Madeline:

“I just had a thought. It’s not like you guys have to completely listen to me. I’m just gonna make a suggestion,” Yuvonne said as she shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

Everybody was watching her.

Everyone could tell she was getting a little uncomfortable, even before making the suggestion.

But whatever name she was about to say seemed to have been stuck in her mind, like she needed to get it out.

“Nobody’s gonna judge you.” Ron extended his hand and took hers, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

I noticed Daniel and Livia watching their brief, affectionate moment.

Then, almost unintentionally, the two looked at each other before quickly looking away.

Watching Ron and Yuvonne had somehow made them glance at each other. “Graham,” Yuvonne said, and I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up. There was pure rage in her eyes, and I could understand why.

Even though she knew Lady Eugenia was the one who wanted her dead, after what Graham had done to her, she would have rather accepted death than gone through that.

I mean, he did kill her child.

“I am all for it,” Baxter commented, shrugging his shoulders. “But I wouldn’t want to give him that power,” he added.

“And besides, none of his loved ones are alive,” I said, reminding them that it needed to be done by a blood relative.

Yuvonne’s body suddenly slumped, her shoulders drooping.

“But he’s in prison,” Ron said to her.

She just nodded while rolling her eyes.

I could tell that both Yuvonne and Baxter disagreed with Graham’s punishment, and honestly, they weren’t wrong.

The world outside was so fucked up that the people in prison were living far better lives than those outside.

“We can do Elgin,” Ron suggested. “I mean, his mother is alive. She can feed him the poison,” he said, watching our faces while I shook my head.

“She needs to be fully aware of what she’s feeding him. You know that, right? And when he asks her what it is, she’s not supposed to lie.”

I watched them look defeated again.

“Can I suggest a name?” Baxter asked as he leaned back, crossed one leg over the other, and bent his arm, rubbing his fingers together in the air in front of him.

“Sure,” I said, confused about why he looked so confident.

Then he let out a chuckle, shook his head, and said, “Let’s do it- Let’s do it to my mother.”

The minute he said that, several people gasped. The others looked shocked.

I was confused.

“You want your mother-” I trailed off, unable to finish the sentence, but he nodded confidently.

“After what she has done to everyone, I think that would be the most fitting punishment,” he commented before adding, “Besides, isn’t she the one who transferred the curse to your father?”

Baxter’s words made us all stare at one another.

It was true.

If the previous monster had died after being given the poison, the curse would have ended there.

But she took the herbs and decided to continue it by feeding them to my father.

“Baxter, I think you should give it I

some thought first,” I said, not letting the others celebrate just yet. “You

don’t have your mo

30 I dont know how you’ll react once you get them back. You might decide it’s too

harsh a punishment.”

I said it even though I knew what he was suggesting was right.

I could tell my mother disagreed with me.

“Well, his mother is the one who transferred the curse to your father,” my mother commented somewhat harshly, almost as if reminding me that wasn’t supposed to be siding. with a woman like her.

“I understand, and I’m not saying you’re wrong, but first and foremost, that would give her a lot of power. She’s a toxic woman. She wouldn’t even restrict herself to a mountain top. You better believe that every time fight falls, shell be out there somewhere, trying to expand her reach and terrify every single person she can,” I said more determinedly this time.

Tears started forming in my eyes as I remembered how terrified we had been of the monster in the beginning.

“And we definitely can’t kill the monster because that would mean—” Daniel said.

Baxter lowered his head.

“Well, that would have been a very easy way out, but I want to see my father. I think my father deserves to be human again,” I said, sniffling before I felt an arm wrap around my shoulders.

I turned toward Baxter and noticed he was smiling at me. “Memory or no memory, I’m pretty sure this is the decision I’ll make. So let’s do it. Let me be the one to feed my mother that poison,” he said, his fist clenching.