He’s alive.
The words wouldn’t stop echoing in Aria’s mind as she stared at the name on the screen.
ARIES D. VEX
There was no date of death. No termination tag. No burial records.
Just one word beneath his file: ACTIVE.
She could barely breathe.
“He died with the others,” she whispered.
Dominic stepped closer. “That’s what they wanted you to believe.”
Aria’s jaw tightened. “Why hide him?”
“Because if he lived, so did his claim,” Dominic replied. “To House Vex. To the last unbroken bloodline. If Nexum failed to destroy you, he was their backup plan. Maybe even their prototype.”
Aria backed away from the screen, her pulse racing. She hadn’t spoken her father’s name aloud in years. Not since the night her world burned and his scent vanished with it.
She remembered his hand on her s
