AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Maybe Castor doesn’t know as much as I feared.
“You’ve been locked away for too long, old man. Things have changed since Retsos took you. Yeah, I know about all of that. Don’t worry, I won’t ask you about that fucker. I know enough to have signed his death warrant long ago. But right now, he’s not a pressing issue. You are. So, if you want to get out of here and see Sophia again, you’ll answer my questions.”
Castor seems to lighten up for a split second at the thought of seeing Sophia again. But he just as quickly smothers that hope for a hard dose of reality. He’ll have to do as I say if he ever wants out of here.
This is a stubborn man. I guess we at least have that in common.
“I’m still waiting for your first real question,” he says, looking me directly into the eyes. “But I’m telling you, I know my body. Without some real treatment, I won’t last much longer. So let’s stop dancing around, and ask me what you really want to know… I might just give you the answer you need.”
“Fine,” I nod. “Let’s start with a simple one. Who made you Sophia’s protector?”
It doesn’t seem like Castor was completely expecting that to be my first question, but after a moment of quiet shock, he seems to understand what this is really about.
Strategy be damned, I’ve got feelings for Sophia.
Fuck. It must be so obvious.
The restrained giant seems to re-calculate his approach based on this information, before a deep sigh escapes his bloody lips.
“So, she’s told you about that, huh…”
“Was she lying?”
“No.”
“Then let’s hear if your stories match up.”
“They won’t,” he says, shaking his head. “She doesn’t know the whole truth.”
His words seep through my chest like shrapnel. Each breath I take becomes deeper, more painful.
What the hell does that mean?
“Spit it out,” I growl, squeezing the cold key pinned between my fingers.
“You want to know who made me Sophia’s protector? I’ll tell you. It wasn’t her father. Not at first. Even though I’m sure that’s what Sophia told you. But how could she know it wasn’t? She hadn’t even been born yet when I was given that precious task…”
“Who else could have ordered you to do something so life-consuming if not Kostas Xiphias?” I ask, desperately trying to find a hint of dishonesty in Castor’s voice.
As far as I can tell, he’s being honest.
“No one ordered me to do it… No, there were no commands… just begging.”
A strike of dread crosses my pounding chest as I try to imagine who could have cared about Sophia enough to beg Castor to protect her for life.
“Who begged you to protect her?” I ask. Then, just before Castor responds, I realize who.
It could only be one person.
“Her mother…” Castor confirms.
My pounding heart immediately starts to ache for Sophia. She never got to know love during her lifetime… but clearly, someone loved her very much, even if it was only before she came into this world.
“Why was Sophia’s mother begging for you to protect her? Who was going to hurt her?”
“Retsos,” Castor growls. Just like that, a switch goes off inside of him. He turns into a monster, and I’m almost worried he might break through his restraints. “That fucking bastard…”
“Did he kill Sophia’s mother?” I ask, remembering that Sophia was never told how her mother died.
