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I swallow and glance away. “Antonio wants peace,” I whisper. “That’s all he’sever wanted.”

He brings his forehead to mine, then kisses me gently.“He is notthatsame mananymore, Sau.He didn’t just kill two of our childrenbefore you woke. He tortured them.”

I flinch, but he does not stop.

“He drew out their deathsfor as long as he could.Erictooksevenmonths to die.Georgewas dropped off alive a month after that, so brokenI…”My husbandswallows, then exhales harshly. “He begged us –beggedmeto make the pain stop.” Grabbing my shoulders,Cadenshakes me gently,not that he needs tosnagmy attention. He has it fully, my eyes tearing over the words he doesn’t say.

HowAntonio made a father kill his own son.

I tremble beneath his hands, able to imagine it so well. I know thetwisted sense of justiceAntoniois capable of.

Someone rushes into the room but halts right inside the door. They’re blocked by Caden’s bulk, but I don’t look around him to see who it is, too trapped in my husband’s wet gaze. Despite how strong he might be, he needs me in this moment.

“I love you,” I whisper, cupping his cheek.There are no easy choices in this life, and I can’t begin to imagine the guilt he carries on his shoulders… The haunted screams of our children. The knowledge that the only way he could helpGeorgewas by killinghim.My heart breaks for him, and he pushes into my palm.

“Come back to me,” I say, wanting him to know I do not judge him at all. That as much as I love my children and mourn the loss of all those I’ll never know, I do not hate him for doing what was asked of him.

Such a choice would have broken me.

But he kept himself together for the rest of our kids.

I could never hate him for that.

“Just come back to me,” I repeat, then lean forward and kiss him. It is passionate andhopeful and desperate. And over far too quick, pulled away by a chorus of howls way too close.

He pivots on his heels. “Protect them with your life,” he says toKatie Wilks, the person at the door.

Then he disappears, leaving me, and my heart clenches over the thought that this is the lasttimeI’llever see him.

My throat closing, I tear my eyes away from the now empty doorway and look at Katie, who’s standing beside it. “Where aremychildren?”

“In the basement.” She gestures towards the hall, and Inod. That is our safe room, and it’s warded with different spellsthanthose that guardour streets for just this reason. “Are theyokay?”

She nods.

“Are you?”Her knuckles are bloody, but there’s not another scratch on her that I can see. Still, if Aleric had her for a while, she would have suffered greatly. Perhaps there are deep wounds under the long sleeves and gown of her dress.

She smilesslightly. “I won’t let anyone get to you.”

“That’s not why I was asking.”

“Come on. We don’t have a lot of time.” Katie gestures again, and I smile. She’s just like my father was. Just like my husband and Myers. She probably won’t say she’s hurt or dying until she passes out.

But I don’t push, feeling the pressure of time. Howls and screams spur us out into the hallway. The house feels eerily empty as we rush through it, everyone either dead or gone. My throat tightens as my hairs stand on end, my pulse pounding with everytap, tap, tapof our shoes on the hardwood floor.

We take the stairs down, Katie at my back. Despite being a woman, she moves with the same lethality as the men. I’ve only ever seen her dressed to the nines, wearing the confidence of an upper class lady born and bred to money. But now she reminds me of a street runner, her eyes darting everywhere, her movements a hair trigger away from exploding into action.

I wonder if she does more for the Family than just run our Floridian hotels and lure targets into staying in them. But now isn’t the time to ask.

We reach the basement, and I run in to gather up my children. I take Ryo from Bonnie’s arms as my two girls cling to me. I check them over between kisses and hugs of comfort, relieved to find noopenwounds or broken bones.Molly is absolutely free of even tiny scrapes and bruises. She trembles as she tells me she has her magic now, and pride fills me alongside pain.

Regardless of tonight, she will be leaving me soon to start her own family.

Florida still allows a child of any age to marry as long as they’re pregnant.Buryingmy anxiety over her near future,I hug her close andconcentrate on surviving tonight.

“How are the wards?” I ask, turning to Katie Wilks after passing Ryo back to Bonnie. I want to do nothing more than hide in a corner with a blanket over me, but only an idiot thinks they can hide from a werewolf. Only a coward tries.

I am a Shadow, I remind myself even as my wounds throb from the memory of that night in the woods. My hands shaking, I clasp them together.