Chapter: 41

I shrugged. "Someone had to watch over Sera."

Her grip tightened. "Not you. You don't owe her anything, Kie."

A tired sigh escaped me. "She's Daniel's mother, Celeste. I won't let my son grow up without his mother."

She huffed. "Look at you." She cupped my cheek, her thumb swiping under my eye. "You're dead on your feet."

Ethan patted me on the shoulder. "You should go home, man. Get some rest; we'll take it from here."

But my feet stayed rooted to the floor, an instinctive resistance flaring in my chest. Sera and her siblings had never been close-and after everything, I couldn't shake the need to shield her from the family that had failed her so badly.

Hypocrite, a bitter voice hissed in my head. You hurt her worse than any of them. She hadn't even trusted me enough to share her writing.

"Kieran." Celeste drew my attention back to her. "Go home, please. We'll take care of Sera."

The weight of exhaustion pressed down on me, undeniable now. "... Yeah. Okay."

I turned to Ethan. "Don't leave her alone. We still don't know if the threat's passed."

He gave a grim nod.

Celeste tilted my chin back to her. "Stop worrying. Go."

This time, I nodded.

It happened in a heartbeat-Celeste smiled, her eyes trained on my lips, but just before she could make contact, I shifted, and her lips pressed against my jaw instead.

I forced a smile, trying to cover up my uneasiness and surprise at what I'd just done. Brief confusion and hurt flashed in Celeste's eyes, but she covered it up and stepped back, her hands falling from my face.

"Go on, now," she murmured, too soft, too careful.

I nodded and forced my legs to move away from Sera's door.

The phantom warmth of Celeste's lips still burned against my skin, and I couldn't explain why I'd moved. Why I'd avoided it.

Celeste and I had been affectionate since she returned-teasing touches, lingering hugs-but we hadn't kissed. Not once. And now, striding through the parking lot, I realized that it hadn't been an accident.

It made no fucking sense. I'd spent ten years aching for her. So why did the thought of kissing her now feel... wrong? Like crossing a line I couldn't uncross. Like if I did, there would be no going back.

But where was this feeling exactly from?

My mind flashed to Sera in the locker room, her palm cracking across my face before I could close the distance between us. I hadn't hesitated then.

But with Celeste...

The realization sat in my gut like bad sushi as I slid into my car, the metallic tang of Sera’s blood still clinging to the upholstery.