Chapter 79: The Name He Died Protecting

The darkness didn’t lift all at once.

It peeled back slowly, like someone dragging a blade through the black, revealing fragments of the chamber in thin slashes of silver light. My arms were still wrapped around Elliot, my fingers clenched into his shirt as if letting go would make him disappear again.

He was solid. Warm. Real.

That mattered more than anything.

“Breathe,” he murmured quietly, his forehead resting against mine. “You’re safe. For now.”

For now.

That phrase had become the anthem of my life.

I pulled back slightly, forcing myself to look around. The chamber we stood in wasn’t the same one we’d fallen from. This place was narrower, colder. The walls were smooth stone etched with symbols I didn’t recognize, and the air felt heavy like it carried memory, regret, and old blood.

Marcus leaned against the wall to my left, one hand pressed to his ribs, eyes sharp despite the exhaustion etched into his face. “That separation wasn’t random,” he said. “She was measuring you.”

“Me?” My voice came out hoarse.

“Yes,” Liam said from behind us. My sister’s mate stood guard near the corridor entrance, broad shoulders tense, eyes scanning the darkness like he expected it to attack again. “Everything she’s done since the gate has revolved around you.”

My stomach tightened.

Elliot exhaled slowly. “She’s narrowing the field. Breaking us down emotionally so she can control the endgame.”

I swallowed. “She mentioned my father. Said she knows his final secret.”

Marcus stiffened.

“So she finally played that card,” he muttered.

I turned to him sharply. “You knew?”

His jaw tightened. “I suspected. Elliot confirmed parts of it years ago.”

My gaze snapped to Elliot.

“You knew?” My voice trembled, not with anger, but with the terrifying realization that everyone around me seemed to know pieces of my life I was only just discovering.

Elliot didn’t look away. “I knew there was something your father was protecting. I didn’t know what it was until after he died.”

“And you didn’t tell me,” I whispered.

“I didn’t want her to know you mattered that much,” he said quietly. “And the moment I tell you… you matter that much.”

Silence pressed down on us.

Before I could respond, the chamber shifted.

A low rumble echoed through the stone as the far wall split open, revealing a narrow corridor illuminated by faint amber lights embedded in the floor. The symbols along the walls glowed softly now, rearranging themselves like a living script.

Marcus straightened. “This is it.”

“This what?” I asked.

“The reveal,” he said grimly. “She’s done testing. Now she wants reaction.”

We moved cautiously into the corridor, footsteps echoing too loudly in the oppressive silence. Every instinct screamed that this was a trap but then again, everything here was.

The corridor opened into a circular chamber.

At its center stood a single chair.

Metal. Bolted to the floor.

And sitting in it

My breath caught.

A man.

Older. Bruised. Bound.

Alive.

“Is that—?” My voice cracked.

“Yes,” Elliot said under his breath. “That’s him.”

The fixer.

The man who had come to our door weeks ago. The one who had warned Elliot that secrets rot.

My heart slammed painfully against my ribs.

The lights brightened.

Slow clapping echoed through the chamber.

She stepped out of the shadows.

Perfectly composed. Perfectly calm. Her eyes glittered with satisfaction as she took in the scene before her.

“You made it,” she said smoothly. “I was beginning to worry.”

“What do you want?” I demanded.

She smiled. “Truth.”

Marcus scoffed. “You already have it.”

“No,” she corrected gently. “I have pieces. But you have the missing one.”

Her gaze locked onto me.

“Your father didn’t just uncover a network,” she continued. “He discovered a name.”

My chest tightened.

“He recorded it,” she went on. “Spoke it aloud. Once.”

The fixer shifted weakly in the chair, lifting his head. “You shouldn’t have come,” he rasped.

She ignored him.

“That name,” she said softly, “belongs to someone who still holds enormous power. Someone protected by governments, corporations… and people like Elliot.”

Elliot stiffened.

I felt his arm tense beside me.

“What are you saying?” I whispered.

She tilted her head. “I’m saying your father didn’t die because he was curious. He died because he knew who was pulling the strings.”

My heart pounded violently.

“And now,” she continued, “you’re holding the last remaining copy of that knowledge.”

Her eyes dropped to my clenched fist.

The flash drive.

“Give it to me,” she said calmly. “And I’ll let him go.”

She gestured lazily toward the fixer.

Marcus stepped forward. “No deal.”

She smiled wider. “I wasn’t speaking to you.”

Elliot’s voice dropped dangerously low. “You won’t touch her.”

“Oh, Elliot,” she sighed. “I already have.”

The lights dimmed.

A screen flickered to life behind her.

Footage appeared.

Grainy. Shaky.

My father’s voice filled the chamber.

“If you’re hearing this… it means I didn’t make it. The name is”

The audio cut.

My scream tore out of me. “Finish it!”

She laughed softly. “That’s the problem. The recording cuts out just before he says it.”

Marcus’s eyes widened.

“But,” she added, “your father made a backup. One encrypted to a biometric key.”

Her gaze returned to me.

“You.”

My legs felt weak.

“He coded it to your heartbeat,” she said gently. “Your voice. Your DNA.”

Elliot turned to me slowly. “That’s why the drive only responds to you.”

The room spun.

“So,” she concluded, “you have a choice.”

Her eyes glittered.

“Give me the drive… and save a life.”

She leaned closer.

“Or protect the truth… and watch someone die for it.”

The fixer began to convulse in the chair.

A timer appeared above him.

60 seconds.

Elliot grabbed my shoulders. “Whatever you choose,” he said urgently, “do it knowing this once that name is exposed… there is no going back.”

The timer ticked down.

59… 58…

And I realized

This wasn’t just about survival anymore.

It was about rewriting the world.