Our Serafina with Rasputin. Five years old.
I looked up, holding the picture for her to see.
“Beloved?”
Her breath hitched.
She didn’t take the photo.
Didn’t blink.
Then, like something inside her cracked wide open, she curled in on herself and broke.
A ragged sob ripped from her chest. She clapped a hand over her mouth like she could hold it in, like she thought she had tohideit from us, but her shoulders shook, her entire body trembling as tears spilled freely down her cheeks.
“Whoa! Whoa, hey.” Alarm flashed across Zane’s face. “What the hell—”
“Serafina.” I leaned forward, my voice low, steady. “Talk to me.”
She gasped between uneven breaths.
“Rassy—” Her white-knuckled fingers strangled the blanket now. “Mama’s favorite— He was so— He was all I had left of—” A sob choked her. “And Arabesquesoldhim. She— Shesoldhim, Koko!”
Her voice shattered on the words, and I felt the exact moment everything crashed down on her.
Not just the goat.
Not just the sale.
Theerasureof her life. Her mama. Her papa. The stripping away of every last thing that had belonged to her, piece by piece, until nothing remained.
The bruises on Seri’s skin would heal. The wounds beneath them were so much deeper.
I moved before I thought.
I set the book and photo aside and reached for her, guiding her gently against my chest as I stretched out next to her on the bed. She was stiff at first, but then her hands fisted in my shirt, her body shaking as she sobbed into the fabric.
Zane rubbed a hand over his mouth.
“Dark take it,” he muttered. “I didn’t—” He blew out a breath, scrubbing a hand through his rioting hair. Then, softer, almost hesitant, “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I’m so sorry.”
Brumous whined softly, pressing himself against the bed to stare up at her with wounded eyes.
Cas, quiet until now, let out a slow breath.
“We’ll find him.”
“W-what?” Seri hiccupped.
“The goat,” Cas said simply. “We’ll find him.”
“You want to go hunting down a goat?” Zane made a face. “A giant murder dog isn’t enough?”
“She’s been here one day.One.” Cas shot him a sharp look. “And this is the first thing she’s wanted.”
“No, Simmy.” Seri shook her head quickly, wiping at her wide eyes. “I— I wasn’t asking you to find him! I swear I wasn’t—”
“You didn’thaveto ask.” Cas looked at me. “Ko?”
