“Whatdoyou think it’s called, Koko?” Seri asked.
As they speculated, since none of us knew the answer, I closed my eyes. In the darkness, Father’s voice snapped commands from a decade past:“Sentiment breeds weakness. Calculate, strategize, act.”The numbers came, anyway. Survival probability with Seri onsite: 63.2 percent. Survival probability with Seri remote: 98.9 percent. Margin of error: plus or minus 2.7 percent accounting for Brumous’ needs.
There was no other viable conclusion: She was staying here tonight.
Yes, my brothers and I knew how it felt to want to prove yourself. Our father had put us through trial after trial, test after test, making us earn every scrap of his approval. His approach to training—notparenting; he had never been a parent to us—had been simple: Failure meant pain. Success meant nothing but higher expectations next time.
And we had no problem with Seri going on low-risk missions, not really. If we’d done our job properly and trained her well, she would be fine on simple hunts. At least, that’s what I kept telling myself when I had flashbacks to Amabel’s illusion, so terrifyingly real that I’d believed Seri was dead even after I woke up from it.
As Zane had pointed out right from the beginning, we couldn’t keep Rapunzel locked in her fortress forever. That wasn’t whatsheneeded. That’s whatwewanted. And she was powerful now, more powerful than I’d have ever guessed when she’d sat at our dining room table and insisted she was a lunar witch, her face twisted into the most adorable scowl…
Coming back to the present, I cleared my throat.
“We will investigate this new development in a clean environment after we develop contingency plans for sensory overload, stamina depletion—”
And Seri leapt to her feet and started jumping up and down. Brumous lifted his head, watching her with alert blue eyes. Concerned, I grabbed her shoulders, looking her over to make sure she hadn’t pricked her finger on one of Koa’s tools laying around, but she simply reached up and grabbed my forearms.
“Simmy,” she whispered anddark take meI leaned into the name she’d given me. “I know what you’re doing!”
“What?” I got out before my throat closed.
“You’re cataloging, counting, measuring!” Her laugh held no mockery, just that quiet understanding that unraveled me stitch by stitch. “Making it all into data so it feels…” She tilted her head, her curls catching in the hologram’s glow. “Manageable.”
“It’s how I process.” The confession scraped raw. Heat climbed my neck, shameful and hot.
“I know. And I’m not saying that to stop you.” She rose on tiptoe, dragon fruit dew swamping my senses. “I’m saying that because Iseeyou, Simmy. I seeyou.”
The floor shifted. Not the sudden lurch of ambush, but the slow, terrifying slide of bedrock giving way.
Three simple words, but they hit harder than any blow I’d ever taken.I see you.Not the tactical mind, not the protector, not the eldest dhampir.Me. Casimir. The parts I kept compartmentalized, the fears I buried beneath probabilities and percentages.
My hand slid under her cardigan and around her waist, drawing her closer. She was solid and alive beneath Zane’s “Feisty and Non-Compliant” t-shirt, her heart rate steady while mine thundered like galloping hooves. Bending my head, I brushed my lips over hers once, twice, then harder, deeper, longer.
How had we survived before her sunlight?
“We’ll research and practice your newfoundhauntography,” I murmured against her lips. “All of us together. Starting the day after tomorrow.”
Her squeal should’ve shattered glass. As she spun away to bombard Koa with questions, Zane caught my eye. His smirk held less teasing and more understanding. Bastard.
#
Seri
I wheeled myself in a full circle in Zane’s chair, unable to contain my excitement as I surveyed the security room. Six hours of waiting had felt like an eternity, but finally, Koa had given me the green light to activate the systems. Brumous watched me from his blanket nest, still weak from yesterday’s brush with antifreeze poisoning, but alert enough to follow my movements with curious blue eyes. I’d arranged a small feast on the bench beside me: Pretzels, cookies, apples, and a thermos of hot chocolate with extra whipped cream.
My first monster hunt command center deserved the best snacks, after all!
“Almost time, Brummy,” I whispered, reaching down to stroke his silky ears. His tail gave a thump against the blanket. Just yesterday, he’d been convulsing on the floor, foam flecking his muzzle, and I’d been certain we were going to lose him. The memory made my throat tight. “You get to watch, too. Just no snacks for you yet. Simmy’s orders.”
My phone buzzed with a text from Casimir:Initiating final approach. Systems ready?
I smiled at his formality. Even his text messages sounded like military reports. I replied with a thumbs-up emoji, knowing it would make his eye twitch.
Three seconds later:Confirm readiness with words, please.
“So bossy,” I told Brumous, who huffed in what seemed like agreement.
All systems go, Simmy!I texted back, then slipped the VR headset over my eyes.
