The fire cracked sharply in the corner, the sound cutting through the tension just enough to make the silence that followed feel louder.
Lucy studied me for a long second. Then—“You’re not afraid of the baby.”
My breath caught. “That’s not?—”
“You’re afraid of what it does to your story,” she corrected.
And just like that—everything shifted.
I sank back into the couch slowly, the fight bleeding out of my posture even as it stayed locked tight in my chest.
“I become exactly what they already think I am.”
Dottie shifted again, this time sliding off Lucy’s leg and padding across the couch toward me without hesitation, her movements quiet but deliberate.
She stopped just at my knee.
Sat.
Looked up at me.
Waiting.
I stared down at her for a second, something in my chest tightening unexpectedly at the simplicity of it.
I reached out without thinking, my fingers brushing lightly over her head, the softness of her fur grounding in a way nothing else had been.
“I don’t get to mess this up,” I murmured.
Lucy’s voice softened slightly. “You’re allowed to be human, Bea.”
“Not here
Her mouth tightened. “Then where?”
My phone buzzed against the cushion beside me.
Everything in my body went still.
Lucy noticed immediately. “What is it?”
My hand moved automatically, picking up the phone, my thumb hovering for half a second before I unlocked it.
Alois. I answered. “Yeah.”
“Get to the arena.”
No greeting.
No explanation.
My stomach dropped.
“What happened?” I asked, already sitting up, already moving.
“Now, Bea.”
The line went dead.