Chapter 20 · The Echo in the Marrow

"Get your hands off her, you parasitic piece of shit!"

Cade didn't just speak—he launched. His shoulder slammed into Silas with a bone-deep thud, sending the older man sprawling across the damp stone floor. The impact echoed like a gunshot in the narrow cell.

Cade didn't let up. He lunged, grabbing Silas by the collar and hauling him up until his boots barely touched the ground. He pinned him against the rusted iron bars with a violent rattle.

I froze. Back pressed against the cold wall, chest heaving. My heart wasn't drumming from the fight—it was that voice. The one in the system. It sounded like him. The man who raised me. The man who lied to me and vanished into the black market years ago.

"You're dead," Cade spat. His voice was a low, dangerous vibration. "I saw the records. The Council scrubbed you. You're a ghost, Silas. Why the hell are you talking to her through the Gate-Mind?"

Silas didn't struggle. He laughed. It was a wet, rattling sound that made my skin crawl. He looked older, grayer, but those eyes still had that same calculating glint. It used to make me feel safe.