All day the chain had been collapsing across eight hundred miles of bullshit. Domino fourteen was buried twenty feet deep and had been edging for this moment. Every elder he passed on the way down added something to the pile. By the time Renwick Lunaris hit the stairs, the pile was on fire.
DOMINO 14: THE WRITE-OFF
LUNARIS DUNGEON - 7:10 PM
More than an hour of stalling. Cassian was finally ready to confront whatever hell had visited his keep. Stood. Stretched. Back-pocket key grab. Then he immediately turned into a statue.
Footsteps.
Renwick materialized at the end of the hallway. Stopped dead at Cassian's bars. Took in the full horror show on his son's face: the burn, the handprint branded through skin and skull, and didn't so much as wince.
For one second, relief broke across Cassian's face like sunrise through clouds. His father was back and would magically unfuck this disaster. Cute.
"Father."
"I'm going to ask you this once. Why?"
Cassian didn't flinch."Treason."
