Caleb had spent seventeen years planning this betrayal.

He wouldn’t leave any loose ends.

But he had Marcus.

And Marcus had saved my life three times.

I walked over to Lila and knelt down.

She looked up at me with her mother’s wide, dark eyes.

She looked so small in the shadows of the basement.

“Are we going on a trip, Daddy?” she whispered.

“Soon, sweetheart,” I said.

I reached out and touched her cheek.

My finger brushed against the silver pendant.

It felt unusually heavy for its size.

It was a thick piece of silver, polished bright.

Elena had insisted Lila wear it every day, claiming it was a family heirloom.

At the time, I hadn’t thought twice about it.

Now, looking at it in the dim vault light, something felt wrong.

I didn’t have time to examine it.

“Nora,” I said, looking up.

“Keep her close.”

“Daniel, can we get the grate off the shaft entirely?”

Daniel nodded and knelt by the opening.

He began to pry at the remaining hinges with a crowbar.

The metal shrieked against the stone.