The emergency passage was barely wide enough for three people to walk side by side.
Darius moved at the front, his fists clenched and his eyes fixed on the darkness ahead. Elias followed close behind, supporting Silas, whose injured leg had begun to give way. Kael brought up the rear with the boy who had emerged from the black water.
No one spoke for several minutes.
Darius could still hear his father's final words.
Ask him what he buried.
He had spent years searching for the truth about Adrian and Lyra Veyne. He had expected hidden enemies, forbidden experiments, perhaps even a conspiracy involving the twelve ruling bloodlines.
He had never expected to discover that another boy had been left behind so he could live.
And he had no idea whether his father was still alive.
“Darius,”
