Chapter 41 · The Family Clearance

"Move, Lucas. Or the next bullet goes through your heart."

I kept the gun jammed against his chest.

His shirt was warm beneath the barrel. Blood had soaked through his side where the cleaner's round had grazed him, spreading from his ribs to his waist.

Lucas looked pale. He didn't step back.

"You just heard Command order me to kill you," he said. "And you're still standing close enough to make it easy."

"I'm giving you one chance to prove you're not one of them."

His eyes dropped to the gun, then lifted back to mine. "The archive."

I tightened my grip. "What about it?"

"The Vale Black File is under the old command vault." His throat worked. "The original record will show who staged your death."

"And?"

"Who signed the purge list."

My finger pressed harder against the trigger. "You know where it is?"

"I grew up behind its locks."

A burst of static cracked through the broadcast room.

Outside, the city screens changed. My childhood face vanished beneath a red execution notice.

**WANTED: EVELYN VOSS.** **DECEASED HEIR. DOMESTIC TERRORIST. SHOOT ON SIGHT.**

I looked back at him. "You hid that file for years."

"I didn't know it existed."