“Since you want to die so badly, I'll grant it.” Darius forced down his rage, his face dark as he spoke.

He made one phone call and brought in two Dragon clan guards and a silver-forged whip.

Orion reached into his coat for a fine needle and slid it into a point at the back of my neck, so that no matter how much it hurt I couldn't black out. He withdrew the needle, his voice flat and even. “Hold her steady.”

The guards laid into my back with the silver whip, one stroke after another.

I bit down hard and didn't cry out. In my head, I counted.

Every stroke brought me one step closer to my mother.

None of the four had any patience to stand around watching me get whipped. They were going to look for Vivian. Rex went last, and without turning his head he tossed the guards an order. “Whip her till it kills her if you have to. Until she admits it.”

They'd barely stepped out when the radio crackled.

“Miss Vivian came back on her own. She says she went for a walk this afternoon and lost track of time, and her phone died. She didn't write the note. She knows nothing about it.”

Rex snatched the radio. “She wasn't kidnapped?”

“…No.”

Cormac whipped around to look back into the room, the color draining slowly from his face.

And just then, a scream that shredded the air tore out of the room.

All four of them rushed back in.

The instant the door flew open, blood sprayed across Darius's face.

The silver whip in the guard's hand had snapped one of my ribs, and the broken end had driven hard into my heart.

I couldn't see anything anymore. My ears were full of ringing.

But I felt someone press something hard against my chest. The texture of cloth, probably one of their coats. Someone was pushing a cold liquid into my body. Someone kicked the guard so hard he flew, and the walls shook.

The last one I felt was Cormac. He cupped my face. “Emma. Emma, look at me. Don't you close your eyes. Emma!”

His voice had completely cracked, nothing like his usual cold, commanding self.

It made me think of the days after I was kidnapped and brought home.

Back then I had nightmares every night and couldn't sleep alone. My four daddies took turns staying with me for two whole weeks.

Daddy Darius moved the couch from his office into my bedroom. Daddy Rex guarded the door at night, and the second I rolled over he'd push it open and come in. Daddy Orion brought a calming tonic every evening and sat by the bed watching until I drank it down.

Daddy Cormac was always the last to leave. He never said much. He just draped his wing over my headboard, and those feathers were impossibly soft, like a wall holding back the wind.

I remember his voice, soft and gentle. “Sleep. Nothing can get in.”

A pack of liars.

With the last of my strength I looked at the four faces one more time. Darius's was covered in blood, Rex's fist was still clenched, Orion's hands were shaking, and Cormac's eyes were so red they looked ready to spill over.

Goodbye.