Page 210 of Without a Trace
“You were born first,” I said. “But not chosen.”
Behind me, Trace’s tattoo shimmered gold—then Alden’s.
The house felt it. So did we.
My father looked between them, then me. “You need to go. All of you. Now. The Veil won’t stop here.”
Zeke moved forward. “They’ll send others.”
“Let them,” Rhett muttered. “Let them try.”
“You’re not safe here,” my father repeated. “And neither are the ones bonded to you.”
“I’m not leaving just because Lena feels robbed,” I said.
Brielle’s voice slid through the air like a knife. “You think you can outrun a blood war? You think the Knot won’t finish what it started?”
“It already started,” I said, gaze locked on her. “And I’m not Elira.”
That made both of them pause.
“I’m going to figure out how to keep the bond,” I continued. “And I’m going to rule. As heir.”
“You think you’re rewriting fate?” Lena spat.
“No,” I said. “I’m just not afraid of it.”
Then I turned, the bond burning steady in my spine.
We walked toward the manor’s doors—Trace and Alden behind me like sentinels, the others flanking wide. Zeke didn’t take his hand off his gun.
And when the doors groaned closed behind us, Thirelin didn’t fight it. It let us go.
Because it knew we’d be back.
We weren’t running.
We were rising.
Scarlett
The SUV reeked of sweat, blood, and disbelief.
No one spoke for the first ten minutes. The only sound was the road humming under the tires and Kane messing with the air vents like it might fix the vibe.
I sat between Trace and Alden in the very back. Zeke was up front riding shotgun, eyes scanning the horizon like he was waiting for another betrayal to drop out of the sky. Rhett and Kane were sandwiched in the middle row, elbows knocking every time the road curved.
Kane was the first to break the silence. “Okay. So… did anyone else not see that coming? At all?”
“Which part?” Rhett muttered. “The betrayal? The sister bomb? The glowing fucking tattoos?”
“All of it,” Kane said, staring out the window. “Like I’m genuinely rethinking my entire sense of reality right now.”
Zeke shrugged. “Should’ve seen the phone thing.”
Kane sat back in his seat. “I’m still not convinced that shit actually happened.”
Trace didn’t look up. “It happened.”
