Ina’s throat tightened, the sting of tears pressing hard to escape. She blinked them back. She’d waited years to hear Archie say that—not for herself, but for Malachi. She wouldn’t steal the moment by weeping.
“Why?” Malachi’s body went taut, like he was bracing for bad news. “Why did you put us in danger? What did you do?”
Ina’s breathing slowed. The boathouse loomed in her mind—the way Archie came back that night hollow-eyed, scales caught in his sleeves, blood drying on his hands. She’d known where he’d gone and what he’d done. What he hadn’t finished. If she’d gone with him, there would have been no mercy. Not from her. It was Archie’s mercy that had come back to haunt Riverside.
“The Selkie nest is in an abandoned boatshed near the old West Harbour.” Archie jerked his thumb vaguely behind him. “They’re lucky the mayor didn’t bulldoze it to make room for more holiday apartments while they were at sea.” He cleared his throat. “The night Rhys was killed; I went there. I—” His hand pressed hard to his temple. “I slaughtered almost all of them. All but one young family.”
Malachi didn’t move.
“I couldn’t do it.” Archie said quietly. “I couldn’t kill the last of them.” His shoulders sagged a fraction under Malachi’s stare. “I think that family came back to Latharna for one reason. Revenge.”
Ina held her breath. The room felt too small. Walls inching closer. Air thick enough to choke on. This was the truth she’d helped bury. The cost of it all laid bare between them now.
She swallowed hard and stayed silent. This wasn’t the moment for her fury or regret.
“You murdered them as they slept?” Malachi’s voice cut sharp. “Rhys had just been killed. I almost drowned, and your first instinct was to go on some revenge trip?” He shot to his feet, chair screeching. “Who the hell thinks like that?”
“Sit down, please.” Ina pointed at the chair. “Listen to what your dad has to say.”
Malachi spun on her, anger flashing hot and wild. “I bet you knew.”
The accusation hit square on her chest.
For a heartbeat, she thought he’d say it. Whatever sharp-edged thought was forming. Instead Malachi swallowed it, jaw clamping shut. Then he dropped back into the chair, hard.
The old Malachi would’ve exploded, slamming doors and thundering upstairs or out to meet Ally to cool down. This one stayed. Barely—but he stayed.
“I don’t regret what I did,” Archie said quietly. “But I’m not proud of it either.”
Ina didn’t look at him. She watched Malachi instead—the way his shoulders stayed tight, like he was holding himself together by force alone.
“I saw a newborn Selkie,” Archie went on. “And I justwanted to go home.” He placed his hand on Malachi’s shoulder. “Home to you.”
Malachi stiffened, but didn’t pull away.
“I had to let them live. Children shouldn’t pay for the crimes of their parents.”
Ina felt the familiar split inside her—the part of her that understood mercy, and the part that had never believed it came without cost. Tonight was proof of that. Still, she kept her mouth shut.
“We all make decisions based on the information we have at the time,” Ina added, backing Archie up. “Your dad did what he thought was right.” She watched Malachi as she spoke, gauging the damage. “We can’t judge him too harshly for that, can we?”
“I don’t know what to think right now.” Malachi shoulders slumped. The fight drained out of him. His face had paled, his eyes dull with exhaustion. He wouldn’t be able to endure much more this evening.
She drew a breath, ready to call a halt, to suggest sleep and time to process.
“What happens now?”
The question stopped her cold. Archie answered before she could, thank God.
“Things are changing on Latharna,” Archie replied. “The question is what role will we play in that change?”
Ina’s heart raced, fast and even. This was where Archie needed to step forward—the way that Daddy used to, steady and final, even when the truth was ugly. Ina folded her hands around her mug to stop herself from answering.
“I say we do what Wolfenden’s are supposed to do.” Archie straightened. “We protect. We fight when we have to, starting with the Selkie. This isn’t revenge. It’s restoring order. We’re Wolfendens. One of the oldest families onLatharna. And we’rehuman now. We have a duty to protect our home and?—”
“Nowhuman?” Malachi cut in.
Ina smiled despite herself. Malachi the dreamer, but sharp when it mattered.
