FIA

The lobby at Moonhaven felt too quiet for checkout hour.

We stood in the space while Cian handled the formalities, my bag slung over one shoulder and his duffel at my feet. Staff moved through the space with that same professional grace they’d maintained throughout our stay, eyes sliding past us with discretion.

In that moment, my phone buzzed in my pocket.

I pulled it out, glanced at the screen, and felt my stomach tighten. The name staring back at me carried too much weight even if was already this late in the morning.

Father.

I declined the call and shoved the phone back into my pocket.

Cian finished with the front desk and turned toward me. His gaze went immediately to my face, reading something there I hadn’t meant to show.

"What’s wrong?"

"Nothing." The lie came automatically.

He crossed the distance between us and stopped close enough that I had to tilt my head back to meet his eyes. "It’s not nothing."

I held his stare for a moment, then let out a breath. "You’re right. It’s actually something. But I have it handled."

"Fia."

"With time, he’ll get the hint that he can just love me from a distance." I picked up his duffel and headed for the exit before he could press further.

"Who?" His voice followed me. "Your father?"

I didn’t answer. The automatic doors slid open, and I stepped out into sunlight that felt too bright after hours spent in controlled lighting. The car waited in the circular drive, keys already in Cian’s hand from when he’d retrieved them earlier.

I climbed into the passenger seat and shut the door. The leather strangely smelled new. Moonhaven’s valet service had probably detailed it while we were inside.

Cian slid behind the wheel and started the engine. He didn’t pull out immediately. Instead, he turned to look at me, one hand resting on the gearshift.

"Is it your father?"

"Yes."

The phone rang again.

The sound filled the car, loud and insistent through the bluetooth connection. Father’s name lit up the dashboard display.

IT was my mistake connecting to it during the journey here. I quickly disconnected. But Cian had seen what he wanted to see and his hand shot out to grab my phone. He hit the answer button before I could stop him.

"I’m pretty sure she’s made it clear what she wants from the relationship you two share moving forward." His voice came out hard. Protective in a way that would have made me smile under different circumstances. "You had plenty of years to do right by her and you didn’t. Wanting a chance now without considering her at all is just cruel."

He paused.

His expression shifted. The anger drained out of his features, replaced by something more complex. Something that looked almost like shock, or maybe disbelief.

"Oh."

He looked at me.

I mouthed, What?

His jaw worked like he wanted to say something but couldn’t find the words. The muscles in his throat moved as he swallowed. Then he nodded once, sharply, at whatever Father was saying on the other end.

He held the phone out to me without a word and turned his attention to the road. The car pulled forward, tires crunching over the pristine gravel drive.

I took the phone. My fingers felt numb as I brought it to my ear.

"Fia."

Father’s voice sounded different. Hollowed out somehow, like someone had scraped away everything except the bare minimum needed to form words.

"Yes." My throat felt tight.

"This isn’t about the... us having a relationship thing, so you don’t have to hate me or cut the phone." He paused. "Things just happened. Things I believe you should know."

I watched the trees blur past my window. Cian’s hands gripped the steering wheel, his knuckles pale against the leather.

"What things then?" I asked. "And why should they concern me?"

"Perhaps they don’t." Another pause came from him and it was longer this time. "But I thought to tell you."

The silence stretched between us. I could hear him breathing on the other end, each exhale heavy with something I couldn’t name.

"Hazel is dead."

The words landed like stones dropped into still water. I waited for the ripples, for some kind of emotional response to surface. Nothing came.

"Lily of the Valley sent her back in pieces because of what she did to their Alpha."

That got through. I straightened in my seat, my free hand coming up to grip the edge of the door.

"What did Hazel do?"

"She killed him."

I swallowed. The motion felt mechanical, like I had to consciously remember how my throat worked.

Mother’s foresight had come true after all.

I did wonder. Was this Lysander’s work? The question formed in my mind with crystalline clarity. Had he orchestrated this, or had Hazel truly done something that warranted being sent back in pieces?

"What am I supposed to feel?" The question came out flat. "Pity?"

"I imagined you would be very elated given this is what you wanted."

"No, I don’t." The correction felt important somehow. "The only reason I remotely wanted Hazel dead was because she was going to be a threat to my happiness."

The admission settled between us like ash after a fire. True, but ugly in its honesty.

"Isobel is also dead."

I almost laughed. The sound caught in my throat and came out as something between a gasp and a choke. "What?"

Cian glanced at me. I shook my head, signaling I was fine even though I wasn’t sure that was true.

"What happened in that case?" I asked. "Did she actually have enough empathy and love for her daughter to follow that route with her?"

"Don’t be cruel."

The reprimand stung. I dug my nails into my palm, using the bite of pain to ground myself.

"After what she did, she doesn’t deserve empathy from me."

"I think the goddess does cherish you, Fia."

The statement came out of nowhere. I frowned, trying to follow his logic and failing.

"And you guessed this because they died?"

"No." He sounded tired now. Bone-deep exhausted in a way that made him sound decades older. "Because everyone who did wrong by you gets what’s coming for them."