The word echoed through the chamber.
“Father.”
Nora stared at Aurelia, unable to understand what she had just heard. The baby was still in her arms, impossibly calm now, her black eyes fixed on the darkness beneath the broken floor.
Lucien looked as though someone had struck him.
“No,” he whispered.
The voice beneath the gate came again.
“Give her to me.”
This time it was deeper, powerful enough to make dust fall from the ceiling.
Luna tightened her grip on her blade. “Who is that?”
Lucien did not answer.
Ethan stepped toward him. “You know.”
Lucien finally looked at him.
“I know what was buried down there.”
“That isn't what I asked.”
Another tremor shook the chamber.
Ethan's silver mark burned through his shirt, glowing against his chest. He staggered, pressing a hand again
