Shadows of Truth

The cleanup from Victoria's break-in took hours. By the time they finished, dawn was breaking over Tenebrous City. Julian had gone to meet with his security team, leaving Liam alone in the lab to assess the damage.

"What were you really looking for?" he mumbled, sorting through scattered papers and broken equipment. Victoria had been too focused in her search - this wasn't random damage.

A glint of silver caught his eye. Behind a damaged storage unit, a hidden panel had been knocked free. Green magic flickered at his fingers as he investigated.

Inside was an old crystalline data drive, its surface marked with protective runes. The kind used for top-secret company archives.

"Got you." Liam connected the drive to his least damaged computer. His expertise with magical tech made fast work of the security measures.

Files filled his screen - decades of hidden letters, secret projects, and buried reports. But it was a folder called "Project Soulforge" that made his blood run cold.

The timestamp showed it was from twenty years ago - around the time both his parents and Julian's mother had died.

Liam's hands shook as he opened the first page. Security video showed a younger Senator Blackwood standing in a secret lab, surrounded by crying test subjects. Dark magic swirled around him as he did some kind of ritual.

"Soul magic experimentation successful," Liam read from the attached notes. "Subjects' magical energy successfully extracted and bound to enhancement crystals. Warning: Process is fatal to givers."

His stomach lurched. Soul magic was banned for a reason - it literally tore the life force from victims to power magical artifacts.

More files exposed a horrifying truth. Senator Blackwood had been trying to make super-powered Alphas by stealing magical essence from Omegas. The tests had killed dozens of innocent people.

Then Liam found a video file titled "Project Termination." He almost didn't play it, but he had to know.

The video showed Julian's mother, Elena Blackwood, confronting her husband in his office.

"I won't let you continue these atrocities," she stated, crystal magic glowing around her hands. "The council will learn everything."

"You should have stayed out of it, my dear." Senator Blackwood's speech was chillingly calm. "For Julian's sake, if nothing else."

"Julian?" Elena's eyes widened. "What have you done to our son?"

"Nothing yet. But accidents happen to those who interfere with growth."

The video stopped there. Three days later, Elena Blackwood had died in a strange magical accident.

"Oh god." Liam felt sick. The same day Elena died, his own parents had disappeared while investigating corporate corruption. It couldn't be chance.

"Quite a history lesson, isn't it?"

Liam spun around. Senator Blackwood stood in the doorway, looking exactly like he had in the vids. Only his hair had gone gray with age.

"You murdered them." Liam's magic flared defensively. "All of them. Including your own wife."

"Murdered is such an ugly word." Blackwood stepped into the lab, his fancy shoes clicking on the floor. "I chose to think of it as sacrificing the few to advance the many. Elena never understood the bigger picture."

"And what picture is that?" Liam edged toward the emergency bell, but purple magic suddenly crackled across the controls. Victoria's handiwork.

"Power, of course." Blackwood smiled coldly. "Pure, endless power. The kind that comes from breaking all the rules that hold our society back."

"The kind that comes from killing innocent people?"

"The kind that comes from understanding that progress requires sacrifice." Blackwood's eyes shone. "Your parents understood that, at the end. They begged so prettily for their lives."

Rage and sadness exploded through Liam. His magic lashed out, but Blackwood blocked it easily.

"Temper, temper." The Senator's smile never moved. "You wouldn't want anything unfortunate to happen to dear Evelyn, would you?"

Liam froze. "What are you talking about?"

"Your sister has been quite busy lately, hasn't she? All those hidden meetings, the illegal blood magic..." Blackwood inspected his manicured nails. "The council takes a dim view of such actions. One anonymous tip, and she'd spend decades in a magical containment box."

"You wouldn't dare." But Liam's voice shook. Evelyn was all he had left.

"Try me." Blackwood's power filled the room, dark and intimidating. "Now, let's discuss your latest innovations. The council was quite pleased with your presentation."

Understanding dawned. "You planned everything. The marriage, Victoria's attacks - it was all to get access to my study."

"Very good!" Blackwood clapped mockingly. "You're almost as smart as your parents were. They also made amazing breakthroughs before their... unfortunate end."

"Does Julian know what you really are?"

Something flashed in Blackwood's eyes - real emotion, finally. "My son is a failure in many ways, but he has his uses. His connection to you, for instance, is growing quite nicely."

Horror crept up Liam's spine. "The forecast. The true bond. You planned that too?"

"Plans within plans, my boy." Blackwood's smile turned aggressive. "Did you really think your special compatibility was natural? That Julian's acceptance into our family was random?"

The world seemed to tilt. "What?"

"Oh yes. Didn't you know? Julian isn't my real son. He was chosen, especially, for his magical potential. For this exact moment in time."

Liam's mind raced. If Julian was adopted, if their compatibility was designed... what else was manufactured? What other strings was this monster pulling?

"Now then." Blackwood fixed his tie. "You're going to continue your job, advance your innovations. But you'll do it under my direction. And you'll keep your pretty mouth shut about everything you've learned."

"Or what?"

"Or Evelyn pays the price. And then Julian learns some very nasty truths about his 'fated mate' betraying the family." His smile turned nasty. "Choose wisely."

The Senator turned to leave, then stopped. "Oh, and don't bother trying to warn Julian. Victoria's new crystals are monitoring every word you say, every message you send. One hint of resistance, and..." He drew a finger across his throat.

When Blackwood was gone, Liam sank to the floor, surrounded by the rubble of his lab and his illusions. His parents' killers had been in front of him all along. And now he was stuck in their web, with the two people he cared about most as hostages.

Worst of all, he couldn't tell Julian the truth. Couldn't tell him about the father who had murdered his mother and orchestrated their entire relationship.

In her room of visions, Aria watched the threads of fate tangle further. "The price rises," she whispered. "But will they be strong enough to pay it?"

Across the city, Evelyn got an anonymous message: "Your brother needs you. But help him, and everyone learns your secrets."

And in his office, Senator Blackwood added another piece to his soul-magic crystal collection. This one sparked with familiar silver light - power stolen from his wife's dying breath.

Soon, he would have a matched set. Silver and green, Alpha and Omega, perfectly matched.

Perfect choices.

The storm wasn't just coming anymore.

It was here.

And no one was ready for the lightning.