Chapter One Hundred and Seventy-Four: Among the Stones

The streets were empty, slick with rain, the world outside still and gray, as if it had paused to let us catch our breath. Ivy drove us quietly, her hands steady on the wheel, her eyes occasionally flicking to mine in the rearview mirror. Killian Senior sat beside her, leaning forward slightly, hands clasped in his lap, silent.

I didn’t speak. Words had abandoned me in the hours since the funeral coverage. The only thing I could feel was the tight coil of grief in my chest, the raw, unyielding ache of loss, and the weight of things left unsaid.

The cemetery loomed ahead, smaller, private, almost intimate now that the press and spectators were gone. The casket had already been lowered days ago, flowers now muted by the rain, petals wet and soft against the ground.

We stepped out, and I felt the cold air hit my skin like a shock. Ivy stayed close, her presence grounding, unintrusive. My father’s hand brushed mine briefly as we walked, almost a question, almost a promise, and I let it lin