Chapter 6: The Grave That Lied
We reached the cemetery before sunset.
The gates stood open.
That was the first thing I noticed.
The second was the absence of Dr. Mercer.
Her car sat near the old mausoleum.
The driver's door was open.
The engine was still warm.
Dorian stepped out.
“Stay in the car.””
“No.””
“Alina.””
“You know I'm going.””
He looked at me.
Then he nodded.
Mara followed.
The cemetery was silent except for the wind moving through the trees.
We approached the mausoleum.
The door was slightly open.
Dorian pushed it.
It creaked.
Inside, the air smelled of stone and damp earth.
A single flashlight lay on the floor.
Dr. Mercer's.
Mara picked it up.
“She was here.””
Dorian scanned the room.
“Look around.””
I walked toward the back wall.
There were six family crypts.
One belonged to Lucas.
The name was carved into the stone.
*LUCAS CROSS*
I touched it.
Cold.
Solid.
False.
A memory surfaced.
Lucas laughing.
Me holding his hand.
His voice:
Promise me you'll look under the stone.
I jerked my hand away.
“Wait.””
Dorian turned.
“What?””
“There's something wrong.””
“With what?””
“The grave.””
He walked over.
I pointed.
“Look at the dates.””
Dorian read the inscription.
Lucas Cross.
Born March 14.
Died November 2.
But the year was wrong.
I stared.
“Lucas disappeared in November when I was seventeen.””
Dorian's eyes narrowed.
“This says he died three years earlier.””
Mara whispered,
“That can't be right.””
Dorian touched the stone.
“This is a replacement.””
He pulled out his phone.
“Get me the original cemetery records.””
Noah answered.
“Already doing it.””
I stepped back.
A noise came from behind the crypt.
Footsteps.
Dorian immediately moved in front of me.
“Who's there?””
No answer.
He pulled open the side door.
Nothing.
Then a voice came from the darkness.
“Dorian.””
Mara froze.
I knew that voice.
My heart slammed against my ribs.
Dorian turned.
A man stepped into the dim light.
Older.
Thinner.
A scar cut through his eyebrow.
Dark eyes.
Gray at the temples.
I couldn't move.
Mara gasped.
“Adrian?””
The man shook his head.
“No.””
He looked at me.
“It's Lucas.””
Dorian stared.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Then Dorian whispered,
“Lucas?””
The man nodded.
His eyes filled with tears.
“You got so tall.””
Dorian's face collapsed.
Not dramatically.
Not like in movies.
It simply broke.
Every wall he had built around himself seemed to disappear.
He stepped forward.
Lucas didn't move.
“You're alive.””
“I am.””
“You were supposed to be dead.””
“I know.””
“Why didn't you come back?””
Lucas looked at me.
“Because they told me what would happen if I did.””
Dorian's voice cracked.
“Who?””
Lucas swallowed.
“The people who created the program.””
I stepped forward.
“Why was I involved?””
Lucas looked at me for a long moment.
“Because you saw everything.””
“I don't remember.””
“They made sure you wouldn't.””
“Why did they want me pregnant?””
Lucas's expression changed.
“That isn't what they wanted.””
“Then what?””
“They wanted the baby.””
My blood turned cold.
Dorian stepped between us.
“What does that mean?””
Lucas looked at him.
“Your family foundation developed a genetic treatment.””
“For what?””
“Rare diseases.””
Dorian frowned.
“That doesn't explain the pregnancy.””
“No.””
Lucas looked at me.
“It explains why they needed your child.””
Mara whispered,
“Why her child?””
Lucas's eyes lowered.
“Because Alina carries something the program needs.””
I stared at him.
“What?””
“A genetic marker.””
Dorian shook his head.
“That's impossible.””
“Your father knew.””
“My father died.””
Lucas looked at him.
“Your father was part of it.””
Dorian's face hardened.
“He recorded everything.””
“He recorded enough.””
“Then tell me the rest.””
Lucas hesitated.
“Your father discovered what they were doing to the embryos.””
My stomach turned.
“What were they doing?””
“Selecting genetic traits.””
Dorian went still.
Lucas continued.
“Then modifying them.””
I pressed my hand against my stomach.
“And my baby?””
Lucas looked directly at me.
“Your baby was never supposed to exist naturally.””
Silence.
“What?””
“They used the medication to manipulate your cycle.””
My breath caught.
“The prescription.””
“Yes.””
“It was designed to make me ovulate.””
“Yes.””
“But I still conceived naturally.””
Lucas shook his head.
“Not exactly.””
Dorian stepped closer.
“What are you saying?””
Lucas looked at him.
“They fertilized the egg before you ever knew.””
I couldn't understand.
“Who?””
“Mercer Biomedical.””
Dorian's face turned pale.
“How?””
Lucas shook his head.
“I don't know every detail.””
“You expect me to believe someone implanted an embryo without her consent?””
“I expect you to believe the records.””
Dorian stared at him.
Lucas continued.
“They needed your DNA and Alina's.””
Dorian looked at me.
Then at Lucas.
“Why mine?””
“Because the embryo was designed from both.””
I shook my head.
“No.””
Lucas stepped closer.
“You and Alina were the perfect genetic match for what they were trying to create.””
Dorian's voice was barely audible.
“What were they trying to create?””
Lucas looked toward the cemetery entrance.
Then he whispered,
“A child capable of repairing damaged genetic sequences.””
The wind stopped.
Even the trees seemed to hold still.
I stared at him.
“And why me?””
“Because you're the only woman in the Cross family with the marker.””
“Why didn't anyone tell me?””
“Because your mother tried to stop them.””
I looked at him.
“My mother?””
Lucas nodded.
“She found out.””
“What happened to her?””
Lucas hesitated.
“She wasn't supposed to survive.””
My knees weakened.
Dorian caught my arm.
This time I didn't pull away.
Lucas looked at us.
“They're coming.””
“Who?””
He glanced toward the cemetery gates.
Black SUVs were entering.
Three.
Then four.
Dorian immediately pulled out his weapon.
Mara stepped backward.
“How did they find us?””
Lucas looked at me.
“Because someone never stopped watching you.””
My phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
I opened the message.
It contained a photograph of Lucas standing in the mausoleum.
Taken seconds ago.
Then another photograph.
Me.
Standing beside him.
And a final message:
*NOW THAT YOU'VE FOUND LUCAS, WE CAN STOP PRETENDING.*
A second message appeared.
*BRING THE BABY TO MERCER TOWER BEFORE MIDNIGHT.*
Then a third.
*OR DORIAN LEARNS WHO REALLY SIGNED ALINA'S DIVORCE PAPERS.*
I looked at Dorian.
He had gone completely still.
“What does that mean?”” I asked.
He didn't answer.
Lucas did.
“It means the divorce was never meant to happen.””
Dorian's eyes snapped toward him.
“Why?””
Lucas looked at me.
“Because if you divorced him today, Alina…”
He swallowed.
“They would have legal grounds to take the baby.””
Then one of the black SUVs stopped directly outside the mausoleum.
The rear door opened.
A woman stepped out.
Dr. Elaine Mercer.
May you like
She looked straight at me.
And smiled.
