17
Scar
“Who starts off a call that way? I mean, seriously,” I complained to Ryu all the way to Lorenzo’s house. “He nearly gave me a damn heart attack! Whichcan’tbe good for fertility, by the way.”
“That’s just the way he is,” Ryu said sympathetically with a shrug. “He’s always had a serious tone. You get used to it after a while.”
“Well, whatever it is, it better not be bad,” I growled. Ever since the call, I couldn’t stop thinking about Angel. I knew she was in a safe place with experienced parents, but I yearned to be with her.
When we arrived, Gabriel was the one to greet us. In his arms was a baby girl with a striking resemblance to him. “Hey, you two! Come on in.”
“Noelle is so big already,” Ryu remarked, smiling at his friend’s daughter.
“I wish she’d hurry up and get old enough to take care of herself,” Gabriel said with a laugh. “I told Dante that after this one, we arenothaving another.”
Dante snuck up behind him and rolled his eyes, smirking at us. “You say that now…”
Gabriel nearly leapt out of his skin. “Cut that out!”
With a chuckle, Dante sidestepped his mate to stand before us. Angel sat in his arms, and when she laid eyes on us, her face lit up. “Da!”
I gasped. “She can talk now!?”
“Well, nottalk,but she’s making sounds,” Gabriel said.
“She is one damn smart baby,” Dante agreed, handing her to me. Gladly, I took her and nuzzled the top of her head. She giggled and slapped her little hands on my cheeks.
“Is that what Lorenzo was so eager to tell us about?” Ryu asked.
Now Gabriel and Dante exchanged glances.
“Not quite,” Gabriel admitted. “Come on in. It’s something you should see for yourselves.”
“Why does everyone keep saying that?” I muttered as I followed them inside. I quickly glanced Angel over to see if anything seemed different about her, but she seemed the same as ever. I wondered what the big fuss was about.
Lorenzo and Raja greeted us quickly before we sat around the low children’s table in the playroom. The floor was covered in multicolored puzzle-piece mats, and toys scattered all over the floor. Noah—Gabriel and Dante’s oldest—was old enough to walk and speak in basic words. He and Charlotte played a game together in the corner with a large stuffed animal, while Noelle sat and fussed in Gabriel’s lap.
It was difficult to sit on the soft plastic mats with my prosthetic leg, so Ryu quickly got a throw pillow for me to sit on.
“So, what’s going on?” I demanded, getting impatient with all this waiting.
“Set Angel down,” Dante instructed.
Warily, I did so. Angel plopped her butt down on the mat and kicked her legs. She gazed excitedly at Dante, as if she already knew what to do.
“Ready?” Dante said to Angel. A moment later, Dante shifted into a shining black dragon. He flared out his wings.
I watched in confusion.What the hell does this have to do with my child?
“Hey, watch the ceiling!” Lorenzo scolded him.
“Sorry,” Dante said, his voice deep and draconic. “Now, Angel, let’s see you try.”
“What?” Ryu gasped.
I was similarly shocked.Did I just hear what I think I heard?
With all eyes on Angel, the little girl had quite the audience. My heart raced. We’d seen Angel shift only once before—into a fox, to mirror Henry. That meant one of her parentshadto be a fox shifter. There was no other way.
