Chapter 951
Marcus surveyed Liam’s security team, then Alistair, then the unconscious mass of Brutus on the floor. He reached into his pocket and hurled a heavy iron ring onto the wood. The Vance Signet.
“Keep the seal,” Marcus spat. “It will be your tombstone, Julian.”
The Elders marched out.
Julian wheeled himself over to Skye. He looked at her with something approaching awe.
“You are insane,” he said softly.
In𝘵е𝘯𝗌𝗲 𝗋𝗈𝘮ance on 𝗀𝘢𝗅𝘯o𝘃𝖾𝗅𝘴.с𝗼𝗺
“I’m your fiancée,” Skye said, a hysterical laugh bubbling up despite herself. “Better get used to it.”
Julian reached out and took her hand. He placed the heavy signet ring in her palm. It was still warm from Marcus’s pocket. “This grants you access,” he said. “To the Ledger Room. To everything.”
Skye closed her fingers around the ring. It felt heavy.
“Let’s find that map,” she said.
Liam watched them, his jaw tight. He said nothing. He simply turned and walked away, his limp more pronounced now that the adrenaline had begun to fade.
The Vance Ledger Room was hidden behind a false bookcase in the library — a small, windowless space lined floor to ceiling with leather-bound volumes.
“1998,” Julian said, pointing to a dusty section. “The year the alliance fractured.”
Skye pulled down a heavy black book and opened it on the reading table. The pages were brittle beneath her fingers.
“Here,” she said. “Look at the transactions.”
April 4th: Transfer to C. Holdings. Subject: Logistics Support. Amount: $50 Million.
“C. Holdings?” Skye asked.
“Carter Holdings,” Alistair said, reading over her shoulder. “The smugglers.”
“Why was my father paying smugglers fifty million dollars?”
“Look at the cargo manifest.” Skye traced the line. “Item: Biological Samples. Origin: Blackwood Institute.”
The room went cold.
“Blackwood,” Skye whispered. “That’s where we were. Where Julian and Ethan were held.”
“And me,” Alistair said quietly. “I went there for behavioral correction. Briefly.”
“They were moving samples,” Julian said, his voice grim. “Genetic material. The Mastermind wasn’t just building a network. He was building a database. Of us.”
Skye turned the page.
Taped to the inside of the back cover was a torn piece of paper. A map fragment. It showed a coastline and a lighthouse.
“That’s the Carter territory,” Skye said. “The old lighthouse at Breakwater Point.”
“The second key,” Alistair said. “Dominic must have split the map — one piece here, one piece with the Carters.”
“And the Carters have Parker’s mother,” Skye realized. “They aren’t just holding her for ransom. They’re using her to force Parker to decode their piece of the map.”
“We have to go.” Skye slammed the book shut. “We have to get to the Carter estate.”
“It’s a fortress,” Alistair warned. “Worse than this place. Victor Carter runs it now. He took over after the old man died.”
“We need a way in.” Skye paused. “I know someone. A Carter.”
Liam turned, raising an eyebrow. “You know a Carter?”
“Felix,” Skye said.
“Our Felix?” Alistair blinked. “The hacker? The one who helped us fake your death?”
.