Mag-log inCaterina's povI couldn’t sleep.After I left Jordan in the corridor and made it back to my cell, I bolted the door and just sat on the edge of the bed in the dark for a long time.The rain was still coming down outside, soft but steady, the kind that makes everything feel heavier than it already is. My body was tired, but my mind wouldn’t shut up. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Vittorio’s face in that hallway—the way he’d looked at me when he talked about curiosity becoming a problem.He wasn’t going to wait much longer.I lay down eventually, still fully dressed, and stared at the ceiling. The monastery had a particular kind of quiet at night. More like the building itself was listening. Every distant footstep, every creak of old wood, every shift in the wind against the windows felt louder than it should have, but I kept replaying the afternoon in my head: the bishop looking smaller than ever in that chair, the things he’d said about truth not landing cleanly, and then Vittori
JordanI didn’t go straight back to my cell after we left Vittorio standing outside my father’s door.My hands were still tight, and the adrenaline hadn’t burned off yet. Walking the long way around the cloisters helped a little. The rain had slowed to a fine mist that clung to everything, making the stone darker and the air heavier. A couple of novices passed me with their heads down. One of the older priests nodded out of habit and kept walking.Nobody wanted to linger in open space anymore. You could feel it in the way people moved—the shorter steps, quieter voices, and eyes that checked corners before committing to a direction.By the time I reached the small side courtyard near the old laundry buildings, my pulse had settled enough that I could think clearly again.Vittorio hadn’t been bluffing. That much was obvious. The way he stood in the corridor, the way he looked at Caterina when he spoke about “curiosity becoming a problem”—he'd already decided we were past the point of w
Jordan's POV The quietness in the corridor got heavier; I was certain this wasn’t a coincidence, and we both knew it.For a second nobody moved.Vittorio stood there in the corridor like he’d been waiting for exactly this, that smooth little half-smile on his face that never reached his eyes.Behind us, I could still feel the weight of the study—my father sitting weak in that chair, the things we’d just said hanging in the air. In front of us, Vittorio blocked the way like he owned the stones under our feet.“Father Brick,” he said again, soft and polite. “Sister Caterina. Funny running into you here.”Caterina shifted half a step closer to me, not like she was hiding; she was just ready.“We were leaving,” I said. Kept my voice even. “His Excellency needs rest.”Vittorio’s eyes flicked past me into the room, then back. “Of course. How thoughtful of you both to check on him. Especially given… everything.”The way he said “everything” made the hallway feel narrower.I didn’t answer. C
JordanSo I was about to visit the Bishop,my supposed father,I didn’t even expect Caterina to come with me to see him.When I told her I was going to the bishop’s study that afternoon, she just looked at me for a second and said, “I’m coming.” No debate,no long explanation,I was scared and shocked at the same time.She just fell into step beside me like it was the most natural thing in the world.The corridors felt longer than usual on the way there. Rain was still tapping at the windows. A couple of the younger priests watched us pass but didn’t say anything. At this point, people were mostly just trying to stay out of the way of whatever was breaking open.The study door was half open. I knocked once and went in. My father was in the same chair as last time, blanket over his knees, looking even smaller. His skin had that gray look that doesn’t lie. He glanced up when we entered, and his eyes moved from me to Caterina and stayed there a moment longer than was comfortable.“You broug
VittorioI knew the ledgers were gone before the full report even landed.The two men I sent down came back looking like failure itself.Over a simple job, come on. Half the active volumes were missing; there was absolutely no sign of forced entry that pointed clearly to anyone. There were just empty shelves where the most useful materials were supposed to be.I asked them to get out, then stood there in the guest suite staring at the rain on the window while reality settled in.Brick and the girl had to be.Agnes probably cleared the path for them. That old woman had been shifting for days, and now the cost of it was sitting right in front of me.The photographs were already outside. The city had already begun asking financial questions. And now the living confessions—the real leverage—were out of my reach. What was left below was history and machinery. Useful in the right hands. Dangerous in the wrong ones. And currently sitting there like a loaded problem I couldn’t fully contro
Jordan I couldn't sleep much after we got the ledgers out; every time I closed my eyes, I saw those two men standing in the chamber, realizing half the shelves were already empty. By morning I was running on nerves and the leftover tension from the tunnels.The monastery felt off the second I stepped into the cloister. I could notice people watching more and saying less. Two of the younger priests who’d been hanging around the lower doors yesterday were nowhere in sight. Vittorio showed his face once in the courtyard, talked to someone, and then vanished again. That man only disappears when he’s planning something ugly.I saw Caterina across the chapel during morning prayers. She looked so tired but steady. We didn’t need words. The ledgers were safe, and we were still standing. That was enough for now.After the service I went looking for Agnes. and I found her near the belltower stairs, like she was waiting for me.“He knows,” she said without a hello. “The missing volumes. He’s







