Vows of Ashes
I only want you to understand why I did it.
Every drink I poured instead of telling you the truth, every night I watched you grow up believing your father was a monster, I did because I loved you more than I loved my own name.
Your mother is living, or was, under the name Dahlia Renner. She was living in a town two hours north of here called Ashford Hollow.
I haven’t written to her in years. I was afraid that if I tried, I’d lead the wrong people straight to her door.
But I kept her name, Elias. All these years, I kept it in case the day came when you needed it more than I needed to keep it buried.