Chapter 147 The finger of suspicion
Chapter 147 The finger of suspicion
OPHELIA’S POV
The junction chamber feels smaller than it did a minute ago.
Cold stone presses in from every side. Water drips somewhere in the dark. The air smells of dust, old bone, and fresh blood. Torchlight throws long shadows across the floor.
Kai has Damien pinned against the wall.
His forearm is locked across Damien’s chest. Claws press into the side of Damien’s throat deep enough that thin lines of blood run down his skin. The scent of it hits the air hard.
My stomach drops.
“Kai....stop!”
He doesn’t look at me. His voice is rough. “You had the dagger. Your mark. Your armory. Explain before I open your throat.”
Damien doesn’t fight back. He doesn’t even raise his hands. His eyes stay locked on me—on the baby pressed against my chest—like nothing else in the room matters.
“I didn’t throw it,” Damien says quietly. Blood trickles down his neck. “But if I had to choose between her life and mine, I would make the same choice every time.”
The words hit me harder than I expect. My heart starts pounding. Heat rises in my face. Part of me wants to believe him. The same part that still remembers him standing between me and the Architect, choosing me even when it almost killed him.
But the dagger was his.
Kai’s claws dig deeper. “You expect me to believe that?”
“I don’t expect you to believe anything,” Damien answers. His voice stays calm even as blood runs down his neck. “I only care that she’s still breathing.”
I step forward, holding Luna tightly against me. Her small body is the only warm thing that feels real right now. My hands are shaking so hard I have to press her closer just to steady them.
“Kai. Let him go.”
He still doesn’t move. Through the bond I can feel how close Vai is to the surface—angry, protective, ready to kill.
“Kai—”
“Stay out of this, Ophelia.”
“No.” My voice comes out sharper than I mean it to. “You’re going to kill him over a dagger that was stolen. Look at him. He’s not even fighting you.”
Seraphina’s voice cuts through the tension. She’s standing a few feet away, arms crossed, her expression hard. Dirt and dried blood still streak the side of her face.
“The dagger was stolen from the armory three days ago,” she says. “I checked the inventory logs myself after the fortress. Someone took three of Damien’s personal blades. The lock was forced from the inside.”
Kai’s jaw tightens. Slowly, he pulls his claws back. Damien stays against the wall for a second longer, then straightens. Blood still runs down his neck. He doesn’t wipe it away. He just watches me.
The air between the three of us feels heavy.
Then Luna makes a soft sound against my chest.
A warm pulse moves through her body and straight into mine.
My alpha mark flares hard. Heat rushes under my skin. Beside me, Kai draws in a sharp breath—his own mark is reacting too. It feels like something is being pulled from the air around us and fed into her. The torchlight seems to dim. The temperature in the chamber drops.
I look down.
Luna’s eyes are half-open. She’s not crying. She’s watching the stone wall with quiet focus, one tiny hand reaching out.
“She’s taking something,” I whisper. “From the room. From us.”
Kai steps closer, eyes locked on our daughter. “She’s siphoning.”
“How is that possible?” Seraphina asks. “She’s a newborn.”
“I don’t know.” My arms tighten around Luna. “But it’s happening.”
Before either of us can stop her, Luna’s fingers brush the ancient stone.
A deep grinding sound rolls through the catacombs.
Stone shifts. Dust falls in thick gray sheets, coating my hair and shoulders. A section of the wall slides inward with a heavy scrape, revealing a narrow hidden chamber. The air inside smells of old paper and time.
On the far wall, barely visible through the dust, hangs a portrait.
Kai’s mother.
Standing side by side with Morwen.
For a long second, no one speaks.
Then the eyes in the portrait begin to bleed black.
A soft female voice whispers from the stone, clear enough for all of us to hear.
“She was never your enemy, Kai.”