Page 207 of Without a Trace
Rhett moved first. Kane caught his arm.
Zeke looked at Lena like she was a stranger. “You knew about the Codex. The bond. Everything.”
“She volunteered,” Brielle confirmed. “The Red Veil didn’t send her. She offered.”
I stepped back, feeling the betrayal root itself deep in my bones.
“You didn’t just betray me,” I said. “You watched me love you. And you used it.”
Lena’s lip trembled. But she didn’t deny it.
“I never wanted to be your enemy,” she said.
And just like that—the bond pulsed through my spine.
Lena was shaking now. Red-faced. Frantic.
“It was supposed to be me,” she said again. “I trained. I studied the Codex before you even knew what it was. I knew the bond’s signs before you knew how to spell it.”
“And you still weren’t chosen.” The words sliced straight through.
Lena’s gaze flicked past me, rage flashing. “Because he chose you.”
I followed her line of sight—to the man standing behind me.
My father. Her father.
My stomach turned. A memory surfaced—something buried. A moment maybe ten years ago when Lena’s mother showed up at school pickup, and the tension in the air made no sense until now.
“You had an affair.”
I didn’t raise my voice.
The truth just hung there like smoke after a fire.
My father stared at me. The same stare he’d given me since arriving at Thirelin—tired, unreadable, like he was already mourning something he knew he couldn’t save.
“You knew she was my sister.”
No denial. Just silence. The worst kind.
Kane let out a low whistle beside me. “This is a whole damn soap opera.”
Zeke's arms folded, expression unreadable. “You’re just now catching up?”
Alden moved closer. Quiet. Lethal. His gaze locked on my father, Brielle, then on Lena. “You knew. All of you.”
Lena stepped forward. She was trembling, but it wasn’t weakness. It was the raw edge of a girl who’d held the lie too long.
“I always knew. He raised me to serve the Veil, to earn a place in the bloodline he kept hidden from the world. While you”—she looked at me like the wound was fresh—“got to live free. Protected. Loved.”
“I was six when he left.”.
“I was five when they swore me in,” she snapped. “I’ve been waiting my whole life for the title you didn’t even know existed.”
“And now you want it back?” My voice cracked, low and cold.
“I want what I was promised.”
