Chapter 146 The Interrogation
The door closed behind the last person.
The sound settled into the room and stayed there.
Devon remained where he was, one hand resting lightly against the back of his chair. His posture was still composed, but there was a new awareness in it now. Not fear. Not yet. Just calculation.
Kane did not rush to speak.
He sat at the head of the table, his attention fixed entirely on Devon. Aria stayed a few steps to his right, her gaze steady. Marcus moved back toward the table, the tablet already in his hand. Maya stood near the far side of the room, arms crossed, watching without interruption.
For a moment, no one said anything.
Devon broke the silence first.
“What exactly is this about?” he asked.
His tone was even, almost conversational, but it did not carry the same ease it had earlier.
Kane’s jaw tightened.
“I want to revisit a few things,” he said.
Devon’s eyes narrowed.
“We already did that.”
“Not like this.”
The shift in the room was immediate.
Devon straightened fully, no longer leaning on the chair.
“Then say what you mean.”
Kane didn’t answer him.
He glanced once at Marcus.
Marcus stepped forward and set the tablet down on the table between them. He turned the screen so it faced Devon, then pressed play.
The footage began.
Grainy. Angled. The same corridor from the night Amanda escaped.
Devon watched it without moving.
The man in the footage stepped forward, opened the door from the outside, and moved back. Amanda walked through. The figure closed the door.
The video ended.
Silence followed.
Devon looked at the screen for a second longer, then lifted his gaze to Marcus.
“Where did you get this?”
“From an external source,” Marcus replied.
Devon’s expression did not change.
“That could be anyone.”
“It could,” Marcus said.
A small pause settled between them.
Devon leaned back, folding his arms.
“And you think it’s me.”
Kane pushed forward in his chair.
“I’m asking you to explain it.”
Devon let out a breath that almost sounded like a laugh.
“There’s nothing to explain. You have a low-quality recording of a man opening a door.”
“No,” Kane said, and his voice had an edge now. “I have you letting out the woman who threatened us.”
Devon’s expression sharpened.
“You don’t know that.”
“Show him the second one,” Kane said.
Marcus tapped the screen.
This one was clearer.
The exterior wall of the east perimeter. Devon himself.
Aria watched Devon instead of the footage. She saw the exact moment he recognized it. Not surprised. He looked at the footage of himself picking up the piece of concrete, turning it once in his hand, then striking himself with it. Hard enough to stagger. Hard enough to sell it.
He slid down the wall, positioned himself and waited.
The video ended.
Devon did not speak immediately.
He looked at Marcus, then at Kane.
“You’ve been busy,” he said.
Kane stood up.
Not slowly. Not the careful, controlled rise of someone managing his reaction. He stood like the chair was in his way.
“You staged it,” he said. “You walked her out. You stood in the planning rooms with us while she was feeding information out of this territory, and you said nothing.”
Devon’s chin lifted.
“Yes. But I can explain.”
“Explain.”
“ I had to.”
“That is not an answer.”
“It’s the only one I’m giving right now.”
Kane’s voice cut harder.
“You don’t get to decide that. Not in this room. Not after what you did.”
Devon stepped forward, closing the space between them.
“What I did,” he said, “saved a child’s life. So yes. I would do it again.”
“And the witches?” Kane said. “The ones who hit our border? The ones who got close enough to touch my family? Was that part of keeping a child alive?”
Devon’s jaw tightened.
“I did not cause those attacks.”
“You enabled every single one of them.”
“I kept her from escalating. You don’t know what she would have done if I hadn’t…”
“She’s dead,” Kane said. The words came out flat. Final. “She’s dead, and you stood there and watched it happen. So whatever you think you were managing, you failed.”
The room went very still.
Devon’s expression did not collapse. But something moved behind it.
Aria stepped forward.
“You helped Amanda escape,” she said. “You kept her secret. And then when it mattered, you let her walk into a fight she couldn’t survive.”
Devon looked at her.
“That’s not what happened.”
“Then what happened?”
A pause.
“She made her own choices.”
Aria felt something cold move through her chest.
“You knew what she was walking into,” she said. “You knew how that night was going to go. And you said nothing.”
Devon’s gaze held hers.
“I have nothing to say to you.”
Kane’s eyes narrowed.
“We know about Emma,” Kane said. “We ran the test. We know she’s not your niece.”
Devon said nothing.
“She’s Amanda’s daughter,” Kane continued. “Which means you helped Amanda stay connected to this territory, helped her stay protected, helped her stay alive long enough to do damage, and then you stood by while she died.”
“I protected Emma,” Devon said.
“You used Emma,” Kane replied. “As a reason. As a cover. As something to point to so you didn’t have to account for the rest of it.”
Devon’s voice rose for the first time.
“She is four years old. She had no one else.”
“She had her mother.”
“Her mother was going to destroy everything and take Emma down with her.” Devon’s composure cracked at the edges now, something raw and furious bleeding through. “Amanda was not capable. She never was. Every decision she made was about her own damage. Every single one. Emma deserved better than that.”
Aria stared at him.
“So you decided,” she said.
“Someone had to.”
“She was her mother, Devon.”
“And I am more of a parent to that girl than she ever managed to be.” The words came out before he seemed to fully choose them. Hard. Certain. Almost defiant. “I was there every day. I kept her fed and safe and calm while Amanda was out running wars and burning bridges and making enemies out of people who could have helped her. So yes. I decided. Because Amanda had already decided Emma didn’t matter as much as whatever she was chasing.”
The room held very still.
Kane looked at him for a long moment.
When he spoke again, his voice was quieter. Not softer.
“Whatever you believe about why you did this, the result is the same. People in my territory got hurt. My family was put at risk. And you stood in this room, at this table, and you let it happen.”
“I managed that risk.”
Kane’s expression didn’t change.
“You don’t get to decide what risk is acceptable in my territory.”
Devon didn’t respond to that.
Aria stepped forward slightly.
“You stood with us,” she said. “You planned with us. You knew everything. And you said nothing.”
Kane leaned forward slightly.
Aria felt something settle in her chest.
“All of this,” she said quietly. “Amanda. The lies. The risk. That was revenge to you?”
Devon looked at her.
“No.”
A pause.
Aria’s brows pulled together slightly.
“And then?”
Devon’s gaze shifted back to Kane.
Kane’s eyes narrowed.
“What?”
Devon didn’t answer immediately.
He looked at Kane.
Really looked at him.
And then…
“You really don’t know, do you?”
The room stilled.