Leo felt the air between the women tighten, like the moments before a storm breaks.
“She has,” Estelle whispered.
“Although there is perhaps a hint of you. In her mannerisms.” There was something veiled in Fiona’s words as they hung there, loaded with meaning. But what that meaning was, Leo could not tell.
It was as if the two women were playing a game, but he had not been given the rules.
Estelle’s throat worked as she swallowed. “Do you have children, Fiona?”
“I do,” Fiona said, her tone casual again, though her eyes stayed sharp. “I adopted two daughters some years ago. And then I was blessed with a son of my own.” She smiled at Adara. “You don’t have to share blood to be family.”
The implication was clear, and Leo felt Estelle’s fear spike, a tremor running through her body as she stood rigidly beside him.
“So true,” Estelle replied evenly. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a lot of unpacking to do, and I want to get Adara settled in before bedtime.”
“Of course,” Fiona agreed easily. “It’s been delightful to meet you.”
“You too,” Estelle said, but that was an obvious lie.
More like terrifying to meet you,Leo’s bear said.
Terrifying,Leo agreed.
“Well, I should be going. Things to do. People to see. Busy, busy.” She looked directly at Estelle. “Now, don’t be a stranger.”
Estelle nodded stiffly. “Thank you for the cake.”
Fiona paused and turned back. “I mean it,” she said, her voice suddenly stripped of pretense. “If ever you need me, you know where to find me.”
With that, she turned and walked away, leaving a stunned silence in her wake.
Leo watched as Fiona got into her car and drove away. Only then did he feel a small measure of relief. “She’s gone.”
“For now,” Estelle murmured as she placed the honey cake on a side table and then gathered Adara into her arms.
“You’re squashing Fizz,” Adara complained.
“Sorry,” Estelle said, loosening her hold on her daughter.
“Shall we have some honey cake now?” Adara asked, eyeing the neatly wrapped package.
The question landed with almost absurd normality. Honey cake. As if the last ten minutes had been nothing more than a slightly awkward visit from a nosy neighbor and not something far stranger and sharper.
Estelle brushed Adara’s hair back from her face and managed a smile that did not quite reach her eyes. “Maybe later.” Her voice was soft, but Leo heard the strain beneath it. She was already somewhere else in her mind, he could tell. Replaying words. Weighing risk.
Adara, thankfully oblivious, gave a small nod as she slid out of Estelle’s arms and trotted off toward her room with Fizz tucked against her chest, apparently content to let honey cake wait. Leo watched her go, then turned back to Estelle. For one heartbeat, she stood perfectly still, her arms wrapped around herself, looking less like a fierce dragon shifter and more like a woman trying to hold herself together by sheer force of will.
He wanted to reach for her. Wanted to pull her against him and promise that whatever hunted her would have to comethrough him first. But this was not the moment for promises she might hear as pressure. So he kept his voice gentle.
“Do you want me to stay?”
Her gaze flew to his, startled and conflicted. For a second, he thought she might say yes. Then all the shutters came down again.
“No. I think... I think I need to get Adara settled.”
The refusal stung, but less than it might have earlier. He was beginning to understand that with Estelle, no did not always mean go away. Sometimes it meant not yet.
He nodded once. “All right.” He stepped away, then paused. “Lock up after me.”
