Page 203 of Without a Trace
The fire in the study was dying.
My father stood beside it, motionless, watching the embers like they were the only thing he trusted.
I sat across from him, arms folded, the weight of everything tightening around my ribs. The Codex. The bond. Elira. The bracelet. And now this silence—full of things unsaid.
He poured a drink but didn’t offer one to me.
I wouldn’t have taken it.
“They’re coming,” he said.
“I know.”
He turned slowly, the light catching the scar along his jaw. “You’ve felt them.”
I didn’t answer.
“They’re not supposed to be able to reach you here. Not unless…”
“Unless the bond chose them back,” I said. “And it did.”
He watched me, something unreadable moving behind his expression.
“I didn’t send them to you,” he said. “The Order did. Not long after I left you and your mother.
“You’re not the one who placed the Hollow Order in my life?” My voice was sharp. “Then who the hell did?”
“They had their own motives. They suspected one of the bloodlines survived. That someone from the Red Veil line was still alive. They embedded the boys where the blood ran thickest—watching, waiting. I only learned the truth after the accident.”
My pulse kicked. “The accident.”
He looked away.
“The crash that almost killed me?” I asked, stepping forward. “You caused that?”
“I had to,” he said, voice frayed. “You were six. And you were starting to remember things—flashes of what your mother buried. Your blood. Your bond. The boys. It was surfacing too early. You weren’t safe.”
“So you spelled my memory away,” I said. “Wiped my life clean and left me vulnerable.”
His voice lowered. “I did what I had to do to keep you hidden.”
“You kept me in the dark,” I snapped. “While they watched me. Protected me. Fell in love with me.”
“They didn’t know,” he said, stepping closer. “Not at first. They were sent to watch. But you drew them in. Just like Elira did. Just like the Knot always does.”
I could feel it now—the magic in the walls, the pulse in my hands, the bond clawing deeper. Not just between me and them, but between me and this place. Thirelin was waking. And it recognized me.
“I thought I could rewrite it. Hide you long enough. Distract the fates with something quieter.”
His eyes darkened. “But fate doesn’t care if you’re too young. Or if you’re not ready. It always finds a way.”
I held his gaze. “Maybe you should’ve realized that before you tried to erase me.”
A pause stretched between us, thick and raw.
He didn’t deny it.
Didn’t apologize.
