Chapter 25: The Real Bloodline
****Dante’s POV****
A name carries weight.
It binds you to a legacy, a set of memories you may never have made—but somehow still bear the consequences of. For years, I believed the Vale name was the anchor around my neck. But today, I realized it’s not the name that burdens me. It’s the blood.
And blood never lies.
We arrived in Yakutsk under cover of darkness.
Snow churned like ash across the frozen tarmac as our transport settled in the abandoned military base we’d commandeered. Nico ran satellite syncs while Duque prepped munitions. Isabelle stood beside me—silent, eyes sharp, unreadable.
She hadn’t said much since the briefing.
Not since we uncovered the last encrypted journal Matteo had left for me—one he never meant to be decrypted.
Inside it,
