Chapter 229

Agnes

I padded down the stairs and froze at the bottom.

The last person I expected to see standing in our foyer was my stepmother, looking just as immaculate and put-together as she always did. The very sight of her made me want to turn tail and run back up the stairs, especially after what my father had told me about her.

“What are you doing here?” I demanded, not bothering with niceties. I looked around but didn’t see Ava or my father. It seemed she had come alone.

She turned at the sound of my voice, a practiced smile instantly appearing on her face. “Agnes, darling,” she said, stepping forward with her arms slightly outstretched, as if she expected a hug.

I crossed my arms and kept my distance. “What do you want?”

My stepmother let her arms drop, but her smile remained fixed in place. “I was in the area and thought I’d stop by. It’s been so long since we’ve had a chance to talk.”

“For good reason,” I said flatly. I wanted to mention the slap again, but restrained myself.

She sighed. “Look, Agnes, I know we parted on… difficult terms. That’s actually why I’m here.” She paused, seeming to choose her words carefully. “Ever since Isabella’s remains were found, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking.”

My jaw tightened at the mention of the bones. My stepmother had never supported my search for my missing child; quite the opposite, in fact. But of course she couldn’t know that the bones didn’t belong to my actual daughter.

“I realized,” she continued when I didn’t respond, as if my silence was an invitation for her to keep yapping, “that I was cruel for not helping you with the search. I should have been more supportive, especially after you lost your wolf.” She took a step closer. “I’ve come to make amends, Agnes.”

I almost laughed. “Make amends?” I blurted out. “After everything you said and did?”

“I know it’s a lot to ask—”

“It’s impossible to ask,” I cut her off. “I’m not just going to forgive you for what you’ve done simply because a baby was buried and you suddenly want to fix your image.”

My stepmother flinched as if I’d slapped her again, which made me want to smile. Good.

“Agnes, please,” she tried again. “I’m truly sorry for how I behaved. I was wrong about Isabella, and I was wrong about how I treated you. I’d like a chance to do better.”

I didn’t believe a word of it. This woman had never apologized for anything in her life, had never admitted to being wrong. This sudden change of heart was suspicious at best, outright manipulative at worst.

And the look in her eyes made me uneasy. It was as if there were something dark and sinister hiding behind her gaze, like a hunter sitting beneath a canopy of false leaves to lure their prey closer.

I thought back to my father’s warning then. I didn’t want to believe anything he said, either, but if I had to choose between believing one or the other, I would choose him in a heartbeat.

“Mommy?” Thea suddenly called, rubbing sleep from her eyes as she came down in her pajamas. “I’m hungry. Can we have pancakes?”

She stopped when she saw my stepmother.

“Hello there,” my stepmother said, her voice softening as she looked at Thea.

I moved to stand between them. “Thea, this is…” I hesitated. What was she to my daughter? Technically a step-grandmother, but that implied a relationship that simply didn’t exist. “This is nobody. She was just leaving.”

My stepmother, seemingly unfazed by being called “nobody”, stepped to the side in an attempt to get a better look at Thea. Something flashed in her eyes—recognition, surprise, I couldn’t quite tell.

“My,” she said, leaning down, “I haven’t had a chance to see her up close like this before. She really doesn’t look like Olivia at all, does she?”

My blood ran cold. There was something in the way she said it, something calculating and knowing that set off alarm bells in my head.

“It’s time for you to go,” I ground out.

“Agnes—”

“Now.” I wasn’t asking. “Thea, go back upstairs for a minute, okay? I’ll call you when it’s time for pancakes.”

Thea looked confused but nodded, turning to trudge back up the stairs.

Once she was out of earshot, I rounded on my stepmother. “You need to leave. Now. And don’t come back.”

My stepmother opened her mouth as if to protest, then closed it again. She glanced toward the door, and her gaze fell on Thea’s school backpack leaning against the wall.

“That’s a cute charm,” she said, pointing to the dinosaur keychain hanging from one of the zippers. “Thea likes dinosaurs, does she?”

I didn’t move, didn’t speak, just continued staring at her until she finally turned and walked out the door. I watched through the window as she got into her car and drove away, only relaxing once she was well out of sight.

Just as I was turning to call out to Thea, I spotted Lena standing nearby. The pale color to her face indicated that she had overheard. “I’m sorry,” she murmured, wringing her hands. “I hope I didn’t make a mistake letting her in.”

I sighed, but shook my head. “It’s not your fault. You didn’t know. But for future reference, that woman is not to be let into this house or anywhere near Thea. Ever.”

Lena nodded seriously. “Understood.”

As Lena walked away, I heard footsteps on the stairs again and turned to see Elijah coming down, his hair still wet from a shower. “Was that a car I heard leaving?” he asked, then stopped when he saw my expression. “Uh oh. What happened?”

“My stepmother decided to pay us a surprise visit,” I said grimly.

Elijah’s face darkened. “Why? What did she want?”

“According to her, to ‘make amends’,” I said, making air quotes with my fingers. “But I don’t buy it for a second.” I glanced around to make sure Lena was truly gone, then lowered my voice and whispered, “She asked about Thea. Made a point of saying she doesn’t look like Olivia.”

Elijah’s jaw clenched. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I don’t know, but I don’t like it after what my dad told me regarding her and Elemental Enterprises.”

“You think she’s trying to… collect Thea now that she’s eight?” Elijah asked.

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “But if she so much as puts a finger on my daughter, I’ll fucking kill her.” As I spoke, that familiar heat began to build in my palms. I clenched my fists and breathed deeply, willing it to ebb away, and it did. A little, anyway.

Elijah glanced at my hands, then said, “We’ve got security out the wazoo here. Thea is safe. Trust me.” He paused. “But… Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to get Thea out of town for a few days. We should bring her to Richard’s territory with us.”

I bit my lip, uncertain about bringing Thea on a trip where we would be searching for a lost artifact, but Elijah had a point. We could frame it as a family trip for the Isabella Project. And I would feel safer having Thea close by rather than a plane ride away.

“Okay,” I finally said, nodding. “Let’s do that.”

Suddenly, Lena appeared in the doorway once more, startling us both. I was beginning to think that she had a bit of an eavesdropping problem. “Sorry,” she said, looking between us. “I couldn’t help overhearing. You’re going up north again?”

I glanced at Elijah, unsure how much to say, but he nodded. “We are. In a few days.”

“I don’t mean to intrude, but may I come with you?” she asked. “I actually grew up there. It would be nice to visit my family.”

That caught me off guard. Lena had never mentioned growing up in Richard’s territory before.

Elijah and I exchanged looks, silently debating. After a moment, I shrugged. What harm could it do? We could use Lena nearby to watch Thea while we went out and looked for the stone.

“Sure,” I said, smiling. “The more the merrier.”