I stare after Wren anxiously, watching his small, thin frame disappear into the distance until he’s just a blur blending into the crowd. It feels wrong to just let him walk away like that, as if we’re abandoning him. He’s just a kid. A kid who should be worrying about school projects and complaining about homework. He should be sneaking out past curfew to hang out with friends, not sneaking around behind the back of a demon. It’s so unfair. Lukas reaches out and wraps his fingers around mine, his grip firm. I glance down at our joined hands, but I don’t feel any calmer.
“We’ll see him again, Clare.” Lukas says quietly, like it’s a fact, not a hope. His thumb brushes over my knuckles in a soft, soothing motion.
“And we’re going to find a way to help him.” He says firmly. I sigh heavily, my chest tight with frustration and helplessness.
“Lukas… Don’t make me any promises unless you’re sure you can keep them.” My voice comes out softer than I intend, tinged with sadness I don’t bother hiding.
“I can deal with the disappointment now, but if you get my hopes up too much, it’s going to be so much worse when we can’t help him.” I explain. Usually I’m more of an optimist, but right now? Everything just feels so unfair. I want to believe him. I desperately want to believe him. But we’ve been chasing after dead ends for weeks, and every time we think we’re making progress, we just find ourselves deeper in this mess. Wren’s story is a punch to the gut I wasn’t prepared for. It’s just so… Awful. He didn’t deserve this. And neither did Lukas. Or me. Or anyone who’s gotten caught up in Solem’s web. Lukas tugs on my hand gently, pulling me out of my spiraling thoughts.
“Clare, I wouldn’t lie to you. I couldn’t even if I wanted to, you’d see right through me in a second. I’m a terrible liar.” He says, his voice low but steady. He lets out a small huff of laughter, but his eyes stay serious, locked on mine.
“I know you’re feeling… Disheartened right now. But once you set your mind to something, there’s nothing that can stop you. You’re the most stubborn, determined person I’ve ever met.” I let out a weak laugh at that, but Lukas squeezes my hand tighter, not letting me brush it off.
“You broke into my parents’ home, Clare.” He continues, his tone firm and unwavering.
“You fought off my entire family, all of whom have different powers, any of them given the chance could have crushed you, and you rescued me. With no plan, no weapons, no backup. Just you.” He reminds me. His words sink in, and I feel a tiny flicker of warmth in my chest, but it’s not enough to drown out the doubt.
“That only worked because I hadn’t been practicing. That magic’s gone now. My magic is weak again.” I point out. Lukas shakes his head, a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.
“Then it’s a good thing magic isn’t the only thing you’re good at.” He declares confidently. I open my mouth to argue, but he stops me.
“We’ll figure this out. I mean it.” His voice is so confident, so sure. But there’s something underneath it, a heaviness that I recognise immediately. A sadness. It hits me like a train, and I can’t believe I didn’t see it sooner. Wren’s story… The way he described his mother, the way she looked when he forced her spirit back into her body, it’s not the first time I’ve seen someone like that. That same emptiness, that same hollow look in their eyes. I’ve seen it before… In Lukas’s father. I feel my heart clench painfully in my chest. I glance over at Lukas, and he’s staring straight ahead, his expression unreadable. But I can feel the tension in his hand, the way his grip tightens just slightly around mine.
“He really is dead, isn’t he?” Lukas whispers, his voice barely audible. I swallow hard, my throat thick with emotion.
“I’m sorry. But… Yeah. I think he is.” I admit. For a moment, neither of us moves. The weight of everything we’ve learned, about Wren, about Solem, about Lukas’s family, settles over us like a heavy blanket. Then Lukas lets out a shaky breath and pulls me close, wrapping his arms around me. I don’t fight it. I think we both need this hug. And for now, that’s enough.
We stay like that for a little while, just holding each other in the middle of this busy street, as if we can somehow block out the rest of the world by sheer willpower. I can feel Lukas’s heartbeat against mine, steady but heavy, like each beat is carrying the weight of everything we just learned. Neither of us says anything. There’s nothing to say, really. Words can’t fix this.
Eventually, we pull apart, but Lukas lingers for a second longer, his hands resting on my shoulders like he’s grounding himself before letting go. I squeeze his hand one last time before we finally head off to grab a ride back to my place. The whole journey is quiet. Lukas stares out the window, his expression unreadable, and I don’t push him to talk. I just give him some space to process things. But even if he’s not saying anything, I can feel the shift in him. He’s kind of withdrawn, quieter than usual. It’s not like Lukas is the most talkative person on a good day, but this is different. This is the kind of silence that fills all the cracks in the room, heavy and suffocating. And honestly? It’s not a surprise. Sure, we already kind of knew that his dad was dead. We’ve seen the signs, the empty look in his father’s eyes, the strange way he moved, the general absence of life behind his actions. But seeing something and really accepting it are two very different things. I think, deep down, Lukas was still holding onto that tiny thread of hope. The hope that maybe, maybe there was a way to fix it. That his dad wasn’t really gone, not completely. That Wren, or someone, could undo the damage, bring him back, make things right. But now? Wren didn’t just explain what happened to his mother, he told us what happened to Lukas’s father and in doing so, he ripped apart the last little bit of hope Lukas had been clinging to. And the worst part? Wren didn’t even mean to. I doubt he even knows who Lukas’s father is. To him, it’s just another story in the tangled mess he’s caught up in. But to Lukas… I steal a glance at him as we pull up to my apartment. He’s got a distant look in his eyes, one that tells me he’s replaying everything in his head, over and over, trying to make sense of it all. But there’s no sense to be made here. No logic to cling to. This isn’t just about losing his dad, it’s about losing the possibility of ever having a real relationship with him. Because the thing is, Lukas and his dad were never super close. I know that. HE knows that. But I also know Lukas well enough by now to see that, deep down, he wants to be close to people. He wants those connections, even if he doesn’t quite know how to make them happen. And now? Rather than just losing a relationship with his father, he’s lost the chance to ever have one. That possibility is gone forever, and there’s nothing either of us can do to change that.