Valerica Steele Dad |best| -

But this case was different.

Valerica didn’t move. “You died.”

Her father, who had walked into the sea on her tenth birthday. Valerica had spent a decade convincing herself she was fine. She’d built her reputation on skepticism because belief had cost her too much. Her father, Elias Steele, had been the real deal—a folklorist who could walk into any town and leave with three new legends and a scar. He’d believed in everything: kelpies, shadow men, the soft whisper of the huldra in the birch woods. valerica steele dad

“Holding.” He smiled, but it was tired. “Every night for fifteen years. I couldn’t come back until I found someone to take my place. And I wouldn’t do that to a stranger.” But this case was different