The cab's tires hissed as Thiana stepped out, wind slicing at her cheeks. The archive vault rose ahead—glass and concrete shaped into a mausoleum for secrets. Silent. Drenched in darkness. The very building Zade used to hide pieces of himself he hoped no one would uncover.
She passed security gates already disabled.
Lawrence had paved her way.
Inside, hallways hummed under low power. Emergency lights pulsed like heartbeats. The deeper she walked, the colder it became. Somewhere below, Zade stood alone with the Huston Gene Lock.
And somewhere in her, a part of her begged him to fight her for it.
The door to the final chamber slid open.
Zade stood in the center, surrounded by cascading screens glowing with ancestral data—images of Damian Huston, gene sequences, contract binds. The locket floated in a digital hoverfield. His back was turned.
Thiana stepped forward. "You weren't going to tell me, were you?"
Zade didn't flinch. "Because if you knew the cost of being loved by me… you'd have left long ago."
Her voice trembled. "You were cursed to destroy anyone who loves you."
He finally turned.
His eyes weren't cold.
They were drowning.
"I didn't mean to love you," he said.
Thiana stepped closer. "But you did."
Zade nodded. "And now… the ghost wants my sacrifice."
Thiana reached out, brushing the edge of the screen.
"Let me carry it."
Zade's hand shot out, stopping her. "No. If you touch the Lock, it binds to you. You become the host."
"I already am," she whispered.
Zade stared at her like he was watching a sunset he wasn't allowed to touch.
Then, for the first time, his voice cracked.
"I don't know how to die without making you bleed for it."
Thiana closed the distance between them.
"There's a clause," she murmured. "A rewrite. The Burial Clause."
Zade tilted his head. "You created it?"
Thiana nodded. "I did. It severs the ghost from blood. But it also severs legacy."
"If you activate it," Zade said, "Cabello dies."
Thiana whispered, "But you live."
He took her hand.
And for one breathless moment…
He smiled.
The locket hovered in the digital cradle, data spinning around it like constellations twisting through grief. Zade held Thiana's hand, and for the first time in the history of their pain, silence felt sacred instead of brutal.
She watched the text on the screen ripple:
> "Severance pending. Awaiting biometric match."
They could trigger the Burial Clause with a single press. All it needed was Thiana's fingerprint and a final vow. One that said: I choose to live without the dynasty.
Ravien's voice buzzed through her comm: "Thiana, Lawrence didn't leave the vault perimeter. He may have initiated a backup protocol."
She blinked. "What protocol?"
Suddenly, the screen flashed red.
> INCOMING CONNECTION
> USER: L.GONSALVEZ
> ACTION: Override clause — 'Host Transfer'
Thiana's stomach dropped.
Zade growled. "He's trying to absorb the curse."
A hatch opened on the far wall. Lawrence emerged—shirt bloodstained, eyes glassy, jaw shaking.
"I couldn't let you bury him," he said, voice hollow. "I thought… if I took it… if I became the ghost…"
Zade lunged, grabbing Lawrence by the collar. "You don't get to die for me!"
Lawrence hissed, "I already started the transfer!"
Thiana ran to the console. The ghost signature was shifting. The data vines attached to Zade were unraveling..... reattaching.
To Lawrence.
Her vision blurred.
> "Burial clause voided."
> "New host detected."
> "Project Lazarus… reborn."
Zade froze.
Lawrence coughed, collapsing against the terminal.
Thiana fell to her knees, gripping the edge.
This wasn't how it was meant to end.
The screens turned black.
And then .... one file opened by itself:
DAMIAN_HUSTON > Appendix V
A video began.
But instead of Damian…
A boy spoke.
Hair dark like Zade's. Eyes like hers.
> "Hello, mother."
Thiana screamed.