Chapter 26 · The Door Under City Hall

"Move." Mara shoved past him before Adrian could lock the archive door.

"You can't be down here." He grabbed her wrist. "Mara, listen to me—"

"Let go." She twisted free, already halfway down the concrete stairs. The air tasted like rust and old paper. Emergency lights threw everything into red and shadow. "You knew there was a door under City Hall. You knew and you didn't tell me."

"I was trying to keep you out of it."

"Out of what?" She spun on him, three steps down, close enough he could see the black key mark on her palm pulsing in time with her heartbeat. "Out of the truth? Out of whatever your father did to mine?"

Adrian's jaw tightened. "It's not that simple."

"Then make it simple." Her voice echoed off the narrow walls. "Start talking or I go through every file in this place until I find it myself."

He didn't move. She turned and kept going.

The basement corridor stretched longer than it should. Mara counted doors—locked storage, locked records, locked everything. City Hall kept its secrets in layers. The key mark on her hand burned hotter with every step, like it knew where she was going.