Glancing into the kitchen, I made sure Nico was still absorbed in cooking, then set my wine glass on the table. “Are you the daughter of Edemas?” I whispered, talking directly to my wolf.
There was no response. Not even a flicker of emotion. I frowned, wondering if she could even hear me. Was she tooentranced by the moon? Or was she simply ignoring me? I decided on a different question. “Do you want revenge?” Still nothing. I sighed. “Okay. I can’t understand what you went through in this past life—if that’s what this is—but I’m here,” I said. “I’m on your side no matter what. We share this body. We’re in this together.”
There was a sense of stirring in my mind. Months ago, the sensation would have been disturbing, but I’d gotten so used to it by now that it was second nature. I could feel her emotions coming forward. Relief. That was what was flooding my body now. Deep, grateful relief—and curiosity. Not mine, but the wolf’s. I glanced up at the second floor, to the window of the bedroom. The envelope waited. It couldn’t wait any longer. We needed to open it.
I looked over my shoulder at Nico chopping vegetables for a salad. He looked content. Happy. It could wait until tomorrow. We could have one more night before whatever revelations were in the envelope were brought out into the world.
57
NICO
The night before had been one of the most relaxing we’d had in a long time. Maddy had enjoyed my lasagna, which pleased me, and we spent most of the night on the couch, talking and watching silly TV shows. It was such a normal night that I could have almost forgotten what was going on in our lives.
We went to bed early, which was exactly what we both needed. I’d slept through the night, and I wasn’t woken by Maddy having any nightmares. I hoped that meant she got to have a good night’s sleep. When I awoke the next morning, I made my way downstairs, trying to be as quiet as possible to give Maddy more time to sleep.
I was brewing coffee and opening a package of bagels when Maddy came down the stairs with the envelope. A smile had been forming on my lips when I first saw her coming down, but once I saw what was in her hand, the grin died on my face.
“It’s time?” It was a question, but my tone made it sound more like a statement.
Maddy nodded as she put the envelope on the counter. The little package of paper looked heavier than it should have. LikeMaddy had laid the entire Library of Congress on the counter. I half-expected the kitchen island to crumble under its weight.
“Are you sure you’re ready?” I asked. We needed to do it, but I didn’t want Maddy to push herself to do something she wasn’t completely sure of.
She nodded once, with finality. “I can’t put it off anymore. I shouldn’t have put it off this long. I should have opened it the second we found it.”
“All right. Whenever you’re ready.”
As though she wanted to get it done before she could talk herself out of it, she tore the top off the envelope and pulled out a letter. A quick glance showed her birth mother had written it. I sat beside her and read it over her shoulder.
Maddy,
I’m sosorry for everything. If you’re reading this, then I know you’re alive, which is a blessing to me in so many ways. You must have so many questions. I can only answer what I know. I’ll do my best.
First, I’m sure you’re wondering why I would give away the greatest thing that ever happened to me. My baby girl. Your father, David, and I were so in love. I was an advanced student in high school. By the time I was a sophomore, I’d already completed enough credits to graduate early. Call me a silly, love-blind girl, but I didn’t want to leave David yet. Instead, I stayed and took advanced-placement courses. When David was a freshman in college and I was a senior in high school, I’d already completed enough coursework to graduate with a degree in biology. Our plan was for me to join him and start studying for my medical degree. We would finally be able to getmarried. It was a wonderful dream, but one we would never see come to fruition.
Your father had always known the royals would come for him. His father had told him about his heritage and what his bloodline meant. I knew all this, but I loved him too much not to stand by his side. David had also kept an immense secret. Not even his father and his half-brother knew this. David could shift. He was a full shifter. When the royals came that night, he did everything he could to protect me. Maddy, your father was very powerful. When he shifted, it was like nothing I’d ever seen before. Still, as strong as he was, there was only so much he could do against all the men with guns. He sent me to find his brother and stayed behind to give us as much time as he could.
I gave you away because it was the only way I knew to give you the life you deserved. The thought of raising a child while on the run was too much. Kenneth helped me find a wonderful family for you, then he helped me fake my death. I had to make sure the royals thought I’d died. If there were even a chance I could be pregnant, they would have never stopped looking for either of us.
Maddy’s handsshook as she looked at me. “My fathercouldshift? It wasn’t just in his blood—he was a full shifter. How did Kenneth not know?”
I nodded. “The fact that he was able to keep that hidden is amazing.” The initial phases of becominga shifter were very uncomfortable. It was what Maddy was going through right now. This David guy had to have had a will of iron even when he was eleven or twelve to keep something like that hidden so well that even his father and brother didn’t know.
I slipped my hand into the envelope and pulled out a set of three photos. One was of a very tiny baby—obviously Maddy.The resemblance was clear even as young as she was. It looked like it had been taken less than an hour after she’d been born. The other two photos were of her with her mother. In the first, she was still covered in sweat, but she had a bright smile on her face as she held the baby to her breast. Maddy reached a hand forward and slid a finger across the photo, letting the tip of her finger linger on her mother’s cheek. I glanced over and saw tears welling in Maddy’s eyes.
The second was of the two of them again. This time she was in a newborn onesie, and her mother was dressed and looked recovered from the birth. She was cradling Maddy in her lap. The smile was gone now. Instead, she was looking at the small child, and I could see a soul-crushing sadness on her face. There were tears in her eyes as she looked down at the baby. This must have been the moment she gave Maddy to Kenneth to take to her new family.
“God,” Maddy whispered. “I can’t imagine how this must have felt.”
“That’s the truest love I’ve ever seen,” I said, and I meant it. “Giving away the thing you love more than anything else in the world to keep them safe? It’s the bravest thing I think I’ve ever heard of.”
Without another word, she picked the letter back up to continue reading.
Once you’d been safely placed,Kenneth arranged for me to undergo plastic surgery. I have to say, it was bizarre to wake up with a totally different face. He helped me forge documents to show I’d completed my degree under my new name. I went to med school and focused on pediatrics, with a focus on shifter children. I was a fast learner and graduated early again. I dida one-year residency, then pulled strings to ensure I got a job at the practice where your parents took you for check-ups.
You were three-and-a-half years old the first time they brought you in. It was all I could do not to burst into tears when you came walking into that exam room. Kenneth made sure to contact your parents and let them know that they could safely get the suppressants from me. It was another one of our ideas to keep you hidden from the royals.
I used my position as a doctor to run tests on all my patients. I never told the parents, which I felt bad about. Still, I was doing it for their benefit. I had to make sure they weren’t descendants of Edemas. Those children would be targeted, and it was my way of protecting them. I could hide their information.
