Flames roared against the entrance of the container, licking up the metal like they were hungry for something more than heat. The sigil that once glowed with soft magic was now a branding iron of fury, sealing them inside.
Harper stepped in front of the door instinctively, shielding Alex and Liam with her body though there was nothing to be done. The flames weren't natural. They curled inward instead of outward. They breathed, like lungs.
"He locked us in," Harper hissed. "We're trapped."
Caine didn't flinch. "No, you're protected. The door will burn until the wards recognize your blood. Only then can you leave. That is the price of knowledge."
Liam bared his fangs. "This better be worth it."
Caine only nodded solemnly and turned back to the map stretched across the table. "Your mother came to me the night before she died. Elena knew they were close. She'd uncovered something even the Veilwalkers feared."
Alex stepped forward, voice shaking. "What was it?"
Caine's crimson eyes met his. "A second world. Layered beneath ours. Not a parallel dimension. Not hell. A veil-layer. A prison for things that were too powerful to destroy, so they were hidden."
Harper furrowed her brow. "You mean, like, monsters?"
"No. Ideas. Curses. Names. Bloodlines."
Liam stiffened. "Names?"
Caine pointed at Alex. "Your mother protected one of those names. Carried it inside her."
Alex blinked. "You mean like a code or...?"
"No. A true name. An ancient one. The name of a thing that should not exist. And now that she's gone, it has passed to you."
Silence thickened. Alex could hear his own pulse.
Caine leaned closer. "They didn't kill her just because she was a guardian. They killed her because she refused to give it up."
Alex backed away. "Why didn't Marcus tell me? Why didn't he say anything about this?"
"Because," Caine said, "your father wasn't just sent to spy. He was sent to retrieve the name. But he fell in love with her. And he couldn't do it. He failed them. So they killed her."
Liam grabbed Alex's arm. "You okay?"
Alex couldn't answer. There was thunder in his head, lightning in his fingertips. His mom had died to protect a secret he didn't even know he carried.
"Who are they?" Harper demanded. "Who sent Marcus?"
Caine looked down at the map. "A council older than the vampire courts. The Order of the Crimson Tongue. They don't just control blood. They manipulate truth. Rewrite history. And they want that name."
Alex sat down hard on a bench. "Do you know what the name is?"
Caine shook his head. "If I did, I wouldn't be standing here. I protected your mother. I created this space for her. Now I'm giving it to you."
He walked to the far wall and tapped a floating crystal embedded in the stone. A door appeared out of thin air.
"That leads to the first gate," he said. "Your mother was trying to seal it permanently."
Harper crossed her arms. "And what, we just waltz in?"
"No," Caine replied. "You leave now. You rest. And when you're ready, you come back with blood willingly offered. Three drops. Yours. Liam's. And... Marcus's."
Alex stood, stunned. "My father's blood?"
Caine nodded. "Without it, the gate will consume you. He must make peace with the life he destroyed."
The flames on the door flared, then vanished as suddenly as they'd come.
Caine stepped back. "You have seven days. After that, the gate opens on its own."
They exited into the twilight, the sky bruised with stars. The air outside felt thinner, sharper.
No one spoke until they got back to the house. Liam closed the door behind them, and Harper dropped the folder of documents onto the table.
Alex collapsed onto the couch.
"We have to find my father," he said.
"I thought he was gone," Liam said.
Harper looked between them. "If Marcus is the key to keeping Alex alive, we better find him fast."
Alex's phone buzzed.
One message.
Unknown Number: You should have stayed away from Caine.
Then another.
He lied to you.
And another.
Meet me where your mother died. Come alone.
A GPS ping.
Alex stared at it, then showed the screen to Liam and Harper. "What do I do?"
Harper frowned. "It could be a trap."
"It is a trap," Liam said. "That doesn't mean we don't walk into it. We just don't walk in stupid."
Alex looked back at the screen.
The coordinates pointed to a cliffside east of Hollow Ridge. A place called Sable's End. Named after a woman who'd jumped during the founding of the town. A place soaked in grief and legend.
"I have to go," Alex said.
Liam stepped forward, grabbing his wrist. "Not alone."
But Alex shook his head. "He said alone. And I think I have to."
Harper threw her hands up. "Of course. Of course you do. Because when a creepy message tells you to meet at a murder site, you listen."
Alex turned to her, something cold in his voice. "This might be the person who killed my mom. Or someone who saw it happen. If there's a chance—even a small one—I need to take it."
Liam's voice dropped. "Then I'm following you. From a distance."
Alex hesitated, then nodded. "Fine. But if I give the signal, you run."
Sable's End was exactly how the legends described it: a jagged cliff overlooking the black ocean. Waves crashed against the rocks like drums.
Alex stepped out of the trees alone. Fog clung to the ground. The air buzzed.
And there, standing near the edge, was a man in a hooded cloak.
"You're early," he said, voice smooth.
Alex stepped closer. "Who are you?"
The man turned.
And Alex stopped breathing.
It was Marcus.
Older. Worn. But alive. Very much alive.
His father lowered the hood.
"Hello, son."
Alex felt his chest constrict. "You... You're supposed to be gone. Dead."
Marcus smiled sadly. "I had to disappear. For your safety. For everyone's."
Alex stepped closer. "Did you kill her?"
"No. But I let it happen. And I've lived with that ever since."
Silence stretched between them.
"They're coming for you, Alex. The Order. They know you hold the name."
"Then help me stop them."
Marcus nodded. "I will. But not here. Come. There's someone you need to meet."
He stepped aside, revealing another figure behind him.
A woman.
Alex's heart nearly stopped.
It was his mother.
Alive.
She stepped forward slowly, her eyes shining. "Alex."
He staggered back. "No. That's not possible. I saw the pictures—"
"They were faked," Marcus said. "We had to make them believe she was dead. To protect the name."
Tears stung Alex's eyes. He wanted to run to her. But something inside him screamed not to.
Then Liam's voice echoed from the treeline.
"ALEX! GET DOWN!"
Gunfire erupted.
Harper burst from the other side, a blade in each hand.
The woman—his mother—snarled.
Her face shimmered.
And changed.
Not Elena. Not his mother.
But something else. Pale. Hollow-eyed. Leech-like. Wearing his mother's face like a mask.
"Too late," it hissed.
Marcus was already bleeding, claws in his side.
Alex screamed.
And from the cliffside below, something ancient answered.
A growl like the cracking of earth.
The sea turned red.
The gate had opened early.
And something was crawling out.