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A bright, brilliant grin broke across his face, lighting up his whole expression. “That is so cool. Khori thought you were gonna eat him.”

I let out a low laugh, shaking my head. “Your mama would kill me if she knew I had seven-year-olds crying on the monkey bars.”

Kaidence giggled. “Mommy said I couldn’t roast them, but they had dirt on their socks.”

“I heard you,” I said, tapping the air an inch from his nose. “You handled yourself good. But listen to me, Kaidence.”

He straightened up, locking his dark eyes on mine.

“You don’t ever let nobody make you feel small for what you have,” I told him, making sure every word sank deep. “Your mama and your granny work hard to make sure you walk into this building looking right. You hold your head up. But you don’t go looking for fights, and you don’t trade hands unless you got no other choice. If somebody messes with you, you take it to the teacher. You take it to your mama. Understand?”

Kaidence nodded solemnly. “Use my words to get help, not to hurt feelings.”

“Exactly. Be smarter than them. You got my blood, which means you already five steps ahead of whatever game they’re playing.”

“Okay.” He paused, looking at my chest again. “Are you coming home with us?”

My chest tightened with an ache so sharp it felt physical.

Around the edges of my vision, the playground began to blur. The tether in my gut pulled hard, dragging me backward toward the estate on the hill. The strain of being this far off the property was catching up; my form was flickering, turning translucent against the sunlight.

“I’m already at the house, son,” I told him softly. “I’m always watching over you and your mama. Whenever you need me, I’m right there.”

“Promise?”

“I promise on everything I built.”

Across the yard, the whistle blew with a sharp TWEET.

The yard-duty teacher started waving her clipboard, herding the students toward the brick double doors.

Kaidence looked toward his class, then back at me.

“Go on,” I said, nodding toward the line. “We’ll talk soon.”

He gave me one last beaming smile, tucked his action figure into his pocket, and sprinted across the mulch toward the doorway with his head held high.

I stood there by the tree until the heavy doors swung shut behind him.

The spiritual pull snapped taut, dragging me backward through the streets of Hallowridge like a sudden gust of wind, pulling me through the wrought-iron gates and dropping me right back onto the hardwood floor of the master bedroom.

Chapter thirteen

Lakelyn

Ihad been staring at the exact same nursing application on my laptop screen for damn near twenty minutes, and all I had managed to fill out was my legal name, my phone number, and the address to Caspian’s mansion.

Finding a registered nursing position in Hallowridge wasn’t supposed to be hard. I had the bachelor’s degree, an active state license, trauma certifications, and years of private and clinical experience under my belt. Hallowridge General Hospital, where I’d worked before leaving Hallowridge, had practically guaranteed me an open floor position whenever I decided to come home.

The problem wasn’t getting hired; the problem was the staff.

Hospital break rooms were hotbeds for town gossip, and the nurses I used to work with were notoriously messy. Half of them spent twelve-hour shifts tracking everyone else’s personal drama instead of checking IV lines. I loved two or three of the older charge nurses like family, but the rest? I could already hear the rapid-fire interrogation the second I walked onto the floor in scrubs.

Girl, when did you get back?

Where have you been hiding?

You really never found out what happened to Caspian?