Seventy four: chose me

Fiona's pov

I found her in the garden, just as I knew I would.

It was a place she’d always loved—the stone archways overgrown with creeping ivy, the scent of wild roses barely blooming in the heat of mid-summer. Even after everything, part of me hoped I’d be wrong.

That she wouldn’t be sitting there with that familiar curve to her spine, like the weight of secrets had shaped her body. But there she was, perched on the edge of the old fountain like she owned the dawn.

I didn’t move closer yet. I watched her from the shadowed threshold.

“You never were subtle,” I said.

She didn’t look at me. Her fingers skimmed the surface of the water, disturbing the glassy reflection. “And you always mistake silence for peace.”

My boots scraped the stone as I stepped forward. “You know why I’m here.”

“I know why you think you are.” She finally turned to face me, her expression unreadable—equal parts wistful and wicked. “But you’re wrong.”

My magic stirred beneath my skin, coiling tighter. I kept it l