Chapter 77
“I wasn’t expecting you,” I said flatly, stepping back toward the main room.
“I know.” He followed, hands still in his pockets. “But I needed to talk to you. And it
couldn’t wait.”
I didn’t invite him to sit. He didn’t ask.
“What is it?” I asked, standing across from him, the thick air between us pulsing with
whatever was unsaid.
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He hesitated, shifting his weight. Then reached into the inside pocket of his coat and pulle out a folded sheet of paper–worn, blood–smeared, and fragile at the creases.
He handed it to me without a word.
I unfolded it carefully.
The map was old–hand–drawn. But precise. Marked with notations I hadn’t seen in years.
Silverclaw territory. Old armory sites. Emergency tunnel systems. Escape routes from the last war with Moonstone.
My mouth went dry.
“This was found on a rogue,” Derek said quietly. “After the attack at the summit.”
I didn’t say anything.
“Some of these places… only a few people ever knew they existed,” he went on. “The southern tunnel? That was sealed before I even came of age. It was inner–circle access
only.”
I looked up slowly. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying someone gave this to them. The rogues.”
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I couldn’t figure out why he was telling me. Was he trying to warn me about something, did
he have someone in mind-
I pulled up short and the temperature in the room seemed to drop ten degrees.
I turned to him, no doubt the look on my face as incredulous as the tone of my voice.
..You think it was me.
“I’m not accusing you,” he said too quickly.
“You’re not denying it either.”
He exhaled, looked at the floor, then met my eyes again.
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“You lived in Silverclaw. You had access. You knew me. You could have seen this. Maybe you
drew it up and misplaced it, maybe it got into the wrong hands—”
My hand shook as I folded the paper again, tight and sharp, and threw it onto the table
between us.
“If you want to accuse me,” I said, my voice colder than ice, “then do it. Don’t dance around it. Say the words.”
He stared at me for a long beat. “Did you give it to the rogues?”
The fury that surged through me was like nothing I’d felt since I’d stepped back onto
Moonstone soil.
“How dare you,” I whispered.
“Elena-“.
“No.” I took a step forward, chest rising. “You think after everything I’ve done, after I stood beside you, after I defended you to my family, my pack, the world–you think I’d do something like that?”
“I need to know.”
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“You need to leave.”
“Elena-”
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Nox was snarling inside me. I was half tempted to unleash her and let her take him out by the throat. Instead, I turned to him, my voice low and dangerous.
“Get out of my house,” I snapped.
He looked like he wanted to say something else, but my glare stopped him cold.
“And get out of my life.“.
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The look on his face was one of regret, like he was thinking about backpedaling a little, but he wasn’t sorry for what he’d accused me of. I could tell.
He reached forward and picked up the map, gingerly tucking it away.
“I—”
I held up my hand. “I don’t want you to say another word. I want you to walk through that door,” I said, pointing to the entrance, “get into your car. And never show your face here again.”
He closed his eyes and I could just hear the placating voice in his head. He thought I would calm down about this, that I would come around eventually. But after everything–after what he put me through six years ago–to accuse me of something like this now…
Intelligently, he did keep his mouth shut and made his way to the door.
“Derek,” I said, not really meaning to speak out loud. But I was so angry I lashed out with the one thing I thought might actually have some impact on him.
He turned to me expectantly.
“Stay away from my son.”
That one landed. I saw it in his eyes.
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He turned, jaw clenched, and walked out without another word.
I didn’t move until I heard the door close behind him.
Only then did I let the tears come.
Not because I was heartbroken.
Because I was furious.
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Chapter 78
