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Not yet.

Not yet.

A wounded sound escaped me. I pressed my fist against my mouth. The Clove Man had told me there was the truth beneath the study. Alaric had told me there were things he couldn’t show me. And then…

He’d removed them.

I sank onto the concrete step. For the first time, the emptiness around me became enormous. There should’ve been answers here. Whatever they were. Ugly. Terrible. Unforgivable. I didn’t know. That was the fucking point.

I still didn’t know.

Because Alaric had made sure I couldn’t.

Not protected me from the truth.

Removed my choice to see it.

A cage.

I closed my eyes.

God.

The bars had never once been stone. Never guards. Never locked doors. They were decisions. Made for me… again. And again. And again. Until there was nowhere left for me to walk except where somebody else decided I was allowed to go.

I opened my eyes.

Picked up the phone.

Then climbed the stairs.

This time…

I didn’t shake.

Light grew stronger with every step. I reached the top and pushed. The panel lifted, then stopped. Shoes waited on the other side. Black. Perfectly still. My heart gave one hard beat. I lifted my gaze. Alaric.

He stood beside the opening. His face had gone white. For several seconds neither of us moved. His gaze dropped. My hands. Grey with dust. My knees. The dirt streaking my clothes. Then the floor between us.

He knew.

I watched the exact moment understanding reached him. Fear followed. Not anger. Not outrage that I’d gone somewhere I couldn’t.

Fear.

“Nyssa…”

I climbed the final step.

He reached for me and I stepped around his hand.

It fell.

The panel remained opened behind me. Darkness breathing quietly into the study. I looked around. Desk. Books. Window. Everything exactly where it belonged. Everything above ground so beautifully arranged.

“What was down there?”

Silence.