The crash site was close to Lena, my mother’s house. Just a few minutes away.
It was already past ten at night. In the snow-covered north, the streets were almost empty. No footsteps. No chatter. Just silence pressing in from all sides.
Streetlamps lined the road, their pale light cutting through the dark. It reflected off the ice and snow, making everything look cold and wrong. My instincts didn’t like it. The air felt tense, like the land itself was holding its breath.
When we arrived, the area was already sealed off. Red-and-blue lights flashed against the snow. I scanned the crowd without thinking, senses stretching outward and then I saw him.
Captain Tucker.
He stood near the tape, speaking with an officer. The lead detective on my case. My jaw tightened. Fate had a twisted sense of timing.
As we moved closer, the damage beca clear. Two long skid marks carved through the road, straight toward a shattered guardrail. Beyond it, down the steep hill, lay the twisted remains of a car. It had rolled hard and fast. No one had pulled it up yet.
The Morrigans arrived almost at the sa ti we did. In the distance, an ambulance waited, its lights flashing quietly against the dark sky. The paradics stood by, knowing what they were dealing with.
A cliffside wreck.
A dangerous rescue.
More than one team had already been called in.
I stayed seated in the car, staring at the broken guardrail. At the empty space where tal should have been. My chest felt tight.
"How can they be sure Nolan is dead?" I asked quietly.
Lewis didn’t answer right away. I could feel his attention shift to , careful, controlled like a leader choosing his words.
"My people have been watching Camilla," he said at last. "For days."
That made my stomach sink.
"One of them saw the car break through the guardrail. At first, he thought it was Camilla inside. But it wasn’t."
I clenched my hands in my lap. My nails bit into my skin.
"It was Nolan," Lewis continued.
My breath turned sharp. "So this wasn’t an accident."
"No."
" Camilla did this on purpose."
Lewis’s silence confird it.
"I’m afraid Lincy may be involved too," he said. "She’s been using people from the black market. Outsiders. I traced it back. Camilla likely knew everything."
My heart began to pound.
"Which ans..." I whispered.
"She lured Nolan into the car," Lewis said. "And used him as a shield."
A cold sweat slid down my back.
I had always known Camilla was dangerous. From the mont she touched my body back then, I felt it. Sothing wrong beneath the surface. Sothing sharp.
But this?
This was far worse.
I was suddenly grateful I hadn’t acted recklessly after my rebirth. Grateful I hadn’t tried to solve everything with money and threats. If I had, the body at the bottom of that hill wouldn’t have been Nolan’s.
It would have been mine.
This world was darker than I rembered. More rotten. More cruel.
I used to think Camilla and I clashed because of Julian.
Now I knew better.
She didn’t just co from the Hale family. She ca from the shadows. And whatever power she held it wasn’t sothing ordinary people could see.
"Why would she be so cruel?" I whispered. "First Elena. Now Nolan. He was her own brother."
The words felt heavy in my mouth. I couldn’t understand it. No matter how I turned it over in my head, it didn’t make sense. Family was supposed to an sothing. Blood ant protection. Loyalty.
How could soone destroy their own like that?
Lewis was quiet for a mont, his gaze fixed ahead. Then he spoke, slow and thoughtful.
"Have you ever considered that Camilla might not actually be a Morrigans?"
I frowned and looked at him. "You an... the DNA test?"
"She fooled the Hudsons into believing she was newly pregnant back then," he said calmly. "If she could do that, changing a report wouldn’t be out of reach."
I lowered my head, my thoughts spinning.
That explanation fit too well. Too neatly.
But sothing still felt wrong.
"If that’s true," I murmured, "then how did she know so much about what happened back then? The details. The timing. It’s like she was there."
The unease curled tighter in my chest. "I wonder if the original DNA sample still exists."
Lewis nodded. "Normally, samples are discarded once a report is finalized. Ti ruins them anyway. But so facilities preserve them longer, sealed in solution. I’ll have soone check."
Relief loosened my shoulders. "Thank you, Lewis."
He turned toward and squeezed my hand gently, a faint crease forming between his brows.
"We’re married," he said. "You don’t have to thank like that. I want to help you."
married.
The word settled deep inside .
At the beginning, everything between us had been calculated. He needed a formal union to secure pack alliances. I needed access to get close to the Hales and finish what I started.
It was never ant to be real.
But sowhere along the way, it changed.
I rembered his confession not long ago. How direct it had been. How steady his voice sounded when he said he liked .
We had known each other less than two months. When we first t, he barely looked at . His distance had been sharp, deliberate.
So when did that wall co down?
I realized it happened after Elena died.
After that, Lewis stayed closer. Watched more. Stepped in without being asked.
A sudden thought made my breath catch.
Does he know?
Does Lewis know about my rebirth?
The idea scared .
Julian recognized because we had spent years together. He knew my habits, my silences, my flaws. But Lewis and I hadn’t shared that kind of past.
So how could he see so clearly?
There was no other explanation that made sense.
I had thought my rebirth gave an advantage. A second chance. But I wasn’t gifted with insight or foresight. I didn’t hear thoughts. I didn’t see the future.
I was just... lost.
I bit my lip and tightened my fingers around his hand. "Are you helping because you like ?"
"Yes," he said without hesitation.
The answer hit straight in the chest.
My heart raced as I forced myself to ask the next question, my voice barely steady.
"Do you like the I am now... or the from before?"
If he knew, he would understand what I ant.
The car was dim, lit only by the streetlamps outside. Their pale glow softened his sharp features, gave him a warmth that made my pulse jump.
Lewis lifted his hand and brushed my cheek, slow and careful.
"I’ve always liked you."
Thunder crashed inside .
Julian’s words from before echoed in my head. How he once said he liked soone but never told who.
The rose he placed on Elena’s grave that day.
All the strange monts. All the things that never made sense.
Suddenly, they did.
Once I accepted the truth, everything fell into place.
Panic froze in my seat.
Just as I opened my mouth to speak, a cry shattered the night.
"Nolan!"
Vivian’s voice broke through the air, raw and desperate.
I turned toward the window. She had stumbled out of the car and was running toward the police line, her steps uneven, her body shaking.
She collapsed into the snow, sobbing so hard it looked like it hurt to breathe. Her hands clawed at the ground as she dragged herself forward.
"My son "
Her voice cracked completely.
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