She knocked softly. “Auri? You awake?”
A muffled yawn, the shuffle of blankets. Then the door cracked open, and one blue eye peered out.
“Hi,” Aurelia rasped.
Dani’s chest loosened. “Hey, bug,” she said, brushing a curl off her daughter’s forehead. Aurelia’s hair was a wild halo, her band T-shirt half twisted. “How’re you feeling?”
Aurelia shrugged. “Weird.” Her gaze flicked to Dani’s neck and away again. “Does it…hurt?”
“A bit.” Dani tried for light. “Like a really dramatic mosquito bite.”
Aurelia huffed, then bit her lip. “I heard some wolves talking. They said you’re Luna now.”
Dani’s stomach dipped. “Did they?”
“Does that mean I’m…” Aurelia squinted, clearly searching for the right word. “Something?”
“You,” Dani said firmly, “are my daughter. That’s all you need to worry about.”
Aurelia considered, then nodded. “Okay. Um…are we staying here all day?”
There it was. The shadow behind her eyes. Fear is trying to curl in on itself.
Dani leaned against the doorframe. “We don’t have to. We can go into town. You didn’t get to see much yesterday.”
Aurelia brightened. “Really?”
“Really. Let me talk to whoever’s guarding the door, then we’ll find food. Maybe pancakes.”
“Yes,” Aurelia said immediately. “Definitely pancakes!”
***
After her daughter was done getting dressed, and she had hidden her neck with a massive scarf, Dani led them out through the compound, hunched around her daughter as they hurried through corridors, not sparing a single glance for the curious eyes on them as they went.
At the compound gate, two guards stood on either side, breath fogging in the cold. One watched her approach, his gaze snagging on the bite at her neck.
“Going somewhere, witch?” he asked. Not unfriendly. Dani suspected he had a healthy enough fear of Arthur not to be overtly cruel.
Still. She was her own woman. She deserved her own respect. Lifting her chin, she gestured to the gate. “My daughter hasn’t seen the town yet. We’re going for a walk.”
His gaze flicked to Aurelia. Something softened. “You’ll have an escort,” he said.
Of course.
Dani swallowed the retort on her tongue. “Fine.”
A few minutes later, they were out on the road with a Nordan wolf trailing them at a comfortable distance, hands shoved in his coat pockets. To any human, he’d look like another local out for fresh air.
The road curved along the hillside, revealing the town below, wooden houses, snow-capped roofs, a scattering of shops around a busy square. The ocean lay beyond, a strip of dark steel, the mountains rising jagged behind them.
Aurelia’s breath fogged in front of her as she craned her neck. “It’s bigger than Salem.”
“Less witchy,” Dani said. “More…wilderness.”
“But they have mountains,” Aurelia said decisively. “That makes up for it.”
Dani smiled despite herself.
