Chapter 161 Unafraid

• Candace
• I trail after Hollis through the dark halls of the castle, my heart pounding. If Finn didn’t talk to me after the meeting, I would’ve let Hollis whisk me on whatever adventure he had planned for today. I never would’ve heard the story about his mother—and he wouldn’t have told it. Judging by his occasional sniffle, just talking about her uncorked something inside him. Something I think needed to be uncorked a long time ago. My heart aches for the wistful smile he gave the portrait. I’ve got three parents, and there isn’t a painting of any of them I’d look at like that. Maybe having a before is worse, in some ways. He knows exactly what he lost—who his parents could’ve been, if he were a little luckier.
• Hollis opens a door and lets me into a small sitting room. I take one of the couches in front of the dead fireplace. He stirs it to life, hesitates, then takes the seat next to me instead of one of the others.