THE HEALER WHO COULD NOT SAVE HER BROTHER

THE MAN WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD

"No." The word came out of Aria's mouth before she even had the chance to stop it. 

She didn't need proof to answer this time. 

She was hoping what she was about to say was wrong. 

The archivist appeared completely exhausted. 

"You're Mistaken." Aria tried to convince the archivist and herself, even if it meant sounding desperate. "You have the wrong person." 

"I don't." The response was precise and beyond sure. 

The old man's certainty made Aria's chest tighten.

 "My father died."

 The archivist apparently agreed because there was no argument which somehow made this so much worse. "That's what everyone believed." 

The room was encased in silence. 

Nyra looked back and forth between the two, confused and concerned but trying to comprehend where the definitive truth ended and speculation began.

 Rowan was the first to break the silence. "You saw Elias yourself?"

 "I did." 

"When?"

 "Three years after his disappearance." 

Not his death, but disappearance. 

Aria saw Rowan noticing it at the same time she did.

The old man had continued to say death. 

Because now he was not sure it had happened.

 Aria's heart was racing. "What did he want?" 

The archivist looked at the wooden box. "That."

 He wanted the box, the photograph, the papers, the serpent symbol, all of it.

 "He asked for it back?" Rowan inquired. 

"No." This answer shocked all of them. 

The old man shook his head. "He only wanted to know if anyone had opened it." 

Aria did not understand this at all. "What did you tell him?" 

"The truth."

 "And?" 

"He seemed relieved."

 Relieved, not angry or scared, but relieved.

This answer made no sense. If her father had spent all of those years finding and hiding secrets, why would he be relieved, if no one learned of his secrets? Unless... The thought crept in slowly.

Unless he was hiding them from everyone. 

Assume his family was also at risk. 

Aria did not like that notion. 

Because that made Liam more despicable.

The thought came to her suddenly. 

For the longest time, Liam was one of the most stubborn people she had known. 

Until him, she thought that some of her stubbornness rubbed off on Liam. 

What if he was like that from their dad?

The thought made the room close in on her. 

It made her a little jumpy. 

Nyra asked if she was okay. 

Aria was almost in disbelief. 

It was an impossible question to answer. 

It was the most honest response she had given all week. 

Nyra moved on quickly. 

Aria had been surprised that made her feel a little better. 

Rowan had turned back to the table and started trying to solve the problem. 

If he was at the courthouse, then so was Elias.

And likelier, someone had helped him get there. 

The last thought startled Aria. 

So, there are more people on this . 

And more people hiding support of a secret. 

It was so predictable, it was getting boring.

She picked the report back up. 

It was the paragraph that said Potential Successor Identified: Liam Voss.

Deliberate. 

Almost as if Liam had been picked for something beyond his understanding. 

Was he being singled out to be a healer? 

A leader?

 A researcher? 

The options were endless. 

Suddenly, Aria noticed something strange in the book. 

Beside Liam's name was a miniscule mark, something that looked like it had been artificially inserted into the page. 

It looked like a five-pointed star. 

Unlike the mark of the serpent, this was far less elegant and looked quite shoddy. 

Aria called out to Rowan. 

Did he think she meant to grunt as the captain but closer to her? He looked up as Aria pointed. 

He leaned closer and then, in spite of himself, he stood still. 

For the briefest of seconds. 

But, that was enough for Aria. 

She was sure something was really wrong now when he took a moment to answer as if the delay was to worry them even more.

Finally, he said something Aria had been hoping he would say.

"I have seen that mark before."

Of course he had.

"Where did you see it?"

The captain was hesitating.

Long enough for Aria to consider throwing something at him.

Maybe a small textbook.

At last he said something.

"In some of my old case files."

Aria pressed for more clarification.

"What case files?"

He answered, his volume barely above a whisper.

"Missing persons."

The room was quiet.

Nyra was in shock.

The archivist, Aria was sure, lost all composure.

Her heart stopped.

"What?"

Rowan looked from the symbol, to Liam's name, back to the symbol.

As if it would somehow change.

"It was a mark used by investigators some time ago."

His tone was more serious than it had been, which was weird.

"Someone used it when they had a case of a person who inexplicably vanished."

Aria's spine went cold.

Because they all knew there was only one answer.

It was the belief of whoever put the symbol there, that Liam would belong on the missing persons list.

But Liam didn't belong on that list.

The truth was that he had died.

He had, right?

The thought of actually believing that struck Aria like lightning and nearly inspired her to drop the paper.

But no, absolutely not, she was not going to do this to herself.

Liam died, she absolutely knew, she was there.

Of course she was, she remembered.

Liam had died, there was no doubt.

Except there was.

And just a little doubt was the most terrifying thing of all.

A loud, persistent knock broke the thick silence.

Everyone turned toward the sound.

Standing in the door frame was a young, pale, and most certainly sick messenger.

Rowan frowned and said, "Captain. What is it?"

The messenger then looked straight at Aria and said, "We found another note." 

Nobody dared utter another word.

Because everyone already knew what it was.

The messenger opened the paper. 

His hand was trembling.

Aria took it.

Read it.

Then felt her blood run icy.

Because this time there was no mystery to the note.

This time it was more clear.

More clear, and more painful. 

Stop searching for the dead.

Start searching for the living.

And below the note

A snake.