Chapter Sixteen
KAMIYAH
The text comes in just as I’m pouring tea, the kettle still hissing behind me.
One vibration.
One line.
One sentence that rips the floor out from under me.
Priscilla: After careful consideration of Anna’s quality of life and what your parents’ would have wanted, I’ve decided to end her suffering.
For a heartbeat, I don’t breathe. The mug slips from my hand and shatters against the tiles. “No,” I whisper, staring at the words, hoping they’ll rearrange themselves into something sane. Something human.
I type back with trembling fingers.
ME: Don’t do anything. I’m coming. Don’t you dare touch her.
ME: Priscilla! ANSWER ME.
No reply.
“Caden!” My voice comes out cracked, panicked. “We have to go. Now.”
He’s already moving before I finish, grabbing keys, shrugging into his shirt, reading my expression like it’s the only compass he needs. “What happened?”
I shove the phone at him. He reads the message, jaw clenching so hard I hear the grind. “She wouldn’t,” he mutters.
“She would,” I choke. “Drive.”
The trip to Haven Crest blurs—road, trees, lights, my pulse pounding loud and relentless. I keep calling Priscilla. Every call goes to voicemail.
Every unanswered ring feels like a countdown.
By the time we burst through the front doors of Haven Crest, I’m shaking. Nurses scatter at the sight of my expression. I sprint for the medical wing, Anna’s wing with Caden right behind me.
We skid around the last corner—
And stop dead.
Priscilla and Maxwell stand outside a conference room with two hospital administrators and a physician I know by name but never by his compassion. Papers sit on a clipboard and my aunt has a pen parched in her hand.
My stomach drops.
“NO!” I shout, rushing forward. “Stop—stop, please—don’t do this!”
All four heads turn.
Relief hits me first when I realize the documents haven’t been signed. That the machines connected to Anna haven’t been turned off. But fear follows immediately. They’re close. One signature close.
Priscilla’s expression curdles. “So you finally decided to show up.”
“Aunt Priscilla, please,” I beg. “She’s still here. She’s still fighting. Don’t take her from me.”
My aunt lifts her chin, eyes cold and sharp. “You had weeks to help her. Instead, you chose yourself. You chose your whims. And now Anna is paying the price—just like your parents did.”
I freeze.
The words hit like a knife sliding between ribs.
“What?” My breathing is painful against my lungs.
“Don’t pretend you don’t know.” Her voice is poisonous. “Your parents died because of you. And if Anna dies, that will be on your conscience as well.”
I stumble back, recoiling as if physically struck. Caden’s body goes rigid beside me. Coiled anger vibrating through him.
“That’s enough,” he snaps, stepping between us. “You don’t get to stand there and rewrite trauma just to control her.”
“Stay out of this,” Priscilla hisses. “This is family business.”
“I’m her husband,” he fires back. “Which makes her part of my family. And I’m done letting you abuse her because you enjoy it.”
Maxwell sputters. “How dare—”
“Shut up,” Caden growls.
For a moment, everything teeters—anger, grief, fear, all balanced on a knife’s edge. Then I push past them, heart thundering, racing toward Anna’s room.
I throw the door open—
And freeze.
The bed is empty.
Sheets folded.
Machines gone.
The room is stripped bare.
“No.” My voice is barely a sound. “No, no—Anna? Anna!”
I whirl on Priscilla, blind with panic. “What did you do? Where is she!”
Her eyes flash. “Don’t play coy. You took her.”
“What?” I choke.
“Don’t pretend.” She steps closer, fury trembling beneath her skin. “You stole her. You moved her somewhere without telling me, and I demand you return her immediately.”
“I didn’t—” My voice breaks. “I—I don’t know what you’re talking about—”
“Liar,” she spits. “You’ll regret crossing me. Both of you.” She turns, snapping at Maxwell. “Call security, I want my niece found. We’re leaving.”
And then she storms off, her accusations trailing behind her like poison smoke.
The moment she disappears around the corner, the panic drains from me too fast and my knees give out, causing me to collapse.
Strong arms catch me before I hit the floor. Caden drops with me, holding me against his chest as I shake uncontrollably.
“I don’t—” My voice fractures. “I don’t understand. Where is she? What if—what if they—what if—”
He pulls me closer, one hand cupping the back of my head, the other gripping my waist like he’s anchoring me to the earth. “Kamiyah. Stop. Breathe.”
“I can’t,” I gasp. “I can’t—she’s gone.”
“She’s safe.”
The words slice through the panic, and I freeze. Slowly, I lift my head. “What?” My voice is hoarse.
Caden brushes my hair back gently, his eyes steady and warm in a way that should be impossible right now. “Anna is safe. Out of Priscilla’s reach.”
I blink—slowly, disbelieving. “Caden…how?”
“I moved her,” he says. “Quietly. While we waited for Priscilla to accept our bid. She’s already in a secure facility.”
My breath catches. “Take me to her.”
Pain flickers across his expression as he shakes his head. “Not yet.”
“Why?”
“Because Priscilla will be watching every move we make. If we go now, she’ll follow. She’ll find her.”
Tears spill again—anger, relief, love all crashing together. “So I just wait?”
“For a little while,” he says softly. “Just until it’s safe.”
I want to argue. I want to scream. But his hands are warm, steady. His eyes are fierce. His voice is a promise.
“Trust me,” Caden murmurs. “I swear to you, I will protect you both. I know every Christmas since your parents died has been a reminder of everything you lost—cold, lonely, heartbreaking in ways no one should ever endure. But this one…this one will be different. I will love you, and keep you safe through this Christmas and every one that follows, for as long as you’ll let me. ”
My breath breaks—but in a different way. A softer way.
I cup his face, trembling. “Then love me forever,” I whisper. “Because I’m not letting you go.”
A slow, aching exhale leaves his chest.
“Forever,” he vows. “You have my word.”
And in the empty room where my sister once lay, wrapped in loss and fear and the echo of near-disaster, I believe him.
Thank you for reading Christmas in Starlight.
Don’t forget to read the bonus chapter.