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After we dropped Maureen off, I switched on the radio to fill the silence. Out of the Shadows by Ely Eira blasted through the speakers. Raine rested his hand on my thigh. It felt so familiar. Like we had done this dance before.
“It was you, wasn’t it? You were the shadow I saw in the window of the mortuary that night.” A part of me had wished it was my parents, but deep down I knew they were truly gone.
He nodded. “Yeah.”
“And you were there the day I found the envelope in my father’s desk. Why? What were you doing in my parents’ office?”
He sighed. “Looking for answers. I don’t know why I’m still here. Dahlia and Ronan Bishop knew more about death than anyone. They studied things… in Ever Graves. That’s where I’m from. Where it all started.”
A chill snaked up my back. “Where what started?”
He ran a tattooed hand through his hair. “All this darkness.”
It seemed like all the questions always pointed back to my family and his. The Wickfords and the Bishops, our histories tangled and intertwined in Ever Graves and beyond.
I grabbed his hand. “We’ll keep looking.”
Raine flashed me a wicked grin and kissed the top of my hand. “Mmm, my little psycho vixen.”
I sat in front of the fire, clutching the envelope my parents gave me to my chest. It was time to get some answers of my own.
Poe, Grim, Saint, and Raine sprawled out on the couches, quietly waiting for me to open it.
I took a deep breath and pulled off the seal. As I turned it over, the contents spilled out.
The four of them leaned forward as a letter and a picture splayed across the floor.
My heart raced as I fingered them.
“Whoa, this is weird.” It was a photograph of my mom and dad. And two other attractive men I had never seen before. They were embracing her in front of a house I didn’t recognize. My mother had the biggest smile on her face. Damn… she was so beautiful.
When I passed it around to the guys, Raine snorted. “Like mother like daughter apparently.”
My breath hitched. “You think she was with all three of them?”
Grim pursed his lips as he looked at the picture. “That’s what it looks like.”
I studied it again. “I wonder what happened to them…”
“What does the letter say?” Saint asked.
I sucked in a deep breath and cleared my throat.
Our dearest Bailey,
If you’re reading this, then we are long gone. Hopefully, not before we had a chance to see you grow into the beautiful woman we know you are meant to be. Your father and I had a very different life before you were born. A life that drove us out of Ever Graves and into Wickford Hollow. That picture is the last one we took with them. I was pregnant with you at the time. They were so excited to meet you. Sadly, they were taken from us before that day came. Someday you will fall in love too. Don’t ever be afraid of it. Even if it looks different than those who are not like us. Follow your heart and don’t ever be ashamed of who you are. We love you more than you could ever understand. When the time is right, we’ll see each other again. In this life or the next.
Loving you always,
Mom and Dad
Tears streamed down my cheeks as I clutched the letter to my chest. “They were just like us,” I whispered.
As I looked around the room at my guys, I realized I loved them with a fierceness that was beyond reason or logic. They had awakened me, sheltered me, and fought for me. They had made me feel things I had only fantasized about before.
“Are you okay, little fox?” Poe asked.
I nodded, sniffling. “Yeah. I just wish I could have had them around a bit longer.”
