Chapter 23: The Truth

My breath snagged.

“What?” I asked, spinning to face him. “What did you just say?”

His expression twisted, a pained look shared between him and Lucien. “They’ve arrived in force. Your family.”

“No,” I said, the word cracking out of me. “That’s not possible. My family is dead. They’ve been dead for years—”

“They weren’t,” Fionn said grimly. “They were in hiding. And now they’re not. They’ve come for you.”

I staggered back a step.

The name Everleigh—my name—rang out like a battle cry in my ears, muddled by disbelief and betrayal. “Why would they—Why now? Why didn’t anyone tell me?”

Lucien’s jaw clenched, and his silence was the loudest answer of all.

I blinked at both of them. “So what am I? A pawn again? Something to be passed between kingdoms and castles until someone finally decides what to do with me?”

“No,” Lucien said, stepping toward me. “You’re not a pawn. That’s why we have to move. Now.”

But the world spun. My pulse roared in my ears.

My brother was alive. My family had returned. And all I could do was stand there—swaddled in silk, dripping in jewels chosen by the very man I’d just kissed and cursed—wondering if I was anyone at all.

“You knew they were alive?” I demanded of Lucien, but the question cracked with exhaustion.

He looked at me then, raw and ancient. “Not until it was too late.”

“Don’t you see?” I turned to Fionn, gesturing wildly. “They’re my family and you—you let me mourn you like a ghost for years while you wore some servant’s face and stood at my bedside—”

“I wanted to tell you every damn day,” Fionn said, voice suddenly ragged, “but I didn’t know if you’d see me and hate me.”

Tears threatened again—hot, traitorous things—but I swallowed them down, hard.

“I don’t know who the hell you are anymore.”

Fionn flinched, but he nodded.

Lucien stepped between us, voice low and urgent. “We have to move, Arabella. You’re not safe out here.”

I was trembling. Fury, heartbreak, confusion—all clawing up my throat at once. “So now what? You drag me underground again? Hide me like some prized relic while everyone fights over me?”

“No,” Lucien said, eyes locked on mine. “This time, you choose where you go.”

And that—of all things—was what finally shattered the wall I’d thrown up around my heart.

I still wanted to run.

But this time, I didn’t know where from.

Or who to.

The castle groaned beneath us.

I could feel it in the floor—like thunder rolling beneath stone. Footsteps. Hundreds of them. Somewhere, a bell began to toll, low and warning.

Lucien reached for me. I didn’t take his hand. Only kept my eyes straight. But I followed.

We tore from the balcony, Fionn already ahead, shouting instructions at guards who scattered like startled birds. Vampires ran in every direction—some confused, others rallying into dark, disciplined lines. Court dancers turned to warriors in an instant, silk replaced by steel.

“Where are we going?” I shouted.

“Below,” Lucien answered, his voice taut. “To the old halls. They’re sealed. Shielded. Only a few can find the way.”

“And you trust him?” I hissed, nodding to Fionn’s back.

Lucien glanced at me. “Do you?”

“I don’t know.”

That was the worst part.

Fionn moved with unflinching certainty—down a servant’s stairwell, through a tapestry-hidden door, into narrow stone corridors older than the castle above.

As we descended, I saw symbols etched into the walls—runes I couldn’t read but felt deep in my bones. Cold, old magic. Protective and cruel.

Behind us, the roar of combat had begun.

“What do they want?” I asked breathlessly.

“Depends which of them made it through the gates,” Fionn said. “Some of the Everleighs are coming to rescue you.”

“And the others?”

He looked back. “The others might want you dead.”

Lucien bared his teeth. “Let them try. So what.”

“Careful,” I snapped. “This isn’t your war.”

He shot me a look. “It's been mine for far longer than you've known.”

We reached a solid door, ancient iron threaded with silver filigree. Fionn laid his palm on it. A shimmer of red light passed through the markings, and it creaked open with a sound like the world sighing.

Inside was dark stone and a low, vaulted ceiling. A hidden room carved from the mountain itself. Cold. Silent.

Safe.

For now.

Lucien and Fionn exchanged glances, both of them with cold and calculating eyes. Both of them, I missed like I'd known them for centuries.

I turned on them both. “What aren’t you telling me?”

Fionn opened his mouth—but the crash of something massive striking the castle above cut through everything.

Lucien pressed his hand to the wall. “They’ve breached the upper court.”

“Who?” I demanded.

His eyes were unreadable.

Then: “Your mother.”