Emilia’s POV

I didn’t go to the beach villa. I couldn’t face it. Instead, I turned onto the highway and drove toward Haven’s Reach.

The villa held too many memories of Sebastian and me. We’d made love there not long ago, and I’d promised myself I would face whatever came our way as long as we were together. So much had changed in just a few months. I’d been ready for a difficult future, but not this.

If it had only been one night, perhaps I could have taken some time to recover and found a way to move on. But there was a child now. Was I supposed to stay with Sebastian and help raise it?

I couldn’t be cruel to an innocent child, but I couldn’t raise Abigail’s baby either. That didn’t make me petty. How could anyone expect a woman to accept that?

Every time I looked at the child, I would think of her. I would remember what had happened between her and my husband. The thought alone made me sick.

Whether Sebastian had wanted that night to happen or not, the baby existed. Crying wouldn’t change it. Neither would wishing or begging the Moon Goddess.

I kept driving, my chest aching. Each mile took me farther from the house, but I still couldn’t stop thinking about what Abigail had said.

“Emilia,” Eve said gently. “You don’t have to hold it in. I’m here.”

“I know,” I whispered. “I just didn’t know it could hurt this much.”

“I feel it too. All of it. We’ll get through this, like we always do.”

Her kindness was more than I could bear. I finally started crying, and once I began, I couldn’t stop. My sobs sounded loud in the empty car.

What if things got worse? How much more could I take before I stopped being able to recover? I had no answer, so I kept driving.

After a full day and night on the road, I was close to the town. At least, that was what the navigation had told me before it stopped working. Naturally, I got lost.

The map froze, then started turning without giving me a direction. I hit the dashboard with my palm and groaned. Of course the one place I needed to reach wasn’t on the map.

Something grew warm in my pocket. I reached in and pulled out Margarita’s talisman. It pulsed against my skin, giving off a faint silver light that seemed to point toward the trees.

“Well,” I muttered, “at least one of you knows where we’re going.”

I parked, switched off the engine, and got out. Following the light, I found a plain stretch of road I’d already passed twice. Beyond it stood a patch of trees that looked no different from any other.

I stopped at the edge of the woods. Walking into the trees because a glowing charm told me to wasn’t exactly sensible, but the talisman pulsed more strongly in my hand. I took another step.

The air shimmered around me, and the trees ahead seemed to shift aside. Suddenly, a town stood before me, with stone streets, uneven rooftops, and lanterns moving in the breeze. None of it had been visible from the road.

“Took you long enough.”

I turned toward the familiar voice. Carina stood nearby with her arms crossed, smirking.

“Did Margarita send you to wait for me?”

“Obviously, genius.” She rolled her eyes. “Why else would I waste my morning waiting at the entrance for a filthy half-breed?”

Her gaze moved over me. “You look awful, by the way. What happened? Did some man throw you out?”

I’d had more than enough for one day. I flexed my fingers, and my hand began to shift. My bones stretched, and sharp claws grew from my fingertips.

“Say one more word,” I said softly, “and I’ll leave a mark on that pretty face. Then you’ll have something to talk about.”

Carina’s eyes widened. She stuck out her tongue, made a face, and ran down the street.

I let my hand return to normal and sighed. “Children.”

I followed her through the town to Margarita’s cottage. Once we reached the door, Carina hurried off without saying goodbye. Apparently, her duties didn’t include being polite.

I knocked, and the door opened almost at once. For a second, all I could do was stare.

“Uncle Chuck?”

“I knew you’d come!” He pulled me into a tight hug. “I told your grandmother you’d be back. Margarita, look who’s here!”

Margarita and Mindy appeared in the kitchen doorway. Margarita smiled and waved me inside.

“Come in, child. Wash your hands. You’re just in time for breakfast.”

After the night I’d had, seeing them nearly made me cry again. They were here, happy to see me, making room for me at their table. For the first time since I’d left home, I could breathe a little more easily.

I sat down to warm bread, eggs, and something sweet I didn’t recognize. It was the first food I’d enjoyed in days. Chuck talked while I ate, telling me what I’d missed in Thornhaven.

For years, he hadn’t known whether his parents were alive. But when I’d described Margarita, he’d suspected who she was and come looking for her. He’d been right. Margarita was his mother, and my mother’s too.

I nearly dropped my fork. When Margarita had looked at my mother’s photograph with tears in her eyes, I’d assumed we were distant relatives. She wasn’t some distant relative at all. She was my grandmother.

Now her trust in me made sense. She hadn’t simply handed the town over to a stranger. She’d been asking her granddaughter to protect it.