Chapter 22 · The Crown Vault

"Evelyn Ashford." Mira's voice bubbled through the blood in her throat. "That's your real name, isn't it?"

My hand stopped inches above the manual-mode button. Carson's sword was wedged between me and the sacrifice interface, but Mira's words hit harder than steel.

"What did you just say?" Carson asked. His voice went flat. Dangerous.

Mira coughed. Red spattered the stone. She sagged against the wall, one hand clamped over the wound in her side. "Found an old registry. Lower archives. Took me three years."

"You're lying." I couldn't get enough air. "That's not my—"

"Birth record. Royal seal." Mira's eyes locked onto mine. "Evelyn Ashford. Daughter of King Marcus. Declared dead at seven after the palace fire."

"Ashford?" Carson turned on me. His face had gone raw with anger. "You're the princess? The one they said burned?"

"I'm not a princess." My control ring tightened around my wrist, pulsing hot. "I don't remember any of that."

"The system called you House Voss," Carson said.

"Because Voss was the cover designation." Mira dragged in a thin breath. "The royal family buried the Ashford name. Voss was the house assigned to the surviving heir.