# MINE IN EVERY LIFETIME
## Chapter Nineteen — *Not Dead*
Mara looked at him.
"What did you just say," she said.
"Your father," the Elder said. "Edmund Vane." He held her gaze. "He is not dead."
The room had no sound in it.
Then Caius said very quietly: "That is not possible."
The Elder looked at him.
"Your father faked his death twelve years ago," he said. "With my help."
Caius stared at him.
"With your help," he repeated. Each word placed separately. Like he was checking each one for structural integrity before moving to the next.
"Yes."
"You helped my father fake his death."
"Yes."
"The same father whose legal challenge you suppressed. Whose work you buried. Whose son you spent twelve years grooming to take a position built on lies." Caius's voice was completely level. The
