I nodded and then turned back to those I’d healed. I accepted their gratitude as graciously as I could, but all the while, I couldn’t shake the idea that Olive should have been among them. A few mentioned her, expressing how sad they were at her loss, but no one asked about the baby. When they finally dissipated, I thought I was free, but then another voice called my name. I turned and saw Lana working toward me.

“Damn shame about what happened here,” she said, her eyes filled with grief. She seemed to have aged years in the day I’d known her. “I wish it had been different.”

“Me too,” I said.

“Dimitri didn’t tell me what’s going on, but I’m respecting his wishes—and yours. I don’t know what all the secrecy’s about, but I saw Olive’s face when she was speaking to you, just before she passed.” Lana paused and ran a hand over her eyes. “Something was eating her up, that much was obvious, and she trusted you with it—and the baby. That’s good enough for me. I’m happy to help however you need.”

“Do it by forgetting we were here,” I said quietly. “Us and the baby.”

“Fair enough,” said Lana. She cleared her throat. “But I do have one uncomfortable question.”

Only one? asked Aunt Tatiana.

“What would you like done with the body?” Lana asked.

I started. It wasn’t anything I’d even thought about. Olive was gone. I’d literally seen the light of her aura go. That I’d be asked to deal with this hadn’t even crossed my mind.

“Um, what would you normally do?”

Lana shrugged. “We could have the body sent to her family for burial or cremation. Or to a place in Houghton, if you wanted it dealt with sooner. The Alchemist left some of that chemical behind. The one that dissolves bodies. Said we could use it if we needed to.”

My stomach lurched. The idea of Olive’s body undergoing what a Strigoi’s would was nauseating, especially after everything she’d gone through to redeem herself from that existence. And yet . . . I’d seen what that chemical could do. It would completely destroy what was left of Olive—destroy that she’d ever had a baby. I closed my eyes and felt the world sway around me.

“Adrian?” queried Lana. “You okay?”

I opened my eyes. “Use the chemical. It’s what she would’ve wanted.”

Lana arched an eyebrow at that, but I couldn’t elaborate. I couldn’t tell her that Olive wouldn’t have wanted to risk her body being sent to a funeral parlor or back to her family, where people would learn she’d given birth and ask questions. Olive had died to keep Declan a secret. This was another terrible part of that legacy.