Mera’s face held so much optimism. “Yes, we’ll figure it out, mate. Now I’m going to research.”
She leaned down and kissed her daughter super quick. “Mommy will be back soon,” she told her, and the child reached up and pressed her hands to her cheeks again. Mera all but melted at whatever passed between them. As she straightened, Shadow was at her side, and she climbed him like a fucking tree.
The heat that sprang to life the moment their lips met was near volcanic, and I sent a rueful smile down to the baby girls. “You two find a love like that one day, you hear me? Never settle for less.”
Aurora waved her arms harder, and I was about to touch her when there was a rumble from the beast behind me. Figuring that was a warning, I kept my hands to myself and instead brushed a finger along Tabitha’s cheek. Aurora suddenly reached out and grabbed my daughter’s hand, wrapping her tiny one tightly around it.
I was still touching Tabby too, and in that moment I was sent a burst of warmth. There was no real context to the warmth, except for me to know that Aurora was happy. She was loved and safe. Tabitha would be too, as soon as I could remember my truth.
The past might be scary… dark… filled with horror. I had no idea what I would find, but I did know that remembering her conception and birth was important to ensuring she grew and developed to her full potential. Anything else, I could and would deal with as it came to light.
A weird sound escaped Tabby, and I was about to call out to the Shadow Beast in case Aurora’s power was clashing with Tabitha’s, but then my little girl smiled. A proper, beautiful, gummy smile. Two teeth popped into existence a beat later, a pair on the bottom, which most certainly hadn’t been there two seconds before.
“Holy shit,” I gasped.
Mera and Shadow were half over the couch now. “I think Aurora just gave Tabby teeth,” I managed to say around my shock.
“Holy shit,” Mera echoed. “How is that possible?”
“It’s power,” Shadow said without hesitation, always confident in his knowledge. “Tabitha has been deprived of the energy and power she needed to develop. What sort of power I don’t know, but maybe we should leave these two here for a little while together. Aurora often has the answers.”
Mera was nodding while I remained in hopeful shock. Shadow’s theory made a lot of sense, and already it appeared that Tabitha was more alert.
“This research is so important,” Mera burst out. “I’ll be back soon!”
She took off, and Shadow’s gaze never left her until she was gone from sight. When he turned back to face me after that, I could see a darkness descending over his expression. He’d gone from scary, sexy god, to scary, super fucking scary god. “Let’s get on with the memory retrieval,” he rumbled.
I was nodding like a good girl, becausedamn, when he commanded, it would be done.
Gaster thankfully appeared a moment later, which relieved some of the tension. And some of my panic. I’d been here when he broke Mera’s memory block, and I trusted him with this process. “Miss Samantha,” he said, a huge smile lighting his face. “It’s so good to see you again. I know our Mera had been worried sick.”
Despite his appearance, which was that of a demi-fae goblin, he had the demeanor of a fancy butler in a six-star hotel.Wait! Demi-fae!
“Gaster,” I all but shouted. “It’s so good to see you. Can you please tell me if my daughter is fae?”
He blinked once slowly, and then again, before his gaze dropped to Tabitha on her crystal bed. He hadn’t felt her, just as the rest of them couldn’t. “Impossible,” he breathed, leaning in closer. “A shifter and a fae cannot make a child. Two fae can barely make a child.”
“Impossible happens around here a lot lately,” Shadow replied drily. “There’s something with Mera’s pack of friends that causes the norm to fuck up. Best we don’t assume anything.”
Gaster recovered from his shock quickly, before he looked my way. “Do you mind if I touch her?”
I shook my head. “Please. She’s ten years old but hasn’t aged almost at all. We need to know more about her genetics and how to get her healthy.”
Gaster reached out and touched Tabitha, and as he did Shadow leaned over and gently removed Aurora’s hold from my daughter. “Best not to muddle her energy,” he said softly.
“She doesn’t feel fae,” Gaster mused as he looked her over. “But then again, she also doesn’t feel like a shifter. It might be that she needs more energy to build her own up, and until that happens, she’ll be this dead spot for those of us trying to reach her power.”
Pain threatened to engulf me again, but I pushed it down. “All I ever have is more questions. Maybe breaking through my memory block is step one to figuring it out.”
Gaster nodded, removing his touch from Tabitha. “Yes, let’s get started. We must move away from the young ones. I don’t know what explosion might result this time.”
Images from the spell he used on Mera flashed across my mind, and I knew he was right.
“They’ll be safe,” Shadow said. “You can trust in me to keep the children safe even if it costs my life.”
I believed every word he said.
“Thank you,” I whispered, and maybe for the first time I didn’t completely fear the beast.
