Chapter Twenty-three: Paranormal Realm 21
His mother let her hand drop, but she did not step back. She stayed close. "We're not angry with you."
"I know," Rowan said again.
"But we are scared," she said quietly.
Rowan swallowed. "So am I."
That honesty seemed to settle something between all three of them — a shared admission that none of them had the answers, and all of them were standing in the same uncertainty together. They stood there for a moment, a family caught between what had been planned and what had already happened, knowing that nothing would be simple anymore. Knowing that whatever came next would not wait for them to be ready.
The silence that followed was heavy. Thick enough to press against Rowan's chest.
Then his mother spoke again, quieter than before.
"Was he… gentle?"
Rowan froze.
