Moira inclines her head.“No.She is not.”
We leave with the envelope and the address burned into my skull.
Outside, the afternoon air feels too bright.Too normal.A mother pushes a stroller past the bakery.A cyclist curses at a cab.Somewhere, someone laughs like the city is not rotting beneath their feet.
I stand on the sidewalk, fighting the urge to shift.
Cruz stands beside me, his shoulder brushing mine.“We need to tell Aldron.”
“We need to tell Briana.”
Krishka turns from the driver’s door.“Aldron first.”
“Briana,” I say.
Cruz watches me carefully.“You sure?”
Hell, no.“Yes.”
Because if she hears it from someone else, if we discuss her blood and her danger and her choices in rooms where she is not standing, then I become the thing I swore I would not be.Another monster deciding what she can survive.
I look down at the black envelope in my hand.The wax seal gleams like dried blood, and my beast whispers violence.For once, I whisper back something else instead of no.
Wait.
Not because I am calm.Not because I am merciful.Because Briana asked me to trust her to stand.And goddess help every creature in that club when she does.
We drive back to The Gin Room in silence.By the time we reach Brooklyn, the sky has gone the color of old bruises.The bar is not open yet, but lights glow behind the windows.Safe.Warm.A lie with good intentions.
Briana is behind the bar when we enter.
She has her sleeves pushed up and a towel in one hand, polishing glasses like she is not standing in the middle of a supernatural war with a knife strapped to her thigh.Her hair is tied back messily, and her eyes lift to mine the second the door opens.
The pull hits hard enough to make my feet stop.She sees the envelope.She sees my face.
“What happened?”she asks.
Cruz looks at me.Krishka says nothing.I cross the room slowly.Every step feels like walking toward a cliff and choosing not to stop.
Briana sets the glass down, and I place the black envelope on the bar between us.
Her gaze drops to the seal.For one second, she is pale, then her chin lifts.There she is.Terrified and furious but standing.
“They want me back,” she says.It’s not a question.
My hands curl at my sides.“Yes.”
The word almost kills me.
Her eyes meet mine.“Then we make them regret losing me the first time.”
My beast goes utterly still.And for the first time since fate put her in my path, I understand something that should have been obvious from the beginning.
Briana doesn’t need me to teach her how to be brave.She needs me to be brave enough to stand beside her while she shows everyone else.
