Page 123 of The Broken Aztec Princesses

“I—” I stopped and thought about it. It wasn’t a bad idea. Most of what I was doing now wasn’t a priority. This would be a good way to keep helping my sister, and for me to keep pushing myself. “Let’s do it.”

“Yeah?” Cade’s face lit up with hope.

“Yeah. I think it’s a great idea. It’s a daycare, so I’m sure there are some security measures around the building. If there aren’t, I’m sure Bells wouldn’t be opposed to adding something or letting me set up somewhere within the pack house.”

“You’re the best, Violet.” Cade hugged me and stood. “I should get back to Bells before she wakes up.”

“Thank you, Cade.”

“For what?” He suddenly looked confused.

“For loving her the way you do.”

“She’s easy to love,” he answered, tipping his nonexistent hat before leaving.

“Ready to get back to it?” Elim came around after a little bit as I was lost in thought.

“Actually, can we call it a night? I want to go into the office and get some stuff ready.”

“Oh, sure. Is everything okay?” Elim asked, grabbing his towel and handing me my water bottle.

“Yep. I think I just got a new temporary job.”

“Oh, nice. Doing what?” he asked as we started walking back.

“Running the small daycare for the pack.”

“You like kids?” He eyed me from the side.

“Yep, do you?”

“Some. I could take it or leave it.” He shrugged.

“I grew up around a lot of kids. My siblings and countless of cousins. It was awesome.” I wanted my own someday, but it looked like it wouldn’t happen the more time went on. I pushed that thought out of my head. If it didn’t happen, I had plenty of siblings and three nephews already. I’d be fine.

Elim walked me to the office, and I got to work. I was good with kids, usually, but a whole daycare might get hard to do by myself, so I printed out tons of coloring book pages, activities for little kids and craft projects that didn’t require a lot of materials, since I didn’t know how well equipped it was.

A few minutes after I knew Bells usually got up and went down to help Charles and Lindsay, I texted her, asking her to come to the office. Bells showed up a few minutes later, looking concerned. Her eyes still looked puffy from crying.

“What’s up, Violet? Is everything okay?” she asked a little warily.

“Yep. I wanted to talk to you about something.”

“You’re not leaving early, are you?” she asked, and I could see her trying to collapse into herself, bracing for more bad news.

“I was hoping I could come with you to daycare today. I’m almost done with all the work here, and wanted to see if I couldhelp there until I’m ready to head home.” I took a chance that she didn’t call me up on my bullshit lie. I forgot to ask Cade if he wanted me to tell Bells that he’d approached me about it or not, so I figured this might be best until we had a chance to talk again.

“Seriously?” Bells asked, looking at me like I was the messiah.

“I think so. I mean, I’d have to see if they want me, and what kind of security they have, but—” I stopped when I saw her eyes narrow. Shit.

“You know, don’t you?”

I sighed, and I could feel the heat on my cheeks.

“I found out about it, yes. I just want to help, Bells.”

“Are you sure this is something you can do, Violet? I would love it if you did this, but I don’t want this getting in the way of your progress.”

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