Page 355 of Hidden Depths

The single word silenced everyone.

Mom stared at him.

Nathan stood between her and the passage, his clothes soaked, blood streaking one temple.

“You were beaten. Tied up. Dragged through a tunnel. You’re going outside.”

“I made James a promise.”

“James is dead.”

Mom flinched.

Nathan’s expression softened, but he didn’t move.

“I loved him too. I respected him more than any man I’ve ever known. But I won’t let one of his secrets get you killed.”

“You don’t get to decide that.”

“You’re right.”

Nathan cupped her face gently.

“That decision belongs to you. But before you make it, look at your daughter.”

Mom turned toward me.

I wanted to tell her Nathan was right.

I wanted to beg her to leave.

But beneath the fear in her eyes, I saw the same thing I had seen in Grandpa’s journal.

Duty.

The kind that could destroy a person if they carried it alone.

“We go together,” I said.

Ward swore beneath his breath.

Nathan looked ready to argue.

“All of us,” I continued. “We close the gate and leave together.”

“This isn’t a family outing,” Ward said.

“No. It’s a family secret. And I’m done letting those secrets kill the people I love.”

Ben looked toward the Blackwater passage.

“They’re getting farther ahead.”

Ward studied each of us.

His gaze stopped on me.

“You stay between Nathan and me.”