Chapter 7 Seraphina's Pov

The Blackthorne estate was exactly the same.

​Quiet. Expensive. Perfectly untouched by the bloodbath at the cemetery. The gates slid open without a sound, like the world’s ugliness wasn't allowed past the driveway. It made my skin crawl.

​I cut the engine, and for a second, the only sound was the radiator clicking and the throbbing in my arm. Every time my pulse jumped, it reminded me I was still alive. It felt like a miracle I didn't ask for, but I'd take it.

​Before I could even get my keys out, the front door flew open.

​"Mama!"

​Daniel didn't just run; he launched himself at me. I barely managed to get out of the car before he slammed into my waist, hanging on like I was a life raft. 

I hissed through my teeth as the pain spiked in my side, but I didn't move. I buried my face in his hair, breathing in the scent of his shampoo. He was the only thing in this whole place that didn't feel like a lie.

​"I thought they wouldn't let you come," he whispered into my coat, his voice shaking. "I thought you were still bleeding… mama! I saw you bleeding, and–"

​"I'm here," I said, my voice cracking. "I’m right here, baby. I’m not going anywhere."

​He pulled back, searching my face with that scary, grown-up look he gets. He saw the bruise, and the bandage. His little face went hard.

​"You're hurt."

​"I'll be fine, Daniel. I always am."

​He shook his head. "No. I'm going to take care of you now. It's my turn."

​I tried to smile, but a shadow fell over us before I could speak.

​"Well. You're alive."

​Leona Blackthorne was standing on the steps, draped in black silk that probably cost more than my car. She didn't look relieved. She looked annoyed, like I’d personally inconvenienced her by getting shot at.

​I stood up slowly, keeping my hand on Daniel’s shoulder. "Yes, Leona. I am."

​She looked at my arm. "That kind of drama seems to follow certain people, doesn't it?"

​Daniel stiffened beside me. I felt a cold, sharp click in my head. The "polite daughter-in-law" died right then and there.

​"I was attacked at my father’s funeral," I said, my voice dead level. "If you have something to say, say it. Stop dancing around it."

​Her lips thinned. "I’m saying this 'instability' is bad for Daniel. He needs a proper environment."

​I looked at her, then down at my son. "What's bad for Daniel is being raised by people who think his mother is an object they can just throw away when they're bored."

​Leona blinked. She wasn't used to me talking back. "In this family—"

​"I’m not in your family," I cut her off. "And neither is my pain. You don't get a say in how I live anymore."

​She let out a sharp huff. "You were always so dramatic."

​I gave her a look that was pure ice. "And you always thought I was weak because I stayed quiet. You were wrong."

​I didn't wait for her to reply. I turned my back on her and started walking.

​That’s when I saw Kieran.

​He was by the garage, standing next to a sleek black car. He was leaning over Celeste, shielding her from the wind, murmuring something in her ear while he adjusted her coat. He looked careful. Protective.

​The kind of man I thought he was for ten years.

​Daniel saw them too. He stopped walking. "Mama? Is she why Dad is leaving us?"

​It felt like a punch to the throat. "No," I lied. I hated the lie, but he was too young for the truth. "No, baby. This has nothing to do with her. This is just about us."

​He didn't look convinced, but he got into the car. As I pulled out of that driveway, I didn't look back. There was nothing left for me there but ghosts.

​My apartment felt small and a little drafty, but it was mine.

​Daniel took his "job" seriously. He stirred the soup like it was a science project and brought me my pills exactly on time. "You have to sit, Mama. The doctors have recommended it!”

​Watching him move around the kitchen, I felt a different kind of ache in my chest. Love. Real love. He was the only good thing I’d walked away with.

​Later, he crawled into bed and tucked his head under my chin. "When I'm big," he mumbled, half-asleep, "I'll protect you. No one will ever touch you again."

​I let the tears fall then, silent and hot, into his hair.

​I lay there for hours after he fell asleep, staring at the ceiling. I thought about the Blackthornes. I thought about Kieran standing over Celeste while I was bleeding on the ground. For ten years, I’d made myself small so they could feel big.

​Never again.

​And then, I thought about the stranger.

​The man who had appeared out of the smoke. I remembered the weight of his arms and that spiral tattoo on his skin. At the hospital, the nurses were gossiping about him—how he didn't leave a name, how he stayed until he knew I was breathing.

​I closed my eyes and saw those blue eyes again. For a few minutes, someone had looked at me like I actually mattered.

​I fell asleep thinking about him.

​At dawn, a loud knock at the door made me jump. Daniel didn't wake up. I grabbed my robe and marched to the door, my heart hammering with anger and anticipation. I expected Kieran, coming over and tell me why I was wrong yet again. 

​I opened the door, ready to scream at him, but it wasn't Kieran.

​A massive man was standing there, blocking out the hallway light. Dark hair, broad shoulders, and blue eyes that hit me like a physical force.

​My breath caught. I looked down at his arm. His sleeve was rolled up just enough to show the spiral tattoo.

​It was him.

​The stranger from the cemetery was standing in my hallway.