Madeline:

Baxter had been anxiously pacing around the living room, smoking and running his hand over the back of his neck.

I could already tell why he was so upset.

Whatever his mother had done was horrible.

My mother had not stopped crying since Ron told them everything that had happened to Rosetta.

How she had been abducted, kept in a cage, and shackled.

Then she had been forced to let someone else enter her body, but she survived.

She had pretended to be a daughter and endured so much loneliness, all the while waiting for the right moment to find her family.

It just crumpled me.

Baxter did not comment, though. He just kept smoking and smoking.

Even if I tried to stop him right now, I knew he wouldn’t.

“And by the way, like I said, Sawyer seems to be planning to kill the monster just to

make himself look good,” Ron commented while his jaw clenched.

“But he cannot kill my father,” I said, placing both my hands on my chest.

At this point, we all knew everything.

“Yeah, but―” Ron paused, biting his bottom lip, as if he were struggling to say what came next. “People are on his side because he claims he can help the six children.”

“What if I go there and offer to help them?” I suggested.

But Ron shook his head. “I don’t think they’ll listen anymore. They had quite an argument with you. They’re putting all their faith in Sawyer because he’s claiming they’ll never have to worry about the monster or the curse ever again,” he said, making it apparent why they would choose him over me.

I slapped my forehead a little too hard.

When I turned, I noticed Baxter had stopped smoking to look at me.

His eyes were fixed on my forehead, as if to make sure I hadn’t hit myself too hard.

I guess everybody noticed.

“You had that, right? The poison, the curse from the well. I found it in the cabin. Oh my goodness, if he got it—” I started to ramble as the realization hit me.

“Don’t worry. I have it,” Ron said, causing my eyes to widen.

He placed his bag on the chair and opened it. “Is this what you’re talking about?” he asked, holding up the bottle for me.

I nodded.

“Well, after everything happened, I went back to the cabin and looked for it. I was quick to get my hands on it before the warriors got there,” he explained.

“But Madeline, they can get more herbs from where the curse comes from.”

I took the bottle and turned toward my mother.

“No, I don’t want my husband to die,” my mother commented, her lips curling downward.

“Nobody is killing any of your family,” Baxter said, a cigar between his fingers as he pointed toward my mother with both hands.

Baxter walked all the way around the couch to reach my mother, then knelt before her.

In that moment alone, my respect for him grew immensely.

“I promise you, I will not let anyone harm your family anymore,” he said as he held her hand.

Everybody watched him.

“What my mother did was the worst anyone could do to another person. And even though I don’t really remember what she did to me, I’m telling you, I will bring you justice,” Baxter said.

Before he could continue, footsteps approached.

Daniel had briefly walked away, and now he had returned with his hands full of files.

“Hi, guys,” he greeted us again, waving his hand.

He had found out everything as well. He had only left because he wanted to do some research.

“Come on, Daniel. Let’s talk about some important stuff,” Baxter said as he straightened his back and gestured for Daniel to come over.

Daniel approached the table, set down all the files, and took a seat.

Now we were all seated around the large table, while my children played nearby with the nannies.

“So, you said something about the rogue princess knowing how to end the curse?” Daniel reminded Ron, who nodded.

Ron had briefly told us that Nala said there was a way to turn the monster back into a normal person, but it was very complicated because someone

ad to make the monet

drink the blood of his own family, mixed with water from the well.

The whole thing was a mess and seemed nearly impossible to do. Besides, we didn’t want to transfer the curse to someone else.

Even if I wanted to do it to someone like Graham or Elgin, they practically had no doved ones left who could

make them drink the poison, and I doubted they would willingly drink

the herb themselves.

So, there was that.

“So, actually, did some research. It seems that when the first humans fled the werewolf lands, they

brought quite a lot of books with net

them Books about magic, myths, curses. They eventually built a huge library around all of it,” Daniel began explaining.