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“We should go to the council first thing in the morning,” I say.

“Agreed.”

On the drive to Mom’s house, the chasm between us isn’t there anymore.

“Thanks for having my back,” I say, halfway out of her Jeep.

“Nick?” She turns to me, sadness weighing her down. “I know it wasn’t your fault he left. I was just…”

She never finished that sentence at the time either. She just stopped coming to Sunday dinner.

I know what she means, because I did too.

“I get it.” I wince from my injuries as I close the door and lean through the window. “He left us too, but we’re still here. We’ll always be here.”

When I walk through the front door, Luca is pacing in the entryway, and instantly, I’m worried.

“Thank God you’re back.” He’s already pulling on his jacket. “Are you okay? You’re covered in blood.”

“Yes. I’m fine. Where’s Ellery?”

“Her and Mom are at town hall. We should go.” He’s out the door.

“Luca!” I chase after him and slide into the passenger side of my truck as he starts the engine.

“Did you kill him?” Luca hits the gas and barrels down Mom’s driveway, the back end sliding on the packed snow.

“Slow down, would you? What’s going on?”

“Dominic.” He glances at me. “You didn’t kill him, did you? ’Cause it wasn’t him, Nick. It was Constantin.”

“I know.”

“You do?”

“Yes.” The blood covering my hands has gone tacky. “I killed Constantin.”

He doesn’t say anything.

Ellery rushes to my side as soon as I push open the wide doors of town hall, with Mom right behind her. Both of their expressions tell me exactly how I must look. Ellery wraps her arms around my waist.

I hold her tight and kiss the top of her head. “Wasn’t a hero. Ask Dominic.”

She pulls her hand away from my shoulder, and it’s covered in blood. “You’re hurt.”

“It’ll be fine. What are you doing here?”

“Nick.” Roslyn is at the entry to the chamber. “You better come through.”

The entire council, apart from the Renards, is around the table. I was hoping to have more time to figure out how to explain killing a Guardian.

“Pete’s spoken to Anna, and we’re aware of what occurred this evening. Ellery came to us earlier and presented the evidence she’d gathered,” Roslyn says.

“You did?” Ellery is under my arm, taking more of my weight than she knows.

“We’ll need a proper investigation, but based on what we’ve seen, you were justified in pursuing Dominic and Constantin to protect our town.” Roslyn checks her watch. “We’ll no doubt have more questions, but it’s late. And I think we’d all like to go home.”

Everyone pushes back their chairs and starts putting on their coats.