Page 97 of Scaled Daddy's Secret Heir
Clancy reappears, his little backpack thudding against his side.
“I brought the flashlight and the walkie. Even the real one, not the toy one.”
I nod and crouch to zip his pack closed. “You did perfect.”
“Are we leaving?”
“Not yet. But if I say go...”
“I run for the tunnel path. The second tree with the blue rope, then the hatch. I wait inside till the comm buzzes three times.”
I press a kiss to his forehead.
“That’s my brave boy.”
He wraps his arms around my neck, hard. Then pulls back.
“Will you come after me?”
“I’ll find you no matter what.”
He stares at me for a second longer, like he wants to believe that means nothing bad can happen.
Then he lets go.
We go inside. I lock the door again.
And I don’t tell him what Ireallyfeel.
That this house? This island?
Might not be ours much longer.
CHAPTER 31
KALEV
The room they bring me to isn’t a cell.
It’s worse.
Neutral gray walls, smooth as skin stretched over bone. No windows. No visible cameras, but the static buzz in my skull tells me there are eyes—somewhere. The table in the middle is surgical-steel slick, bolted to the floor. One chair on each side. Two glasses of water, untouched. A pitcher beaded with condensation, like they want me to think I’m safe enough to drink it.
It’s the kind of room where people confess things they didn’t even know they were hiding.
I stay standing.
The door hisses behind me. Footsteps. Measured. Confident.
General Dowron enters, wearing that flawless Alliance-pressed uniform, the one that always makes me think of glass—shiny, hard, and impossible to hold without bleeding. His rank glints like teeth. He carries no weapon. He doesn’t need one.
His eyes do all the killing.
“Kalev,” he says like he’s greeting an old friend who never betrayed him. “Glad to see you on your feet.”
I don’t respond.
Dowron walks past me, takes his seat slowly. He doesn’t gesture for me to do the same.
