His mate nudged him. "Language around our daughter, remember?"
"Even when she's distracted by bugs?"
"Yes, even then."
"Fine."
Meeko rubbed his temples. "Let me get this straight. Animus, the dark spirit who attacked my mate, blessed your daughter out of the goodness of his heart?"
Farley released a snarky laugh. "You sound just like Kamari. I bet you'd get along."
"I can't say how good his heart is," Quinn said with a shrug. "But every time a pair of us fated mates has given him our magic, he's never used it for evil."
Meeko narrowed his eyes. "As far as you know."
"That's true," Quinn said with a calm smile.
A confused expression took over Meeko's face. No doubt he was conflicted about this whole thing.
"Hey," I said gently, putting my hand on his shoulder. "Why don't we go check out Mistral's house? Maybe we'll find a clue there."
Meeko glanced at Celeste, who was now rolling around in the grass in human form. My mate seemed reluctant to leave.
"We can always come back here, you know," I reminded him with a grin. "My family is your family now too."
That relaxed Meeko's expression. His gaze softened with trust. "Okay."
* * *
It tookus the rest of the day to fly up the mountain. As we reached the summit, my wings were exhausted. How the hell did Farley make this journey with those tiny wings of his?
I let out a relieved sigh as we touched down. Meeko leapt out of my hands and shifted. As he shivered in the cool wind, I wrapped one of my weary wings around him like a shield to keep him warm.
"That must be it," Meeko murmured, looking ahead. Before us stood a narrow house that reflected light on all sides thanks to the glass. Farley was right after all.
But as we approached it, a chill ran through me. Half the glass was completely shattered and the panes that weren't were cracked as if struck by a powerful force. The inside of the house was in disarray, like a twister had torn through it.
Meeko sucked in a breath and grabbed my wrist. "Look."
I’d been too distracted by the messy remains of the house to notice the writing on the door.
The letters were drawn in an aggressive black scrawl:
YOU'RE NEXT
13
Meeko
DidI want to stay near the creepy, abandoned spirit house with edgy, threatening writing all over it? No.
But when nausea crept up on me like a tidal wave, I had no other choice.
I groaned and clutched my stomach, willing the disgusting feeling to go away. I never got sick like this. Nothing had changed in my diet either, so my mind kept straying to the one big possibility.
Pregnancy.
I'd heard of morning sickness, sure, but not evening sickness. Was this even a thing? Whatever it was, it was annoying as hell.
