“Unbelievable,” I breathe.
I scoop him up and carry him to the rocking chair beside the window. The full moon hangs heavy in the sky outside, a perfect, white circle over the quiet city. I wince, a phantom itch flaringacross the mark on my palm.It’s nothing now, just a ghost of a feeling, a memory of power that used to burn under my skin on nights like this.
Orion settles the second I hand him his bottle. I start rocking slowly and he grabs a fistful of my hair with one chubby hand.
“Easy there,” I say. “That’s attached.”
His eyes blink up at me, wide and curious.
“So,” I say quietly, glancing out the window. “Where did we stop?”
I shift him slightly in my arms.
“Oh right. The part where I jumped into the scary black hole.”
His tiny fingers tighten in my hair.
“Nah,” I say softly. “It wasn’t that scary. Because I knew you had your mom to protect you if anything happened to me. And she’s a tough one, isn’t she?”
He blinks slowly.
“And there’s Uncle Matt. I know he can be a pain sometimes, but he’d stand in front of a train for you.”
I rock the chair gently.
“And you’ve got two old, grumpy grandpas who’d probably fight the Pit itself if you asked. Actually, O wants you to call him grandpa too, so make that three grumpy bastards on your side.”
Orion sighs around the bottle.
“So yeah,” I say. “I jumped.”
I stare out at the dark skyline.
“Once I was in there… things get a little fuzzy. Some memories feel like dreams now. But I remember enough. The Pit tried to swallow me, but when it touched my mind, it saw everything. My memories. My life. The future of what this city would become if no one stopped it.”
I pause, brushing a dark curl from his forehead. His hair’s the same color as mine, but as he blinks, I notice his lashes—those are his mom’s, long and thick. “I don’t think it felt fear or desire or greed. It was just… hungry. Like any creature trying to survive.”
Orion’s eyelids start drooping.
“Then I heard the words: ‘The bargain is broken.’”
I shift him against my shoulder.
“And I told it something back. ‘As long as there are St. Clairs, we’ll always protect this city. But not for the tar anymore, for the people.’”
I smile faintly. “For a moment, I thought it was going to drag me under anyway.”
I look down at him.
“But it let me go. Maybe I wasn't all that tasty.”
I brush a curl from his forehead. “Or maybe it knew you needed your dad.”
I kiss the top of his head.
“The pits are still there,” I continue softly. “The original and the new. And the city’s still a mess, but your family’s got enough money now to start fixing things. Your great-grandfather had a lot hidden away. My grandfather… he bitched about it for a week straight, but he finally caved and gave me the access. He’s still doing a lot of bad stuff, you know. The old man's been doing the same things for so long, I don't think he knows any other way. I’m figuring out how to shut it all down, but it’s gonna take time to win from the ground up.”
I shift him against my shoulder. “And your mother… well, when mommy wants something, she gets it. She’s got some crazy plans to intercept his operations, and I’ve learned it’s better to just let her do her thing. It’s a kindness, really. To me.”
