Ch.67: The Graveside

The cemetery was quiet. The riots had missed this place. The dead, it seemed, were the only ones who found peace in the Obsidian Circuit.

I walked through the rows of grey headstones, the grass wet against my ankles. It had been raining for three days straight, washing the soot and the blood from the streets, but the air still smelled of ozone and burnt rubber.

I found Liam’s grave. It was a simple stone, flat against the earth.

**LIAM VANCE.**
**2020 - 2045.**
**BROTHER. SON.**

No epitaph. No "Beloved." Just the facts.

I stood there for a long time, staring at the letters. I had fought a war for this piece of ground. I had broken laws, ruined lives, and nearly lost my own.

And for what?

"I did it, Liam," I whispered. "I cleared your name. I took them down."

The wind rustled the trees. A crow cawed in the distance.

"But you're still dead."

The anger I had been holding onto—the hot, white rage that had fueled me through the trial, the chase, the fear—it suddenly evaporated. And in its place was a cold, aching void.

I knelt down. I touched the cold stone.

"You lied to me," I said, my voice cracking. "You told me you were clean. You told me you were just a coder."

I thought about the encryption key. The blackmail. The deal with Sterling.

"You were going to sell them out," I said. "For money. For us, maybe. But still... you played the game."

I pulled a small object from my pocket. The silver bracelet with the piano charm. The one he had modified. The one that had saved my life.

I placed it on the stone.

"You were brilliant," I said, tears finally spilling over. "You were so smart. And so stupid."

I sat back on my heels, letting the rain soak through my coat.

I remembered him teaching me to ride a bike. I remembered him helping me with my law school applications. I remembered him playing the guitar in our tiny apartment, his fingers dancing over the strings.

*Nightingale.*

"I miss you," I sobbed. "I miss you so much it hurts."

But as I cried, I realized something else.

I was angry at him.

He had put me in this position. He had put a target on my back. He had made me a pawn in a game I didn't even know I was playing.

He wasn't a martyr. He wasn't a saint. He was just a kid who got greedy and got caught.

And Mia... Mia was the same. They were both products of this city. They both thought the only way to win was to cheat.

I was the only one who had tried to play by the rules. And look where it got me.

I wiped my face. I stood up.

I looked at the grave one last time.

"I love you, Liam," I said. "But I'm not going to be like you."

I reached into my bag and pulled out a single white rose. I laid it next to the bracelet.

"Rest now. The fight is over."

I turned away.

I walked back toward the gate, my steps heavy but steady.

I passed other graves. Other lives cut short by the city's hunger.

I stopped at the edge of the cemetery. I looked back at the skyline, the Vane Spire rising like a needle against the clouds.

I thought about Julian. About his offer. About the power he wielded.

He was right. We had broken the machine. But the pieces were still there. And someone was going to pick them up.

If I walked away now, if I went back to being a public defender, nothing would change. Another Sterling would rise. Another Halloway. Another Liam would die in an alley.

I couldn't fix the past. I couldn't save my brother.

But maybe I could save the next one.

I took a deep breath. The air tasted cleaner here.

He was a victim and a villain. I was just the survivor.