Miriam’s gaze dropped to her interlocked hands as she rolled her fingers in self-soothing motions. ‘That murder you two investigated wasn’t the only one. The same thing happened in some other town in Fogoya and in three spots in the Air Kingdom.’
My mind went blank.
‘Like an organised attack?’ I straightened. ‘Why didn’t you tell me when we got back from Bergville?’
Miriam’s hand rubbed my thigh to placate me. ‘Ava, we’re all a little worried about you.’
‘What?’ I demanded. ‘What are you talking about?’
Her forehead creased. ‘You don’t look very healthy. And your king said you lost a bit of weight again. You have so muchon your plate at the moment… Please don’t be angry at us. It was a temporary lapse of judgement because we all care–’
‘You’re keeping something from me.’
She sighed. ‘Michael and I visited each of the sights since you two found the dagger and a crystal; we hoped to find clues too.’
‘Did something happen there?’ I urged her, unwilling to bear the tension any longer. ‘Just spit it out.’
‘There was a child there.’ Miriam’s beautiful crimson eyes kept turning darker. ‘Cloaked and sitting in a corner of a little house in the forest.’
‘A child?’ Shivers ran down my spine. ‘What was a child doing there?’
She nodded. ‘That’s exactly what we need to figure out, Ava. I arranged for the child to stay with me so I can extract information from her dreams. It’s also safer here because of how secluded the Isles are.’
That didn’t stop my mother, but I knew the situation was different.
‘So… you’ll take care of that child?’
‘Yes, I don’t want a small child imprisoned like Michael had planned.’ Anger flashed in her swirling eyes. ‘Even your mate thought his cautious approach was too far-fetched with a literal kid.’
‘Okay, I get it.’ Life was getting out of hand. ‘There are ways to make sure witches have a hard time tracking the kid even if they somehow make it here. I’ll help you.’
A sob escaped her.
‘Miriam, what’s happening?’ I asked, pulling her into my arms. The hug did nothing to calm her. Her tears continued to flow freely.
It felt like ages before she finally stopped, and even then she remained in my arms for a while as my mind raced, searching for a way to help her.
Ourgazes locked before her eyes turned glossy and she looked away.
‘Luke broke off the engagement last night,’ she said after a moment of silence.
I was speechless. ‘Why wouldhedo that?’
‘He accused me of wanting to play house with Michael and made me choose between taking care of this child and him. I didn’t want to, so he said he was done.’
The more I learnt, the less I understood. ‘What’s Michael got to do with anything?’
She cleared her throat. ‘They only agreed to let me take the child if he can come too. Allegedly to make sure the kid isn’t up to something evil. He's a delusional prick and destroyed my relationship.’
Oh, oh.
‘Miriam, I know Michael can be a little… annoying and confrontational, but I think he means well. We really don’t know who this child is.’
‘I can literally use shadows to petrify a person if they mean me harm,’ she snapped.
Gods help me.
‘Okay. Good to know.’
