“Wait,” Annabelle quickly called out to him before he stepped out of the door.

He turned to her with his customary impatient look.

“What?” he asked eventually when she didn’t immediately talk.

“Do you mean we are leaving Stoneraine right now?” Annabelle asked.

“We can leave straight for Acadia,” he said without turning to face her, his voice low and clipped. “You don’t have to see anyone you don’t want to see ever again.”

The words hung heavy in the air, their weight sinking into her like stones.

She didn’t respond immediately as her thoughts were currently in a chaotic tangle.

Seeing her mother again felt like grasping at the...