Chapter 27

Aiden shot up from the bench, the rush of blood still ringing in his ears. This was impossible. Claudia's father couldn't have taken part in such a cruel crime. He couldn't have forged historical records and ordered the massacre of an entire family. Of Sara. There had to be a mistake.

"Sir Kesley? Are you okay? I'm going to disconnect us from the internet now so the bad men can't find us!" Sara chirped, her face scrunched in a frown.

How was this happening…? How could he have known nothing about the family he had been about to marry into?

"Sir Kesley?"

Aiden took a deep breath, but it did little to calm him down. Claudia… She had to have known. Yet she… hadn't told him anything. A new hole opened in his already wounded heart, a trench that was quickly filling with doubts, suspicions and more questions. He felt nauseous and collapsed onto the bench. Was that why Claudia had died? Because she'd really gone after Darren and tried to kidnap him so Marcus could locate the heir and finish the job he'd failed to do twenty years ago?

So that he could kill Sara's brother just like he'd killed her?

No, it couldn't be. Claudia would've never kept such a thing from Aiden. They had no secrets from each other, they talked about anything and everything. They'd been together since high school, moved in as soon as they'd started university. They'd shared friends, memories and so many experiences… she'd had so many chances to tell him, so if she hadn't, then that had to mean she'd not known. Right?

Aiden stared at Sara's tablet, an urge to crush the device rising in him. He'd adored Claudia. Loved her beaming smiles and sharp wit, her never-ending ambitions, her intellect. He would've done anything for her, overlooked even a past like that had she been open with him.

Claudia had to have known, but she hadn't trusted him. She'd chosen to keep the truth of who she really was from him.

It tore Aiden, breaking his heart, and yet, he still didn't hate her. Because maybeshe would've told him once they'd gotten married. Maybe her parents had forced her to keep it a secret from him until they were sure he could be trusted. Or maybe she'd done it to protect him from the ugliness of the crime Marcus had committed, afraid that Aiden would judge her for it.

Whatever the case, now Aiden would never find out. Because of Darren Howe.

"Sara." Aiden pinched the bridge of his nose. A surge of pain speared through his chest as the memory of Sara's death flashed in front of his eyes, but he forced it down, locked it away in one of those dark places deep in him so he wouldn't lose the last of his sanity before he solved the rest of this mystery. "Do you know if Claudia DuLaurent was sent to kidnap Darr—" Right, he had to use the stupid codenames. "Sir Barnaby Albus II?"

A part of him hoped there was a misunderstanding, that Claudia really hadn't known, but as soon as Sara flashed him a smile and loaded up a folder containing surveillance footage, that hope died in him just like another part of his soul.

"Sir Barnaby Albus II sent me these before he disappeared," Sara explained, opening a few videos concurrently. They were of Claudia entering and exiting various clubs and bars across Mars and Earth, talking to shady-looking people and handing out cards with preloaded credits. The timestamps varied, and some stretched as far back as their late high school years, which made Aiden wonder if she had been involved in her parents' affairs even back then. While they'd both still been kids. If so, then she had been lying to him for longer than just the last couple of years.

When Aiden finished inspecting the videos, Sara materialized a personal device which he recognized immediately. Claudia's phone. The frame was severely damaged, including a cracked screen, but enough of it was intact that he could read the correspondence when Sara handed him the device. The chain of messages were addressed to MDL and comprised mostly status updates and lack of leads until she'd stumbled upon mentions of a person of interest in a club called the Moonshine Ravine.

That explained the recurring ‘conferences' in Atlan in the months leading up to her death.

The last of Claudia's updates was on the day of her murder, February 4th, two hours after she'd arrived on Mars, but nothing concrete was in it either.

Aiden turned that information over despite the headache splitting his head. If she'd been going to Mars to investigate rumors, then surely she couldn't have known that Darren Howe was Sir Barnaby Albus II. So then, didn't that give Darren enough time to figure out someone was after him and disappear? Just like Claudia, Darren was smart, too smart in fact to be careless enough to get caught unless Claudia had already known who he was.

And she hadn't, at least when she'd sent that last message.

Aiden tossed the phone on the grass and squeezed his hands into fists, feeling his nails dig into his palms. Darren Howe had chosen to kill Claudia; there was no other explanation. Maybe she'd surprised and cornered him—if anyone could've done that, it would be Claudia—but surely Darren could've just knocked her out and slipped away.

"Sir Kesley!" Sara piped up, curling her nose as her gaze shifted from the phone to Aiden. "Would you like some tea?"

Tea was the last thing Aiden needed right now, unless it was the kind that could numb you and make you pass out. "Where did you hide this?" he asked, tilting his chin at the fake phone.

She grinned. "In the chip like everything else!"

"I mean the real phone." Because it had to be in the hideout somewhere, if any of this was to be authentic.

"Hmm… The third drawer, I think. Or maybe the fourth! There is a hidden compartment!"

Aiden gazed at the pretty garden, but it had lost its charm. "I'm afraid I have to go and won't be able to join you for tea, Sara," he said, feeling a little bad for turning her down.

Even if she was an advanced AI, she felt so real, as if she could actually be Sara Valrais from twenty years ago. Of course, Aiden knew that was impossible, though a mapped copy of the girl's conscience wasn't out of the question considering how lifelike this entire VR was.

"Aww, don't go yet! I haven't even shown you the house!"

Aiden patted her head. It pained him to leave, but he had to. "Sorry, Sara. But I really need to go… Sir Barnaby Albus II and I need to have a talk."

Creases appeared on her forehead as her smile left her eyes. "Okay. And, Sir Kesley? Tell him I miss him!"

Aiden barely survived the flight back to Luna's Nymphs. After confirming that Claudia's phone was indeed in the fourth drawer and did contain the correspondence Sara had shown him, he went back to the shuttle and headed toward Mars. The ride was rockier because of a passing-by cluster of debris, making it hard to do more than sit strapped in and try to read the swimming letters on the old pages of the history book Bea had given him. He finished it too, discovering in the process that one of the bloodlines included in it was, in fact, the Valrais.

Most of the information was concentrated on what Aiden assumed to be Sara's grandparents and their drive for unity of Earth's nations for the sake of scientific progress. By the time they'd stepped down and her parents had taken over, the Valrais had managed to do just that, forming the core of the Global Nations and introducing policies that ensured the wellbeing and high standard of life for all its citizens. In return, the population had helped bring to reality the Monarchy's vision, lending their minds and dedication so that the Valrais' dreams of conquering the skies could become reality.

And it had, leading to the Space Revolution. Only, no one knew about that now. Any mention Aiden had ever come across credited the five biggest corporations and the Global Nations' council-government for that breakthrough.

Aiden leaned back into the uncomfortable seat and sighed as the shuttle entered Atlan. Not only had the Valrais been assassinated, but also stripped of their glory. And Claudia's family had been the one to orchestrate it.

"Claudia, why did you keep this from me?"

The vehicle parked by the back entrance of the club and Aiden buckled out of the seatbelts, grateful to be finally on solid ground. He took a few moments to enjoy the fresh air before slinking inside the venue and taking his preferred seat in the corner. He'd just ordered himself a whiskey when a hand on his shoulder made him swerve around and almost slip from the stool.

Bea flashed her goofy bartender grin and motioned him toward the stairs. "Get ya drink and meet me upstairs, sweetheart."

Aiden nodded, took his glass and did just that. He knocked on the suite's door and entered when a voice invited him inside.

"Kesley." Bea held out the pouch containing his phone, watch and computer.

He reached to take it, hesitating when she didn't immediately let it go. "Did you know?" he asked, trying but failing to keep the irritation from his voice.

"Which part? That the Valrais had been erased from history? That it's thanks to them we can even be here today? That their own council helped a greedy corporation assassinate them in exchange for monopoly over mankind's future?" She let go of the pouch. "That you almost married the daughter of the people responsible for it?"

Aiden shoved the items inside his bag and clutched it to his side. He hadn't needed a reminder of that, though what hurt the most was the spite in Bea's voice upon bringing up Claudia. "You looked me up?" he hissed, itching to leave.

"I had the time to do some digging… I have to say, Aiden Gray, your name didn't exactly pop up on the first page."

Right, of course it didn't when he was using a fake ID. But whatever, he doubted she cared about that, considering what he'd gotten himself into.

"Do you know where and who the heir is?" He regarded her with a hard look.

She considered his question, crossing her arms and tapping her fingers against her elbows. "Not my place to say," she said with a slight twitch in her mouth that could've been the start of a smile.

Not that he thought there was anything funny about his question. But he wasn't surprised at her refusal to tell him. Even if he had most of the answers now, it didn't mean that getting the rest was going to be a walk in the park.

"I guessed as much." He fished out his phone from the bag. He had five missed calls from Nigel. Hopefully, it wasn't anything urgent.

"Kesley." Bea halted him at the door. "What do you intend to do now?"

Confront Darren about his choice to kill Claudia when he could've most likely just walked away. And no white ravens or royal heirs or more riddles would stop him from making Darren pay this time.

"Nothing. I'll go back and carry on with my life," he said and walked out.

"Don't make Sara wait too long!"

Her words reached his ears as the door closed behind him. A pang of guilt shot through him as he thought back on the lifelike AI, but he stifled it down and did his best not to think about Sara because he still had his original mission. His purpose. The one thing that had kept him going for the past two years… even if he didn't know anymore what to make of anything.

Two hours later, he'd checked out of the Meridian Hotel and was on the shuttle back to Europa. His eyelids were too heavy, and he felt himself start to drift off as soon as the craft escaped the pull of Mars, not fighting the lull as it overtook his will to stay awake. He couldn't fall asleep though, even after trying, and so he just stared out the viewport, fighting off exhaustion and another nasty headache.