I power-walk across the front yard.Cleo meets my gaze, and a huge smile crosses her lips.
“Zee!”She beams, her arms outstretched.
I gather her up in the tightest hug, and she rests her little head on my chest.
“Come on.We gotta move,” Kai says, pointing to the security cameras.“We don’t have much time.”
I release Cleo, and she stays close to my side, looking between the four of us.
“Glad you didn’t rat us out,” Kai says, and Amirah scoffs.
“Who’s to say I haven’t?”she quips, raising an eyebrow, and Bear chuckles next to me.
“I’m always up for trouble and slashing throats.So, I hope you did,” Bear says, wrapping an arm over Amirah’s shoulder.She tries to push him away, but he doesn’t budge.
I kneel down in front of Cleo.Her stormy-blue eyes bore into mine.Her brow is scrunched a little.
“We’re going on a little vacation.Did you want to come with me, and we’ll pack your bag?Get all of your favorite things?”I ask.
She frowns.“Will Daddy meet us there too?”
My heart rips in two.Fuck, that hurts.But I’m the one who wanted him to play that figure in her life.To give her protection and everything she needed.
“Not this time, but I promise we’ll have lots of fun together.Like we always do.Okay?”I say, and she smiles, nodding.
I take her hand, and she leads me up the stairs.
“Keep an eye out.Won’t be long,” I say over my shoulder, and Kai nods.
“Have you seen Mommy?”Cleo asks.
My foot catches on the last step of the stairs, and I stumble, releasing her hand.Fuck.Does she still not know the truth?This is going to be one of the hardest conversations I’ll ever have to have, but I can’t do it now.Not here.Not until we are home.Safe.
“Not for a little while,” I say, and I want to bang my head against the wall.I have no idea what to tell her.
Cleo continues to drag me toward her bedroom.She opens the door, and her room is spotless.Clean.Nothing out of place.It feels too clean.Too sterile.
“Where are your toys?”I ask, and she releases my hand.
“Daddy doesn’t let me have them out.They are hidden away.My bag is in there.The bright-pink one.I’ll pick out all Mommy’s favorite toys, so she can meet us there,” Cleo says.She opens her closet, and I fight the urge to comfort her and tell her everything.
Five minutes later, we are descending the stairs, and I’m carrying Cleo’s pink bag full of her favorite toys.She’s clinging to her teddy bear—the pale-pink one that I got her when she was born.It’s her favorite, she told me.
Cleo jumps off the last step and runs straight into Amirah’s legs.Amirah kneels down, and everything around us disappears into darkness.Only they remain.
The way Amirah looks at Cleo like she’s the world?I can’t handle this.And soon, she’ll be leaving—she’ll have to go back to Daringville.We don’t have the weapons to keep her here for good.I’m going to lose someone else I care about.I tried so hard to fight back my feelings, but seeing them together?I’m ruined.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Before
Amirah
I stare back at my reflection in the mirror with bright LED lights around the edges.My green eyes glisten, and I run my fingers through my fake straight-blonde wig that sits above my shoulders, watching the room go by around me.Girls come in and out the side door as if they’re lost, that faraway look in their gaze.Some girls speak in another language.Spanish, I think.
It’s been three days since I last came to Magick, looking for Jewel, and now I’m back again, determined to find her and bring her home to her mom.This time, I slipped right in the back door, another hundred-dollar bill greasing the way for me.
Aubrey, the girl I met the other night, sits in the chair next to mine and grabs some hair spray.
