Page 189 of Hades

“I don’t forgive you.”

Her face crumpled.

“But I understand why you did it.” I reached out and touched her hand. “You were broken. And you thought taking me would fix you.”

“Lettie—”

“It didn’t.” I squeezed her hand gently. “It just broke me too.”

She started crying again.

I stood.

“Drink your tea,” I said. “It’ll help you sleep.”

She reached for the mug with shaking hands. I watched her take the first sip. Then the second.

“I’m going to the clubhouse to get to know my father and my brother. Goodbye, Mom.”

The word felt strange. Final. She looked up at me, eyes wide.

I turned and walked out of the room. Cerberus followed, and I didn’t look back.

In the kitchen, Brock was waiting.

“I want to go to the clubhouse,” I said.

He straightened. “Now?”

“Now.” I met his eyes. “I want to officially meet my father, meet my brother. I want to—” My voice cracked. “I want to start over.”

“Lettie—”

“Please.”

He studied my face. “If we leave her, she’ll run.”

I smiled. It felt sad. Tired. True.

“No,” I said quietly, shaking my head. “She won’t.”

Understanding flickered in his eyes.

“She’s not going anywhere,” I continued. “Ever again.”

He didn’t ask. Didn’t need to. He just pulled me into his arms and held me while I finally let myself break. Cerberus pressed against my legs.

For the first time in twenty-five years, there was a flicker of remorse in what I’d done. But at the same time, I felt like I could finally breathe.

EPILOGUE

Lettie

Months later in Montana...

The cemetery was beautiful in the way that only places built for grief could be.

Rolling hills. Ancient trees. Headstones weathered by decades of wind and snow. The kind of place where the dead rested under open sky instead of cramped city plots.