So, you're Ace?" I inquired.
Ace was a woman.
Ace chuckled a dark and chilling sound that reverberated in the room. "Disappointed, Red?" she taunted, her fingers tracing the scars I got from Kasemero while he was munching me that made my face painted with my blood before I felt her trace her fingers on the tattoo on my neck left by Sin's mark.
"I suppose they started the fun without me," Ace remarked, glancing at the tattoo, a memento from our encounter.
"And you think this tattoo will protect you?"
She chuckled once more, her fingers gripping my face and forcing me to meet my gaze. My eyes locked with the hazel depths concealed behind her masked visage. It was a penetrating stare that refused to release me, holding me captive in its intensity.
I observed Ace closely, my gaze descending down her body. Ace possessed a physique that was both athletic and alluring, with curves that accentuated my figure in all the right places. She was like a walking sports model, exuding a captivating sensuality. However, what puzzled me was the mask that concealed her true identity.
She had envisioned someone different, someone, who did not hide behind leather and shadowed eyes. It took a full minute for me to grasp the realization that Kasemero had sent Ace to kill me.
At that moment, I understood that Ace was a woman of a volatile temperament. Everything seemed to set her off, like a ticking time bomb on the verge of explosion.
The mask Ace wore bore a striking resemblance to the one she had worn at the ball. The truth hit me with sudden clarity—Ace was the same woman who had shielded Kasemero that night.
