Chapter 16 · Pactblood

Silas stood in front of the shattered mirror like he'd been waiting his whole life for this moment.

"Valentine," he said again, and the name sat wrong in Evelyn's mouth. Not hers. Couldn't be hers. But the fire under her skin twisted tighter, like it recognized the sound.

Nolan stepped between them. His hand found her wrist, fingers pressing against her pulse. "Don't," he said, and she didn't know if he was talking to her or his uncle.

Silas smiled. The kind that didn't reach anywhere near his eyes. "You brought her straight to me. I have to admit, Nolan, I didn't think you'd make it this easy."

"Easy?" Nolan's voice came out rough. He was still bleeding from the earlier wound, still holding himself too stiff. "You locked us in here."

"I opened a door." Silas tilted his head, gaze sliding past Nolan to fix on Evelyn. "Your father did the same thing fifteen years ago. He walked her mother into this very archive and made a deal. The Morrow line for the city core. Clean trade. Except she didn't tell him she had two children."

Evelyn's breath caught.