Chapter 24 · The Traitor on the Throne

The lights come back on all at once. Not the warm yellow glow from before. Cold white fluorescents that buzz like wasps.

I'm still holding the recorder. My mother's voice is gone but I can still hear it looping in my head. *Ivy is the heir. Theron told me three days before he died.*

Silas is staring at the wall where the hidden panel sits open. His face is gray. Not pale. Gray like something drained.

"Your aunt," I say. My voice comes out flat. "She ordered it. She killed my family because your father told her about me."

He doesn't answer. His hand is pressed against the tile wall like he needs it to stay upright.

Mara's backed into the corner by the turnstiles. Her arms are wrapped around herself and she won't look at me. The thing wearing Lena's face is gone. Just empty air where it was hanging.

"We have to go," I say. "Right now. We take this to the Court and—"

"They won't believe it." Silas's voice is barely there. "She's held the throne for six years. She has the military. The council. Half the bloodline families owe her favors.