I squeeze my eyes shut, like maybe the darkness behind my eyelids will grant me a reset button. Some kind of cosmic do-over that doesn't include growling alphas, shape-shifting ferrets, or my grandmother committing attempted murder upstairs.
But no such luck.
When I open them again, all three of them are staring at me—waiting. Probably taking bets on my unraveling.
A very loud, very stubborn part of me still wants to bolt for the door and never look back. But the longer I stand here, the more that part shrinks. Because if even afractionof what they’re saying is true, then I need answers. I need to know what my mother never told me.
I let out a sigh, and my shoulders sink like they’ve been carrying a backpack full of boulders this entire time. “Can I at least have some ice cream while you all have your way with turning my life upside down?”
Archie perks up, ever the enabler. “Mint chocolate chip with fudge topping. Liz will bring it along.” He pauses, then adds casually, “And a hot chocolate with caramel.”
My comfort foods.
Of course, he knows. And somehow that hits harder than the fact that he can change size on a dime and also talks like a grumpy English professor.
I blink at him, wide-eyed. “You’re really just…speaking. Like this is a normal day.”
He shrugs. At least the ferret equivalent of it. “I’ve had a lot of practice.”
Iris is quieter than I expect as she leads us down a hallway, but I can’t stand the silence, so I ask, “What happened to the man who broke in through the window? Did you kill him?”
She huffs, not looking back. “He probably wishes I did. Did he feel familiar to you at all?”
Her words hit sharp, like she’s trying to dig into my brain and pull out something even I don’t know is there.
I lift my chin. “No. Was he supposed to?”
“I don’t know yet,” she mutters, voice thick with something that’s definitely not joy. There’s malice in her tone, but I’m smart enough not to poke that particular bear again.
We stop at a door, and Iris doesn’t hesitate as she opens it, gesturing me inside.
The room is decked out like some kind of dark academia fantasy: high ceilings, a massive crystal chandelier, deep charcoal wallpaper, and gold-framed artwork that’s either really expensive or really haunted. A bookshelf lines the entire back wall, and in the center, a sleek black oval table is surrounded by leather chairs.
“Take a seat,” she says, and this time, I obey without sarcasm. Mostly because, now that my adrenaline has worn off, my legs are giving out on me.
Archie stays on my shoulder, all calm and wise and unsettlinglythere. I want to set him on the table and process how my emotional support animal just went full Cujo on us, but I don’t. Because deep down, he’s still my weird, clingy, furry family. Just with more secrets than I signed up for.
Liz isn’t with us yet, and I half-expect we’re waiting for her, but Iris clears her throat.
“Do you want the whole story, including a detailed account since before you were born? Or the highlight reel, and you can pick what you want filled in later?”
I glance over at Archie. His eyes meet mine—black, glassy, but filled with something far more familiar than before. Something old.
This is insane. I’m asking a ferret for life advice.
“Highlights,” he answers without hesitation. “I can always explain more once you’ve had time to process.”
Exactly what I would’ve picked.
I nod, slowly looking back toward Iris. “Highlights will do.”
Her face is pinched as she glares down at Archie, then turns back to me. “All right then. Your mother was a Hollowborn—just as I am and just as every first-born woman in our family line has been for generations. We’re charged with connecting the supernatural world to the human one without ever revealing they exist. We can’t die by supernatural means, but we still age, we still get sick. We’re not exactly human, but we don’t have magic either.”
A lump forms in my throat, thick and unyielding. I think of the months I spent watching my mom slowly waste away from cancer. So much pain. So little dignity. If we’re supposed to be some kind of mystical bloodline, where the hell were the perks?
Iris’s voice is quieter now. “Your mother broke one of our cardinal rules. She fell in love with a wolf shifter. That’s how you came into the world. You never?—”
“Hold up.” I throw a hand in the air like I’m in class again. “My dad is awhatnow? Awolf shifter? What does that even mean?”
