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Just like I had thought, Father was onto me the minute my foot landed on the threshold of my living room.

“What have you done, Arkane?” he asked, the veins on his wrinkly forehead pulsing with rage. “You were supposed to protect this family. Not lead us down the ditch.”

“Dad, what is this about?” Marcus frowned, placing a hand on his shoulder. “You need to calm down.”

“Don’t tell me to calm down, Marcus.” Something akin to fear flashed in my father’s eyes. “We could lose everything.” He did nothing to hide the tremble in his voice.

“What did you do, Kane?” Marcus turned his questioning eyes to me. “Should you worry Father like this?” Always the one to take Father’s side.

“I did what I had to do,” I replied, my arms relaxed by my side.

Marcus narrowed his eyes as he regarded me. “Which is?”

Here goes. “I told the Alacteon what Kenny did,” I said. “And they’ve given me six months to retrieve the codes and destroy them.”

The silence in the room was deafening. Everyone knew the consequences of involving the Alacteon in our mess. One that would end gravely. And might as well be the end of our family.

“Or else?” Jon was the only one brave enough to voice that question.

“Or else we lose the Twins and Alacteon forever,” I informed, eyeing the men, knowing very well that one of them was the traitor. I was openly laying out to one of them that this was their last chance. And instead of dragging this fight for another decade, I was giving them an opportunity to grab it away from me.

Jon raised a surprised brow and chuckled under his breath while Karl and Lucien looked unbothered as usual. Grayson stood in the corner, looking bored. Like he would much rather be in the ring sparring than be put through this ordeal. Only Marcus was consoling a flustered Father, who was on the verge of a meltdown, shouting obscenities at me.

“What have you done, Arkane? This is exactly what Father feared.” Marcus’s confused eyes landed on me. “Kenny already has the codes and the Sanctum Sollus. What if he uses it to his advantage?”

“Only he can’t.” I smiled coolly. “He fooled you, Father. He never had the codes in the first place, which is why he agreed to the truce.”

Marcus’s eyes turned skeptical. “How do you know?” Except for the slight flick of his index finger, his face remained blank.

My eyes moved across the room. “Because I brought the Sanctum Sollus back home,” I said slowly, my tone resounding with the kind of vantage they knew not to question.

A beat of silence passed through the room. None of the men showed an ounce of reaction. It was almost as if time had frozen in the room. The silence was loud.

Father spoke first. “You brought it back?” he asked, almost looking at me like it was the first time he was seeing what his son was capable of. He didn’t know I was capable of far worse, and I was just getting started.

I stared into the eyes of the man I considered Father only by blood. “It’s with me,” I told him.

“What if you both don’t find it?” Karl asked, lifting a brow. “What happens then?”

“Twins will still be mine. The enemy can’t ask for it anymore. The Alacteon will make sure of it,” I said, carefully gauging their expression. It meant the Alacteon would intervene and help me hunt down every last one of them. Kenny would never stand a chance against them.

“And?” Karl tilted his head in question, like he knew there was more.

“Or the enemy can offer them my head and rightfully make the Twins theirs,” I said flatly.

For a second, no one spoke before Grayson took a step forward, his eyes blazing. “You have a death wish, Kane?” he growled. “Why the fuck would you do that?”

I didn’t. But the legion needed collateral, and I decided to put my life at stake. Killing me wasn’t going to be that easy. I was going to fight till my last fucking breath.

“Grayson’s right for once,” Jon murmured, exhaling a breath.

Marcus frowned at me with his concerned eyes, all the earlier anger leaving his body. “He’s right; I don’t want to lose my brother.”

Father lost all his fight and sighed. “Why, Arkane?”

“Because you should’ve done it a long time ago, Father,” I said. “I’m simply cleaning up the mess you left behind.” And with that, I walked away without looking back.

Days later, I waited, and for the first time in a long time, anticipation filled my blood. A sudden gust of cold air had my heart springing to life.