CHAPTER 270: SHATTER

[Inside the Blackmoon stronghold - inner chambers ]

Autumn and Kieran stopped at a narrow corridor lined with colourful lanterns. Their faint buzz filled the silence between them. Kieran motioned towards a plain wooden door...his hand paused on the handle as if it weighed more than stone.

He glanced at Autumn.

Her shoulders were squared, but her fingers twitched at her side. Their eyes locked...brief, silent...before he pushed the door open.

The hinges groaned only a little.

A warmth spilled out from the nursery...a faint glow of lamps, the soft scent of wool blankets...and a lot of scattered dolls on the rugs.

And then...

Tiny feet pattered. A child’s breathless voice broke the stillness.

"Mamma! Mamma... you are back!"

Willa came running, her little arms stretched forward, her hair flying around her face. The air seemed to lurch with the sweetness of her cry.

But...she froze... mid step.

Her eyes widened at the sight before her.

It was not her mother. She was seeing someone else...

The little girl’s arms fell limp at her sides. Her lips parted soundlessly. Her knees trembled.

Autumn’s breath hitched too...this baby was her dead sister’s spitting image...exactly what Lyla looked like when she was little...Autumn’s head spun...but she lowered herself instantly, collapsing to her knees, arms open, voice soft...gentle...even though it was too aching.

"Hey... hey, it’s alright. I am not here to hurt you.Your name is Willa, right?"

Autumn leaned closer, her trembling smile holding. "I am...I mean your mother was my little sister. You are safe with me, little girl. I promise. Don’t be scared."

But Willa did not move.

Her chest rose and fell in uneven gulps, her gaze flicking...not at Autumn...but at Kieran standing in the doorway.

Her little body shook as her lips quivered.

Her gaze held an equal amount of fear even when it met her dad.

"Where... where is Mamma?" she whispered, voice cracking. "Where is Freya? Mamma went to save Freya from bad Grandpa... when are they coming back?"

Her words stumbled out between gasps, each one making her shrink a step backward.

Autumn’s throat closed. She stretched her hand out carefully, her voice low, desperate.How the hell was she ever going to break the news to this little one that her mother was never coming back?!

"Willa... listen to me. Even if Mamma isn’t here, I am always going to be with you. I promise. I will never abandon you. I will try my best to love you like she did..."

Her words sliced apart with a gasp.

"Ouch!"

Willa had lunged forward and sunk her teeth into Autumn’s hand, her little jaw clamped with raw, terrified strength.

Autumn winced but did not pull away.

"Willa!!" Kieran’s voice boomed, the first time it cracked the air like that. He strode forward, golden eyes flashing, his hand half raised to stop her. "Enough!"

Autumn’s head snapped towards him.

"Don’t," she said quickly, shaking her head, forcing a smile through the sting of pain.

Her free hand stroked Willa’s tangled hair, trembling but steady. "It’s alright. I know you didn’t mean to hurt me. You are just a little scared, that’s all..."

But Willa broke free, staggering back, her small body heaving with exertion.

Her face twisted, her voice rising in a scream so raw it ripped the quiet nursery in half.

"Noooooo!"

It shook her from the inside out...the kind of scream she had never used in her life.

Her little fists balled. Tears streaked down her face, mixing with anger, fear, and an unknown grief.

"You stay away from me! I want my Mamma... not you!ONLY MY MAMMA..."

The words tore from her chest like a blade.

The nursery went still after that.

Only her sobs filled the room.

Autumn sat frozen on her knees.

Her bitten hand was already healing but her chest was hollowing inward as if the scream had gutted her from the inside.

Kieran stood rooted in the doorway, his jaw tight, his breath thick in the silence. His gaze flicked between the two...his hand still suspended mid air, unsure...helpless...before it fell slowly to his side.

Willa trembled, her tiny frame rocking as if even standing took all her strength.

Her hands clutched at her own dress, twisting the fabric tight. Her lips quivered, eyes wet and wild.

Autumn’s heart squeezed painfully at the sight.

"Willa..." she whispered, holding her palms up in surrender, her voice soft as velvet. "Please, sweetheart. You don’t need to be afraid of me.Let me help...please..."

But the words only seemed to splinter something in the child.

Her breaths came faster, shallow gasps, her little chest fluttering like a trapped bird.

She wasn’t used to anything without her mother... the world was alien... without Lyla, Willa felt like that alien was going to eat her up.

But then her voice cracked, spilling out words in a torrent.

"No! You are... you are lying!"

The sound of it made the lantern flames tremble.

"You are not Mamma! Nobody can be like her! You... you are nothing like her!Never will be..."

Autumn froze.

Her throat tightened...the words struck deep.

But Willa wasn’t done...her fear poured out, each syllable slashing like a whip.

"Mamma smells like sunlight! You don’t!"

"She hugs me warm... you are cold!"

"She sings when I cry... and you don’t even know my songs!YOU CAN NEVER BE LIKE MY MAMMA. I WANT HER...WHERE IS SHE?!!"

Each word wrenched itself from her trembling mouth, her fists balled at her sides.

"I don’t want you! I don’t want anybody!Call Mamma,alright? Why is she so late? Is she...Is she alright? Is she hurt???"

Autumn’s breath almost faltered.

Her lips parted, then sealed again as if sound had abandoned her.

She recoiled slightly...only an inch, but enough. Her body seemed to crumple inward, shoulders bowing, eyes stinging.

But she forced a smile.

A small, broken, desperate smile.

Her bitten hand trembled, but she curled it into her lap, pressing it against her dress to hide the blood stain.

"I know... I know I am not your Mamma," she whispered, her voice catching like glass. "I could never be her, Willa. Not in a hundred lifetimes.And I wish I could say she is coming...but I can’t...but I can tell you she is in a better place..."

Her smile wavered...but she held it, stubborn, for the child’s sake.

"But know that I love you. Even if you don’t want me to. Even if you hate me right now. That won’t change."

Willa’s chin wobbled, but her eyes narrowed through her tears. She stomped one little foot, her voice breaking into a sob.

"Then go away! Leave me alone! I don’t want to talk to anybody until Mamma is here!"

The words echoed, too shrill, until silence wrapped the nursery again.

Autumn sat there, kneeling, her smile frozen on her face...her chest physically caved inward with the weight of the child’s rejection.

Kieran’s fists tightened at his sides. His jaw clenched so hard the veins at his neck strained.

He looked away...because if he didn’t, he wasn’t sure if he could stand seeing Autumn’s eyes shimmer like that... trying not to shatter...