The warehouse felt smaller after the tunnel.
Kael sat at his desk, the scroll from the vault spread before him. The symbols were dark now, inert. Whatever power they'd held had been spent in the binding. But the name remained. Aurelius. A human name for something that had forgotten how to be human.
His father was in the back room, making calls. Aldric had been on the phone since they'd returned—to the Makah pack, to the other Northern territories, to anyone who needed to know that an ancient threat had been neutralized. He didn't mention the vampires' involvement. Kael didn't ask if he would.
Mira was at her station, monitoring the feeds. She hadn't looked at him since he'd walked in. Kael let the silence stretch.
Finally, she spoke. "I'm not going to apologize."
"I didn't ask you to."
"I did what I was supposed to do. I reported to the Alpha. That's my job."
"I know."
She turned to face him. Her expression was hard, but her eyes were red. "You could have died down there. You were going to give your name. I read the journals, Kael. I know what that means."
"It means I was willing."
"To be forgotten. To have no one remember who you were." Her voice cracked. "I would have remembered. I would have known something was missing, even if I couldn't name it."
Kael didn't know what to say. Mira had been part of his life since he was a teenager. She'd taught him to track. She'd covered for him when he snuck out to listen to music in the city. She'd never looked at him like this before.
"I'm still here," he said.
"Because you found another way. What happens next time? What happens when there is no other way?"
"Then I'll make the same choice."
Mira turned back to her screens. Her shoulders were tense. "Your father's different. Since he came back from the tunnel. He's not talking about the treaty the same way."
"What way is he talking about it?"
"Like it's something that can change. Like it's not set in stone."
Kael thought about the chamber of names. The hundreds of victims, wolf and vampire alike, forgotten because their families had refused to see the truth.
"Maybe it can change," he said.
Mira didn't answer.
The door opened and Aldric emerged. His face was tired, but his posture was straight. "The Council knows."
Kael's blood went cold. "Which Council?"
"The Night Council. Cassius called me. Someone reported unusual activity near the tunnel. The Council is sending an investigator."
"When?"
"Three days. The same day we're supposed to meet."
Kael stood. "We need to warn Lyra."
"She knows. Her father told her." Aldric paused. "The investigator is someone called Marcus Valerius. Do you know the name?"
Kael didn't. But the way his father said it made his skin prickle. "Who is he?"
"The son of Lord Valerius. One of the most powerful families on the Council. And according to Cassius, he's been promised to Lyra. An arranged marriage. Political alliance."
The words hit Kael like a physical blow. He'd known, abstractly, that vampires had their own politics. Their own alliances. He hadn't known about this.
"When?" he asked.
"He arrives in three days. Cassius is trying to delay the formal announcement, but he can't refuse the investigation. The Council has authority."
Kael sat back down. His mind was racing. Three days. An investigator who was also Lyra's intended husband. A secret alliance between two families that had just broken every rule the treaty held sacred.
"What do we do?" he asked.
Aldric met his eyes. "We prepare. We control what we can control. And we trust that what we built in that tunnel is stronger than what they'll try to tear down."
Kael wasn't sure he believed that. But he nodded anyway.