Chapter 128

**AUSTIN**

The room we’d chosen for the interrogation was cold by design. Stone walls, no windows, a single iron lamp casting pale light across Alex’s face. The silence pressed down heavy, punctuated only by the low hum of the runes carved into the table between us. They were meant to restrain, to weaken, to prevent escape—but as I looked at him, sitting there with his wrists bound in silver-threaded cuffs, I couldn’t help but feel like the wards were unnecessary.

Alex wasn’t fighting. He wasn’t struggling. He wasn’t even nervous. He looked calm, almost serene, his dark eyes reflecting the light like still water. And that was worse than rage.

Adam stood at my side, shoulders rigid, his jaw clenched so tightly I thought his teeth might crack. I could feel the weight of his betrayal hanging in the air, suffocating the room. He had been closer to Alex than I ever had, but I had liked the man too. He was easy to like—steady, dependable, always the one to lighten a heavy mood or find a solution no one else could.

Now, looking at him, I wondered if I had ever known him at all.

“You going to say something?” I asked, breaking the silence. My voice echoed faintly against the stone, low and steady. I didn’t want him to hear the storm inside me.

Alex tilted his head, studying me as if I were the one bound to the chair. “You’re not the one I expected to start,” he said quietly. His voice hadn’t changed—it was still calm, measured. Familiar. And that familiarity twisted something sharp in my gut.

Adam took a step forward, fists clenched. “Why, Alex?” His voice cracked with fury, with heartbreak. “After everything? After all these years, why?”

Alex’s lips curved, not quite a smile. “Because you stopped seeing the truth a long time ago, Adam. All of you did. You think you’re building a sanctuary here, but you’re building a cage. A fragile one. And cages break.”

I leaned against the edge of the table, keeping my gaze fixed on him. “So you joined Alaric. Sold us out.”

“I didn’t sell anyone out,” he said. His tone wasn’t defensive. It wasn’t guilty. It was matter-of-fact. “I chose the only path that makes sense. Alaric sees the order that must be preserved. Species where they belong. Balance where it was meant to be.”

The way he said it chilled me more than if he’d shouted. He believed it. Completely.

Adam slammed his palm on the table. The runes flared briefly. “You lived with us! You fought with us! You protected Aria, laughed with Sasha, taught Cassius how to fix half the damn tech in this place—and it was all a lie?”

Alex’s gaze flicked to him, calm, almost pitying. “It wasn’t a lie, Adam. I care for all of you. I still do. But care doesn’t change the truth. Hybrids are a threat. Aria’s children are a threat. You’ve convinced yourselves they’re hope, but they’ll bring ruin. And when they do, you’ll thank me for trying to stop it.”

My stomach clenched at the mention of Aria and the babies. I forced my voice to stay even. “How did you do it, Alex? How did you let him out?”

For the first time, his calm cracked just slightly. His jaw tightened, and his gaze dropped for half a second before steadying again. “You don’t need the details. Let’s just say I know the weaknesses of every system in this place. I built them. And when you design the locks, you always know where the hinges are weakest.”

Adam’s voice was raw when he spoke again. “How long?”

Alex didn’t hesitate. “Years. From the very beginning, I’ve watched. Reported. Waited. I never meant to hurt you, Adam. But when Aria came, the prophecy began to unravel. It had to be accelerated.”

There it was. The truth, sharp and merciless. He hadn’t just betrayed us yesterday or last week. He had been betraying us all along, every day, with every smile, every word of reassurance.

Adam staggered back a step as if the words had struck him physically. I could see it in his eyes—the way his memories were shattering and rearranging themselves, every moment with Alex taking on a new and poisonous shape.

I wanted to be angry. I wanted to tear the truth from him. But instead I felt cold. Hollow. Because the man in front of me wasn’t the Alex I’d known. That man was gone, if he’d ever existed at all. What sat across from us now was a disciple of Alaric, a believer so utterly devoted that no logic, no plea, no memory could reach him.

“You think Alaric will protect you?” I asked, my voice low. “You think he’ll keep his word? He’ll use you until you’re nothing and then discard you. That’s all zealots like him do.”

Alex’s calm never wavered. “You don’t understand, Austin. I’m not looking for protection. I’m looking for order. For a world where children like Aria’s aren’t born to chaos. I’d rather be discarded in a world that survives than celebrated in one that burns.”

The room went silent again. My throat felt dry, my heart heavy. This was no longer about secrets we could pry from him, no longer about hidden codes or traitor networks. This was about faith. Alex had given himself completely to Alaric’s vision, and nothing we said would shake him from it.

Adam finally broke the silence, his voice rough with exhaustion. “Take him back to his cell.”

The deltas moved in, securing Alex’s arms. He didn’t resist. He didn’t even look at us as they led him away. For him, the interrogation was over.

When the door closed behind him, the silence pressed down again. Adam leaned on the table, his hands shaking. I could feel his grief like a storm rolling off him, the betrayal cutting him deeper than any blade.

I wanted to tell him it wasn’t his fault. That none of us could have seen this coming. But the words stuck in my throat, because part of me knew he wouldn’t believe them. And maybe I didn’t either.

I exhaled slowly, pressing my palms against the cold stone of the table. We had learned how Alex had done it, but not who else was with him, not what Alaric planned next. We had barely scratched the surface, and already it felt like we were drowning.

For the first time in a long while, I felt truly afraid.

And I hated it.