Before, I could only think about keeping her near. But with uncertain times and a vengeful Phoenix, I have to protect her by sending her away. Perhaps a boarding school in Switzerland,far from Boston's violence and Phoenix's reach. The thought of sending her away makes me physically ill, but her safety comes first. I have money my parents don't know about, emergency funds I've been squirreling away for years with my secret writing, preparing for a day I could leave. I imagined I’d run away with her. That won’t happen now.
For a moment, I let myself imagine us as a family. I’ve fantasized about it often through the years. Wishing Phoenix were alive and would save Keira and me. He is alive and he’s returned, but he’s not here to save us. He believes I betrayed him, that I was complicit in my family's treachery. Would knowing about Brigit change that? Or would he simply see her as another Kean to punish?
I can't take that risk. Not with her life. Not with her happiness.
As I reach the main staircase, I straighten my shoulders. I am not the frightened eighteen-year-old girl anymore who needs saving. I am a mother, even if I can't claim the title openly. And I will do whatever is necessary to keep my daughter safe, even if it means marrying the man who now hates me more than anyone else in the world.
12
PHOENIX
My brothers' voices echo in my head as I descend the stairs to the basement. Their questions and comments are impossible to wave away. We’ve been one mind since the night our parents were murdered by the Keans. Now, we’re fracturing. Ash is angry that he can’t kill Hampton. Blaise and Flint disapprove of how I’m treating Keira. In the end, what they want or think isn’t important. I’m the head of this family. I have been since my father died. Whether they agree or not doesn’t matter.
The basement door creaks as I push it open. Cold air rushes up to meet me, carrying the musty scent of concrete. Two armed men stand at attention, nodding as I approach.
I make my way down the hall to where Hampton and his wife are being held.
"Leave us," I command the two men outside their door.
They exit without question. The power feels good, intoxicating even. After a decade of exile, of rebuilding from nothing, Boston is bending to my will. The Ifrinn name still carries weight, still commands respect. Our birthright was never forgotten, merely borrowed by unworthy hands.
I pause at the door, collecting myself. Hampton and Lana Kean. The architects of my family's destruction. The people who tried to erase us from existence.
The people who raised Keira.
My jaw tightens at the thought of her. The way she dropped to her knees yesterday, calling my bluff. The flash of defiance in her eyes even as she pretended to submit. It was a move I didn't anticipate, a reminder that she's not the same girl I knew ten years ago.
I unlock the door and step inside. I savor their misery. Hampton sits with his arm around Lana, both looking like deflated versions of the power couple that once ruled Boston.
Hampton's expression hardens when he sees me. "Come to finish the job?"
"If I wanted you dead, you'd be dead." I lean against the wall. "Consider yourselves lucky that you're more valuable alive."
Lana's eyes dart to mine. "Where's Keira? What have you done with her?"
Something in her tone catches my attention. Not the concern of a mother for her daughter, but something colder. Calculating.
"She's fine. Planning our wedding, actually."
“We gave her to you and now you need to let us go,” Lana insists.
Something in my gut twists as my brothers’ doubt about Keira and the question about whether Hampton proposed the marriage to my father who turned it down, prompting retaliation. What if all that is true?
“Do you want her back? I’m happy to send her and the kid down here.”
“You think you’re so much better than us, but you’re not.” Hampton's face contorts with rage.
"Careful," I cut him off. "Remember your position. You're alive because I allow it."
“What would your father think?” Lana straightens, attempting dignity despite her circumstances.
“Well, I can’t be sure because you killed him.”
“He was better than this, Phoenix. Surely, you aspire to be like him.”
I shrug. “I don’t know. He ended up dead.” The truth is, I’d love to have my father’s approval. I’d love to know if he’s proud of how I looked out for Flint, Blaise, and Ash and helped them become men.
“You’ve won. Why torture us?” Lana asks.
