The Shadow under My Heels

Alara POV

I sat on my bed for a long time after Elif left. Bait? That was what I was. Not a daughter, not a person. Bait. Something to be dangled in front of an enemy to draw him in.

I stood up and walked to the window again. The gardens looked different now, not beautiful, but like a trap. Everything was perfect so that no one would suspect the danger hiding underneath.

A knock came at the door. Three soft, slow raps. I knew that knock. It was Kemal.

“Come in,” I said.

He stepped inside, but he didn’t cross the threshold all the way. He stayed close to the door, like he was afraid to be too close to me. “You need to go out,” he said. “For a walk, In the gardens. Fresh air will do you good.”

I looked at him. “Is that an order from my father? Or do you actually think that?”

“Your father said you should take some air,” he said. “But I also think about it. Being cooped up in here all day… it isn’t right.”

I grabbed my shawl and walked past him into the hall. “Fine. Let’s go, but don’t pretend this is for my benefit. We both know it’s just another part of the plan.”

We walked down the stairs and out into the gardens. The sun was warm on my face, but I couldn’t feel it. Kemal walked two steps behind me, like he always did. When we reached the rose garden, I stopped and turned to face him.

“Tell me the truth, Kemal,” I said. “If Kaan Demirhan comes here… if he takes me… will you stop him?”

Kemal’s face didn’t change, but his hands clenched into fists at his sides. “I have sworn to protect you with my life.”

“That isn’t what I asked,” I said. “Will you fight the people who are using me as well? Or will you stand aside and let them hand me over?”

He looked away, out toward the high walls that surrounded the mansion. “I will do everything in my power to keep you alive.”

“Alive?” I repeated bitterly. “But not free, not happy, Just alive?”

“Alara,” he said, his voice heavy. “You don’t understand the danger we are in. There are things far worse than being kept safe. Things you cannot even imagine.”

“Then tell me!” I said. Tell about it!” “Help me understand!” Make it make sense to me because these whole thing is driving me crazy!” 

He shook his head slowly. “I cannot. Not yet. But please… believe this. I will never let anything bad happen to you, not while I breathe.”

Before I could ask what he meant, his phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out, looked at the screen, and his whole body went still. His face turned pale.

“What is it?” I asked. “Kemal, what’s wrong?”

He didn’t answer. He just looked at me, his eyes full of a terrible, quiet grief. “I have to go. Stay here. Stay in the gardens. Do not go back inside until I come for you. No matter what anyone says.”

“Where are you going?” I asked, reaching for his arm. “What happened?”

He stepped back, away from my touch. “Promise me, Alara. Promise you will stay out here.”

“I promise,” I said, my heart beating fast.

He turned and walked away, fast and silent, disappearing into the shadows of the trees. I stood there alone in the middle of the roses. The air felt suddenly cold. The birds had stopped singing.

I waited, and waited. The sun began to go down, painting the sky in shades of red and orange. But Kemal didn’t come back. No one came back. The mansion behind me was silent, too silent. Like everyone inside had vanished.

I took a step toward the house. Then I stopped. Because somewhere in the quiet, I heard a sound I will never forget. It was the sharp, unmistakable click of a gun being loaded.

I froze where I stood. The sound had come from somewhere close, too close. I looked around the garden, but I couldn’t see anyone. The trees cast long, dark shadows that seemed to reach out toward me.

Slowly, quietly, I walked toward the house. I kept to the shadows, just like Kemal always did. I reached the side window of my father’s study room, the one that was always slightly open, even in winter. I pressed my back against the wall and listened.

“Everything is ready,” my father’s voice said. Cold, calm. Completely without feeling. “The signal will be given at midnight. Kemal will be out of the way. The house will be unguarded enough.”

“Are you sure he will come?” That was Leyla. Her voice wasn’t soft anymore. It was sharp and hard, like a blade hidden in silk. “What if Demirhan doesn’t take the bait? What if he knows it’s a trap?”

“He will come,” Father said. “He wants revenge more than he wants safety, and she is the perfect prize. She is young, she is beautiful, and she carries the blood of the people he hates most in this world. He will not be able to resist.”

My breath caught in my throat. They were talking about me. I was the prize. I was the bait.

“And once he has her,” Leyla said, “once he is inside the house… we kill them both. We burn the place down. We tell everyone he took her and then destroyed himself in a fire. No one will question it, and everything, the ports, the land, the money, all of it will be ours.”

“Exactly,” Father said. “Years of planning. And it all comes down to tonight.”

I pressed my hand over my mouth to stop myself from crying out. They were going to kill me. They were going to kill me and Kaan Demirhan, and then burn everything to the ground to hide their lies. The aunt who had held me when I was sad. The father who had raised me. Both of them were planning my death.

I stepped back from the window, my legs shaking so badly I could barely stand. I needed to run. I needed to get away before it was too late. But as I turned, something crunched under my foot, a dry twig.

 Inside the room, the voices stopped.

“Someone is out there,” Leyla said, her voice cold and dangerous.

Before I could move, a heavy, gloved hand clamped over my mouth, dragging me into the shadows.