The silence in Adrian Kane’s private study was heavy enough to choke on. Every muscle in my body locked. My fingers dug into the fabric of my maid’s uniform, my nails biting into my palms as I waited for the axe to fall. / Chapter 14 / 20

Chapter 14 - THE VAULT OF SECRETSThe heavy iron floor hatch shrieked as Adrian turned the rusted key and threw his weight against the rusted hinges. A puff of stale, frozen air escaped from the dark void below—air that hadn't moved in nearly a decade.

Adrian clicked on his tactical flashlight, casting a long, steady beam down a steep flight of concrete stairs that vanished into the absolute dark.

"Stay here," Adrian told me, his hand resting on my shoulder. "Let me go down first."

"No," I said, shaking my head. "He was my husband, Adrian. I have to see it."

We descended the stairs together, stepping cautiously onto the damp, cold concrete floor of a subterranean chamber. The beam of the flashlight swept across grey concrete walls, rusted water pipes, and rows of old industrial storage lockers.

In the center of the room sat a single, heavy glass-fronted preservation chamber—the same kind of experimental life-support unit we had seen years ago in the underground lab.

My breath caught in my throat. I stumbled forward, my boots splashing through a thin puddle of water on the floor, until I reached the glass.

Inside the chamber, perfectly preserved by the freezing subterranean temperatures and an automated cryogenic fluid system, lay a man. His face was pale, peaceful, but undeniably recognizable.

David.

Tears streamed uncontrollably down my face. I pressed my palm against the cold glass, my fingers tracing the outline of the man I had mourned for seven years. He hadn't abandoned us. He hadn't walked away from our baby girl. He had been stolen from us by the very empire that had ultimately become my home.

Adrian stepped up beside me, placing a strong, steady hand on my shoulder. He looked into the chamber, his jaw tight, his eyes dark with immense sorrow.

"He didn't die of toxic poisoning," Adrian whispered, reading a digital log screen mounted beside the chamber. "Father’s logs... they placed him in stasis. They were using his genetic profile to test the initial antibody compounds before... before they used the facility for the Shadows residents."

"He suffered," I choked out, breaking down completely as Adrian pulled me into his arms, burying my face against his chest as I wept. "All those years I hated him for leaving... all those years I told myself he didn't care about us... and he was right here, trapped beneath our feet."

"I am so sorry, Elena," Adrian whispered, his voice cracking with emotion I had never heard from him before. "My family did this to you. My family stole your life."

"Stop it, Adrian," I looked up, wiping the tears from my eyes, grabbing his lapels. "Your father did this. Not you. You spent the last five years tearing down everything he built. You gave everything to the people he hurt."

Before Adrian could answer, a loud, metallic crash echoed from the stairs above us.

"Boss!" Marcus’s voice crackled frantically through the tactical radio on Adrian’s belt. "We secured the perimeter, but Marcus Vance didn't try to escape! He locked the external warehouse doors from the outside! He’s rigged the building with industrial explosives!"