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“Know what?”
“About…” She shrugs. “Your mother. Who she really was.”
I pause, staring straight ahead. “No,” I say at last. “Because first of all, I know Grandmother would never have told me, not if she thought it gave her power over me. And it doesn’t actually matter to me, Scar. Because I…” I look at her, give a crooked smile. “I already know who my family is. Hadria and Aurora and Mrs. G and the Syndicate…and you, most of all.”
She blinks rapidly, and I think I might have made her tear up. “You don’t even wonder what your last name was?” she asks.
This is getting way too emotional when we’re supposed to be making a quick getaway. “Pfft,” I scoff, and I take off from the curb. “Last names are for losers.”
“I have a last name,” she laughs.
I smile to myself and take the next corner, fast. “Then I’ll share yours,” I tell her.
CHAPTER 33
Scarlett
The sense of a joint ending and beginning I feel after Grandmother’s death is hard to explain. The whole drive back to Elysium, Lyssa and I were joking, laughing. But the weight of taking another life still means something to me, and eventually I fell silent, sank into my darker thoughts as I went over everything that had led up to that one moment.
Grandmother’s death.
I’m quiet until we get back to Lyssa’s bedroom, avoiding the others, who also made it back safely. And then Lyssa, who seems to understand my mood, just takes me into her bed and wraps herself around me, a physical reminder that I am safe, I am loved, and I am hers.
“Lyssa?” I ask now, my voice little more than a whisper.
She cocks an eyebrow in response, waiting.
“Can I…would it be possible for me to see my parents again?”
The understanding in her eyes is swiftly followed by pity. “Scarlett,” she begins, her tone softer than I’ve ever heard it. “You’re not under anyone’s control anymore. Not mine, not the Syndicate’s, and certainly not Grandmother’s. No one owns you. You are free to go where you want, whenever you want. So if you want to see your parents, we’ll go. Right now, if you like. Or you can go alone, if you’d prefer that.”
Tears sting my eyes as I gaze up at this woman—this Big Bad Wolf who showed me a way out of the dark forest I was lost in. And now I can envision a future that doesn’t revolve around vengeance and violence. One where I can reclaim the dreams I thought were lost forever.
“Not right now,” I say, reaching for her. “And I would like you to come when I do.” My fingers graze her cheek, and I enjoy the way her pupils widen. “Tomorrow, maybe. Or the next day. But right now, I just want to be with you. Like this.”
Lyssa’s smile deepens, crinkling the corners of her eyes in a way that makes my heart flutter. “Sounds good to me,” she murmurs, and presses her lips to mine.
In her embrace, I feel the very last remnants of the old Scarlett—the haunted, vengeful assassin—blow away like smoke in the wind. A new path lies ahead for me, and maybe it won’t be easy, not all the time. But I won’t be walking it alone.
Not anymore.
For the first time in a long time, I return home through the front door. I raise my hand to knock, but the door swings open before my knuckles can rap against the wood. There, framed in the entryway, stands my mother, a giant smile splitting her face.
“Scarlett?” She reaches out as if to touch me, then seems to think better of it, her hand falling away.
“Hi again, Mom.” I step forward and engulf her in a hug. For a second she stands stiff and shocked, and then she’s hugging me back in a fierce embrace, her shoulders shaking with muffled sobs.
“My girl,” she whispers into my hair, her voice thick with tears. “My sweet, beautiful girl. You’re alright. I thought—I thought maybe?—”
“I’m alright,” I tell her, inhaling the achingly familiar scent of home. Memories of a simpler time, before the world turned upside down and innocence gave way to the dark realities that reshaped my life.
I’m vaguely aware of Lyssa lingering in the background, her steady presence a reassuring counterpoint to the turmoil within me. I gently disentangle myself from my mother’s arms.
“Mom, I...” My voice cracks, and I pause to compose myself. “I owe you and Dad an apology. For everything that’s happened—for shutting you out and letting my life spiral so far out of control. I know sorry can never be enough, but I hope...” I swallow hard. “I hope you’ll let me try to make amends. To be part of your lives again, if you’ll have me.”
My mom’s lips quirk in a sad, watery smile as she cups my face in her hands. “Oh, sweetheart. There’s nothing to forgive. We’re just grateful to have you back with us, no matter what’s happened.”
The sound of footsteps approaching makes me turn, and there’s my father striding into the living room. He stops dead when he sees me.
