HARPER
Before I could ask him what he meant, my phone vibrated in my hand. I glanced at the screen.
Clara.
"Is that Clara?" Julian asked, leaning slightly to look. His brows furrowed, worry clear in his eyes. "I asked her to stay with the boys. I don't know if she's calling because of them."
I inhaled, then exhaled, forcing the fear rising in my chest back down before answering the call.
"You need to come home right now," she said immediately.
"H-home?" I stuttered, my grip tightening around my phone. "Did something happen to my children?"
How many more disasters could one day hold?
Was this some cruel sign? Some twisted way of telling me the children needed their father… that I shouldn't keep them from him?
"The thing is—" Clara began.
But I didn't need her to finish. I heard him. His voice, cold and unmistakable, through the line.
"They're my children. She said I should do my worst… so here it is."
