Page 34 of Lost in Fire

“Without my knowledge. Without my permission.”

“To keep you safe—”

“To spy on me.” Each word drops like a stone. “To monitor me while I grieved for a woman who wasn’t even dead.”

The accusation hits home because it’s true. All of it. “I’m sorry,” I say, because there’s nothing else I can do.

He stares at me for a moment. “And this?” He sweeps an arm around the room, then glances down at my mask. “Shadowhand?”

I swallow hard. “It was a way to stop running.” I pinch my lips together. “After years of hiding, Cassia found a way to get me inside.”

“Inside?” He snorts. “You’re fucking kidding me, right? You’re the Ivory League’s enforcer, Vanya.”

“But more,” I say, a pleading note in my voice. “I did more, Hargen. I’ve helped people. People like us.”

He rubs his eyes, clearly trying to process all this. “Jesus. This is a lot. You know that, don’t you?”

“I do,” I acknowledge.

“I can’t believe you never reached out. In all that time…”

I shake my head. “You have to understand. I had to protect—”

“Our daughter,” he cuts me off, voice going quiet. Dangerous. “The daughter you told me about in your message but kept secret for twenty years.”

My heart clenches. “I wanted to tell you—”

“When?” The question explodes from him. “When, Vanya? When she was born? When she took her first steps? When she asked about her father?”

“It wasn’t safe—”

“For who? For her? Or for you?” He begins pacing, caged energy seeking release. “You made every decision for all of us. Decided I couldn’t handle the truth. Decided she was better off without me. Decided you knew what was best.”

“I was trying to protect her!”

“By lying to her? By denying her a father? By keeping us apart?” He spins to face me, eyes blazing. “What kind of protection is that?”

A knot forms in my throat. “The kind that kept her alive.”

“And now?”

“Now…” I force myself to meet his gaze. “Now I can’t protect her anymore.”

Something in my tone makes him go still. “What do you mean?”

“The elder of the Vex clan is implementing new protocols. Hunting for hybrid dragons within Syndicate operations. He’s obsessed with it. And the rest of the Ivory League has approved his plans.”

“You think he’ll find her.”

“Yes,” I say. “He’s planning on working his way through all of our youngest clan members, and although I’ve kept her hidden, I know he’ll find her, eventually. When he does, he’ll execute her. I have no doubt of it.”

“And your Shadowhand role won’t help?”

I shake my head. “Not anymore. He suspects someone in the organization has been working against the League.” I wrap my arms around myself, suddenly cold. “I think he’s targeting me.”

“So you reached out. After all these years of silence, you finally contacted me because you need something.”

The accusation stings. “Ember needs you now. Your Aurora contacts, your resources—she needs what I can’t give her anymore.”

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