Chapter 12 · The Man Below

The key weighs nothing in my pocket but it might as well be made of lead.

I sit on the edge of Cade's bed while he paces the length of his quarters, phone pressed to his ear. Blood's dried on his collar. His knuckles are raw. He's been on calls since we got back, voice clipped and cold, shutting down every beta who tries to ask what happened in the archive hall.

He doesn't ask me about Mira. Doesn't ask what she said before she left.

Smart man.

The black iron key digs into my thigh through the fabric. Mira said it opens the sub-level. The real records. Proof that Damon orchestrated the Thornwood massacre, not just followed orders. Proof that Cade's father might've been a puppet, not the mastermind.

If I use it, I go alone. I don't tell Cade. I take what I find to Mira and we burn Ironridge to the ground.

If I tell Cade, I hand him a loaded gun pointed at his own second.

Cade ends the call and turns. His eyes find mine. Gold flickers at the edges.

"You're still here," he says.

"I said I'd stay."

"You also said you'd kill me."