The silence in the marble foyer was suffocating. Faith felt as though the floor had turned into glass, ready to shatter at any moment. She looked at the weary woman in the trench coat to the frozen, pale Alpha at her side.
"Mom?" Faith's voice was a broken whisper. "They.…they said you disappeared. They said you were dead."
"I was hiding, Faith," her mother said, her voice low . She didn't move toward her daughter, her eyes remained locked on Killian. "I was hiding from the men who built the Red Cell. The men who wanted to turn our blood into a battery for their empire."
Killian's grip on Faith's hand tightened, his knuckles white. "Sarah," he breathed, the name sounding heavy in the air. "I genuinely didn't know you were alive. My father….he told the Council the search was over."
"Because your father was the one who stopped looking, Killian," Sarah hissed, stepping into the light. The scars on the side of her face shimmered—marks of an old, high-voltage burn. "Your father didn't want a scholar. He wanted a weapon. And now, I see his son has followed in his footsteps. Buying my daughter clothes? Putting a Consort ring on her finger while she's still a child?"
Faith looked down at the sapphire ring. It felt like it was burning her skin. "He saved me, Mom. He pulled me out of the traffickers' van. He just risked everything to get me out of that bunker."
"No Faith! He saved his investment." Sarah shouted, her composure finally breaking. "He didn't find you by accident. The Nightshades have a tracking frequency tuned to our DNA. They've had it since before you were born. the only thing he just had to do was wait .So He waited until you were desperate and broken, so he could play the hero and win your loyalty. It's the oldest Alpha trick in the book."
Faith pulled her hand out of Killian's. She stepped back, her eyes wide with a sudden, sharp realization. "Killian... is that true? Did you find me because of a frequency?"
Killian didn't look away. His jaw was set, his golden eyes stirring with guilt and a terrifying, possessive honesty. "I found you because I was looking for you, Faith. My father's records had your signature. I knew you were the only one who could bridge the Grid. But the traffickers…that wasn't planned. I didn't wait for you to be hurt."
"But you didn't tell me," Faith whispered. You let me believe it was fate. You let me believe I was just 'luck' on your windshield.
"I was protecting the asset!" Killian's voice roared, his Alpha aura flared for a split second before he forced it down. "And then…then I couldn't bring myself to let you go. Every time I tried to treat you like a business deal, my wolf screamed at me to keep you close. I'm not my father, Faith. I didn't put you in that cell. I tore it apart to get you out!"
"It doesn't matter," Sarah said, stepping between them. She reached out, her hand trembling as she touched Faith's hair. "We're leaving. Now. I have a safe house outside the Northern borders. Silas is waiting to escort us."
"Silas?" Killian's voice turned lethal. He stepped forward, his eyes glowing. "You would trust a Crescent Alpha over me? He's the one who paid her aunt to sell her!"
He paid to get her away from you! Sarah countered. He knew the Nightshades would never stop watching her. He tried to get her into the Southern neutral zone, but your men intercepted the transport."
Faith felt like a pawn being pulled between two masters. Silas had paid to buy her. Killian had "found" her using a tracker. Her mother had been hiding in the shadows while she scrubbed floors in the trenches.
"Stop it!" Faith screamed.
The room went silent.
"I am not an investment," Faith said, her voice shaking. She looked at Killian. "You lied to me. You branded me with a ring and a debt I never asked for."
She turned to her mother. "And you? You left me in the hands of your abusive wicked sister For twenty years, for years I scrubbed floors, I was hated and they reminded i was nothing everyday! For years I walked on eggshells, for years I never had a smile on my face, I was abused all my life mom! She cried out. and for all those years I thought I was a Dud. I thought I was nothing. You abandoned me while you 'hid' in the woods."
"Faith, I am sorry I had to….
"No," Faith said, her eyes flashing a sudden, brilliant silver, a flash so quick even she didn't realize it happened. I will not go with Silas. And I'm not staying here as a 'Consort.'
She yanked the sapphire ring off her finger and slammed it onto the marble floor. The sound echoed like a gunshot.
"I'm going to find Leo. And then I'm going to finish the Lunar Grid myself. Not for the Council. Not for the Nightshades. For me."
Faith turned toward the door, but before she could take a step,The front doors were kicked open. It wasn't the guards. It was the High Council Enforcers, led by Councilman Vane, who looked battered but triumphant. Behind him, a massive helicopter hovered over the manor, its searchlights blinding.
"Alpha Nightshade!" Vane's voice boomed over a megaphone. "By the order of the Lunar Council, you are under arrest for the destruction of a government facility and the illegal harboring of a High-Level Fugitive. And Sarah….thank you for coming out of hiding. We've been waiting twenty years to complete the set."
Killian stepped in front of Faith,his claws sliding out, his gaze lethal. "You'll have to kill me first, Vane."
That, Vane smiled, "is the plan."