Chapter 2 - The Ghost in the Study
Damon brought the girl, whose name he learned was Elara, into his inner sanctum—a library that served as the vault for his most sensitive affairs. The Warden followed, padding silently behind her, ignoring Damon entirely. The shift in hierarchy was palpable, and it infuriated him.
"You aren't going anywhere until I know who sent you," Damon said, pouring a glass of amber liquid, his hands steadying.
Elara sat in his oversized leather chair, her feet barely dangling over the edge. She looked at the shelves filled with centuries of history. "No one sent me. I came because the Warden was lonely."
"The Warden is a weapon," Damon snapped, then softened his tone, struggling with the alien concept of talking to a child. "He doesn't get lonely. He functions."
"You think he functions because you give him commands," Elara replied, her eyes tracking a dust mote in the light. "But you only give him commands because you're afraid he’ll do something you can’t control. He loved her, you know. He loved her more than he ever loved you."
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Damon leaned over the desk, his presence filling the room with the suffocating weight of his authority. "And where is she? Where is Isabella?"
Elara reached into her pocket and pulled out a small, tarnished silver locket. She placed it on the desk. Damon felt the breath leave his lungs. It was the same locket he had given Isabella on the night she disappeared. Inside was a tiny, folded piece of paper. He opened it, his fingers trembling. It contained only three words: The debt remains.
