CHAPTER ONE
Milan, Italy.
The rain had started before sunset.
By eight o'clock, it had transformed the streets into mirrors, reflecting thousands of golden lights across the old stone roads.
Isabella Moretti hated rainy evenings.
Not because of the weather.
Because museums always felt haunted after closing.
The corridors became too quiet.
The shadows too long.
Every painting seemed alive once the visitors disappeared.
She adjusted the white cotton gloves around her fingers before stepping closer to the seventeenth-century canvas resting on the easel.
Tiny cracks stretched across the aged paint like veins beneath fragile skin.
"Easy..." she whispered to herself.
One wrong movement...
One careless touch...
And centuries of history could disappear forever.
The restoration room smelled of old wood, varnish and linseed oil.
It had become her second home over the past two years.
Outside, thunder rolled across the city.
Her phone vibrated.
Giulia
Still working?
Isabella smiled.
Unfortunately.
Three dots appeared.
You're impossible.
She laughed quietly.
Probably.
But deadlines didn't wait.
Neither did her perfectionism.
She leaned closer to inspect the painting under a magnifying lamp.
Something wasn't right.
A tiny line near the lower corner.
Almost invisible.
She frowned.
"No..."
She carefully removed another microscopic layer of yellowed varnish.
Beneath it...
Letters.
Not part of the original artwork.
Someone had hidden writing beneath centuries of restoration.
Her heartbeat quickened.
She adjusted the light.
Latin.
Very old.
Very deliberate.
"...Who would hide this?"
The museum's lights flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Then stabilized.
She looked toward the hallway.
Silence.
Too much silence.
Normally, the night security guards chatted over their radios.
Tonight...
Nothing.
YOU ARE READING
Blood Oath
Action"Every empire dies twice. The first time when blood stains its throne. The second when someone uncovers the truth. This is the story of both."
