“Watchingher? You stole her from us!” I snapped.
Mav winced. “You’re right. I’m sorry. It wasn’t my idea, but I shouldn’t have listened to him.”
I growled. “And?”
“Anyway, Henry was acting weird the whole time. He’d say stuff I didn’t understand about her.” He nodded to Angel. “He treated her like she was made of glass or somethin’—and not like the way you handle a regular kid. It was almost like, he was super scared he was gonna get smited by the gods, you know? It was crazy.”
The words took me completely off guard. My eyes widened. I caught Ryu’s glance, and he was just as shocked at what he heard.
“I think that’s part of the reason we came back here,” Mav continued. “It felt like, hewantedto get caught, I guess? Like she was a big problem, more than he bargained for. Felt better to return her so you could deal with it.” He shrugged. “Anyway, I just figured you should know, since it is your kid and all… That’s it.”
My mind raced. Did Henry know more about Angel than we thought? Or did something happen to him during the two weeks Angel was in his care?
Did Halo Fire-Eater come to Henry?
Mav seemed totally oblivious, so I assumed he didn’t have the same experience.
So did Henry know Angel was special before he stole her?He must have…
“Well?” Mav prompted, looking up at me like a guilty dog.
“What?” I snapped, annoyed that he was interrupting my thoughts.
“Am I allowed back at the bar?” Mav asked.
I scowled. “Well, youdidsteal my daughter and openly harass omegas at my bar.”
Mav ducked his head, feeling guilty. “I know. I won’t do it again—either of those things, I mean.”
I gave him a hard glare before muttering, “Fine, whatever. Just know that if you fuck up again, my new employee can shift into a three-hundred-pound snake, and hewilleat you.”
Nate grinned and waved at Mav, who blanched. “I promise I won’t cause any trouble,” Mav said.
“Good,” I growled.
As Nate dealt with Mav’s order, Ryu returned to my side, still astonished by what we heard. “You caught that too, right?”
“Yeah,” I muttered. “Henry knewsomethingabout Angel. More than he let on.”
“Maybe that’s why he stole her in the first place,” Ryu said seriously. “Not just for revenge on us, but because he knew she was… valuable.” He frowned at using that word, but I knew he meant it as Henry’s thought process.
“And he was scared of Halo finding out, so he returned her?” I considered. “That makes sense, given that no one knows where Halo is. I guess Henry thought of Angel like a ticking time bomb.”
“Dada,” Angel said.
I hugged her. “Whatever the reason, I’m just glad she’s back with us.”
But Ryu’s expression was still serious. “Do you think Halo Fire-Eater knows we’re good parents?”
“Huh? How would he even know? No one’s seen him for, what, hundreds of years?”
Ryu shrugged. “That doesn’t mean he’s not around. For a mage so powerful, he must have ways of knowing things. It’s like magic itself—it could be flowing through your veins, but you wouldn’t know unless you witnessed it.”
I frowned. I hadn’t considered that before.
“So…” Ryu continued softly. “Maybe he seesus.Maybe he knows we’re good parents to Angel, and that’s why he hasn’t interfered.”
Could that really be true? All this time, I’d only thought of Halo Fire-Eater as a legend—and then as a deadbeat parent who cruelly abandoned his kid. The possibility that he’d left Angel in our hands on purpose hadn’t even crossed my mind.
