"Then?"
"He copied them."
"Where are they?"
Victor looked at Damon.
Damon shook his head.
Victor closed his eyes.
"Your father had them."
Elara froze.
"My father?"
"Your father knew."
She took a step backward.
"No."
"He knew."
"My father would never—"
"He wasn't the one running it."
Victor's voice broke.
"But he knew."
Elara felt as though the floor had disappeared.
Her father.
The man who had taught her to defend herself.
The man who had told her Adrian died in a training accident.
The man who had told her Noah left voluntarily.
The man who had spent years refusing to discuss either brother.
Daniel watched her.
"Elara."
She shook her head.
"No."
Damon stepped closer.
"Your father discovered what was happening."
"Then why didn't he tell us?"
"Because they threatened Noah."
Everything stopped.
Elara looked up.
"They had Noah?"
"Yes."
"Where?"
"We don't know."
"Alive?"
"We think so."
Elara's voice became barely audible.
"Why did Adrian die?"
Victor answered.
"Because he tried to rescue him."
That was the moment something inside Elara broke.
Not loudly.
Not dramatically.
Just a quiet fracture.
All those years.
All that grief.
All those unanswered questions.
And suddenly they had shape.
Daniel looked around the room.
He realized something.
Damon hadn't come to attack.
He had come to expose them.
But there was still danger.
Because the four men behind him were not there to talk.
One reached inside his jacket.
Daniel shouted.
"Everyone back!"
The room erupted.
Chairs overturned.
People moved.
But Elara remained still.
She looked at the man.
Then at Damon.
Then at Victor.
"Who sent you?"
Damon looked at her.
"The person who wants the records destroyed."
"Who?"
Damon didn't answer.
Instead, he looked toward the office.
Daniel followed his eyes.
The academy safe.
The records.
Someone had come for them.
Elara moved.
She reached the office first.
The door was open.
The safe was empty.
On the desk lay one photograph.
Adrian.
Noah.
And their father.
On the back, one sentence had been written.
You were never supposed to come looking.
Elara stared at it.
Then she heard a sound behind her.
A familiar voice.
Her father's voice.
"Elara."
She turned.
Her father stood in the doorway.
Older.
Tired.
Alive.
She stared at him.
"You lied to me."
He lowered his head.
"I was trying to protect you."
"Where is Noah?"
Her father closed his eyes.
"I don't know."
"You always say that."
"I don't know where he is now."
Elara's voice shook.
"But you knew where he was."
Her father nodded.
"Yes."
"Where?"
He looked at her.
"Alive."
The word struck harder than any punch.
Elara's eyes filled with tears.
"Where?"
Her father whispered:
"North Harbor."
Then the lights went out.
The Truth
The academy went completely dark.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Then emergency lights flickered on.
Red.
Dim.
Enough to see.
Daniel immediately locked the main doors.
Marcus moved the younger fighters toward the rear exit.
Damon stood near Elara.
Her father remained beside the office.
Outside, rain hammered the windows.
Someone had cut the power.
This was no longer about an argument.
Someone was coming.
Daniel looked at Elara.
"We leave now."
She shook her head.
"No."
"Elara."
"My brother is alive."
Daniel understood.
"We'll find him."
Her father stepped forward.
"I can take you to the place."
Everyone looked at him.
"Where?"
"North Harbor."
"Then let's go."
Her father shook his head.
"It's too late."
"What?"
"They know."
A crash sounded from the front entrance.
The entire room froze.
Another crash.
Then silence.
Damon looked at Daniel.
"How many exits?"
"Three."
"How many people?"
"Twenty."
Damon nodded.
"We hold here."
Daniel stared.
"Why?"
"Because if they get inside, they reach her."
Elara looked at Damon.
"Why are you helping me?"
He stared at her.
"Because Adrian once helped me."
She hadn't expected that.
Damon continued.
"He found me when I was seventeen."
"What happened?"
"I was one of the recruits."
Elara understood.
"Your brother got you out."
Damon nodded.
"He told me to run."
"Why didn't you?"
"I was scared."
Elara looked at him.
"You're not scared now?"
Damon smiled sadly.
"I am."
Then he raised his fists.
"I'm just tired of running."
The doors shook again.
Then the lock broke.
Several men entered.
The fight was chaotic.
Not cinematic.
Not elegant.
People slipped.
Furniture broke.
Bodies collided.
But Daniel's students moved together.
The academy had spent years teaching them something important.
Not how to win.
How to stay calm when everything went wrong.
Elara moved through the room with absolute focus.
She didn't chase anyone.
She protected people.
A young student fell.
She pulled him out of the path.
Marcus blocked another attacker.
Viktor protected the rear exit.
Damon confronted Victor.
For several seconds, the two men stared at each other.