~Kaida Orion POV~
The air in the mine prison was cold and damp, thick with the stench of rusted chains and dried blood. I could still feel the vibration of the sealed vault echoing through my bones, the weight of the archive scrolls...now stolen from us...pressing against my chest like invisible chains.
They locked Lupus and me in separate cells, just barely close enough to see each other through the iron bars. There were no windows, only torchlight flickering down the narrow corridor.
"I should've seen it," Lupus said lowly, his voice raw with regret. "Mei didn't just want the contract...she wanted the entire Silverline line erased."
I leaned my head back against the stone wall, eyes stinging. "She used us to unseal the archive, then turned us over once she copied the scrolls."
