CHAPTER 37

Kael slowly pulled the collar of Vera’s shirt aside, just enough to see the skin near her shoulder. His fingers moved carefully, almost reluctantly, like he was bracing himself for something he didn’t want to find. The room was quiet except for their breathing. The silence felt thick, stretched tight between them. His eyes searched carefully, every muscle in his body tense, every instinct alert.

Nothing.

Just smooth skin.

No mark.

No three slashes.

Kael stared for another second to make sure he wasn’t missing something. His gaze traced the curve of her shoulder again, slower this time, more deliberate. But there was nothing there.

Relief hit him before he could stop it.

It came fast and sharp, loosening the tight knot that had been sitting in his chest since Aaron showed him the file.

Aaron was wrong.

Lucian was wrong.

This girl had nothing to do with that place.

Kael released the fabric of her shirt and stepped back, his fingers falling away from her skin.

Vera blinked at him slowly, clearly confused. “Okay… what exactly was that about?”

“Nothing.”

“That was definitely not nothing.”

“Forget it.”

She crossed her arms under the blanket, watching him with narrowed eyes. Her expression was a mix of suspicion and irritation now. “You just walked in here, stared at me like you were investigating a crime, pulled my shirt, and now you’re saying forget it?”

“Yes.”

“That’s not how conversations work.”

Kael turned slightly away from her, running a hand through his hair. The tension in his chest was slowly fading, draining out of him little by little. For the first time since this whole thing started, his mind was finally quiet.

Then Vera shifted on the bed.

It was a small movement, Nothing dramatic. Just her adjusting her position against the pillows.

But the movement lifted the edge of her shirt along her side for just a second.

Kael saw it and His body went completely still.

Three thin scars, Vertical.

Carved into the skin just below her ribs.

The world seemed to pause around him.

For a moment his brain refused to accept what he was looking at. His mind tried to reject it, to dismiss it as coincidence, as something meaningless.

But he knew that mark.

He knew it too well.

Then the air left his lungs.

Vera noticed the sudden silence behind her and glanced over. “Why are you staring again?”

Kael didn’t answer.

His eyes were locked on the scars.

Three slashes.

Exactly the same.

The same mark burned into his own skin years ago.

The same mark carved into the bodies of the children who survived.

His heart began beating harder.

He stepped closer without realizing it.

Vera frowned slightly, watching him approach again. “Kael?”

His hand moved automatically, pushing the edge of her shirt aside just a little more.

The scars were fully visible now.

Old.

Healed.

But unmistakable.

Vera grabbed the blanket tighter around herself. “Hey—what are you doing?”

Kael barely heard her.

His mind wasn’t in the room anymore.

Cold rooms flashed through his memory.

Concrete floors.

Children lined up against the wall.

Some crying.

Some silent.

A blade dragging across skin.

Three slashes.

The mark of the survivors.

The mark of the ones who lived long enough to keep suffering.

His hand slowly dropped.

Vera followed his gaze and finally noticed what he was looking at.

“Oh.”

Kael’s eyes lifted to hers.

“Oh?” he repeated quietly.

She touched the scar lightly with her fingers like it was something ordinary. Like it was just another small mark on her body that meant nothing.

“This?”

His jaw tightened.

“Yes. That.”

Vera shrugged slightly. “It’s just an old scar.”

“Just?”

“I’ve had it for years.”

Kael stared at her, studying every detail of her face like he was trying to find a lie hiding somewhere in her expression. “Where did you get it?”

Her expression shifted slightly.

“I don’t know exactly.”

“You don’t know?”

She exhaled slowly and leaned her head back against the pillow. “I remember pieces. Not everything.”

Kael’s chest tightened, Of course.

Memories broke apart, leaving only scattered fragments behind.

“What pieces?” he asked.

Vera looked away for a second, her gaze drifting toward the window like she was searching her mind for something buried deep inside it.

Then she spoke quietly.

“A building.”

Kael didn’t move.

“Underground rooms.”

His fingers curled slightly.

“Metal doors,” she continued slowly. “Always locked.”

The air in the room felt heavier now.

“I remember children,” she said after a moment. “A lot of them.”

Kael’s heartbeat started to rise again.

“And the tests.”

His breathing stopped.

Vera frowned slightly like the memory itself bothered her, like it was something her mind didn’t want to hold onto for too long.

“I don’t remember all of it clearly,” she said. “Just flashes.”

“What kind of flashes?”

“Fighting.”

Kael’s jaw tightened.

“People screaming.”

His stomach twisted.

“And a man watching everything like it was entertainment.”

Kael felt cold.

The image in his mind was too familiar.

Too real.

Vera rubbed her temple slightly, clearly uncomfortable now. “The rest is… blurry.”

Kael studied her face carefully.

“You escaped and that is why they are after you,” he said quietly.

She looked back at him.

“Yes.”

“How.....When....How did you escape?”

Her lips pressed together.

“I don’t remember the exact moment. I just know I ran.”

Kael watched her closely.

“You never went back.”

“No.”

“And you never told anyone.”

Vera gave a small, humorless laugh. “Who would believe that story?”

Kael didn’t answer.

She looked at him more carefully now.

Really looked at him.

“Why do you look like you already knew all of that?”

Silence filled the room again.

Vera’s eyes slowly narrowed.

“You’re not surprised.”

Kael didn’t respond.

“You’re not confused either,” she continued quietly.

Her gaze dropped to the scars again, then back to his face.

“You’ve seen this before.”

Kael held her stare.

For a moment neither of them moved.

Vera felt something cold settle in her stomach.

A quiet realization beginning to form.

“Kael,” she said slowly.

“Yes?”

“What aren’t you telling me?”

He stepped closer again.

Close enough that she could feel the tension in his body.

Close enough that the space between them felt charged with something heavy and unspoken.

His voice was low when he finally spoke.

“You were there too.

Vera frowned slightly.

“Where?”

Kael looked at her like the answer had just changed everything.