The name hit me like a slap."No," I said. "You are lying. Andy ran out into that gunfire to stop them. He took a bullet meant for Ethan.""Did he?" Ysolde tilted her head. "Or did he simply step into the wrong place at the wrong moment, as grief so often makes a person do? I never said he knew whom he served.""Then say what you mean.""I mean that when your poor, broken friend lifted his phone and called the number a man gave him, he believed he was speaking to the Hartwells." She smiled faintly. "The man who answered was one of my children. A gentle, patient fellow named Corvin. He listened to Andy weep. He told him exactly what he wished to hear. And Andy gave him the route, the hour, everything."My legs nearly gave out. Behind me, I heard my father draw a harsh breath."You used his grief," Mira said, her voice shaking with fury."I offered him a door and he walked through it. That is all anyone ever does." Ysolde spread her hands. "He is mine in every way that mattered. He did
Last Updated : 2026-11-01
