No one says it, but we are all thinking the same thing.He lost so much blood. Too much blood.
The moment Luca collapsed in the back of the van, it felt like time fractured. His blood had soaked through the bandages. My hands still carried the ghost of it, sticky and warm and terrifying. He’d joked on that van like he wasn’t about to bleed out. Like it was all some game.
I had to stop the bleeding, to keep pressure. I had to hold him together. Now all I can do is wait.
A clock ticks somewhere. It’s too loud. Every time the door at the end of the hall creaks, my pulse skips a beat.
Still no word. Still no Luca.
I’m not sure how much time passes. Noah sits up, lowering his hood and pulling out his earbuds. For a moment, he just stares at me.
“What?” I can’t take him just staring.
He doesn’t say anything. He turns to stare at Tex. I follow his gaze to Tex, his eyes moving over to me.
“Well?” I look back and forth between them. “I’m too tired for this shit, can you guys just get the torture or whatever you’re about to do over with already?” I sink back in my chair.
“There’s something I found I think you ought to know,” Noah says slowly.
“No,” Jace barks before Noah can say anything else.
When I look over at him, his eyes are shooting lasers at Noah. His facial expression a clear warning.
I watch as an entire conversation passes between them in complete silence. I obviously wasn’t invited. The only thing I know is that whatever Noah wants to say, Jace does not want me to know about it. Noah turns to me again.
“I looked into your file, to research who you are and what we could use against you,” Noah says.
“Obviously.”
“We found files on your stepdad, Daniel.”
I feel like a bucket of ice water is thrown over me.They’re going to bring this up here? Now? While we’re waiting for Luca? Are they serious?
“It’s not about what he did to you.” Tex walks over and crouches in front of me.
“Then what about him?” My voice is small.
“When I got into your file, there were redacted documents embedded underneath. Buried deep, like someone doesn’t want anyone to ever find them. But they were Guild-marked,” Noah says.
“What does that mean?” My voice cracks.
Tex leans forward. “It means your stepdad wasn’t just some random scumbag. He was a Guild member.”
I can’t speak. The floor shifts under me — not literally, but in that vertigo way where everything I thought I knew tilts sideways.
“No way,” I breathe.
“Rogue Guild,” Jace says. “Years ago. He broke one of the codes. Not just stealing — he killed someone. A Guild operative. It’s how he got exiled.”
My mind reels. “He… he killed someone? And the Guild…”
“Erased him,” Noah finishes. “Scrubbed him from the records. That’s why it wasn’t in anything the police knew. But the Guild keeps receipts. Quiet ones.”
“He disappeared underground,” Tex adds. “Made enemies. Made deals. When he took you and your mom… it wasn’t random. He knew what he was doing.”
I shake my head, the air feeling too thick to breathe. “No. No, that’s not… My mom took me away. She said she ran because my dad was dangerous.”
Jace’s jaw flexes.
