The floor split beneath us.I grabbed Ethan.Marcus grabbed Elena.Noah pulled Claire and Anna backward while Jonathan caught Lily before she fell.The boy who called himself Jack stumbled toward the wall.Nobody screamed.Not yet.We were too shocked.The crack widened slowly, running across the floor like a dark line.Then the voice came again."Marcus."My father stared into the opening."Who are you?"A woman laughed softly from below."You really don't remember me?"Marcus's face changed.Not fear this time.Recognition.He whispered a name."Rebecca."Elena looked at him."Rebecca?"Marcus didn't answer.The boy looked between them."Who is Rebecca?"Marcus finally spoke."She was one of the doctors.""At the hospital?""Yes."The boy's expression hardened."She worked on me."Marcus nodded."Yes.""She was there when I was born.""Yes.""Then why is she under the school?"Marcus looked at the opening."Because she was never just a doctor."The voice below answered for him."You

The room went completely silent.Nobody moved.Nobody spoke.The recording had stopped, but my voice was still echoing in my head.Don't let them take my brother.My voice.Seventeen years ago.Before I could even understand what that meant, Ethan whispered:"That's you."I looked at him."What?""The voice."He pointed toward the old speaker built into the wall."That's your voice.""I know.""No."He shook his head."You don't understand."He looked frightened."That's the voice I hear."A cold feeling spread through my chest."The voice inside you?"Ethan nodded."The one that talks to me."Jace stepped closer to the speaker."Play it again."Rebecca looked at him."I can't.""Why?""Because the recording only plays when the chamber recognizes a blood signature."Jace frowned."Whose?"Rebecca looked at me."Yours."I stared at her."Then why did Ethan hear it?"She shook her head."I don't know."For once, nobody had an answer.And strangely, that made me trust Rebecca more than t

Sarah Carter stood in the doorway.For several seconds, I couldn't move.Neither could Jace.The woman we'd spent the last few minutes talking about was standing less than ten feet away from us.Alive.Older than the woman in the photograph, obviously, but unmistakably the same person.She had the same dark eyes as Marcus.The same shape of the mouth.The same small scar near her chin.Family resemblance wasn't something I had to guess anymore.I could see it.Jace stared at her."You died."Sarah's expression softened."That's what they wanted you to believe.""You were there.""Yes.""You took me."She shook her head."No.""Rebecca said you did.""Rebecca was wrong."Rebecca stood silently behind us.Jace looked between the two women."Then who took me?"Sarah looked at him."I did."Jace's face tightened."You just said—""I took you from the hospital."She paused."But I didn't take you to hurt you."Jace stepped toward her."You left me in that facility.""I left you with Rebecc

For several seconds, I couldn't move.The baby stared at me.Not cried.Not reached for me.Just stared.Those silver eyes were too clear.Too aware.Jace stood beside me, completely frozen."That's not possible," he whispered again.Daniel didn't answer.I looked at him."You said the first child Azazel ever tried to save."Daniel nodded."What does that mean?""It means exactly what I said.""No. It doesn't."My voice came out sharper than I intended."A baby can't be thousands of years old."Daniel's expression remained calm."You're assuming the child is thousands of years old in the way you are."I looked back at the bundle.The baby's fingers slowly curled around the edge of the cloth."Then what is it?""Something that survived."Jace stepped forward."Survived what?"Daniel looked at him."The Flood."My stomach tightened.The Flood.The same story my family had been hiding from me since I was a child.The same event connected to the Last Son.The Ark.Azazel.The Nephilim.Ev

Nobody moved.The stranger stood beside the empty glass chamber, watching us with an expression I couldn't read.Jace was the first to speak."You said you were born before us."The stranger nodded."Yes.""Then why don't I know you?""Because you were never supposed to."Jace stared at him.I could see the anger building behind his eyes.Not the explosive kind.The quieter kind.The kind that came when someone had spent too many years being lied to."How old are you?" Jace asked.The stranger smiled faintly."Old enough to remember things you were never told.""That's not an answer.""It's the only one I can give you."Jace took a step forward."I've spent seventeen years in a room under this town. I've been experimented on. I've had my memories changed. I've been told I was dead."His voice tightened."And now you walk out of a glass box and tell me you're my brother."The stranger's expression softened."I know.""Then explain.""I can't."Jace laughed bitterly."Of course."I step