“And the evidence...” Thessa gestured at the papers. “It’s been here the whole time, hidden and waiting.”
We kept reading. More documents. More proof. Financial records showing payments funneled to mercenary groups and rogues. Correspondence between Soren and someone called “A,” Ashcroft presumably. Plans for destabilizing the realm, for eliminating rivals, for a coup that had apparently been in the works for longer than I’d been alive. Murder attempts against heirs documented and analyzed. Contact lists for rogues and mercenaries willing to do the dirty work.
The recent attacks on Caelan’s father. The coup attempt. It wasn’t random. It was the culmination of a conspiracy that started before I was born. And now Soren knew I was here, knew I might find exactly what we’d just found.
“We have to tell your parents,” I said, my heart pounding. “We have to show them this. Now.”
“Agreed.” Thessa was already gathering the papers, shoving them back into the chest. “This changes everything. This is...”
We stepped out of the vault.
And we weren’t alone.
Men stood in the library. Six of them, dressed in dark clothes, their faces blank. They’d entered silently, surrounded the exit, trapped us with the evidence clutched in our arms.
One of them stepped forward, older, gray-haired, with authority in every line of his body.
“Seize them,” he said.
Of course. Because my life couldn’t just give me one win. I find the evidence that could bring down the conspiracy that killed my parents, and I can’t even make it out of the room. Fucking typical.
31
— • —
Riley
I fought.
Two men grabbed my arms, wrenching them behind my back, and I struggled against their grip with everything I had. Kicked, twisted, threw my weight around. But I wasn’t strong enough, not even close. These were wolves, trained soldiers, and I was a newly awakened wolf who’d been sick for weeks and was currently pregnant.
I thought about shifting. My wolf was there, ready, snarling to be let out. But it would take too long. By the time I completed the transformation, they’d have me pinned. Or worse.
Metal clicked around my wrists.
The pain was immediate. My skin burned from the inside out, agony radiating up my arms and through my entire body. Iwhimpered, unable to stop myself, my knees buckling as the pain overwhelmed every other thought.
“Wolfsbane,” a voice said. Calm. Amused.
The gray-haired man stepped into my line of sight. He was smiling, a satisfied expression that made my stomach turn.
“Long time no see, little Mirabelle.” He tilted his head, studying my face. “Remember me?”
I stared at him through the haze of pain. I knew it was Soren from the council meeting, from the way he’d looked at me with recognition in his eyes. But I searched my memory for details from before, a flicker of recognition from my childhood, from the night my parents died.
Nothing.
“No,” I said. “I have no idea who you are.”
His smile faltered. Just for a moment.
“Shame.” He stepped closer, and I could see his eyes now. Pale, almost colorless, empty of anything resembling humanity. “I do remember you. I remember chasing your pathetic parents through the woods. I remember watching the portal open. I remember you jumping through that damn thing, disappearing before I could finish what I started.”
My blood ran cold.
This was the man who killed my parents.
“I thought you were dead,” he continued. “Gone for sure. Swallowed up by the human realm, never to return. So imagine my surprise when you walked into that council room on the prince’s arm.” His jaw tightened. “Why the hell did you have to return?”
