CHAPTER 8: BLACKWOOD HOUSE
CHAPTER 8: BLACKWOOD HOUSE
Blackwood House stood deep inside the northern forest, hidden behind dead trees and high iron fences.
By the time the royal convoy arrived, smoke was rising from the roof.
“They’re burning it,” Marcus said.
The Duke ordered the tactical unit forward.
Evelyn remained inside the armored vehicle with Noah.
“You don’t have to go in,” she told him.
“Yes, I do.”
“You’ve already been brave enough.”
“Clara said there were still children inside.”
Evelyn looked toward the flames.
Then back at her son.
“You stay beside me.”
They entered through a side door after the tactical team cleared the first floor.
The house smelled of smoke, chemicals, and damp stone.
Noah led them through a kitchen and down a narrow hallway.
“There.”
A steel door stood at the end.
The lock had melted in the fire.
Two officers forced it open.
Behind it was a stairwell descending underground.
They found three children in a locked room below the house.
A six-year-old girl.
Two brothers aged nine and eleven.
All three were alive.
Evelyn held the little girl while medics carried the brothers outside.
Then Noah heard knocking.
Faint.
Rhythmic.
He moved toward the wall.
“There’s another room.”
The officers searched but found no door.
Noah pressed a brick near the floor.
Part of the wall slid open.
Inside was a small office protected from the fire.
A man lay on the ground with a gunshot wound.
“Elias!” Noah cried.
The man opened his eyes.
“You made it,” he whispered.
Noah knelt beside him.
Elias looked at Evelyn.
“He never stopped asking about you.”
“Who shot you?”
“Cassandra’s brother.”
Evelyn frowned. “Cassandra doesn’t have a brother.”
Elias gave a weak laugh.
“That’s what he wanted everyone to believe.”
“Who is he?”
Elias reached for a computer drive on the desk.
“The man running Project Heir.”
He placed it in Evelyn’s hand.
Then he whispered a name that made the Duke step backward in horror.
“Prince Alexander.”
Evelyn stared at her father.
May you like
Alexander was the Duke’s younger brother.
And the next man in line to control the royal household if the Duke died.
