Book 2 of the 𝕱𝖎𝖌𝖍𝖙𝖈𝖑𝖚𝖇 series
{Duology}
𖤓
𝕾𝖔𝖒𝖊 𝖒𝖊𝖒𝖔𝖗𝖎𝖊𝖘 𝖓𝖊𝖛𝖊𝖗 𝖑𝖊𝖆𝖛𝖊 𝖞𝖔𝖚𝖗 𝖇𝖔𝖓𝖊𝖘.
𝕿𝖍𝖊𝖞 𝖇𝖊𝖈𝖔𝖒𝖊 𝖕𝖆𝖗𝖙 𝖔𝖋 𝖞𝖔𝖚.
𖤓
𝕬𝖈𝖈𝖆𝖑𝖎𝖆 𝕸𝖔𝖗𝖊𝖑𝖑𝖎 got tricked once, but she vowed never to be fooled...
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Accalia Morelli
When I was two and Kieran used to come to the house to babysit me he used to hand me papers and markers and let me draw. I would sit or lay on the floor and I would draw for hours. One thing only. An ugly fugly little lopsided star.
It was cute. It had a smiley face too. But no matter how many times he would show me or rather try to teach me how to make a correct-looking five-point star I wouldn't budge. He would always give up and I would always make the better-looking ones with my mama when she came home.
The man looked both familiar and utterly foreign at the same time. Kieran. My uncle. Maeve's work partner and friend.
I hadn't seen him since I was two years old, and yet, there was no mistaking him. He stood there, frozen in the doorway after he let me go from our hug, his eyes wide as if he'd seen a ghost. Maybe he had. I couldn't imagine what he was feeling. For so long, he thought I was dead. As did everyone else from my past.
His voice cracked, barely more than a whisper as he spoke my name again. He stepped forward, just inside the threshold, his gaze locked on mine as if he was afraid I might disappear if he blinked and he cupped my face with his hands.
I swallowed hard, unable to find my voice. I'd imagined this moment a thousand times- since I watched Maeve's video references about him, bits and pieces were pieced back together in my brain, and faces with names and memories aligned- what I would say, how I would feel. But now, standing here in front of him, words failed me. All I could do was hug him back. Something inside me trusted him, and I liked that feeling.
He stepped back reaching into his pocket, his eyes, flicked down to the crumbled piece of paper in his palm. To the same star I used to draw on every piece of paper I could get my hands on as a kid, the one he used to tease me about. He lifted a shaking hand to his mouth, his face crumpling as he tried to hold back tears.
"I thought—" He stopped, swallowing thickly. "I thought you were gone. They told me you were—" He shook his head, unable to say the word.
"I know," I finally whispered, my voice raw. "I hid. She told me to hide and when I came out she- ." a sob escaped me and he didn't waste a second before he engulfed me into a hug once again. He loved Maeve too. I learned in the last recollection that they decided to be more than friends.
His face twisted with anguish, and his hands trembling on my back. "God, Lia... when I arrived at the house it was pure mayhem. The house was destroyed and the bodies..."
"There was nothing you could have done"
I took a shaky breath, feeling the weight of those lost years press down on me. "I didn't remember you at first. It took a long time, but when I did..." I trailed off, unsure how to explain the jumble of emotions that had consumed me for so long.
