<h4>Chapter 299: Chapter 299</h4>


    ~Samantha~


    We made it back to camp and I went straight for the medical supplies.


    "Sit." I pointed at the log near the fire. Both twins sat without arguing, which told me how exhausted they were.


    Devon’s knees were scraped raw. Diana had a gash on her palm from falling. Both had dried blood under their noses.


    I knelt in front of them with the first aid kit. Started cleaning Devon’s knees first because they looked worse.


    He hissed when the antiseptic touched broken skin.


    "I know it stings. Almost done."


    Dominic was pacing behind me, his anger visibly evident.


    "You went too hard on them," I said without looking up.


    "Excuse me?"


    "Earlier. In the forest. You screamed at them like theymitted murder." I moved to Diana’s hand, dabbing away dirt and blood. "I didn’t want to say anything there till we got back."


    "They snuck out of camp in the middle of the night, followed a stranger into shadow-corrupted forest, and nearly got eaten by cursed wolves. But somehow I’m the problem for being upset about it?"


    "Being upset is fine. Screaming at them while they’re bleeding is not."


    "What was I supposed to do? Pat them on the head and say good job?"


    "You were supposed to make sure they were okay first! Check for injuries first! Save the lecture forter when they’re not traumatized!" I wrapped a bandage around Diana’s palm, maybe tighter than necessary. "You went straight to anger instead of relief and that’s not fair."


    "Not fair?" Dominic’s voice rose. "You know what’s not fair? Me having to exin to Reynold why my children are dead because their mother was too busy coddling them to set proper boundaries!"


    I stood up fast, facing him. "Coddling them? I set boundaries! I tell them no constantly! But you don’t just set boundaries, you build walls! You lock them down so tight they can’t breathe!"


    "I keep them alive!"


    "You keep them afraid!"


    "Better afraid than dead!"


    "They’re not going to die just because you let them have some freedom!" I was yelling now. Couldn’t help it. "You’re so paranoid about losing them that you’re suffocating them!"


    "Paranoid? They literally almost died an hour ago!"


    "Because they felt like they had to sneak around! Because they knew you’d say no to anything that involved the slightest risk!" I took a step closer. "If you actually listened to them instead ofmanding them, maybe they’de to you instead of lying!"


    "Oh, so now it’s my fault they lied?"


    "It’s your fault they felt like lying was the only option!"


    "Unbelievable." Dominicughed but it wasn’t a realugh. "I’m trying to protect our family and somehow I’m the viin."


    "You’re not the viin." I struggled for the word. "You’re rigid. Inflexible. Your way or nothing."


    "My way keeps everyone alive!"


    "Your way is making everyone miserable!"


    We stood there ring at each other. The twins were watching with wide eyes. Killian had moved to the other side of camp, probably trying to avoid being pulled into this.


    "I can’t do this right now." Dominic turned away. "I can’t fight with you when I’m this angry."


    "Running away won’t solve anything."


    "Neither will standing here screaming." He looked back at me. "But for the record? I’d rather have them alive and resenting me than dead because I was too permissive. If that makes me the bad guy in your eyes, fine. I’ll live with it."


    He walked toward the tree line. Not leaving camp, just putting distance between us.


    I wanted to go after him. Wanted to keep fighting until we actually resolved something.


    But Diana’s hand touched my arm.


    "Mom? Are you and Dad gonna split up again?"


    "No, baby. We’re just disagreeing."


    "You disagree a lot now."


    "Adults disagree sometimes. It doesn’t mean anything bad."


    "It feels bad," Diana whispered.


    I pulled them both close. "I’m sorry you keep seeing us fight. We’re working on it."


    "Are you though?" Devon sounded older than seven. "Because it seems like you’re fighting more, not less."


    He was right. And I had no good response.


    "Let me finish bandaging you up." I went back to the first aid kit. "Then we’ll figure out what to do next."


    "About L?" Diana asked.


    "About everything."


    I was wrapping Devon’s other knee when L appeared from wherever she’d been hiding during our argument.


    "I have information." Her voice was rough. The silver blood on her face had dried but the w marks still looked awful. "About the ne."


    "Where were you?" I stood up. "The twins followed you into the forest. They got lost because of you."


    "I was scouting the perimeter. Making sure we weren’t being tracked." She defended. "I didn’t ask them to follow me."


    "You snuck away without telling anyone. What were they supposed to think?"


    "That’s not my problem."


    "It became your problem when they almost died!"


    "They almost died because their parents didn’t tighten up security. That’s on you, not me." L crossed her arms. "But if you’re done ming me for your parenting failures, I’d like to share what I found."


    "Talk," I mouthed instead.


    L pulled out a piece of cloth from her pocket. Unfolded it. It was covered in charcoal markings that looked like a rough map.


    "The ne showed two locations. One is ck Moon’s main hideout. The other..." She pointed to a mark on the cloth. "Is an abandoned silver mine. About fifteen miles northeast of here."


    "Silver mine?" Killian moved closer to look. "That’s Silver w territory. Or it was, before the massacre."


    "It’s where we stored our most valuable relics. Weapons, texts, ritual items. Everything the n needed to function." L’s finger traced the path on the map. "If ck Moon doesn’t know about it yet, we need to get there first."


    "How do you know they don’t already know?" I asked.


    "Because I’d be dead if they did. The mine is warded. Only Silver w blood can open it. If ck Moon had found it, they’d have hunted down everyst one of us to force us to open it for them."