CHAPTER 468: NEW LEADS

Evaline:

Nearly a year ago.

That’s when I first stepped foot into the Thorne estate for the first time. And I had spent quite a while living here. Long enough to know every corridor, every room, every wing, every hallway... even the underground dungeon where I spent my first night in this place.

Or at least... I thought I knew everything.

Turned out, I didn’t know even half of it.

When River guided us past Draven’s private wing and continued deeper into the basement, I thought he was just taking a longer route to another exit. But instead, he pressed his thumb to a panel beside a reinforced metal door I had never seen before.

A hidden door.

Again.

A soft beep echoed, followed by a shift of gears and grinding metal. The huge slab of steel slid aside smoothly, revealing...

A ramp.

A large, sloping ramp disappearing downwards.

I felt my mouth part open. "Wait-"

River didn’t stop.

Oscar didn’t blink.

Kieran didn’t look surprised in the slightest.

My shock grew with every step.

We descended in silence until the ramp widened into what looked like... no, was... a complete underground parking lot. Rows of cars sat quietly, shadows stretching around them. The place was spotless, lit with overhead strips of white LED lighting.

"This is..." I whispered, stunned, pointing uselessly at everything. "This is a parking lot?"

Oscar smirked. "One of them."

"One-?!" I sputtered. "You have multiple underground parking lots?!"

Oscar’s grin widened like a child proudly showing off a secret fort. "We brothers like being prepared."

"Prepared?" I threw my hands up. "You are all insane. Absolutely insane."

River walked past me, deadpan as ever, but I caught the faint curve of his mouth. "We call it being efficient."

"No." I glared at all three of them. "It’s officially insane. First the hidden Academy tunnels... plural... then the safe house, then the private basement wing, and now this?" I gestured around wildly. "What’s next? A secret lake under the kitchen? A dragon pit? A teleportation chamber?"

Kieran actually chuckled. "Teleportation would save us a lot of time."

"Oh Moon Goddess." I slapped a hand over my face. "You have hollowed out more of this mountain than the Academy builders have!"

Their laughter filled the wide underground room, echoing off concrete - warm, surprising, a perfect contrast to the tension that had strung all of us tight since midnight.

River walked ahead and hit a button on the wall. Metal groaned like something huge was waking up. Then, slowly...

A tunnel door opened.

A massive tunnel door.

Wide enough for two vehicles to drive side by side.

Oscar swung the car keys. "Come on, sweetheart." He tossed me a wink. "You can marvel at our genius on the way."

I rolled my eyes but followed him into the back seat beside Kieran while River climbed into the front. Oscar took the wheel.

The moment the car rolled into the tunnel, I pressed my face to the glass like a child.

A long, stone-lined passage stretched ahead, lit by embedded wall lights, smooth and impeccably maintained. After what felt like several long minutes, the tunnel angled upwards. My heart thrummed as a trapdoor opened.

And then...

We emerged.

The car burst out into open forest behind the Academy, headlights slicing the darkness. The dirt road beneath us was narrow but clearly maintained, winding through tall pine trees and thick undergrowth.

I stared.

Speechless.

"You are kidding me," I whispered.

Oscar chuckled, the sound filled with mischief. "Welcome to Tunnel Two."

"Tunnel-? There’s a number?" I raised my hands helplessly. "Of course there is. Why wouldn’t there be?"

Kieran’s laugh was soft but very real, and River shook his head, amused.

The car sped down the dirt path until the trees parted ahead... and suddenly we were back on the main mountain road, heading down toward the towns.

Had we really just exited the Thorne estate without a single servant, guard, or patrolling warriors realizing?

Yes.

Exactly as we needed.

And still... I couldn’t help whispering, "Insane."

Oscar wiggled his eyebrows. "We know."

Despite everything - the lingering pain, the looming betrayal, the black veins - we were laughing. And the lightness eased something cold and brittle inside me, even if just for a moment.

Forty minutes later, Oscar parked outside the old headquarters. The overgrown greenery surrounding the place was more than enough to keep the car mostly hidden unless someone came close enough to notice it. And the cloud covered sky above only aided us further.

The real entrance was further ahead. But River walked straight past it, leading us toward a broken patch of stone floor that might have once been part of a courtyard.

He knelt, brushed aside fallen leaves, and lifted a square metal frame.

The very familiar trapdoor.

It was a narrow descent with metal steps and damp stone walls. The air smelled old - dust and forgotten time.

River took out an access card and pressed it against the scanner. The next second, the metal latch clicked.

We entered the building and made our way straight to the archive room.

Rows and rows of high steel shelves filled the long room, packed with document boxes, ancient dossiers, glass cases holding sealed scrolls, and hundreds of thin leather-bound reports.

It was just as overwhelming as I recalled it from my previous visit.

River switched on the lights. Kieran and Oscar spread out without needing to discuss anything. I pulled out my phone and opened the scanning app.

And then the hours began.

Quiet. Focused. Heavy.

The only sounds were pages turning, papers rustling, and the occasional beep from my phone as each document was scanned and saved.

I took pictures, then created a new folder labeled Old Soul Death Reports – Originals.

The deeper we read, the more apparent the truth became -

Only one page had been removed from the version Kieran received.

Just one.

One single sheet of paper in hundreds... containing the mention of black veins.

A subtle change.

A tiny omission.

Easy to overlook.

And exactly why no one ever noticed.

Hours passed. My fingers felt cramped. My shoulders ached. My eyes burned. But we kept going until we were sure... absolutely sure.

Oscar stretched his back, groaning. "Well... that confirms it."

River closed the last scroll. "Everything except the black veins section is identical."

Kieran rested his hands on the table, his expression hard and unreadable. "Someone deliberately removed only one page. One crucial detail."

Two new leads now stood before us - clear, strong, and terrifying.

"One," I said softly, almost whispering. "The black veins... they are connected to soul death. They have to be."

River nodded grimly.

"And two..." Oscar added, his voice low, "there’s a mole in Kieran’s team."

Kieran didn’t speak. He simply stared at the pile of original documents... the ones no one had bothered to tamper with... or probably hadn’t the access to do it.

Something deep and dangerous flickered in his eyes.

I reached for his hand and curled my fingers around his.

"We can work with this," I whispered. "We finally have a direction."

He looked at my hand, then up at me, and some of the tension eased.

I squeezed lightly. "Next steps are clear - we track down the families and friends of the current victims. Ask if they saw black veins."

Oscar nodded. "If even one of them confirms it, we know we are on the right path."

"And then..." River added, his voice dropping, "we find the mole."

Kieran’s fingers tightened around mine.

His voice was soft.

Deadly.

"We are going to find them."

I believed him.

Because tonight, for the first time in months... we finally had real leads.

And the darkness was starting to crack.