Chapter 11: The Secret Keeper

The gunshot shattered the night.

Ivy screamed as the sound rang in her ears, her legs frozen in place. She didn’t know who had been hit—Aiden or the man who had threatened them. Smoke curled from the barrel of the weapon, and everything slowed, as though the world had paused to breathe in the chaos.

Aiden collapsed to the ground.

“No!” Ivy rushed forward, rain pelting her face, her shoes skidding in the mud as she dropped to her knees beside him. Blood seeped through his shirt, spreading fast.

“Aiden—no, no, stay with me—please!”

His eyes fluttered open, his hand trembling as it reached for hers. “Ivy… run…”

“Not without you!” she cried.

Before she could register anything more, the second figure—the one who fired—stepped into the light. It was a woman.

Tall, with sharp eyes and high cheekbones, she held the gun steadily, but her gaze was not cold. It was conflicted.

“I wasn’t aiming to kill,” she said, lowering the weapon. “But if you stay here, Ivy, you’ll both die.”

Ivy looked up, blinking through the rain. “Who are you?”

“My name is Mira. I used to work for your mother.”

“My… mother?” Ivy’s voice cracked.

“Lilith Keller,” Mira confirmed. “She’s alive.”

The ground seemed to vanish beneath her. For twenty-four years, Ivy had believed her mother was dead. Now a stranger stood before her with a gun in one hand and a declaration that tore through her heart like fire.

“She’s in hiding,” Mira added. “And she sent me to protect you. But I was too late. They got to Celeste first.”

Ivy’s mind spun. “Celeste… she knew. She told me about the bloodline, the prophecy.”

Mira nodded solemnly. “Celeste was the last of the Council who remained loyal. Now it's only you. And your baby.”

Ivy looked back at Aiden. He was conscious but pale. “He needs help,” she said urgently. “We can’t keep running.”

Mira holstered her weapon. “There’s a safehouse not far from here. We can get him patched up there. But you have to trust me.”

Ivy didn’t know who to trust anymore. Everyone around her had lied, betrayed, or died. But Mira had saved Aiden’s life. And she spoke her mother’s name like she knew her intimately.

“I’ll go,” Ivy said, helping Mira lift Aiden.

They drove in silence, Mira navigating through back roads and forest trails until they reached a weathered cottage nestled in a valley, surrounded by nothing but pine and mist. It was the kind of place no one could stumble upon by accident.

Inside, Mira tended to Aiden’s wound with practiced precision. She moved like someone who had been trained—military, maybe, or something worse.

“You were part of this… prophecy thing?” Ivy asked, finally breaking the silence.

“I was part of something before it all went wrong,” Mira said, not looking up. “Your mother believed the prophecy could be broken, that her child wouldn’t have to suffer the same fate. But the Kings had other plans.”

“What plans?” Ivy whispered.

“They wanted to bind the heir—to tie your bloodline to theirs through marriage. Your child was never supposed to be yours. It was supposed to be theirs—groomed, controlled, and used.”

Ivy's blood went cold. “They planned all of this?”

Mira nodded. “Even your meeting with Killian. Everything was orchestrated. The twins were raised to serve a purpose. Killian was supposed to charm you. Aiden was the backup if things went wrong.”

Ivy’s heart slammed in her chest. “You’re saying Aiden was part of it too?”

“He was,” Mira said without flinching. “Until he fell in love with you.”

Ivy stepped back, her breath catching. She looked at Aiden, unconscious on the couch. Was their connection real? Or just another part of the plan?

“I don’t believe that,” she said shakily.

“You should,” Mira replied. “Everyone’s been playing a game. The Kings, the Council, even your family. But you have one thing none of them expected—your baby.”

Aiden stirred then, groaning softly. Ivy rushed to his side, relief flooding her as his eyes fluttered open.

“Are we safe?” he asked weakly.

“For now,” she said.

But Mira was already at the window, her jaw tight. “Not for long.”

Ivy followed her gaze.

A black SUV had parked down the slope. Men in suits emerged, fanning out silently. They were armed.

“They’ve found us,” Mira said. “How?”

Ivy felt her heart drop. She looked around the room. “There’s no tech here. No GPS.”

Mira’s face turned hard. “Then there’s a tracker.”

Her eyes fell to Ivy.

And then—to the bracelet on Ivy’s wrist.

A simple gold charm bracelet. A gift from Killian the day after their “accidental” one-night stand.

“Where did you get that?” Mira asked.

Ivy blinked. “It was a gift…”

Mira yanked it off and crushed it beneath her boot. A small, blinking microchip flickered in the debris.

“You’ve been tracked this entire time.”

Ivy’s knees buckled. “No… he said it was just a gift.”

Mira’s expression didn’t soften. “You were never just a woman, Ivy. You were the heir. And they’ve been watching you since the moment you conceived.”

Aiden sat up, clutching his side. “We have to move.”

“No,” Mira said, turning to them both. “We make our stand here.”

Ivy stared at her. “There’s only three of us—”

“There were only three of us at the Manor of Ash, and we burned it to the ground,” Mira said, pulling a rifle from a hidden panel in the wall. “If we fall today, we fall fighting. But if we survive, we end this.”

Ivy looked at Aiden, who gave her a nod of reassurance.

“I’m tired of running,” she whispered.

And for the first time, Ivy felt the fire of something ancient awaken within her—a force that had been buried deep in her bloodline. The force of the heir.