Page 19 of The Golden Hour

The gravity of the situation, and my aunt’s distress, sinks in. Dropping onto the bed beside her, I lower my head into my hands.

“You’re right. This is totally my fault. I basically told her to fuck off and that I was going after her family.” Turning my head, I meet Molly’s red-rimmed eyes. “She won’t warn them, will she?”

Her eyes widen with shock, then narrow to slits of anger. “I love you, Finn, because you’re blood and I remember changing your shitty diapers and how sweet you were as a kid, but right now I don’t much like the man you’ve become.”

Neither do I.

I swallow my pride and say, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”

“Damn right, you shouldn’t have. Callisto has suffered just as much, if not more, than you have at the hands of her family. And for some miraculous reason, she’s managed to raise herself into a kind, compassionate young woman. Don’t you forget that. She may be a gentle soul, but she has a warrior’s heart.”

Thinking of Callisto’s dark eyes, I hesitate over my next words. “She’s really scared of them, isn’t she?”

“Yes.”

It suddenly hits me that my chances of seeing Callisto again are slim to none. She successfully staged her own death and has been presumed dead for the last six years. Clearly, she knows how to disappear.

The thought of never seeing her enigmatic eyes again is more disturbing than I care to admit.

“Where do you think she’ll go?” I finally ask.

Molly sighs. “Somewhere far away from here.”

From you.

The unspoken words send a flush of shame through me. I bow my head. “I fucked up, Mol.”

After a long pause, she grabs my hand and squeezes it tightly. “I know. And I also know Calli’s her own woman and makes her own decisions. A part of me always knew we wouldn’t be lucky enough to keep her in Solstice Bay. I’m going to miss her something fierce.”

With every word, I deflate further. Thoughts of Callisto, alone on the road, nowhere to go, no friends to speak of… Fuck, it hurts. I feel responsible. Helpless. Were he alive, my dad would have some strong words for me about how I treated her.

Releasing me, Molly swipes the tears from her face and stands. “Put a damn shirt on. If we’re going after the Avellinos, we need a plan.”

My jaw unhinges. “What?”

Defiance sparks in her eyes. “Calli is the closest thing to a daughter I’ll ever have, and the only way she’ll be free in this world is if the Avellinos are brought to heel. So we’re going to do just that.”

I keep gaping.

Molly smiles, but not in humor. “Family is everything, isn’t it? You need to read this.”

She lifts her hand, a thick square of folded white paper between her fingers. I reach for it, gripped by sudden foreboding. I’m not sure I want to know what’s inside it. From the look on Molly’s face, it’s something that will change me.

Change everything.

My fingers tingle, like they’re waking from sleep, as I unfold the page filled with graceful, slanted handwriting.

Molly,

For years, I drifted across the country looking for something I couldn’t define. That is, I couldn’t define it until I found you and Solstice Bay. I was looking for a home. Thank you for giving me what money could never buy—acceptance, understanding, and love. I’m sorry I never told you how much your kindness meant to me.

You healed a part of my heart I didn’t know was broken. You also gave me the courage to finally fix the rest.

When I ran, I thought I was doing the right thing. But I was young and selfish, and I sacrificed my innocent sisters to save myself. I can’t do it anymore—live this half-life caught between denial and regret. I’ve realized that as long as I linger in the past, I’ll never have a future.

I guess I have your nephew to thank for the final push. Please don’t blame him. He’s not at fault, just another victim of my family. And honestly, I’m grateful to him. He made me realize that sometimes, all it takes to change everything is one person.

If something happens to me, please let it go. This is my choice, and I know exactly what I’m facing.

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