Page 109 of Unveil

“No. That’s the quick and dirty of it,” she says, then her voice softens. “Take care of our girl, Orion. I think you just might be the one to do it.”

My chest warms, that one piece of encouragement making it hope that we didn’t fuck everything up beyond repair.

“Thank you, Mrs. Bordeaux. Can you put Sol back on?”

In an instant, Sol’s gruff voice returns.

“What?”

“I’m guessing y’all hooked up a GPS tracker on Benoit’s car? I can find it through his phone?”

“Yes? Why?”

“Good. I’ve got his keys, and I need a car since the Wildes torched mine.”

He curses.

“I’m sure you have our location by now thanks to our call.” I soften my tone. “Come get your man for a proper burial, Bordeaux. I’d do it, but I have to get Luna home.” He starts to argue, so I clarify, “Ourhome. In Dark Corner. Don’t come after us without a treaty.”

“Always about the Troisgarde, I see,” he snaps.

“The fuck it is, Bordeaux.” My grip tightens on the phone as I stand. “It’s always been aboutLuna.”

“And you think I don’t know what’s best for her?” Sol grinds out. “You’re talking about my daughter, Fury.My daughter.”

“No. Mywife.”

My thumb smashes the screen, ending the call.

I lean back against the tree again, blowing out a breath, letting my head hang. I tap the phone against my forehead,trying to figure out what the hell to do next. Then I pocket it and walk back to Luna, still where I left her, cradling what’s left of her past.

Foregoing the meds talk for now, I settle on a slightly less shitty conversation instead.

“We can’t stay here.”

A beat of silence passes us before she murmurs, “I know.”

Her eyes lift, clearer now, but sorrow still carves into every exhausted feature. She slept in my arms last night, but it can’t have been enough. I’ll have to make sure she gets as much as possible when we’re home.

“We’ll get Benoit’s car,” I say. “His phone’s GPS will lead us there.”

Her nose wrinkles. “What happened to your car?”

I suck my teeth. “Let’s just say it’s beyond repair.”

She winces. “The Wildes?”

I nod. “The Wildes.”

“They’re really the gift that keeps on giving,” she mutters, then sighs and shakes her head. “I don’t want to leave him.”

“I know.” My hand squeezes her shoulder. “I know.”

Her voice turns watery, emotion pressing hard against the floodgates. “What am I going to do when I get back? Everything’s changed.”

I don’t tell her she’s never going back, at least not without her husband as her personal shadow. Or that death like this is one of those things that changes you at a cellular level.

Before, she’d built a life as pure and bright as the white swan costume she ran from me in. Now the darkness of our worlds has stained every inch of her, inside and out. I would’ve saved her from the wreckage if I could’ve. But now that the veil’s lifted from her eyes, there’s only one way forward.