“Capri?” Lochlan steps closer to me, placing his hand on my shoulder. “Is this her?
The girl looks up before I can answer him, her bright blue eyes catching my own. Her mouth drops open in surprise as we stare at each other. She pulls her headphones off, tosses them onto the bed, and stands.
“Hi,” I say, tears brimming as I take in her beauty. She has my nose and my mom’s freckles. Her bronze skin makes her blue eyes pop like sapphires. She’s everything I hoped she’d be, and so much more.
“You’re finally here!” she exclaims, rushing toward me with a smile. “Nanny told me to hide in my room once we left the campsite. She said I wasn’t allowed to take my headphones off until the woman with the colorful braids found me. And now that you’re here, I’m free to roam the snack cabinet.” She pushes past me and out of the room, then pops her head back in. “And you took, like,forever.”
Lochlan chuckles from behind me. “She’s definitely gotta be yours. She’s already got that pep in her step and sass locked down.”
A piece of me breaks all over again the moment she disappears from my sight.
I can’t believe I’ve missed ten years of her life.
Ten years of smiles and frowns.
Ten years of laughter and tears.
Ten years of the purest, most undiluted love I’ve ever felt. Love, I didn’t know could exist in a world filled with so much hate.
I thought I couldn’t love her more than I did the moment I held her tiny body in my arms. How wrong I was. I don’t know how I’m supposed to go back to a world without her in it, and that realization feels like a bullet to my heart.
“Hey, you okay?” Lochaln’s hand squeezes my shoulder again, bringing me back to the present.
She may not know or care who I am. But I know who she is, and I have to keep her safe.
I quickly pull myself together, turning on my heel and facing Lochlan. “Yeah, I’m just wondering who would put a child in the middle of all this.” I twirl my finger in a circle. “All this death and bloodshed? Why would he put a child at risk? His own niece! Does she know what’s happening around us?”
He shrugs. “Maybe her being here is just another test.”
I raise my brow at him. “Test?”
“Yeah, like the escape room nonsense, and having Lex push me off a cliff. The dude is certifiably insane. I wouldn’t put it past him to use a child to harm you. He knows you’re tough as nails, so he dug deep to find what would hurt you most,” he states, his cheeks reddening slightly with his admission.
I don’t know what to say, so I just nod and give him a weepy smile.
“Now let’s get back to the castle and keep that little one safe on the way there. I’m quite looking forward to seeing Lexi’s face when she realizes she didn’t actually murder me,” Lochlan gloats, holding the bedroom door open for me.
I step out of the room, my eyes searching like I need to see her to continue breathing. Before we reach the living room, I hold my hand up to stop Lochlan. “Just cool it with the whole ‘my little’ thing. She may not know who I am, and I’m not ready to scare her away,” I beg Lochlan.
“You got it, mama bear,” he teases, saluting me as I roll my eyes at him. “No, really, my lips are sealed from here on out.”
“Somehow I doubt you can go longer than five minutes without hearing yourself talk,” I tease. He answers by pretending to zip his lips up.
When we make it back to the living room, we find her sitting on the couch, eating what looks like a bowl of Fruit Loops.
“Hey, I’m, um, Capri,” I introduce myself as I walk toward her. “That’s my friend, Lochlan.”
Her blue eyes flick up to meet mine. I wonder if anyone else can feel the earth shifting around me the way I do when I look at her.
“I’m Skye.” She tips the bowl back, drinking the last of the milk, then walks her dirty bowl to the sink. “Are you going to take me home now?”
Skye. What a perfect name.
Lochlan appears from behind me before piping up again. “And where is home, little lady? Is this not where you live?”
I stifle an amused snort. He lasted about a full minute before having to speak.
Skye shrugs. “I don’t know. Sometimes I live here with Nanny. But mostly I live in the castle with my uncle. He’s such a bore. Always harping on about ‘keeping it down’ because he has to write the next best thing.” She rolls her eyes dramatically.
