The message remained on my screen.
**COME ALONE, AMARA.**
My fingers went numb.
I stared at Damien’s photograph.
His face was bruised.
Blood stained his shirt.
But his eyes were open.
He was alive.
For now.
“Amara.”
Adrian’s voice sounded far away.
“Give me the phone.”
I didn’t.
“Amara.”
“They have him.”
“I know.”
“I have to go.”
Adrian stepped in front of me.
“No.”
I looked at him.
“They’ll kill him.”
“They want you to think that.”
“They sent me a photograph.”
“Exactly.”
I shook my head.
“I can’t leave him there.”
“You don’t understand who you’re dealing with.”
“I do.”
I looked toward the tunnel.
“They took Damien because of me.”
Adrian’s expression softened.
“That’s exactly what Evelyn wants you to believe.”
I stepped closer.
“My whole life, everyone has told me what I should do.”
My voice shook.
“My mother stayed silent to protect me.”
“Your father disappeared to protect me.”
“Victoria lied to protect me.”
“And Damien…”
I swallowed.
“He was ordered to kill me and chose not to.”
I looked at Adrian.
“I’m done letting other people decide what I’m allowed to risk.”
He stared at me.
“You sound like your mother.”
I almost smiled.
“Good.”
The journey to Vale Manor felt like a funeral procession.
Adrian drove.
I sat beside him.
The black key was in my pocket.
My mother’s necklace rested against my chest.
I kept touching it.
As if it could somehow tell me what to do.
“Adrian.”
“Yes?”
“Why did my mother choose Jonathan?”
He was silent for a moment.
“Because Jonathan loved her without wanting anything from her.”
I looked at him.
“And you?”
“I loved her enough to let her go.”
That answer hurt.
“Did you ever stop loving her?”
“No.”
He looked at the road.
“I don’t think I ever will.”
I looked out the window.
“Then why didn’t you come back?”
“Because Evelyn made me choose.”
“Between what?”
“You and your mother.”
My heart tightened.
“She told me if I returned, she would kill you both.”
“And you believed her?”
“I had already seen what she was capable of.”
I stared at him.
“What did she do?”
Adrian’s hands tightened around the steering wheel.
“She killed her own husband.”
I turned.
“What?”
“Evelyn’s husband discovered what the Crimson Circle was becoming.”
“And she killed him?”
“Yes.”
“Then she killed my mother?”
“Yes.”
“And my father?”
“She didn’t pull the trigger.”
I froze.
“What?”
Adrian looked at me.
“Evelyn doesn’t usually kill people herself.”
“Then who does?”
He didn’t answer.
I felt a chill.
“Who?”
Adrian whispered:
“The Vale heir.”
My heart stopped.
“Damien?”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“His father.”
Richard Vale.
The man Damien had spent five years trying to avenge.
My mind raced.
“Richard killed my father?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
Adrian’s expression hardened.
“The person Richard was protecting.”
Vale Manor appeared through the trees.
The gates opened before we reached them.
I stared.
“They’re expecting us.”
“Yes.”
Adrian stopped the car.
I looked at him.
“Stay here.”
“No.”
“Adrian.”
“I lost you once.”
“You didn’t lose me.”
“I lost twenty-four years.”
His voice cracked.
“I’m not losing you again.”
I reached for his hand.
“You won’t.”
Then I stepped out.
The manor was completely dark.
Every window.
Every door.
Except one.
The entrance hall.
The same place where Victoria’s body had been found.
I walked inside.
The doors slammed shut behind me.
Adrian tried them.
Locked.
“Amara!”
I turned.
“I’m fine.”
A light flickered on.
Evelyn stood at the top of the staircase.
She wore a black dress.
Her expression was calm.
Almost gentle.
“Welcome home.”
I stared at her.
“You have Damien.”
“Yes.”
“Let him go.”
“Not yet.”
I pulled the key from my pocket.
“You want this.”
Her eyes immediately fell on it.
“Yes.”
“Then take it.”
She smiled.
“You’ve finally learned.”
“I have one condition.”
She raised an eyebrow.
“Let Damien go.”
Evelyn laughed.
“You really do love him.”
I said nothing.
“Interesting.”
She descended the stairs.
“Do you know what the Circle believes?”
“I don’t care.”
“They believe love is weakness.”
She stopped in front of me.
“Your mother believed the same thing.”
“No.”
“She loved Jonathan.”
“And it killed her.”
I stepped closer.
“No.”
Evelyn’s smile faded.
“She died because she trusted the wrong people.”
“She died because of you.”
“Perhaps.”
I raised the key.
“But you’re not getting this.”
Evelyn’s eyes narrowed.
“Then Damien dies.”
“Bring him out.”
She snapped her fingers.
Two men appeared.
They dragged Damien into the room.
His hands were tied.
Blood covered his face.
“Damien!”
His eyes found mine.
“Amara…”
Evelyn smiled.
“Now you understand.”
Damien shook his head.
“Don’t give her the key.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
“She’ll kill you anyway.”
Evelyn laughed.
“Always so noble.”
Damien looked at me.
“Listen to me.”
His voice was weak.
“Whatever happens…”
He swallowed.
“I love you.”
My heart broke.
Evelyn’s expression hardened.
“Enough.”
She turned toward me.
“Give me the key.”
I stepped forward.
Then stopped.
“Before I do…”
I looked at her.
“I want to know what happened five years ago.”
Her smile disappeared.
“What?”
“Who killed my father?”
Silence.
Even Damien went still.
Evelyn slowly smiled.
“You really want to know?”
“Yes.”
She looked toward the hallway.
“Bring him in.”
Footsteps approached.
A man entered.
I recognized him immediately.
My blood froze.
I had seen his face in
photographs.
He had been standing beside Richard Vale.
He had been at my father’s funeral.
He had been watching me for years.
Damien stared at him.
“No…”
The man smiled.
“Hello, Damien.”
Damien’s face went white.
“Father?”
I couldn’t breathe.
Richard Vale was standing in front of us.
Alive.
Evelyn smiled.
“Now, Amara…”
She turned toward me.
“Let’s talk about what really happened five years ago.”
And behind Richard, the doors slowly locked.
**One by one.**