CHAPTER 21: VAMPIRES 1
CALEB'S POV
I didn't answer Lucien immediately. Because for the first time in years… I didn't know how.
My hand was still clenched around the crumpled note, knuckles white, pulse hammering so loud in my ears it felt like the walls were breathing with it. The archive had never felt small before — it was built to swallow secrets whole — but right now it pressed in on every side like a fist slowly closing.
Lucien stepped fully into the room and shut the door behind him. His eyes moved in that quiet, calculating way of his — from my face, to the scattered documents on the table, to the open chest, to the bounty notice sitting on top like an accusation.
He saw everything. Too much.
"What did you find, Caleb?" he repeated, slower this time. Careful. Measured. Like he was already bracing himself for the answer.
I let out a breath that felt like it scraped my lungs raw on the way out. "My father didn't sign that bounty to hunt Thornbloods."
