CHAPTER 10 The Woman Who Could Burn the Circle
Sofia stared at her own name on the screen.
Below it, one line pulsed steadily.
**CUSTODIAN ELIGIBILITY: CONFIRMED**
“No.”
Her voice sounded small inside the enormous vault.
Dante moved to her side.
“Elena.”
Sofia’s mother pushed herself upright against the wall, one hand pressed to the wound in her side.
“I didn’t know.”
Dante’s expression turned lethal.
“You expect me to believe that?”
“Yes.”
“Your organization has tracked her since childhood.”
“I said I didn’t know.”
“You knew enough to let them test her.”
Elena flinched.
“I knew they were evaluating Sofia for the union.”
“For me.”
“Yes.”
“For Matteo.”
“Eventually.”
Dante pointed toward the screen.
“But not this.”
“No.”
Sofia finally looked away from her name.
“What exactly is a Custodian?”
No one answered quickly enough.
Her anger rose.
“I am tired of asking questions and watching everyone decide which part of the truth I’m allowed to hear.”
Dante looked at her.
She pointed at him.
“You too.”
His jaw tightened.
Then relaxed.
“Fair.”
Carlo sat against the console, pale from blood loss.
“The Custodian controls the archive.”
“I know that.”
“More than controls it.”
“What does that mean?”
Carlo hesitated.
Elena answered instead.
“The Custodian decides who can access Circle intelligence.”
“What intelligence?”
“Everything.”
Sofia stared at her.
“Define everything.”
Elena’s gaze moved across the endless rows of storage.
“Political corruption. criminal alliances. private accounts. hidden ownership. blackmail files. medical histories. illegitimate heirs. judicial influence.”
Sofia felt colder with every word.
“Secrets.”
“Yes.”
“Enough to ruin people.”
“Yes.”
“Governments?”
“Yes.”
“Families?”
“Yes.”
“Dante?”
Elena’s expression changed.
“Yes.”
Dante did not react.
Sofia turned toward him.
“There’s a file on you.”
“There are probably several.”
“That doesn’t bother you?”
“It does.”
“You don’t look bothered.”
“I am prioritizing.”
“Of course you are.”
Mercer groaned from the floor.
Every head turned.
He was conscious.
Barely.
Blood ran from his mouth.
Dante walked toward him.
Mercer smiled weakly.
“You finally see it.”
Sofia looked at him.
“See what?”
“You were always the more important one.”
Dante stopped.
Mercer’s eyes remained on Sofia.
“The boy was valuable.”
His smile widened.
“But you…”
Dante kicked the knife farther away from Mercer’s hand.
“Careful.”
Mercer laughed painfully.
“Still jealous of attention.”
Dante crouched.
“I’m deciding how many bones you need intact to speak.”
“Dante.”
Sofia’s voice stopped him.
He looked at her.
“Alive.”
His expression suggested great disappointment.
Mercer noticed.
“You’ve changed.”
“No.”
Dante stood.
“I’ve become patient.”
“That may be worse.”
“It is.”
Sofia stepped toward Mercer.
Dante immediately moved with her.
She noticed.
“Stop.”
“What?”
“Following me like I’m going to break.”
“I’m following you because he tried to kill us thirty seconds ago.”
“That is slightly more reasonable.”
Mercer smiled.
Sofia ignored him.
“Why me?”
she asked.
His expression changed.
There was fascination in it.
She hated that.
“The Circle spent decades searching for someone capable of maintaining the system without becoming owned by it.”
“That sounds noble.”
“It wasn’t.”
“No.”
Mercer’s eyes moved toward the archive.
“The previous Custodians became corrupted.”
“By power?”
“By fear.”
Sofia frowned.
Mercer continued.
“Once you know every secret, you begin seeing threats everywhere.”
Dante almost laughed.
“Relatable.”
Sofia gave him a look.
“Not helping.”
Mercer continued.
“One Custodian sold information. Another tried to destroy the archive. Another disappeared.”
“And the current one?”
Silence.
Sofia looked at Elena.
“The woman who spoke to us earlier?”
Elena shook her head.
“I am not Custodian.”
“I know.”
Sofia looked back at Mercer.
“Who is?”
He smiled.
“No one.”
Dante’s eyes narrowed.
“What?”
“The previous Custodian died six months ago.”
Silence.
Elena stared at him.
“That’s impossible.”
“No.”
“You told the Council he was ill.”
“He was.”
“Then recovering.”
“He wasn’t.”
Elena’s face hardened.
“You hid his death.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Mercer looked at Sofia.
“To force succession.”
Sofia’s stomach tightened.
“Me.”
“Yes.”
Dante stepped between them.
“Why didn’t the archive transfer before now?”
“Because she had not authenticated.”
Mercer looked toward the scanners.
“M-04 and S-17 had to enter together.”
Sofia stared.
“So bringing us here…”
“Was necessary.”
“The attacks.”
“Necessary.”
“The photograph of Matteo.”
“A stimulus.”
Dante moved so quickly Sofia barely saw it.
He grabbed Mercer by the throat and lifted him partly from the floor.
“A stimulus?”
Mercer choked.
Dante’s voice became quiet.
“You terrified my son to manipulate his mother.”
Mercer clawed at his hand.
Sofia walked closer.
“Dante.”
He did not release him.
“Dante.”
His eyes shifted toward her.
“Alive.”
His jaw flexed.
Then he dropped Mercer.
Mercer gasped.
Sofia crouched.
“You made one mistake.”
Mercer laughed weakly.
“Which one?”
“You assumed I would want this.”
He looked at the screen.
“You will.”
“No.”
“You don’t understand what you have.”
“Then explain.”
“Power.”
Sofia smiled coldly.
“I’ve spent my entire life around men who use that word when they mean control.”
Dante’s mouth almost curved.
Mercer saw it.
“So righteous.”
“No.”
Sofia stood.
“Just tired.”
The screen changed.
**CUSTODIAN ACCEPTANCE REQUIRED**
Below it:
**ACCEPT / DECLINE**
Sofia stared.
Dante moved beside her.
“Decline.”
She looked at him.
He froze.
A mistake.
Small.
Immediate.
But she felt it.
“What?”
His expression changed.
“I meant—”
“You decided.”
“No.”
“You did.”
“Sofia.”
She stepped away.
“I know you’re trying to protect me.”
“Yes.”
“And I know you mean well.”
He said nothing.
“But this is exactly what we keep doing.”
His jaw tightened.
She continued.
“My father decided what marriage was good for me.”
Carlo looked away.
“My mother decided what truth was safe for me.”
Elena closed her eyes.
“The Circle decided what my child should become.”
Her voice shook.
“And now you’re deciding what I should do with the first real choice I’ve been given.”
Dante looked at the screen.
Then at her.
“You’re right.”
Sofia blinked.
He stepped back.
Physically.
Giving her space.
“I hate that choice.”
“I know.”
“I think accepting is dangerous.”
“It probably is.”
“I think the archive should burn.”
“So do I.”
He held her gaze.
“But it’s yours.”
Her chest tightened.
“Thank you.”
“I don’t like it.”
“I know.”
“I reserve the right to complain.”
“That seems unavoidable.”
He almost smiled.
The tension eased slightly.
Then Carlo spoke.
“If she declines, the archive enters dormant transfer.”
Sofia turned.
“Meaning?”
“It waits for the next eligible Custodian.”
“Who?”
Carlo looked toward the screen.
“We don’t know.”
Dante frowned.
“Matteo?”
Elena answered quickly.
“Not now.”
“Later?”
“Possibly.”
Sofia went cold.
So declining did not end it.
It merely passed the burden forward.
Potentially to her son.
“No.”
Dante understood immediately.
“You’re considering accepting.”
“Yes.”
He said nothing.
Good.
Sofia turned to her mother.
“If I accept, can I destroy the Custodian program?”
Elena looked surprised.
“I don’t know.”
Mercer laughed.
“You can’t.”
Sofia looked at him.
“You seem worried.”
“I’m not.”
“You are.”
Mercer’s smile faded.
Interesting.
Sofia walked toward the console.
“What can the Custodian change?”
Elena answered.
“Permissions. access. designation protocols.”
“Archive structure?”
“Some.”
“Succession?”
“You already deleted it.”
“Custodian succession.”
Silence.
Elena understood.
“I don’t know.”
Mercer’s face hardened.
Sofia noticed.
“You do.”
He said nothing.
Dante smiled.
Not pleasantly.
“I could ask.”
Mercer looked at him.
“You’ll kill me anyway.”
“Possibly.”
Sofia stepped between them.
“No.”
Mercer looked surprised.
Dante looked irritated.
“No?”
“No torture.”
“Sofia.”
“We have an archive containing every secret they possess.”
“That doesn’t mean he’ll talk.”
“We don’t need him to.”
Mercer’s expression changed.
There.
Fear.
Sofia saw it.
She approached the console.
“What are you afraid I’ll find?”
He remained silent.
She smiled faintly.
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“The answer.”
Sofia pressed **ACCEPT**.
Dante inhaled sharply.
Elena whispered, “Sofia.”
Carlo closed his eyes.
Mercer went pale.
The screen changed.
**CUSTODIAN ACCEPTANCE INITIATED**
A warning appeared.
**IDENTITY VERIFICATION REQUIRED**
Sofia placed her palm on the scanner.
A needle emerged.
She pulled back.
Dante instantly drew his gun.
“No.”
Elena said, “Blood verification.”
Dante looked ready to shoot the machine.
Sofia almost laughed.
“It’s fine.”
“We don’t know what it does.”
“It takes blood.”
“We know what they do with blood.”
That was fair.
Sofia looked at Elena.
“Can it hurt me?”
“No.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
Dante muttered something in Italian.
Sofia glanced at him.
“What?”
“Nothing useful.”
She placed her finger against the device.
A quick sting.
Blood.
The screen processed.
Then:
**S-17 VERIFIED**
Another line appeared.
**WELCOME, CUSTODIAN**
The vault changed.
Lights activated row by row.
Screens illuminated.
Systems awakened.
Thousands of encrypted directories opened simultaneously.
Sofia stepped backward.
“Oh my God.”
Dante looked around.
Every cabinet now displayed names.
Families.
Organizations.
Governments.
The Circle was no longer hiding from her.
The archive had opened completely.
Mercer stared at the screens with something close to horror.
Sofia noticed.
“What?”
He said nothing.
She walked toward the main console.
A new menu appeared.
**CUSTODIAN AUTHORITY**
Beneath it:
**ACCESS**
**PROTECT**
**REVOKE**
**DISCLOSE**
**TERMINATE**
Sofia stared at the final word.
“Terminate what?”
Elena approached.
Slowly.
“I’ve never seen this interface.”
Mercer laughed bitterly.
“Because you were never meant to.”
Sofia turned toward him.
“What does terminate do?”
“No.”
His answer was immediate.
Dante raised an eyebrow.
“That sounds promising.”
Mercer’s face changed.
“Do not touch it.”
Sofia stared.
For the first time, he was not smug.
Not amused.
Afraid.
She pressed **TERMINATE**.