I couldn't move.
Elara stood behind Rowan.
Alive.
Holding a silver key.
For several seconds, my mind refused to accept what my eyes were showing me.
"Elara…"
Her eyes filled with tears.
"Ariana."
I shook my head.
"No."
She took one step forward.
I stepped backward.
"You're dead."
"I know what you were told."
"You disappeared."
"I had to."
"You left me."
Her face crumpled.
"I know."
The anger came before the tears.
"You knew everything."
Elara lowered her eyes.
"You knew about my mother. You knew about the sanctuary. You knew about the Source."
"Yes."
"And you lied to me."
"Yes."
The answer was so simple that it hurt more.
I turned toward my mother.
She was crying silently.
"You knew she was alive too."
My mother nodded.
"I knew."
I laughed bitterly.
"How many people have been lying to me?"
No one answered.
I looked at Rowan.
"And you?"
He remained silent.
"Were you there when I was a child?"
"Yes."
"Were you the man in my memory?"
"Yes."
My hands began trembling.
"Why?"
Rowan looked at Elara.
Then at my mother.
Finally, his eyes settled on me.
"Because I was supposed to protect you."
"From what?"
"The people who were protecting you."
I frowned.
"That doesn't make sense."
"It will."
He took a step toward me.
I raised my hand.
"Don't."
He stopped.
I could still remember him.
A shadow in the distance.
A stranger watching me.
Someone I had always felt I knew but could never remember.
"You were erased from my memories."
"Yes."
"Who erased you?"
"The Council."
"Why?"
"Because they discovered what I was."
I stared at him.
"What are you?"
Before he could answer, the silver key in Elara's hand began glowing.
Every light in the sanctuary went out.
The key floated above her palm.
Golden symbols appeared across the walls.
My mother's expression changed.
"No."
Elara looked at her.
"It's time."
"No."
My mother stepped forward.
"You promised me you would never use it."
Elara's eyes hardened.
"I promised I wouldn't use it until Ariana was ready."
"And you think she's ready?"
Elara looked at me.
"Yes."
The key flew toward me.
I caught it.
The moment my fingers closed around it, pain shot through my arm.
I saw a door.
A massive door buried beneath the sanctuary.
I saw myself standing before it.
I saw the First Heir.
I saw the First Hunger.
And I saw Rowan.
All three stood before the same door.
But Rowan wasn't human.
At least, not completely.
His body was surrounded by blue light.
His eyes glowed.
A symbol appeared on his chest.
The same symbol I had seen on the walls.
I dropped the key.
The vision disappeared.
Rowan caught my shoulder.
I pulled away.
"What are you?"
He looked at me.
"A Keeper."
My mother shook her head.
"Not just a Keeper."
Rowan sighed.
"The last one."
I stared at him.
"What does that mean?"
"The Keepers were created to guard the boundary between the Source and the First Hunger."
He looked toward the broken floor.
"They were supposed to make sure neither side could cross completely into the human world."
"And you failed."
"Yes."
His answer was immediate.
"How?"
"Because the Architects destroyed the other Keepers."
I looked at the silver-haired Architect.
He looked away.
"You knew."
He didn't respond.
I stepped toward him.
"You knew what Rowan was."
"We knew the Keepers existed."
"And you killed them?"
"They were dangerous."
Rowan laughed without humor.
"You always called anyone you couldn't control dangerous."
The Architect raised his weapon.
The First Generation immediately moved.
But Rowan didn't react.
He simply looked at the weapon.
Blue light flashed.
The weapon shut down.
The Architect stared at it.
Rowan turned back to me.
"I spent years protecting you from them."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because if you remembered me too early, they would have found you."
"They found me anyway."
"Yes."
His expression darkened.
"But now you remember."
A deep vibration passed through the sanctuary.
The silver key in my hand grew warmer.
I looked down.
"What does this open?"
Rowan's face became serious.
"The door beneath the Source."
My heart stopped.
"There is another chamber?"
"Yes."
"What is inside?"
He hesitated.
"The original Design."
I stared at him.
"The Design was created by the Architects."
"No."
He shook his head.
"That was only the version they built."
My mother stepped closer.
"The original Design was created before the Architects existed."
I looked at her.
"By who?"
She looked at Rowan.
He answered.
"By the first Heir."
The room fell silent.
I looked at the key.
"Why would she create the Design?"
"To protect the Source."
"But the Architects used it to control people."
"They corrupted it."
I remembered everything I'd learned.
The Design had been used to suppress memory.
To control humanity.
To keep the Source dormant.
But perhaps that wasn't how it had started.
Perhaps the first Heir had created something meant to protect humanity.
And someone had turned it into a weapon.
"Why does the door need me?"
Rowan's eyes met mine.
"Because it recognizes the bloodline."
"And the key?"
"It doesn't open the door."
I frowned.
"Then what does it do?"
"It chooses who can enter."
A sudden sound came from the corridor.
Footsteps.
Hundreds of them.
Adrian turned.
"More soldiers."
The First Generation prepared themselves.
But Rowan looked toward the entrance.
"No."
His voice was quiet.
"Not soldiers."
The doors opened.
A group of people walked inside.
They wore no uniforms.
No weapons.
Their faces were expressionless.
Each of them had the same golden mark on their forehead.
My mother stepped backward.
"They're awake."
I looked at her.
"Who?"
"The Second Generation."
The people entered the sanctuary.
Dozens.
Then hundreds.
They moved together.
Perfectly.
Like one mind.
The First Generation stared at them in horror.
The silver-haired woman whispered:
"We thought they were destroyed."
Rowan shook his head.
"They were never destroyed."
One of the newcomers stepped forward.
She was a young woman with dark hair.
She looked directly at me.
Then she smiled.
"You finally found the key."
I tightened my grip around it.
"Who are you?"
She tilted her head.
"You don't remember me?"
"No."
"You will."
The Source inside me suddenly pulsed.
The woman's golden mark began glowing.
Then mine answered.
The sanctuary shook.
The two lights connected.
A massive image appeared above us.
The original Heir.
She was standing before the hidden door.
And beside her was a child.
I stared at the image.
The child had my face.
But there was something else.
A second child stood beside me.
A boy.
Blue eyes.
Same blood.
Same golden mark.
I looked at Rowan.
"Who is that?"
He didn't answer.
"Elara?"
She was crying.
"Who is he?"
My mother closed her eyes.
The young woman from the Second Generation smiled.
"Your brother."
My heart stopped.
"I don't have a brother."
"You did."
The image changed.
I saw my mother holding two newborn babies.
Me.
And him.
Then the Architects entered.
They took the boy.
My mother screamed.
The memory ended.
I could barely breathe.
"What happened to him?"
No one answered.
The young woman stepped closer.
"He survived."
I looked at her.
"Where is he?"
She smiled.
"You've already met him."
I stared at her in confusion.
Then she looked toward Rowan.
And Rowan slowly lowered his head.
My blood ran cold.
"No."
He looked at me.
"I wanted to tell you."
I stepped backward.
"No…"
He reached for me.
I moved away.
"You're my brother?"
His eyes filled with tears.
"Yes."
The silver key suddenly glowed brighter.
A door beneath the sanctuary began unlocking.
One mechanism.
Then another.
Then another.
A deep ancient voice echoed through the chamber.
"Two bloodlines reunited."
The floor opened.
A staircase appeared beneath us.
And from the darkness below came the voice of the Source.
"Now open the First Door."