Chapter 9 — The Brother’s Last Message
Chapter 9 — The Brother’s Last Message
The control room door locked with a heavy metallic click.
Elena didn't move.
Alexander stood on the other side of the console, watching her with an unsettling calm.
The photograph remained between them.
Three children.
Cassian.
Alexander.
Elena.
But there was something wrong.
Elena picked it up again.
She studied the image.
The photograph was old enough to have faded around the edges, yet the faces were unmistakable.
Cassian was perhaps seven.
Alexander looked around ten.
And the little girl standing between them was barely four.
Elena.
Her fingers tightened around the photograph.
“I was never here.”
Alexander smiled.
“You were.”
“No.”
“You simply don't remember.”
“My father told me I was born in Moscow.”
“He lied.”
“My mother told me I was born in Prague.”
“She lied too.”
Elena looked up.
“Then where was I born?”
Alexander's smile disappeared.
“Blackwood Manor.”
Her breath caught.
“No.”
“Yes.”
He pointed toward the photograph.
“That was taken here.”
Elena stared at the children's faces.
“Why would nobody tell me?”
“Because Richard wanted you erased.”
“Why?”
Alexander's expression hardened.
“Because you were the one child he couldn't control.”
A gunshot echoed somewhere below.
Elena flinched.
Alexander didn't.
“You're not here to kill me.”
“No.”
“Then why?”
“To give you something.”
He reached into his coat.
Elena raised her weapon.
“Slowly.”
Alexander removed a small cassette recorder.
Old.
Scratched.
The kind of device that belonged in another decade.
He placed it on the console.
“Your brother left this for you.”
Elena stared.
“My brother?”
Alexander nodded.
“Mikhail.”
Her heart stopped.
“Mikhail is dead.”
“Yes.”
“You knew him?”
“I knew him better than anyone.”
“Then why did he die?”
Alexander looked away.
“Because he discovered the truth.”
“What truth?”
“That Richard never wanted you dead.”
Elena frowned.
“What?”
“He wanted you alive.”
Alexander pressed the play button.
Static filled the room.
Then a familiar voice.
Mikhail.
Older.
Tired.
Terrified.
“Elena, if you're hearing this, I'm already dead.”
Elena's eyes filled instantly.
She covered her mouth.
Mikhail continued.
“I don't know who will give you this recording. Maybe Viktor. Maybe Alexander. Maybe someone you trust.”
A pause.
“But there is one thing you need to understand.”
His breathing became heavier.
“You were never the target.”
Elena whispered:
“Then who was?”
Mikhail answered.
“Cassian.”
Elena froze.
The recording continued.
“Richard built everything around Cassian.”
“He raised him to inherit Black Winter.”
“But Cassian's father tried to break the cycle.”
“He discovered that Richard had another son.”
“Alexander.”
Alexander looked down.
Mikhail continued.
“Richard wanted Alexander dead.”
“He considered him uncontrollable.”
“So Cassian was chosen instead.”
Elena looked at Alexander.
He didn't deny it.
“But your father discovered something else.”
Mikhail's voice dropped.
“Cassian wasn't the only person Richard had marked.”
“You were.”
Elena closed her eyes.
“Because you carried something Richard needed.”
A pause.
“Not money.”
“Not blood.”
“Memory.”
Elena opened her eyes.
“What memory?”
Mikhail answered.
“You were there the night Black Winter changed.”
The recording crackled.
Mikhail's voice became faint.
“You were four years old.”
“Richard brought you into the archive.”
“He wanted you to memorize something.”
Elena shook her head.
“No.”
Alexander watched her.
“You don't remember because they made sure you wouldn't.”
Mikhail continued.
“You saw Richard open the master ledger.”
“You saw names.”
“Thousands of them.”
“And then you saw something that frightened him.”
Elena's breathing quickened.
“What?”
Mikhail answered:
“You saw the name of the person above Richard.”
Silence.
Elena looked at Alexander.
“Who?”
The recording went quiet for several seconds.
Then Mikhail whispered:
“Evelyn Thorne.”
Elena's eyes widened.
“She wasn't dead.”
“No.”
“She was controlling Richard.”
“Yes.”
“But Evelyn is here.”
“She always has been.”
Mikhail's voice became urgent.
“That's why you must never trust her.”
Elena looked toward the door.
Evelyn.
The woman who had claimed to protect Cassian.
The woman who had revealed secrets.
The woman who had warned them about Alexander.
Mikhail continued.
“She will tell you she wants to save Cassian.”
“She doesn't.”
“She wants the archive.”
“And she needs you to open it.”
Elena stared at the recorder.
“How?”
Mikhail answered:
“Because you're the only person who knows the final code.”
A red warning appeared on the control screen.
SYSTEM OVERRIDE IN PROGRESS.
Elena looked up.
Alexander stepped closer.
“We don't have much time.”
“What code?”
“The one you learned as a child.”
“The numbers?”
“Yes.”
“I don't remember them.”
“You do.”
Elena shook her head.
“No.”
Alexander stared at her.
“Think.”
She closed her eyes.
A memory surfaced.
Her father's hands.
A wooden table.
Four taps.
Pause.
Three taps.
Pause.
Two.
Then five.
She whispered:
“Four-three-two-five.”
Alexander's expression changed.
“No.”
Elena looked at him.
“What?”
“That isn't the code.”
She frowned.
“Then what is?”
He stared at her.
“Those were only the first four numbers.”
The control system flashed.
ENTER MASTER SEQUENCE.
Elena's mind raced.
Another memory surfaced.
A lullaby.
Her mother singing.
The same four notes repeated.
Four.
Three.
Two.
Five.
Then another sequence.
Seven.
One.
Nine.
Six.
Elena whispered:
“Four-three-two-five-seven-one-nine-six.”
Alexander stared.
“That’s it.”
The screen accepted the code.
The archive door beneath the cemetery opened remotely.
Alexander looked at Elena.
“Now we can get inside.”
Elena frowned.
“We're already inside.”
“No.”
He pointed toward another screen.
A hidden map appeared.
Blackwood Manor.
The cemetery.
Then a second underground location.
Beneath the manor itself.
Elena stared.
“There are two archives.”
Alexander nodded.
“The one beneath the cemetery contains Black Winter's history.”
“And the one beneath the manor?”
Alexander's voice dropped.
“The one beneath the manor contains its future.”
The door behind Alexander opened.
Evelyn entered.
She looked at Elena.
Then at Alexander.
“You shouldn't have shown her that.”
Alexander turned.
“You were going to kill her.”
“I was going to protect her.”
Elena raised her weapon.
“You lied.”
Evelyn sighed.
“Of course I lied.”
The admission stunned her.
Evelyn continued:
“Everyone in this family lies.”
“Why?”
“Because truth gets people killed.”
Alexander laughed bitterly.
“You've been saying that for twenty years.”
Evelyn's expression hardened.
“And you're still alive because I did.”
Alexander stepped between her and Elena.
“You don't get to touch her.”
Evelyn looked at him.
“You're just like your father.”
Alexander's eyes darkened.
“Don't mention him.”
“Why?”
“Because he died believing you could still be saved.”
Evelyn went silent.
For the first time, her composure cracked.
Elena noticed.
“What happened to him?”
Evelyn didn't answer.
Alexander did.
“Evelyn killed him.”
Elena stared.
“What?”
“She ordered the hit.”
Evelyn's eyes hardened.
“He betrayed me.”
“He tried to protect Cassian.”
“He chose Cassian over the organization.”
“He chose his son.”
Evelyn looked at Elena.
“And that choice destroyed everything.”
A sudden alarm sounded.
Dante's voice came through the intercom.
“Cassian!”
Gunfire.
Then static.
Elena ran toward the door.
Evelyn grabbed her.
“Don't.”
Elena spun.
“Let me go.”
“It's a trap.”
“You're the one who brought us here.”
“Yes.”
“Then move.”
Evelyn released her.
Elena ran.
Alexander followed.
The lower corridor was filled with smoke.
Cassian stood near the staircase.
Blood covered his shirt.
Marcus was beside him.
Dante was down.
Alive.
Barely.
Cassian saw Elena.
His face changed.
“You're alive.”
“So are you.”
He almost smiled.
Then he noticed Alexander.
His weapon rose.
“Who the hell is that?”
Elena stepped between them.
“Your brother.”
Cassian froze.
“What?”
Alexander looked at him.
“Hello, Cassian.”
Cassian stared.
“You're Alexander.”
“Yes.”
“The man behind the attacks.”
“No.”
Cassian's expression hardened.
“Then who?”
Alexander looked at Evelyn.
“She knows.”
Evelyn didn't speak.
Cassian turned toward her.
“Tell me.”
Evelyn looked exhausted.
“The man attacking Blackwood isn't Alexander.”
Cassian lowered his weapon slightly.
“Who?”
Evelyn whispered:
“Richard.”
Cassian froze.
“My grandfather?”
“Yes.”
“He's alive?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
Evelyn looked at the ceiling.
“Inside the manor.”
Everyone went silent.
Cassian looked toward the upper floors.
“He's here?”
Evelyn nodded.
“He came through the service entrance.”
Elena's blood went cold.
“The service entrance…”
She remembered.
Her own route.
The hidden passage she had used for months.
The passage only staff knew.
She looked at Cassian.
“He used my route.”
Cassian understood.
“That's why he hired you.”
Elena shook her head.
“No.”
“What?”
“He didn't hire me.”
She looked toward the corridor.
“Someone placed me here.”
Cassian's expression changed.
“Richard.”
“Yes.”
Alexander stepped closer.
“That was his plan.”
“What plan?”
“To put you inside Blackwood Manor.”
Elena stared.
“He wanted me to watch Cassian.”
“No.”
Alexander looked at her.
“He wanted you to protect him.”
Elena frowned.
“Why?”
“Because Richard knew you'd eventually remember.”
A voice came from the darkness.
“She's remembering already.”
Cassian turned.
Richard Thorne stepped into view.
Older.
Silver-haired.
Calm.
Holding a gun.
Elena raised hers.
Richard smiled.
“Put it down.”
“No.”
Richard looked at Cassian.
“My grandson.”
Cassian stared.
“You're supposed to be dead.”
Richard smiled.
“So was everyone else.”
Evelyn stepped forward.
“You've lost.”
Richard laughed.
“No.”
He looked at Elena.
“I've finally won.”
Cassian stepped between them.
“Stay away from her.”
Richard's eyes narrowed.
“You still don't understand.”
“What?”
Richard pointed at Elena.
“She isn't your enemy.”
Cassian stared.
“Then who is?”
Richard's smile disappeared.
“Your father.”
Cassian's face went pale.
“My father is dead.”
Richard shook his head.
“No.”
Silence.
“He isn't.”
Cassian couldn't breathe.
Richard continued.
“He has been alive for years.”
Elena looked at him.
“Where?”
Richard smiled.
“Ask your brother.”
Everyone turned toward Alexander.
Alexander's face had gone completely white.
Cassian stared.
“You knew?”
Alexander didn't answer.
“Alexander.”
Still nothing.
Then Alexander whispered:
“Yes.”
Cassian's voice broke.
“You knew my father was alive?”
Alexander closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
“Where?”
Alexander looked toward the floor.
“Beneath the manor.”
The world seemed to stop.
Cassian looked at Elena.
Then at Richard.
Then Alexander.
“My father is under my house?”
Richard smiled.
“He has been there for four years.”
Cassian's hands began shaking.
“Why?”
Richard's answer was quiet.
“Because he is the only person who knows how to shut Black Winter down.”
Cassian stepped forward.
“Take me to him.”
Richard shook his head.
“You're not ready.”
Cassian raised his weapon.
“Take me to him.”
Richard smiled.
“You'll have to earn the truth.”
He turned.
Then disappeared through a hidden doorway.
Cassian rushed forward.
The doorway slammed shut.
He tried to open it.
Nothing.
Elena touched his shoulder.
“Cassian.”
He didn't respond.
His entire world had just changed.
His father was alive.
His brother had known.
His grandmother had lied.
His grandfather had built an empire around him.
And Elena had been placed inside his home for a reason no one had yet explained.
Then the recorder in Elena's hand clicked.
Mikhail's final message played.
His voice was barely audible.
“Elena…”
She froze.
“One last thing.”
A pause.
“Don't trust the man who tells you he wants to save Cassian.”
Elena looked at Evelyn.
Then at Alexander.
Then at Richard's empty doorway.
Mikhail continued:
“Because the person who saves him…”
“…will become the person who controls him.”
The recording ended.
Elena stood motionless.
And somewhere beneath Blackwood Manor, a man who had been declared dead four years ago opened his eyes.
He heard the footsteps approaching.
Then a voice whispered from the darkness.
“Cassian is here.”
The man lifted his head.
May you like
And for the first time in four years, he smiled.
“My son finally came home.”
