Jarrett waited outside the town hall to ambush his daughter.

She wouldn’t speak to him by choice. He’d tried to be patient. But he had to talk to her, even if for a moment.

He watched everyone else leave the hall, but Scarlet didn’t exit. Neither did Leandra, for that matter. They were both emissaries, he supposed, though that didn’t really put him at ease at the idea of them meeting alone. He couldn’t quite make himself trust Leandra fully.

Not that he would crash whatever conversation they were having—though he’d be lying if he didn’t admit he’d considered doing so.

It wasn’t too long until Scarlet came rushing out of the town hall, red faced. He wondered if Leandra was responsible for his daughter’s desolate look.

“Scarlet!”

She stopped, turned to him, defeated. Her eyes were wary. They were the same color as Kiera’s.

“Please, Scarlet. Can we talk?”

Scarlet looked away. “I don’t know what to say to you.”

“I didn’t abandon you on purpose. I swear to you.” What could he say? What could he do to make her stay, for even one more moment? “I don’t want to lose any more time with you than we’ve already lost.”

She looked like she was on the verge of tears. “I told you, I don’t know what to say right now.”

Jarrett’s throat tightened. He was upsetting her further, but he couldn’t stop himself. “I don’t understand. Kiera took my memories. She left, took you away—what did I do? You won’t even speak to me. What did I do to deserve any of this?”

Others in the street glanced over at the confrontation with curiosity.

“Let’s… let’s not do this here,” Scarlet said.

“My house?”

Scarlet nodded almost imperceptibly and, by a minor miracle, followed Jarrett. He tried to compose himself, forcing oxygen steadily into and out of his lungs. At his door, he fumbled with his keys before finally unlocking the door and shuffling inside.

He slumped into a chair, Scarlet quietly took a seat across from him. For a moment, he worried that she wouldn’t speak.

“I didn’t recognize you when I first saw you, either,” Scarlet started. She looked up at the ceiling, eyes searching. “I was nearly dead when I came here.” She stopped, eyebrows furrowed, she took a couple long breaths with her eyes shut tight. “Dante was able to bring my soul back. He fixed me. But Riordan killed him while he was distracted saving me. And now, it’s all so much, and I don’t know what to do, what to say. I’m sorry.”

Jarrett stared at her. His daughter. Her life had been in jeopardy only days ago. She just lost a friend. She is in so much pain, how dare I make this all about myself?

The past few days had been excruciating and that wasn’t exclusive to him. The Vanguard and the Ravens were shadows of what they used to be. Riordan had done his damage, and they’d gained nothing to show for it.

Korene and Rohan, gone—and so many others. Some of their bodies, Ange had saved down in the vault, with some plan to bring them back if their souls were delayed from crossing over. It was too hard of a hope to hold onto, it seemed like a longshot at best.

He had barely dealt with losing Morgane and everyone else who fell in the battle against Riordan’s soldiers. So many deaths. It crushed him, as did the return of his memories. His own wife had betrayed him, locked away the memories of his family, and left him.

There were moments where he almost thought Leandra had been right about warning him away from seeking his past. The truth was a burden, but he never could have gone on without knowing what he was missing, either.

Maybe he had lost Kiera, but Scarlet was here. She was so familiar and yet a complete stranger. Jarrett wanted nothing more than to be in her life again—but he had to remember that being a parent meant he had to put her first.

“Scarlet, you have nothing to be sorry for,” Jarrett said. “I’m the one who should be apologizing for pushing you to talk before you’re ready. And I am so sorry about Dante.”

Scarlet flinched when he said Dante’s name. Jarrett wondered what the nature of their relationship had been—from his brief time with them both, things had seemed intense, but that may have been a product of the danger they were all in.

“Is there anything I can do?” he asked. “Do you want to talk about it, do you want to stay here instead of with Ange—”

“I don’t think I’m ready for any of that,” Scarlet said. She cleared her throat. “But, thank you.”

Jarrett couldn’t help but feel hurt, though he knew he didn’t have any right to be. He hadn’t been in her life for years.

“Mom was really the one who blocked your memories?” she asked.

Jarrett nodded. “Ange could feel her energy signature on the seal.”

“Is it still there? The energy?”

The image of the raven was still emblazoned on his chest, but Jarrett was no mage. “I’m not sure.”

“Can I… can I see?”

Jarrett nodded, and pulled down the neck of his shirt to reveal the tattoo. Scarlet came over and pressed her hand softly on the markings. His daughter, she was his daughter. He had to keep repeating the thought, trying to acclimate himself to that fact.

Scarlet backed away after a few moments. Her eyes were misty as she sat back down, her lips pressed together tightly.

“Is it—”

“She’s still there,” Scarlet said. “Just a little.”

Jarrett put a hand over the tattoo, trying to feel what Scarlet felt, a hint of his long-lost wife. He couldn’t feel anything. “Do you know why she did it?”

“No. She told me you left us. I don’t know why she lied.”

That was like a knife in his back. Not only had she stolen his memories, but Kiera had convinced their daughter that he had chosen to leave?

“I don’t understand why she would do this. Unless there’s memories that haven't come back to me. Was I—Scarlet, was I bad to you? To your mother?”

“No,” her voice was small, and it echoed his hurt. “Everything was fine. But I wonder—I know that it was hard. For her to hide just me and her, the two of us. Maybe she left you behind to keep you safe from Riordan.”

If that were true, it would be the best of all the options, not that any of them were pleasant. “She didn’t hate me then, at least?”

“She never hated you. As far as I know.”

“And you?” he asked. “Did you hate me, when you thought I’d left you?”

“I—” Scarlet struggled for words.

“I shouldn’t have asked that. It’s not fair of me.” His chest felt so heavy. Even if Kiera had meant well, it was an excruciating betrayal. He thought that when his memories returned, he would feel whole again. Instead, he felt more empty than ever before. There was still a hole, something missing, knowing what it was didn’t fix it, not at all. He had lost years of his life, and his relationship with his child.

Jarrett dropped his head into his hands. “How could she do this? Tear our family apart?”

“I’m hoping we can ask her, and she can speak for herself.”

“Ange thinks she’s dead.”

Scarlet practically growled. “No. Riordan spoke as if she lived. He wanted to use us as leverage to question her about something.”

“She could be alive?” Jarrett was almost too afraid to believe it himself.

There was a hard determination in his daughter’s eyes. “We’re going to save her.”