Bound By Blood.

ch.48~ Let go.

"I keep my promises.

Won't do it twice."

Recovered Translated Correspondents Between Death Eater Mattheo Riddle, to Order Member Alexandra Brooks, 2003.

Riddle Manor, 2003.

Mattheo.

I wish I could've framed his face, as the words I've been holding in for five years finally escaped my mouth. 

Shock, betrayal, and a hint of clarification stretched across his face. 

I loved every second of it. 

Enzo sputtered, his mouth moving as if trying to form words that wouldn't come. 

It was a moment suspended in time, the air thick with unspoken accusations and raw, unfiltered emotions.

"I—" he started, but the words faltered on his lips. 

Instead, I simply turned away. The heavy oak door creaked as I pushed it open.

"Get going, Enzo," I called after him, feigning indifference even as a triumphant smile crept onto my face. 

Without another thought, I rushed through the halls, past the paintings that lined the walls, toward the dungeons below. 

To her. 

The air grew cooler as I descended the stone steps, each one weighted with anticipation. 

I needed to get to her. 

I should've already. 

As I reached the dungeon door, a wave of urgency swept over me. 

I pushed it open with a force that echoed through the cavernous space. 

Wards my ass. 

But the sight in front of me felt like a punch to the gut.

The room was empty. 

Completely empty. 

My pulse quickened, a cold dread creeping into my bones as I scanned every corner, every shadow. 

My heart urged me onward, yet there was no sign of her. 

No flicker of movement or whisper of breath. Just silence—heavy, oppressive silence.

No cloaking spell, I checked. 

Twice. 

And then my eyes were drawn to the floor. 

A dark patch marred the stone, the vivid red staining the rough surface as if it were calling out to me, begging for acknowledgment. 

Blood.

Adrenaline surged through my veins, flooding my mind with frantic thoughts. 

Had there been a struggle?

Of course there was, she's her. 

I stumbled back, assessing the grim evidence, my heart racing as the panic began to close in around me.

And then I saw it. A crumpled note hastily shoved under one of the stone benches. 

My hands shook as I unfolded it, my breath hitching in my throat as I recognized the distinctive scrawl of Enzo's handwriting.