Chapter 2: Athena’s POV

“Mummy, are you coming?”

I looked up from the bills spread across the counter and found Lia standing in front of me with her little backpack hanging from one shoulder.

“Where am I coming to?”

“Home. Devonye said she’s taking me for ice cream, but you have to come too.”

I glanced at the clock. My shift had another hour left, and I still had to finish the accounts before my manager arrived to collect them.

“Tell Devonye I’ll meet you at home. I need to finish my work first.”

Lia’s face fell. “But you promised.”

“I know, sweetheart, and I’m sorry. I’ll make it up to you.”

I leaned across the counter to kiss her cheek, then watched her run towards Devonye, who was waiting by the entrance.

It’s been two  years since I left Ashari Pack believing that getting away from Donnovan would be the hardest thing I would ever have to do.

I didn’t realized I was pregnant when I left, and it forced me to reconsider everything. I had found work, given birth to Lia, and slowly built a life in the human world.

It hadn’t been easy, but I had stopped waiting for my old life to make sense. I had a daughter who depended on me, a job that barely covered our expenses, and enough peace to believe I had finally left the worst of my past behind.

My life was small, but it was mine.

I finished the accounts and was preparing to close when the bell above the entrance rang.

“We’re closing in ten minutes,” I told the man who walked in.

He glanced at the sign on the door before looking at me. “That should be enough time for a coffee.”

I waited for him to tell me what kind, but he merely watched as I reached for a cup.

“Do you always make customers work this hard to order?” he asked.

“Only the ones who come in just before closing.”

He smiled.

He was tall, with brown hair and broad shoulders, and there was something about the way he carried himself that made him stand out in our little café.

I placed his coffee on the counter and told him the price.

He paid, took a sip, and nodded appreciatively.

“You’re good at this.”

“It’s coffee, not surgery.”

“You’re right. I should probably stop praising you before you start charging extra.”

I laughed, surprised by how easily the sound came.

He leaned against the counter, and we exchanged a few words about the café before he asked whether I had worked there long. I told him I had been there for nearly a year, which seemed to interest him.

“And before that?” he asked.

“Different jobs. Nothing worth talking about.”

A moment later, he glanced towards the door.

“Do you live around here?”

“Not far.”

“With family?”

I gave him a look. “Are you ordering coffee or conducting an interview?”

He laughed and raised his hands in surrender.

“Fair enough. I’ll stop asking questions.”

He finished his coffee, left a tip, and started towards the door. Before leaving, he turned back to me.

“I’m Darion, by the way.”

“Athena.”

Something changed in his expression when I said my name.

It was subtle, but I noticed the way his smile disappeared and his attention settled more sharply on my face. For a moment, he looked as though he had just received confirmation of something he had been uncertain about.

Then he nodded.

“It’s nice to meet you, Athena.”

He left before I could decide whether to ask him what that look had meant.

I watched him cross the street and get into a dark vehicle. He sat behind the steering wheel for a few seconds without starting the engine, then drove away.

I returned to the counter, annoyed with myself for paying so much attention to a stranger.

My phone vibrated a few minutes later, and Devonye’s name appeared on the screen.

“I’m outside. Please tell me you’ve survived the day,” she said when I answered. “Your daughter has spent the last fifteen minutes explaining why ice cream is an essential part of a balanced diet.”

“She’s been learning from you.”

“Excuse me. I am a responsible adult.”

“You ate cake for breakfast yesterday.”

“That was a difficult morning. Don’t change the subject.”

I laughed as I turned off the lights.

Devonye had been my first real friend in the human world, and I couldn’t imagine what those first few months would have been like without her.

She knew I had left a painful situation behind, but I had never told her the full story of Ashari Pack. I wanted one part of my life that didn’t revolve around what Donnovan had done to me.

“I’ll be home soon,” I promised before ending the call.

I collected my bag and checked the front door twice before leaving. The street was quieter than usual, and I noticed a dark vehicle parked farther down the road.

For a moment, I wondered whether it was the same one Darion had driven away in, but I couldn’t be certain.

I walked home without stopping and when I arrived, Devonye was already in the kitchen, attempting to convince Lia that dinner could not consist entirely of ice cream.

“You’ve returned,” she announced when she saw me. “Please explain to this child why vegetables exist.”

“Because somebody has to eat them,” I replied.

Lia giggled and ran towards me.

I hugged her, asked about her afternoon, and listened as she described the ice cream flavours she had chosen.

After dinner, I gathered the toys scattered across the floor when I noticed a white envelope lying beneath the front door.

I was certain it hadn’t been there when I arrived.

My name was written across the front in neat handwriting.

Athena Blackthorne.

My heartbeat stopped.

I hadn’t used my surname in the human world since leaving Ashari.

I turned the envelope over, looking for a return address, but there was nothing.

Inside was a photograph.

I recognised the ceremonial hall immediately. The photograph had been taken before I entered the ceremonial hall and discovered that Donnovan had chosen Nadia instead.

I remembered that morning too well. Someone kept a photograph from that day for two years.

My hands began to tremble as I turned it over.

There was a message written on the back.

SHE LEFT BEFORE THEY COULD KILL HER.

A knock sounded at my door.

I looked towards the bedroom. Devonye was still talking to Lia, so neither of them could have knocked.

The sound came again, followed by the faint scrape of metal against the lock.

Someone was trying to open my door.

I stepped away from it and pulled out my phone, but before I could decide whether to call the police, an unknown number appeared on the screen.

I answered quietly.

“Hello?”

“Is this Athena Blackthorne?”

“Who’s asking?”

“My name doesn’t matter right now. You need to listen to me. A man named Darion has been sent to find you, and if he’s already made contact, you have less time than I thought.”

My blood ran cold.

“Who are you, and how do you know about Darion?”

“I can’t explain everything over the phone, but you must not let him take you back to Ashari. You have no idea what they intend to do with you.”

The handle on my front door moved.

I stared at it, unable to speak.

“Listen carefully,” the stranger continued. “They don’t need you dead. They need you alive, and that’s much worse.”

The call abruptly disconnected.