POV: Aiden

“The texts never mentioned a child.”

The words left my mouth before I could stop them. They sounded wrong in the quiet archive, too loud, too alive for a room filled with dead history.

I stood alone between towering shelves of stone and iron, ancient tomes stacked so tightly they looked like part of the walls themselves. Dust clung to my hands and sleeves, my eyes burned from days without real rest, but I did not care because sleep felt undeserved.

I pressed my fingers against ...