THE UNBREAKABLE PIECE (FIRST BOOK OF THE HIDDEN WORLD) English version

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO: HIDDEN

My head rested heavily like a piece of lead between the two feather pillows of my room, the refreshing scent of white roses wafting in from the balcony and bathing me in its white mantle. I had spent the entire night tossing and turning on the mattress, thinking about Drahceb's gift and its possible connection to the episodes I had experienced in recent months.

I could hear the faint sound of servants' footsteps behind my doors, impatient for me to wake up. Gradually, I was getting used to the mornings where maids, dressed from head to toe in that immaculate white, awaited me with a training uniform and clean towels. I was also beginning to learn their names embroidered on their shirts. One girl, named Ava, always smiled at me, displaying her fangs, and another named Luna, with dark skin and honey-colored eyes identical to the cook at Axis, used to observe me as if I were the last drop of water in a drought.

I bathed in a few minutes and changed before giving them the chance to burst into my room and throw the curtains wide open as they had planned. The night before, my father had sent a group of Alpha Onpixes to retrieve some of my belongings and bring them back to me. Now, I was looking at my books with marks and annotations on the sides and caressing the fabric of my hoodies with the NYU emblem, along with my old backpack with a pin from the New York Public Library. It felt like I was admiring objects from a past life, a life that belonged to someone else. Because that Amity would not have the concerns that now occupied my mind and robbed me of sleep. Perhaps that Amity could think more coldly about what troubled her, trying to find a way out of all her problems. That Amity would have cried all night for the words she had heard from Eamon's mouth.

However, this girl reflected in my mirror, the one who now teetered on the verge of being human and Onpix, knew that there were much more important questions at this moment than grieving for her neighbor. And they were the only ones that had kept her rolling and rolling on her new comfortable bed. Why had the strideo been after my father if Drahceb already knew of my existence and whereabouts? Did Drahceb know that my father was no longer eligible for the throne? Why had Drahceb been playing with my mind when he could have simply killed me like a cockroach?

I slipped out of the door without making a sound, wishing my skin would become transparent to go unnoticed. There was a good chance that Ben and Gemma wouldn't look for me since they had been assigned by my father on a mission to find Alice. The witch who had enchanted me and whom I also needed to find if I wanted to be onpix again. I didn't know how much Drahceb knew about my story, and clearly, Alice was hiding, but from what?

Ava was the only one who noticed me leaving my room, while Lloyd gazed in the other direction. The servant's eyes widened, but at that moment, I brought my finger to my lips, pleading for her silence. She winked at me and smiled sweetly like a vampire playing with her prey. I hoped that the day I had to face a vampire, it would be someone like Ava.

It took me some time to find my father's office within that eternal corridor that could smell my fears and true intentions. His voice sounded like an old melody, blending with Ben and Gemma's voices. I knew they shouldn't see me, so a few steps before reaching the room, I hid behind a bookshelf.

"Perfect, Benjamin, you have the coordinates," said my father. "In my last search at Alice's house, I found this paper with this address. Outside of England, on a small farm, there's an old house that seemed to be operated by witches. Please be careful."

"Yes, of course, Your Highness. You can count on it," replied Ben.

"And Amity? Who will guide her today in Axis if her entire guard is away?" Gemma's concern was genuine.

"I talked to Gerard, and he will give his class today here in Albus's library. Don't worry about her," my father assured them, placing his hand on Gemma's shoulder. "Because she will be taken care of by the castle walls."