Se connecter~Valeria~Lysander had been quiet. Which should've been my first clue.While the vines were concentrated on the other three, while the stronghold was busy making its ultimatum, Lysander had been slowly moving to the side of the platform. Watching the way they moved, the pattern of them, where they were paying attention.He looked at me once. The one that meant I know what I'm doin
~Valeria~We were literally standing right in front of it. My mom's badge. The last piece of everything. And instead of, I don't know, having a plan, the four of them had turned into this."I should grab it," Alerion spoke up. "My Alpha power can suppress the vines long enough to pull it clean.""You’ll be humbled by this place in just a matter of seconds." Zane laughed. Not
~Valeria~Lysander moved first. Spun around the corner fast, dagger raised, and I saw the exact moment he recognized who it was because his arm was already swinging and he had to throw his whole body sideways to stop it.Zane.Limping, Caius's arm around his waist, both of them frozen in the doorway staring at the dagger that had stopped about four inches from Zane's face.
~Valeria~The stronghold was exactly as described, the entrance warning us to head back. Right above it there were these old carved words in some ancient language.We all stopped. Alerion pointed up. “Caius, what does that shit say?”
~Valeria~I couldn’t take it. “Stop! All of you! I don’t know who to trust anymore.”I glared at Dad. “You brush off everything like it’s nothing. Caius shows proof and you accuse him of working with Cassian? What the hell?”Then I looked at the guys. “And you, jumping to call him an incompetent? He’s my dad.”“And as for you, dad. So now you’re sending me on a suicide mission? Do you even love me at all? Mom hid this thing knowing it could kill me, and you’re standing here telling me I have to go?”“Why wasn’t you man enough to tell your people about your affair with the maid, my mom? Does that mean I’m illegitimate? That’s why the council members and everybody else keeps accusing my bloodline of being a fraud, and you just stayed quietly without telling me anything? You let them call me fake while you sat back and did nothing!”“I don’t even care about your explanations anymore because you are probably going to lie. So fuck this. I quit. I’m done with all of you.”I turned and storm
~Valeria~I was already on the couch with my legs up, heating pad stuck to my shoulder, scrolling through random reels to distract myself from the dull ache. I didn’t even look up. Alerion was already moving toward the door before the chime finished.I heard the low voices outside. Dad’s voice first, then Alerion second. “No. She’s not in the mood to see y
~Valeria~Getting called to my mom's room at ten PM usually meant one of two things: either I was in trouble, or she was about to give me another lecture about "being grateful" for everything Cassian had done for us.Tonight felt different though. When I knocked and she told me to come in, her voic
~Valeria~The photo felt like it was burning a hole in my backpack as I walked back to the library the next day.I'd spent the entire night staring at it, trying to convince myself I was imagining things. But every time I looked at that little girl's posture, the way she leaned into the man's prote
~Caius~I'd seen enough interrogations to recognize when someone was fishing for information, and Michael was practically casting a net every time he talked to Valeria.The kid was good though. Had that perfect balance of casual interest and helpful concern that made people want to spill their secr
~Valeria~I was pretty sure the guy with the newspaper was going to follow me home and suffocate me in my sleep.Okay, maybe that was too out of line, but he'd been sitting at the same table for three hours pretending to read about local boring drama while watching every move Michael and I made. An







