Agent Vance knelt heavily on Julian’s spine, snapping cold steel cuffs around his wrists in one smooth motion. “Yes, ma’am, we’re acutely aware of who he is,” she replied, slightly breathless.

“That’s precisely why we decided to come in person.”

Julian thrashed on the floor like a speared fish, his neck straining as his dark eyes burned a hole of pure, unadulterated hatred into mine. “You poisonous, vindictive old witch,” he spat, blood dotting his perfectly white teeth.

Chloe whimpered, pressing her face into my chest.

I gently stepped out from behind the bed, placing myself directly between my daughter and the man bleeding on the tile.

“No, Julian,” I said, my voice ringing with total finality. “I am a mother.”