Chapter 14 · The Last Night He Saw Dad

"Move." Adrian's fingers locked around my wrist before I could pull away.

"Where—"

"Somewhere Victor can't reach." He dragged me down a corridor I'd never seen. Marble turned to stone turned to packed dirt under my feet. The air smelled like rust and old blood.

I dug my heels in. "Stop."

He stopped. Turned. His face looked carved out, too pale in the dim light.

"You saw Victor's mark," I said. "You knew. This whole time—"

"I suspected."

"Bullshit." I yanked my wrist free. "You're on the Council. You have access to everything. You knew he killed my grandfather. My great-grandfather. You knew."

"Yeah." His voice went flat. "I knew Victor executed hunters thirty years ago. Council orders. It's in the records."

"And you didn't think to mention it?"

"Would you have believed me?" He stepped closer. "Three days ago you thought I killed your father."

That landed hard. I looked away first.

"The archives are down here." Adrian started walking again. "Everything the Council wants buried. Including the night your father died."

My heart kicked against my ribs. "You said you weren't there."

"I wasn't." He stopped at a door. Solid iron, no handle. "But someone recorded it."

"Who?"