Wait. What? He has a daughter? Where is she?

“I can’t wait to meet her.”

“You can’t meet her. She’s gone.”

Gone as in gone, gone?

I grasp his hand and squeeze. “What happened?”

“She died in the fire with Adhara.”

My heart squeezes at the pain in his voice. I didn’t know his wife – my great aunt – died in a fire. I want to ask what happened. But I don’t dare. The pain in his voice is hard enough to hear.

“I’m sorry, Mercury.”

“They were the lights of my life. My stars. Do you know Adhara is a star? Vega, too. The brightest star in the constellation Lyra.”

Lyra? My grandmother’s name was Lyra. “You named your daughter after my grandmother?”

“Adhara loved her sister something fierce. It didn’t matter how Lyra cut us out of her life when we moved to Winter Falls.”

“I wish I had known them.”

There’s a knock on the door and Dr. Vander sashays into the room. “What happened here?”

“I couldn’t get him to wake up this morning.”

She consults the chart. “It appears Mercury was severely dehydrated.”

My brow wrinkles. “But I make sure he has water.”

“He’s obviously not drinking it.”

“Uncle Mercury, you need to drink your fluids,” I scold.

“I’ll drink when I want to drink,” he grumbles.

“You’ll drink your fluids or I’ll make you wear adult diapers.”

He glares at me. “I ain’t wearing no diapers.”

“Guess you’re drinking more water then.”

“And you claim I’m crotchety.”

“She’s right,” Dr. Vander says. “If you don’t want to end up in the hospital again, you need to drink your fluids.”

“I can get you some of those nutritious drinks for the elderly,” I tease.

“And I can write you out of my will.”

“Go ahead. I don’t want your money anyway.”

“You’re stubborn.”

“I thought I was crotchety.”

Dr. Vander chuckles. “I’m going to keep you here until tomorrow to make sure your hydration levels are good before sending you home.”