“How about we do it together and call it mother/daughter bonding.”
“Oh, yeah,” she said. “He’ll love it when I tell him that.”
I nodded toward her window, where Jared stood waiting. She glanced back at me. “Love you, Mom.”
“Love you. Now go.”
I’d barely gotten the words out when Allie was out the door, slamming it behind her.She raced to him, and he caught her up and spun her. As I got out of the car, I heard him wish her a happy early birthday. It was midnight. My little girl was seventeen.
Then Jared’s arms were around her, and her mouth was on his.
It wasn’t a quick kiss. It wasn’t shy or tentative or any of the things a mother might hope for when her teenage daughter greets her vampire boyfriend in front of an audience. It was the kind of kiss that said I was worried about you and I’m so glad you’re back, and about a dozen other things I probably didn’t want to think about too hard.
But it was also a kiss that saidI love you. I’ll protect you. I’ll always have your back.
And all things considered, wasn’t that what every mom wanted for their little girl?
Behind me, someone giggled. Sophie, I thought. Or maybe Ana.
“Get a room,” Ren muttered, but he was grinning.
I stood there by the van, watching my daughter kiss a boy who’d been stuck at seventeen for over a century, and I honestly didn’t know what I felt. Pride, maybe, that she’d found someone who looked at her like she was the only thing in the world that mattered. Fear, definitely—the same fear I’d been carrying since the day I learned what Jared was. And underneath it all, something sharper. Something that felt uncomfortably like grief.
My little girl wasn’t so little anymore.
Allie finally pulled back, laughing at something Jared murmured against her hair. Her face was flushed, her eyes bright. She looked genuinely, completely happy.
Jared met my eyes over her head.
I gave him a small nod. Not approval, exactly. Just...acknowledgment.
He nodded back.
“All right, show’s over,” Marcus called out as he walked back from the side entrance. “Everyone inside. Debrief in ten, then bed. We’ll do a full analysis tomorrow.”
The students shuffled toward the door, still shooting glances at Allie and Jared, still whispering and giggling. Young love. Drama. The eternal currency of teenagers, even ones trained to kill demons.
I hung back as the others went in, watching Allie say something to Jared—quiet, private, just for them. He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear with a gentleness that made my chest ache.
“He’s good for her.”
I jumped a mile, not aware that Eric had crept up behind me.
He grinned. “You need to work on not letting things throw you. If I were a demon, I could have had my way with you.
I grimaced at the double-entendre, but otherwise ignored it. “You think so?”
He didn’t pretend to misunderstand. “I do. He loves her. He’s strong. He’s smart. He’ll watch her back.”
“He’s immortal.”
Eric sighed. “I know. But she loves him, too. And Kate,” he added, “it’s her choice. I think she made a good one.”
I nodded. The truth was, so did I.
“Oh, hell,” I said, tasting the tears that I hadn’t noticed. I brushed them away. “Our little girl is growing up.”
“She is.”
