Chapter 10 - The BulletThe shot missed my heart by less than an inch.
The round struck the wall.
Emma stared at me.
I didn't move.
“You could have killed me.”
“You killed my mother.”
“What?”
Her hand shook.
“You killed her eight years ago.”
“I never touched your mother.”
“That's what they told me.”
“Who?”
She didn't answer.
Thorne approached.
I stopped him.
Emma stepped backward.
“Everyone said you abandoned me.”
“I didn't know you existed.”
She laughed bitterly.
“Convenient.”
“No.”
I looked into her eyes.
“I spent eight years trying to understand why my life didn't make sense.”
She lowered the gun slightly.
“I thought you were dead.”
“So did I.”
Silence.
Then she asked:
“Where's Lily?”
“Safe.”
“She's not.”
I froze.
“How do you know?”
“Because Cynthia has a panic room beneath the estate.”
I stared.
“How do you know?”
“She showed me once.”
“Why?”
“Because she wanted me to understand what happened to children who disobeyed.”
My fists clenched.
Emma continued.
“She isn't working for Adrian.”
“Then who?”
She shook her head.
“The real Cardinal.”
“Who?”
Emma looked terrified.
“You.”
I stared.
“No.”
“She kept saying the Cardinal would come.”
“Who told her?”
Emma whispered:
“Your father.”
The world tilted.
My father.
Dead for decades.
Impossible.
Then I understood.
He wasn't dead.
The letters.
The vault.
The bloodline.
Someone had been orchestrating everything from the beginning.
I opened my communicator.
“Thorne.”
“Yes?”
“Return to New York.”
“Why?”
“Cynthia has the panic room.”
“And Lily?”
I looked at Emma.
“She has both.”
Then Emma suddenly grabbed my sleeve.
“There is something else.”
“What?”
“The panic room isn't for children.”
She looked at me.
“It's a command center.”
I froze.
“What kind of command center?”
“The kind your father used.”
She hesitated.
“And the woman running it isn't Cynthia.”
“Who?”
May you like
Emma's face went white.
“Your mother.”
