Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
★★★
CHAPTER FOURTY-NINE:
a fathers love
★ ★ ★
The cabin felt too small for the amount of grief inside it.
Aurora sat on the edge of the couch, hands limp in her lap covered in blood, staring at nothing. The firelight from outside flickered through the window in uneven pulses, painting the walls in orange and shadow. Each flare made the glass rattle faintly, as if the world itself was struggling to stay together.
Beckham's face kept surfacing in her mind without warning. Not the way he'd looked at the end, but earlier. Laughing. Teasing. The first boy who had ever made her feel chosen, seen. The first person she had loved in a way that hadn't been simple or safe.
Her chest tightened until breathing felt optional.
Theo stood near the door, arms crossed, tense. He hadn't sat down since they'd arrived. He had only closed the curtains when he saw she kept looking at the window. Luke paced the length of the cabin, running a hand through his hair again and again, like if he stopped moving something terrible would catch up to him.
Outside, something exploded. The sound was distant but sharp enough to make Aurora flinch.
"We can't stay here long," Luke said finally, his voice low. "We....we need a plan."
Aurora didn't respond. Her gaze stayed fixed on the floorboards, on a dark knot in the wood that looked too much like dried blood if she stared at it long enough. She squeezed her eyes closed.
Theo noticed. He always did. "Aurora," he said gently. "Hey. We need you with us."
She blinked, like she'd been pulled up from underwater. "I know," she said, though her voice sounded distant even to her own ears. "I just... give me a second."
Another crash echoed through the night, closer this time. The cabin shuddered. She squeezed her eyes closed again.
"Where is Sirius?" she whispered, finally looking up at both boys. She saw the look on their faces. "He was there. Where is he? What if something happened .. or Runskin grabbed him or something?"
Luke looked down. "I ..... I know he was with us. I felt something pulling us as we came back through the portal...I felt it on my shoulder. It was like....it was like a hand."
