Luna. Chapter 193

（Kael's POV）

The underground cell smelled like death and desperation. I stood outside the reinforced bars, watching Adrian slumped against the stone wall. His face was pale. Too pale. The poison was working faster than I'd expected.

"You're dying," I said. No point sugar-coating it.

Adrian lifted his head. His eyes were bloodshot. "Tell me something I don't know."

I pulled the vial from my pocket. The antidote Elena had worked on for weeks. "This will stop the poison. But first, you need to tell me everything."

"About what?" He tried to sit up straighter. Failed.

"About Miya."

Something changed in his expression. Pain. Real pain. Not from the poison. "I didn't kill her."

"Everyone saw you with the knife."

"I was trying to save her." His voice cracked. "She was already dying when I found her. The knife was in her chest. I pulled it out like an idiot. That's when the guards came."

I studied his face. I'd interrogated hundreds of criminals. I knew when someone was lying. Adrian wasn't lying.

"Who killed her then?"

"Cassius." The name came out like poison itself. "It was always Cassius."

My blood turned cold. "Explain."

Adrian leaned forward. "He's been planning this for months. Maybe years. He needed someone to blame for Miya's death. Someone expendable."

"Why you?"

"Because I was getting too close to the truth about the research facilities. About what he was really doing there." Adrian coughed. Blood spattered the floor. "He knew I was investigating the human experiments. The enhancement serums."

The same serums we'd found traces of in the destroyed facilities. This was making sense now.

"The night Miya died," Adrian continued, "she asked me to meet her in the gardens. Said she had evidence about Cassius. Documents that would prove everything."

"What kind of evidence?"

"Financial records. Communication logs. Proof that he was selling enhanced werewolves to the highest bidders." Adrian's breathing was getting labored. "When I got to the meeting spot, she was already on the ground. Dying. She whispered one word before she died."

"What word?"

"Setup."

I felt my jaw clench. "Cassius set up the meeting."

"He killed her. Then he waited for me to show up. Perfect timing. Perfect framing." Adrian's eyes were desperate now. "The antidote. Please. I need to live long enough to prove this."

I looked at the vial in my hand. Everything in me wanted to believe him. The story fit too well with what we knew about Cassius. But I needed proof.

"Where's the evidence Miya mentioned?"

"Hidden in her private chambers. Behind the mirror in her dressing room. There's a concealed compartment." Adrian was gasping now. "The combination is her birthday. Backwards."

I made my decision. I unlocked the cell and handed him the vial. "Drink all of it."

Adrian didn't hesitate. He drained the vial in one gulp. Almost immediately, some color returned to his face.

"Thank you," he breathed.

"Don't thank me yet. If you're lying about any of this, I'll kill you myself."

"I'm not lying." He stood up slowly. "But we need to move fast. If Cassius realizes I'm still alive..."

"He'll clean up the evidence." I finished.

We needed to get to Miya's chambers. Now.

The corridors of the royal wing were empty. It was past midnight. Most of the court was asleep. Adrian moved carefully beside me. The antidote was working, but he was still weak.

"Left here," he whispered.

Miya's chambers had been sealed since her death. I broke the lock with one sharp twist. The room looked exactly as she'd left it. Personal items scattered on tables. Books half-read on the nightstand. It felt wrong to be here.

Adrian went straight to the dressing room. "Here." He pointed to an ornate mirror mounted on the wall.

I found the hidden mechanism behind the frame. The mirror swung open like a door. Behind it was a small safe.

"Her birthday backwards," Adrian reminded me.

I entered the numbers. The safe clicked open.

Inside were dozens of documents. Financial records. Bank statements. Communication transcripts. And photos. Lots of photos.

I picked up the first photo. It showed Cassius meeting with a man I recognized. A known human trafficker we'd been hunting for years.

The second photo was worse. Cassius in a laboratory, standing over what looked like a werewolf strapped to an examination table.

"My god," I whispered.

Adrian looked over my shoulder. "It's all there. Years of evidence. Cassius has been running the enhancement program as his personal business. Kidnapping werewolves. Experimenting on them. Then selling the enhanced ones to criminal organizations."

I flipped through more documents. Bank records showing payments in the millions. Communication logs between Cassius and various criminal contacts. Transaction records for "enhanced assets."

"Miya found all this?"

"She was investigating disappearances in the outer territories. Werewolves going missing without a trace." Adrian sat down heavily on Miya's bed. "She figured out they were being taken to the research facilities. When she confronted Cassius about it..."

"He killed her."

"And framed me for it. Two problems solved at once. Miya was dead, and I was out of the picture."

I felt anger burning in my chest. Pure, white-hot rage. Cassius hadn't just committed crimes. He'd destroyed families. Torn apart the supernatural community. Started a war.

And he'd killed an innocent princess to cover it up.

"We need to get this to the Council," I said.

"Will they believe it?"

I looked at the mountain of evidence. "They'll have to."

Adrian stood up. "There's something else. Something Miya told me before she died."

"What?"

"Cassius isn't working alone. He has allies in the Council. People who've been covering for him." Adrian's voice was grim. "This conspiracy goes deeper than we thought."

I felt a chill run down my spine. "How deep?"

"Deep enough that presenting this evidence might get us both killed."

I stared at the documents in my hands. We had proof. Finally. But Adrian was right. If Cassius had allies in the Council, showing up with evidence might be walking into a trap.

"Then we need to be smart about this," I said.

"What do you mean?"

I started gathering the documents. "We need allies of our own. People we can trust completely."

"Like who?"

I thought about the phone call I'd made earlier. About going home to Lyra. About the family waiting for me.

"Like the people who helped us win this war."

Adrian nodded slowly. "The other pack leaders. The ones who fought against Cassius's forces."

"Exactly." I finished collecting the evidence. "We present this to them first. Build a coalition. Then we go to the Council with overwhelming support."

"That could work."

I looked around Miya's room one last time. Such a waste. Such a senseless loss.

"She deserved better than this," I said quietly.

"She did." Adrian's voice was soft. "But now we can give her justice."

I headed for the door. "Let's go. We have work to do."

As we left the royal chambers, I thought about everything that had led to this moment. The war. The losses. The betrayals. It was all connected to Cassius and his greed.

But now we had proof. Real evidence of his crimes.

The war might be over, but justice was just beginning.