I tip my head back so that Striker can brush a kiss on my forehead.
“We found you,” he murmurs.
“You always will.” I sigh against his shoulder, letting my head rest there for a moment before I extricate myself far enough to reach over and smother my daughter’s cheeks in kisses.
Oh, she smells like flowers, her cheeks warmed from the sun, her soft giggles pulling laughter to my chest.
“Ready for our walk?” Striker asks me, even though he seems perfectly content to stay right where he is.
Before I can reply, a new voice sounds behind him. “You know, if you wanted a little alone time, I’ve got plenty of freshly mashed banana just waiting for a certain ravenous child.”
Striker edges to the side to reveal a smiling woman with long, straight caramel-brown hair and warm, brown eyes who leans against the doorframe. She’s wearing miniature roses in chains through her hair and a baggy T-shirt and jeans that are decorated with living vines.
“Lucinda,” I greet her with my own smile, but I’m too happy staying right where I am to hug her. She knows I love her.
She arches her eyebrows at Striker and me. “Baby girl can eat in the garden if she likes. There are plenty of doting aunties and uncles to watch over her.”
A glance at Striker’s open expression tells me the choice is mine.
“Okay, then,” I say, planting another three kisses on my daughter’s cheeks. “But we won’t be long.”
Lucinda seems to hold her tongue, taking our daughter and sliding her onto her hip. “Come on then, mashed banana for you, yes?”
“Nana!” my little girl exclaims before reaching for the flowers in Lucinda’s hair.
Within moments, they’ve disappeared down the corridor.
I’ve remained in Striker’s arms, but I find my forehead creasing. “What is her name?” I glance up at him, suddenly fighting an unsettling sense of fear. “Our daughter. What is her name?”
Concern immediately floods his features, and his arms tighten around me. “Hey,” he says softly, “It’s okay. The memory lapses happen every time you flicker. It’s better for your mind if you allow your core memories to come back on their own. You’ll create stronger memory pathways that way.”
I’m stuck on what he said about flickering. “What do you mean,every time I flicker?”
“It’s why we’re here.” The way he speaks, it feels as if he’s told me this before, but there isn’t a hint of impatience or annoyance in his tone. Only sadness. “Lucinda can help. This place can help. You won’t be Unknown forever.”
I tip my head back to search his eyes, reading his sadness but also his determination.
“But I’m not Unknown,” I say. “I know what I am. I’m a?—”
I’m a…
My brow furrows, and I free my arms from his hold to rub my temples.What am I?
“You’re safe,” Striker says, his entire body calm, not a hint of fear or tension. “The Magical Magnate can’t get to you in here.And we have powerful friends now. Hunter, Slade, and the other Master Assassins.” His smile returns, endearingly wonky. “Not to mention all the monsters here who would die to protect you.” His expression becomes serious. “Including me.”
I chew my lip, trying to process what he’s telling me. “My flickers… Have I ever hurt you? Hurt our daughter?”
“Never.” His voice is intense, his gaze unwavering. “You didn’t flicker once while you were pregnant. Not for the first two years after, either. The flickers have only come back in the last month. So we relocated here.”
I breathe out my tension, rolling my shoulders. “Okay.”
I’m okay.
I’m safe. There is no danger here.
I look up at him, aware of the way I moved out of his arms. “I’ll take that hug again now.”
“Always.” He wraps me up in his arms. “I’m here for you. No matter what.”
