The iron doors groaned open, spilling light across the black-stone floor.
Raito and Evelyne were shoved forward by two armored Obsidian guards; their knees slammed into the cold ground before the throne. Evelyne hissed, clutching at her throat. Raito slid closer, steadying her with a hand on her shoulder.
The chamber rose around them, its walls veined with pulsing red fissures like a slow, cruel heartbeat. At the far end, on an obsidian throne carved with jagged edges, sat Thorne—massive, unmoved, the torchlight catching the edges of his midnight-purple cape and crimson tuxedo.
Behind him, William leaned against a pillar. His arm was bandaged, bruises mottled his face, but the smug curl of his lip made him look like a returning hound rather than a beaten man.
Raito bowed his head so low his forehead almost touched the stone. His voice trembled when he spoke. "F…F…Father…forgive me. I—I failed to—"
"Is it true?" A single sentence snapped across the hall, sharp as a whip. Thorne hadn't moved, but the weight of the question pressed down on Raito harder than any guard's grip.
The guards stepped back, rifles planted like ceremonial spears.
Raito didn't answer. Sweat tracked down his temple; his hands trembled.
"Answer." Thorne's command shook the chamber.
"No…father." Evelyne answered for him, voice steady though she knelt behind Raito. He turned slowly toward her—his eyes hollow with fear, as if her words had been a request for his death.
Evelyne straightened. She looked up into the throne room with a defiant tilt of her chin. A guard stepped forward, but Thorne merely lifted a finger; the man froze.
"We…were trying to stop William from disobeying you." Evelyne said.
A long groan escaped Thorne as he rose from the throne.
Raito pulled Evelyne down to her knees and shoved her head lower, a reflex born of terror.
"Raito boy." Thorne said, voice low, patient, dangerous.
"You forget who I am." He leaned forward, the shadow of him swallowing the two youths.
"No, father. I hav—" Raito began.
"Raito boy—you forget who you are." Thorne cut him off, crouching so his face loomed inches from theirs. His gaze was an iron probe. "You forgot about our deal. Didn't you?"
"Haruka's mask for her freedom," Thorne finished, voice cold as obsidian.
Evelyne's eyes widened—realization flashing across her face.
"I haven't, father." Raito said, barely audible.
"Then answer my question." Thorne's voice was a rasp now, insisting on the one truth he wanted.
"Is… it… true?" he asked again, drilling into Raito as if to knock the truth free.
Before Raito could answer, Thorne moved with impossible speed. His hand closed around Evelyne's throat and lifted her as if she weighed nothing. Her body spasmed, feet kicking; nails raked uselessly against his palm. Her face went red, then white. Raito fell to his knees and grabbed at Thorne's boot, tears cutting clean tracks down his cheeks.
"NO! NOT HER!" Raito begged.
"Why?"
"You've clearly forgotten."
"You couldn't hold up your end of the deal, so I will." Thorne's grip tightened; the chamber hummed with the sound of Evelyne's failing breath.
"Lord Thorne! Have mercy—please! I… I… I'm the one who stopped William from finding Haruka, not her. Forgive her." Raito's voice cracked; he scrabbled at Thorne's calf like a drowning man.
"I swear... spare her, I....I...I Will kill Haruka."
A long beat. Then, with an almost bored motion, Thorne released Evelyne. She collapsed like an emptied doll, gulping air, hand coming to her throat. Raito scooped her up and held her, while Thorne turned his back as if the moment had been of no consequence.
William stepped forward, moving past the throne as if he owned the floor. "One of Shan's maids told me where they are," he said, voice flat. "Haruka and Mama's Fangs—at the Chemical Plant."
Raito's eyes snapped up. Cylinders on his mask sparked; anger flared white-hot beneath his skin. He whispered—so quiet only he could hear—"I will kill you."
He lifted Evelyne into his arms as the guards opened the doors. The world narrowed to the heat behind his eyes and the single destination William's words had lit in his mind.