Page 16

V anya

Cassia stands perfectly still against the concrete wall, tablet clutched against her chest like armor. Her professional posture is intact, but the tension radiating from her speaks volumes. When our eyes meet, I catch the flicker of concern that she’s fighting to hide.

“Elder Arrowvane. Reports are saying that you’re interrogating a high-value asset,” she says. She’s maintaining her role as part of the Ivory League administration.

“Yes, I am,” I reply, then add, “We’re free to talk, Cass.

The site is secure.” I glance around the corridor.

The surveillance systems down here will remain offline until I’m ready to activate them.

There are advantages to having the reputation I’ve cultivated over the years.

The Shadowhand has methods that are seldom questioned.

She exhales a breath. “It’s him. You called him, and he found a way in,” she speaks quickly. “He’s here now. Her father.”

I nod because there’s no sense in denying it. “I had no choice.”

She hesitates before responding, perhaps contemplating whether this is entirely true. “You think he’ll help her,” she says.

“Yes.” I sigh. “I… I wish I knew what else to do. But with the threat from Vex…”

“I understand. It’s what any mother would do.” Her lips curve into a small smile. “How did it go?” she asks quietly.

“I told him the truth.” The words feel strange on my tongue. For fifteen years, I’ve compartmentalized this—Hargen believing me dead while I watched him grieve from the shadows. Now that wall has crumbled, and I’m not sure what stands in its place.

“How much?”

“Everything that matters. That I’m alive. That we have a daughter.” I rub the back of my neck, trying to loosen tight muscles. “He’s… processing.”

Cassia nods, though I can see the worry etched in the lines around her eyes. “How the hell did he get in?”

“Pretended he’d been manipulated into defecting, but now he’s back with valuable intel.” I make a wry face.

“That’s his cover story? Is it holding?”

“For now. Aurora’s done their work well—to anyone delving into his mind, he was magically coerced during his time helping them. The psychological markers are convincing enough.”

“Good. Because we have bigger problems brewing.” Her professional composure wavers slightly. “I’ve been talking with the others in our network. They’re all concerned about the recent developments with Vex.”

The guilt hits me once more. The others.

The handful of people throughout the Syndicate who’ve helped us protect mixed-heritage families over the years.

People who’ve risked their careers, their lives, their families’ safety to save strangers from persecution.

People who trusted me to keep our activities subtle, undetectable.

“What kind of concerns?” I ask, though my stomach is already dropping.

“That your actions are going to affect all of us, Vanya.” Her eyes darken.

“I know. This is my fault.” The admission tastes bitter. “God, if only I knew what else to do. The message I sent—”

“This was always coming,” Cassia cuts me off. “Vex has been building toward this for months.”

“The existing program?” I ask, though I’m afraid of the answer.

“At risk.” She pulls in a breath. “If the investigation goes deep enough, if they start analyzing connection patterns…”

“Everyone we’ve protected over the years…”

“So many families, Vanya. So many we’ve managed to help.”

The weight of it crashes over me. Years of careful work, hundreds of lives saved through subtle manipulation and strategic misdirection. All of it built on the foundation of my position within the Ivory League—a position that grows more precarious with each passing hour.

“I think I can protect you,” Cassia continues. “The Shadowhand position carries enough authority to weather most investigations. If we’re careful, if we don’t give them anything concrete to pursue—”

“But not Ember.” The words hang between us like a dark cloud. Cassia’s protective strategies might shield me from scrutiny, but they can’t hide a woman whose mixed heritage will be exposed the moment enhanced protocols begin scanning young adults.

“No.” The admission costs her. “Not Ember.”

I may have hidden her existence from the upper levels of Syndicate leadership, but the minute she comes into her full dragon power, she’s going to ping someone’s radar.

I lean against the wall, feeling the careful architecture of our shared deception beginning to crumble.

For fifteen years, we’ve played a dangerous game—protecting those who needed it while maintaining the illusion of loyalty to an organization that would destroy us all if they knew the truth.

We’ve saved lives through strategic sabotage and selective blindness.

But we’ve never faced a situation like this. Never confronted the reality that saving some might require sacrificing others.

“The enhanced protocols,” I say quietly. “Once they’re implemented, there’s no hiding what she is.”

“No.”

“And if I run with her—if I use the extraction protocols to make us disappear—”

“The network collapses. You’ll be identified as a traitor and everyone we’ve protected becomes vulnerable.” Cassia’s professional mask slips further, showing the fear beneath. “Vex and the others will tear apart every connection, every safe house, every family we’ve relocated.”

The choice crystallizes before me with terrible clarity. Save my daughter and condemn dozens of other families to exposure and possible execution. Or trust that somehow, impossibly, we can find a way to protect everyone.

Come on, woman. There has to be something you can do, dammit!

And then it dawns on me.

“I know what I need to do,” I tell her, my heart breaking as I say the words. “And I can do it in a way that will keep everyone safe.” As I say the words, I pray that they’re true.

“You’re sure?” she asks.

“Absolutely.” I manage a tight smile. “Go tell the others. I have some things to do, and then I’ll update you. But it’s going to work out. I promise.”

She reaches a hand to me and squeezes my arm. “Thank you, Vanya. Not just for this. But for everything. I know you’ve made more sacrifices than anyone should have to make in one lifetime.”

She disappears into the elevator, leaving me alone in the corridor with the weight of decisions that will reshape everything.

For fifteen years, I’ve protected my daughter by hiding her from a world that would destroy her for existing.

Now, the only way to keep her safe is to introduce her to the father she’s never known.

The lock disengages with a soft click as I return to the interrogation chamber. Hargen looks up as I enter, his dark eyes searching my face for answers I’m not sure I’m ready to give.

“We need to go,” I say quietly.

He stands slowly, wariness written in every line of his body. “Where?”

“To meet our daughter.”

He goes very still, and I watch emotions war across his features—hope, fear, anticipation.

“Now?” His voice is carefully controlled.

“Now.” I move toward the door. “Surveillance is disabled, but that won’t last forever. We have a window, and I intend to use it.”

“Vanya.” He stops me with a hand on my arm, his touch burning through the fabric of my jacket. “What aren’t you telling me?”

Everything. The enhanced protocols that will expose Ember within days. The network of families whose lives depend on decisions I make in the next few hours. The choice between saving my daughter and protecting everyone else I’ve sworn to defend.

“That we’re running out of time,” I say instead.

It’s true enough. All of it—the investigation, the protocols, the careful balance that’s kept us safe for fifteen years—everything is accelerating toward a point where choices will be made for us if we don’t act first.

He studies my face for a long moment, reading the urgency I’m trying to project without revealing the full scope of what we’re facing.

“Alright,” he says finally. “Take me to her.”

I nod, though I’m fighting down fear. In a few hours, the most carefully guarded secret of my life will be exposed. The daughter I’ve protected through years of deception will finally meet the father who only just learned she existed.

And everything we’ve built—all of it—will change forever.