Page 31 of Blindsided
“There’s more,” Declan says, his eyes still on the letter. “Dad says the Russians are after him because he stole something from them thirty-three years ago. Something they’ve been hunting him for ever since.”
“What did he steal?” Rory asks.
Declan looks directly at Kane.
“Your sister.”
Chapter 11
Kane
“Sister?” I spit out. My entire body has gone numb. I grip Kori’s hand in mine like it’s the only thing keeping me tethered to reality.
Before I can process this bombshell, Rory bends down and picks up something else from the box—a folded piece of paper I hadn’t noticed.
“There’s more,” he says, unfolding what looks like an aged piece of parchment. “What the fuck. It’s some... riddle?”
Everyone’s attention shifts to him as he squints at the faded writing. The pressure in my chest builds as I try to make sense of what’s happening—a sister. I have a sister. And Tomas—the man I’ve called Uncle my entire life is my father?”
“What does it say?” Declan demands, reaching for the paper.
Rory skirts away and clears his throat as he begins to read.
“‘Where the stones kiss the sky and dragons onceflew, seek the door that leads to the truth. Count seven steps east from the ancient throne, then three to the north, where seeds were sown. What was taken can be found again, but only by the blood that flows within.’”
“What the hell does that mean?” Kat asks, her voice echoing off the damp stone walls.
I finally release Kori’s hand, flexing my fingers as blood rushes back into them. “Sorry,” I muttered to her, not meeting her eyes. I can’t deal with sympathy right now. Not when my entire identity has just been shredded.
“It’s a location,” Declan says, taking the paper from Rory. “Dad’s telling us where to find her.”
“And himself,” Wren adds softly.
I snatch the photograph back, staring at the woman who is supposedly my mother. She looks happy, carefree, her dark hair blowing in the ocean breeze as she leans into Tomas’s embrace—nothing like the bitter, haunted woman who raised me.
“This is bullshit,” I spit out, my voice harsher than I intended. “My mother would have told me if Tomas was my father.”
“Would she?” Declan asks quietly. “If she was paid to keep it secret?”
The suggestion hits me like a physical blow. I think about my childhood—the mysterious payments that always arrived just when things were at their worst, the way my mother would sometimesstare at me with an expression I could never decipher. The times when Patrick Murphy, drunk and mean, would call me “another man’s bastard” before my mother silenced him with slaps or tears.
“Stones kiss the sky...” Kat murmurs, returning to the riddle. “That could be Skellig Michael. The monastery there is built at the very top of the rock.”
“Dragons?” Wren questions. “Ireland doesn’t have dragons in its mythology, does it?”
“Not literal dragons,” Rory says. “It’s probably referring to something else.”
My head is spinning. I need a drink—several drinks. I need to drown this revelation until it stops feeling like my skin is being peeled away layer by layer.
“I can’t do this,” I announced suddenly. “This is—this is too much.”
I turn and stride toward the passage, desperate for air, for space, for anything that isn’t this suffocating chamber of family secrets. I hear footsteps behind me, but don’t slow down.
“Kane, wait!” It’s Kori’s voice, not one of my cousins—no, my siblings. The thought makes me walk faster.
I emerge into the ruins of the castle, gulping in fresh air like I’ve been underwater. The sky above is gray and threatening rain, perfectly matching my mood. I hear the others emerging from the passagebehind me, their voices a dull murmur I can’t focus on.
“Kane,” Declan’s voice cuts through my mental fog. “We need to figure this out.”
