Chapter 17 · Kill Him. Get the Truth.

"Mara, don't."

Kael’s hand clamped around my wrist before I could rip his blade free.

His fingers were hot, locking me in place. Blood was still drying across his knuckles, tacky and dark. The blade sat right there between us, half-drawn from the sheath at his hip. One hard twist and it was mine. One sharper move and I could slide it under his ribs.

Behind him, the vault speakers crackled to life.

"Kill him," Cyrus Grant’s voice echoed. "Get the truth."

Elias let out a broken sound from the floor. Noah swore, slamming his palm against the dead control panel.

"Shut up, Cyrus!" I snapped.

"You want to know who opened the Voss gates?" Cyrus sounded bored. Almost amused. "Who gave the order to turn your family into a cleanup report? Ask Kael. He was there."

Kael’s grip tightened.

No denial. No outrage. Just a heavy, suffocating silence.

My pulse hammered against his fingers. "You were there?"

"Mara—"

"Answer me!"

"It’s not what he means."

"That isn't an answer!"

Kael stepped in, forcing my wrist down between our bodies. He crowded me.