Tempting Fate

Twenty-Three: Raised Stakes

Hours and one terribly brief nap later, Sophie's muscles still shook. Her insides felt hot, like a pot left on simmer. The aftereffects of Arietta's magic haunted her.

Unable to sleep in the small cot in her office, Sophie booted up her computer and instead analyzed all the data on Arietta.

Or rather, the data she had access to—which was mostly the trend of Arietta's vitals and all the wounds Sophie cataloged from Reison's "visits".

Every time she saw the trend of Arietta's vitals in front of her, Sophie's throat ached. This young woman was nothing more than a pawn, an individual who had gotten caught up in Reison's desperate quest for more land and more power.

Biting her lip as she read and reread Arietta's last vital check, she noted the data was different. Her blood pressure was more normalized, her blood oxygen better, and even her heartbeat was at a more steady pace.

Just a bit of magic usage, and it put Arietta in a better condition.

Thank Elphyr for that.

Sophie tapped a finger idly against the side of her keyboard. Her insides felt constricted, like her intestines were literally all tied up in knots. The worry was an anvil on her chest.

If she wasn't concerned about Arietta, then it was Katarina. Where had Reison sent her sister off to? Was she alright? Was she getting enough food?

She knew Katarina was alive—Reison sent her time stamped photos of her sister every few days. They were a reminder to keep making the right decisions—or rather, the decisions Reison wanted her to make.

Sophie stared at Arietta's vitals until the numbers blurred. She couldn't do it. If Katarina knew what Sophie was doing right now, if she knew of her sister's complacency in some very dangerous stuff, it would devastate her.

Katarina had always been the fiery one. She'd always been the confident, say-it-like-it-is woman. And the one who stuck to her morals no matter how far someone tried to push her.

If she knew what Sophie was doing right now...

Sophie curled her hands into fists. She needed to help Arietta. However she could.

She just had to make sure Reison didn't find out.

Half an hour later, Sophie had carefully but quickly modified the data for Arietta's last vital check in the system. She'd just hit save on the last page when her office door opened.

"Dominick, I said I'll be out in another two—"

"Are my guards bothering you, Dr. Griffin?"

Sophie's head snapped up. Her heart dropped into her stomach as she stood on shaky legs. "Reison."

Reison sauntered into her office as if it were his own. As he did each time he entered, his gaze swept across the blank walls and over her clean desk. Other than her computer and a phone provided by Reison that no doubt couldn't be traced but was absolutely monitored, her desk was empty.

It was for the best. Even if she had the means and the resources to decorate, she wouldn't. This room looked no different from Arietta's down the hall. It was a prison all the same.

Reison stopped only a few steps in, blocking the exit. With hardly a flick of his fingers or a wayward thought, this man could burn her and everyone she loved to a crisp.

And he had everyone she loved right at his fingertips.

"Dr. Griffin," Reison said her name, as always, as a warning. As if silently telling her she better have news for him.