The Golden Bond

Chapter 26

The next morning passed quickly.

William hardly took any notice of Sofia. He was running up and down, preparing for the impending operation with his Master and Stefano, the leader of the Italian Lux Club and they agreed terms and positioned their people. One charismagician would guard Sofia in the hotel lobby. Another small team under William's leadership was supposed to take care of liberating Victor. The largest team under the command of the Italian Master himself was responsible for the destruction of the data centre once everybody was safe. They assumed that the biggest scuffle would be under the bogus thermal spa. It was only a few hours later when an absolutely unexpected twist of fate proved them all wrong.

Before it all went wrong, William had his breakfast in peace and handed Sofia over to his colleague. She sat down in her – well established – spot in the lobby. She took some sheets of paper with her and two shopping bags filled with various little things supposed to make her day more pleasant. She knew that the only thing that would definitely distract her from her thoughts was creating art. She and William agreed that he would be back at the hotel just before six p.m. to check on her. She promised him a small present and he was already looking forward to it rather a lot. Neither of them dared to return to yesterday's kiss. The atmosphere between them had changed slightly again, as if both of them had already accepted that they belonged to each other and they would protect each other no matter what.

William drank the last sip of a strong Italian coffee, gave Sofia a gentle kiss on her forehead and walked out of the hotel. The square was beautifully lit by the morning sun and he felt truly comfortable. He believed that everything would go well. He didn't look any further than that evening yet thinking he would deal with everything else later. Now it was necessary to rescue Victor and complete a task of the utmost importance.

Sofia was in the lobby on her own but didn't mind at all. She was alone with some treasures she'd managed to seize during the rare walks through the narrow streets of Rome. There were a couple of beautiful new sheets of heavyweight paper with soft embossed motifs and a regular silverish pattern on the back side, which made it easier to cut, some magical stamps with classical pictures, two rolls of adhesive tape that looked like lace, a few ribbons, a small knife for cutting paper and a new stencil with letters of the alphabet and numbers. Only a wrapping service owner could understand the true value of this equipment. For a moment, Sofia felt like she was in her little shop again. Although she wasn't surrounded by perfectly lined up racks of paper, drawers of knick knacks and cylinders filled with all kinds of ribbons, but she had a little part of that at least. In her hands the material was changed into magical packets which would be very difficult for anyone to surpass. Sofia's mind was the mind of an artist. She had a need to express herself through something and in her case, it was the packets. She'd never realised it, but her shop was always full. People kept coming back and new customers arrived all the time. As if there was some magic in her packets and even though it seemed impossible, there actually was. It was caused by her Gift. Thanks to the Gift, the passion and joy of the creator was literally woven into the packets. Although she didn't realise it, Sofia put a little bit of herself into each wrapping. She always inquired about the future owner of the present and according to the purpose of the present she chose the paper, decorations and style. She didn't know she was actually discovering what the intended recipient desires then inserting this emotion into the packet. It was strange but she basically couldn't avoid the Gift, even if she'd wanted to.

On this day she'd decided to make a packet for William, too. She took the protective red bracelet off her wrist. Her grandmother had given it to her a long time ago and Sofia wore it occasionally, when it suited her clothes. It was supposed to protect her from evil, but she didn't believe in that, at least not until recently. Today, however, she decided to give William something which would, symbolically at least, protect him from potential danger. She put the bracelet into the prepared white box which she closed with a small lid of the same size. She picked a soft turquoise sheet of paper with a fleur-de-lis motif. She cut out the required size, folded along the bottom edge and wrapped the box so that the little 'beaks' of folded paper had exactly the same length on both sides. Up to this point, it looked like an ordinary, inconspicuous packet. This was the moment when Sofia's creativity began to reveal itself. Firstly, she tied the packet with a distinctive golden ribbon giving it an oriental touch. She complemented the golden ribbon with a narrower turquoise one with a glossy effect. She then cut out two pieces of plain turquoise paper, picked up her new stencil and stencilled the message she wanted William to read when he looked at the packet. She carefully cut out the letters so that their bottom part would stay attached to a strip of paper, rolled both strips into little wheels and stuck them onto the top of the packet like the two sides of a missing bow. The result was perfect.

It was only when she looked up from the packet that she noticed it was almost noon. So she had her lunch brought to the lobby and after eating continued with the creation of little decorative cards. She didn't even realise how fast time was flying by. It happened to her so often while she was working. She was forgetting about the world around her and lived only for the present. Six o'clock was coming closer and closer and Sofia couldn't wait till William would arrive. She stared at the street outside and in that exact moment, the entrance door to the hotel opened.

A stranger came in. It was as if the air around him paused for a few seconds and everything froze. Sofia had a strange feeling of déjà vu. It seemed to her as if she'd already experienced this moment before. The burly blonde stranger emerged suddenly behind the fake receptionist who was Sophia's secret guard that day. It took her a few hundredths of a second to realise that the two men had begun to fight. She had clear instructions to run away to safety if anything like this should happen, but no one really expected anything to happen, least of all Sofia. She just sat nailed to her chair, watching as her protector suddenly lay motionlessly on the ground. She wanted to jump to him but the unidentified man grabbed her by the hair and started to pull her away. She screamed, called for help and thrashed about like a wild animal. She tried to free herself with all her strength and no one heard her cries. The entire hotel seemed to be empty. The ruthless stranger pushed her against the nearest wall and with one of his mighty hands, he held both of her arms rendering any movement impossible for her. With his other hand, he restrained her face and forced her to look him in the eyes.

"From now on, you'll be absolutely silent and you'll obey everything I say!" he bellowed at her.

Sofia felt his repulsive conquering touch, but his cold eyes didn't touch her at all. She understood. It was probably due to that strange Gift. Suddenly she just knew. This was William's old friend Adam and he'd come to capture her in order to take his revenge on William. Good Lord... Cold sweat was flowing down her body but she tried to keep her mind clear. She didn't know what she should do but she knew one thing. She'd never submit to this bastard willingly. "Maybe in your dreams," she hissed contemptuously.

Adam raised his eyebrows, for a couple of seconds there was genuine surprise in his face. She resisted him! How in God's name was that possible? There was no way an ordinary human being could disobey the direct orders of a charismagician, especially in a situation like this! Unless... no. That can't be true. He tried again. He stared Sofia directly in the eyes and stated his order once more.

She just grinned viciously and managed to inform him that William would be there any minute.

That started him off and forced him to use rougher methods than his charismagic. He simply gagged Sofia, knocked her out and dragged her out of the hotel by force. Outside a taxi with black windows was waiting and after the extraordinary passengers got on board, it shot through the entire city all the way to the brand new spa.