The flare guttered, casting skeletal shadows over the charred server racks. The air stank of ionized metal and melted plastic. Vincenzo’s words lingered, heavier than the electromagnetic silence that had just wiped their digital world.
“A twin?” Seraphina’s voice was jagged. Her hand stayed protectively on Dante’s shoulder, fingers trembling. “My father had no other children… my mother—”
“Your mother died giving birth to a legacy,” Vincenzo interrupted, manic edge in his tone. The silver pistol remained pressed to Alessandro’s temple. “The grotto wasn’t just a purge of the Romanos. One child to lead in light—the public front. One to stay in shadow. The true architect.”
Alessandro groaned beneath the barrel, vision clearing enough to see the flicker of the dying flare and the predatory l
