Page 167 of Kai

“She knows something.” Thena studied my face.

Were my conclusions madness? Wishful thinking? Torture? Stupidity?

“Cece?” Kai shook me gently. “You’re safe. Whatever it is, you can say it.”

“Father wanted his empire to survive him,” I ventured. “For that reason, he had an heir, a male heir he tried to groom, manhandling him to be his successor.”

“But his heir died in battle.” Javier furrowed his brow. “I was there.”

“And yet, by your own admission, you were unconscious when Nix died,” I reminded him. “Am I right?”

Javier’s Adam’s apple bounced on his throat. “Yes.”

“Father asked me to restore his dream.”

“Oh, fuck.” The realization hit Dash.

Confusion swam in my sisters’ gazes. Questions sparkled in the eyes of everyone around me. The silence in the room was absolute. I swallowed with a gulp. I could be wrong. Very wrong. But… what if I wasn’t?

“I… I have no proof,” I murmured. “This is just a theory.”

“Trust yourself,” Kai said. “Trust your intuition.”

Pain and hope tore me apart. Despair and courage battled for my soul. My chest ached, and tears burned in my eyes. I should’ve trusted my intuition and my gift long before now.

As it was, I’d ignored all the signals—Li’s vitriolic determination to kill my sisters and me; my inability to accept my brother’s death; my stubborn sense he still walked this earth; the recent knowledge that Thena and Missy had connected with him through their gifts; the conversation I’d had with him when I was drowning. Hell, even the mountains’ SOS made sense now,if that was even possible. But one fact gave me hope above all others and sealed my conclusion. I’d spotted Nix’s life energy. Only the living emitted auras.

“The NWO got a hold of Father’s dream, his greatest hope.” I forced the cruel, shocking truth through my lips. “His name is Phoenix Astor. Somehow, somewhere, Nix is still alive.”

The End