Prologue

PROLOGUE

Seraphina

Age 6

With my stuffed bear clutched tightly to my chest, I wander through the quiet halls of Mum's estate.

It's been too many days since I last heard Daddy's voice on the phone, his warm laugh echoing across the ocean all the way from America.

He always calls, like clockwork, but now...there's only silence.

My toes dig into the plush carpet as I approach Mum's study door, slightly ajar.

Tiptoeing closer, I peek inside.

She sits hunched over her mahogany desk, cell phone pressed to her ear, golden hair spilling across her face.

Even from here, I can see how her knuckles have gone white from gripping the phone so hard.

Her usual poise cracks, voice pitching higher. "What do you mean there's no word? It's been almost a week, Charles. A week!"

A cold, queasy feeling swirls in my tummy.

Daddy's never been gone this long without calling.

Not ever.

He promised he'd always be there, just a phone call away, even from his important business trip.

Hot tears prick at the corners of my eyes.

Mum glances up, noticing me hovering in the doorway.

She swipes at her cheeks before waving me closer, opening her arms.

I bury my face against her silk blouse as she holds me tight, the floral scent of her perfume mixing with the saltiness of tears.

"Shh, darling. It'll be all right," she soothes, but I hear the wobble in her words. "We'll find Daddy. No matter what it takes, we'll bring him home to us. I promise."

I nod against her, praying with all my six-year-old heart that Mummy is right, that Daddy will bound through the door any moment with presents and kisses like always.

But a quiet, scared voice in my head whispers that this time is different.

This time, something is very, very wrong.

Mummy pulls back, taking a deep breath as she smooths my hair. "Right then. No use sitting about worrying. We're going to hop a flight to America straight away and join the search. Charles will send the jet round within the hour."

"America?" I echo, eyes wide.

Daddy's trip was to the States, a place called Las Vegas that Mummy says is full of blinking lights and whooshing machines that eat money. "We're going to find Daddy?"

"Of course, poppet." She taps my nose. "He's probably just gotten himself lost amongst those ghastly casinos. Or perhaps his mobile phone died, the silly goose. Either way, we'll track him down quick as a wink once we're there. Now run and fetch your rucksack—and don't forget Snuggles!"

I dash to my room, determination battling the worry twisting my insides.

Daddy needs us.

I stuff my favorite pink trainers, a jumper, and the stuffed rabbit Father Christmas brought last year into my pack, then race back to Mummy.

She's waiting by the door, her own designer luggage in hand and oversized sunglasses perched on her perfectly coiffed head. "Right-o, darling. The car's just pulled round. Let's be off, shall we?"

The drive to the airfield passes in a blur, my mind stuck on Daddy's crinkled blue eyes and big, booming laugh.

He has to be okay. He just has to be.

Our plane is already revving when we arrive, stairs down and waiting.

Mummy takes my hand as we climb aboard, giving it a reassuring squeeze. "Next stop, Las Vegas," she says with a tight smile that doesn't reach her eyes. "Don't fret, my beautiful Sera. Dear everything will turn out splendidly. You'll see."

As we lift into the cloudy English sky, I pray with every fiber of my being that my brave, beautiful mummy is right.

Hold on, Daddy.

We're coming. Just hold on.

The hum of the plane's engine fills my ears as I stare out the small oval window, watching puffy clouds drift by.

Mummy sits beside me, typing furiously on her mobile with red-tipped fingers.

Her brows are scrunched together, lips pressed into a thin line.

I fidget in my seat, hugging Snuggles close. "Mummy?" My voice sounds small, even to me. "Have you heard anything about Daddy yet?"

Mummy stops typing and turns to face me.

She puts a warm hand on my shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. "Oh, my darling girl." Her eyes are shiny, like she might cry, but she blinks it away. "Your grandfather's best men are searching high and low for Daddy. They won't stop until they find him, I promise you that."

"But what if..." I swallow hard, hot tears stinging my eyes. "What if they can't find him? What if he's lost forever?"

"Hush now, none of that." Mummy pulls me into her arms, stroking my hair. "Your daddy is the cleverest, bravest man I know. If anyone can find his way back to us, it's him." She pulls back, cupping my face in her hands. "We must stay strong, Sera. Be brave for Daddy. Can you do that for me, poppet?"

I nod, wiping my nose on my sleeve. "I can be brave," I whisper. "For Daddy."

"That's my tough little love." Mummy kisses my forehead, then settles back in her seat. "Try to rest now. I'll wake you when we land."

I curl into Mummy's side, burying my face in her cashmere jumper.

It smells like her—like home and safety and everything good in this world.

As I drift off to sleep, I picture Daddy's face, his crinkle-eyed smile.

I don't know how many hours have passed, but the purr of the car's engine lulls me awake.

I blink against the harsh Nevada sun slanting through the tinted windows. Mummy is on the phone, her voice raw and thready. "You're absolutely certain?"

My tummy twists into anxious knots.

I may be little, but I know that tone.

It's the something's-gone-terribly-wrong voice adults use when they think children aren't listening.

Mummy makes a choking sound, like she's swallowed something sharp. "I see. Yes. Thank you for..." She covers the receiver, takes a shuddering breath. "For letting me know."

As she hangs up, I tug at her sleeve. "Mummy? Was that about Daddy? Did they find him?"

She turns to me, and the look in her eyes steals my breath.

They're glassy with unshed tears, rimmed in red, but there's something else.

Something I don't quite understand, but it fills me with dread all the same.

"Sera, poppet..." Mummy's voice breaks. She clears her throat, tries again. "Your father, he... he isn't coming home, dearest."

I frown, not comprehending. "But why? Doesn't he want to see us?"

A single tear escapes down Mummy's porcelain cheek. "Of course he does, more than anything. But sometimes... sometimes people don't have a choice in leaving us."

She takes my small hands in hers, and I'm struck by how cold her fingers are.

Like she's carved from ice.

"Seraphina, your father... Daddy... he's passed away, poppet. He's gone to Heaven, to be with the angels now."

The words don't make sense.

Passed away?

Heaven?

Angels?

Daddy can't be an angel.

He's my daddy!

He reads me bedtime stories and sneaks me biscuits when Mummy isn't looking.

He's warmth and laughter and strong arms that chase away the monsters under my bed.

"I don't understand," I whimper, hot tears blurring my vision. "Why would Daddy leave us? Why can't he come home?"

"Oh, my darling girl." Mummy pulls me into her arms as sobs wrack her slender frame. "He didn't want to leave us. He loved us so very much. But sometimes... terrible things happen to the best of people. Inexplicable things. Things that can't be undone."

I cling to her, burying my face in her neck as the truth sinks in like jagged shards of glass.

Daddy's gone.

He's not lost.

He's not hiding.

He's gone, forever.

And no amount of wishing on stars or blowing out birthday candles will ever bring him back.

As Mummy rocks me, keening, an ember ignites deep in my shattered heart.

It smolders, feeding on grief and disbelief, growing into a blaze that will one day consume me.

The car glides to a stop before an opulent mansion, its gates yawning open like the maw of some great beast.

As the driver rounds the vehicle to open Mummy's door, I gaze up at the sprawling estate through tear-blurred eyes, my hand still clutched in hers.

Grandfather emerges from the house, his salt-and-pepper hair gleaming under the Nevada sun.

He strides toward us, expensive loafers crunching on the gravel drive, his tailored suit impeccable despite the grief etching lines into his weathered face.

"Sally," His deep baritone quavers on my mother's name as he reaches for her, folding her into his embrace. "My dearest daughter. I am so deeply sorry."

Mummy collapses against him, her sobs muffled by his broad chest. "He's gone, Papa. Truly gone. What am I to do now? How will we survive this?"

Grandfather cups her face, his thumbs brushing away her tears with a tenderness I've rarely seen from him. "We will endure, my sweet girl. And we will have our vengeance. This I vow to you." His gaze hardens, flint-sharp and cold as a winter gale. "The monsters who took our beloved Thomas from us will rue the day they were born."

As I watch the adults who form the fractured remains of my world, their faces ravaged by a pain I'm only beginning to comprehend, a chill skitters down my spine.

They will pay, Daddy.

They will pay for stealing you away.

For breaking Mummy's heart.

For shattering the innocent bliss of my childhood.

This I promise you.

On every star in the velvet sky, on every breath left in my small body.

One day, they will know my wrath. And it will be a reckoning like no other.