Chapter 273 273
Dominique POV
She was leaving.
I could see it in her eyes the fear, the panic at the thought of facing Dad. I didn’t understand how he could still be angry with her after everything she’d done. She saved Mum. She saved Florence. I would protect her from him if I had to.
“Just keep her breathing,” she whispers, shaking her head gently when I try to reach for her.
“Don’t go.”
I want to run after her. I want to stop her. But Mum needs me, and I can’t leave her. I can’t leave Delphine either she’s barely holding herself together, clutching her bunny teddy tight against her chest like it’s the only thing keeping her upright.
When I hear Dad calling for me from the deck, the fear eases a little. His voice grounds me. I can hear him with Delphine now, Uncle Fabrice having just arrived to help Florence. If Auntie Sab hadn’t pulled that bullet out of her, Florence would be dead.
“Dad!” I shout back, my arms aching, my hands numb from pressing against Mum’s cold chest.
“Dominique—Dominique, what happened, son?”
He pulls me close, pressing his forehead to mine. His breathing is fast and rough. He must have run as hard as he could to get here. I know I would have.
“We were attacked,” I say. “She saved Mum…”
I keep going, doing exactly what Auntie Sab told me to do. I can’t stop. I can’t lose Mum.
“Who did?” Dad asks, taking my hands and replacing them with his, continuing the presses without missing a beat.
“Auntie Sab.”
“Sabine saved her?”
“She pulled her out of the lake. She also killed Stéphane.”
“Wait Sabine killed Stéphane?” His eyes lock on mine, but his hands never stop. “Where is she?”
“She was scared,” I say quietly. “She thought you’d blame her. She’s gone.”
“Gone?”
“I tried to make her stay,” I whisper. “I wanted to stop her, but I couldn’t leave Mum.”
Sadness crashes over me all at once. I should have helped her. All she ever wanted was to be liked… to be hugged. I should have hugged her. Told her I cared.
I think she felt like no one did.
“It’s okay, Dominique,” Dad says softly. “You did the right thing.”
“Fabrice! Fabrice I need you!” Dad roars, even though Uncle Fabrice is still helping Florence.
“Florence was shot with a green bullet,” I explain quickly. “Auntie Sab pulled it out.”
Uncle Fabrice vaults over the deck and rushes toward us. I notice Darkvale warriors standing back, watching Mum being helped. Even Théo is there, frozen in place.
“Théo,” Dad says sharply. “I need to get her to the hospital.”
“I’ll get an ambulance here, Beta,” Théo replies, already turning away.
Uncle Fabrice checks Mum over, then lifts her gently, placing her into Dad’s arms to share their warmth.
“Keep her warm, Damien,” he instructs. “Once we get her to the hospital, I can work fast to trigger her healing but it won’t work if she’s too cold.”
As Mum’s skin starts to lose its blue tint, the warriors finally seem to snap out of their daze, rushing to contain the fire.
There’s barely anything left of the Lake House.
Mum is going to be heartbroken. It was her favourite place. Where we used to holiday before Dad came back into our lives.
Smoke still pours into the night when Maurice returns with his warriors.
“What the hell happened?” he asks but I can see his eyes searching the ruins for her.
“Where the fuck were you?” Dad snarls. If Mum hadn’t been in his arms, he would have attacked Maurice.
“We found soldiers,” Maurice says. “With poisoned bullets.”
“What?”
“Human soldiers,” Maurice continues. “Is Aurélie okay?”
“Does she look okay?” Dad growls, furious as Maurice’s focus keeps drifting still searching, still looking for Auntie Bee.
“She’s alive,” I say quietly. “But she’s not here.”
Maybe she didn’t deserve any of this. Maybe she was better off alone away from people who only ever hurt her.
“Where is she?” Maurice asks, turning to me.
“She’s gone.”