Page 47 of I Am the Night

She shakes her head. "I didn't. Not at first."

"So it's true? This is the child which the Queen of the Unicorns and the Mother of Dragons created together?"

Her head drops. "It is. She is. And I loved her with all my heart. I did not want to destroy her, even though she wasn't what we expected."

"We?" I ask, the puzzle pieces in my mind suddenly rearranging themselves once again.

Her large silver eyes gloss over. "I am… was… the queen of my people. My relationship with Amora was… unexpected. We were enemies but we fell in love. We thought a child together could bridge the gap between our kind."

"Then why did you let Amora kill her?"

She looks up at me, her expression filled with complex emotion. "I didn't let her. I told her she would have to kill me first. So, she did."

I gasp and tell the brothers what Callia just told me. It would be a lot easier if everyone could see the damn unicorn.

"Do you know what happened after?" I ask. "To your child?"

I can tell she does. She sighs and gazes into the distance, into a past so far gone it's hard for me to imagine. "As I died, I used the last of my power to create a small slice of a new world, and I pulled my dying child into it and left her there. I thought it would be better, for her to live, but I was wrong."

And then it all clicks. "When Ava'Kara and I expanded the world, we pulled her into it, didn't we? That's why she's back?"

Callia nods. "I do believe that's what happened, yes."

My stomach sinks with the unintended consequences of my actions. "Why is she targeting and killing the dragons?" I ask.

"That I do not know. But she is innocent, you have seen that yourself. Please do not sacrifice her to Amora's ambitions."

A tear slides down Callia's cheek. "I'm going to see my daughter now," she says, and blinks out.

I face the Night brothers, prepared to fight for this girl's life. She's already been tormented too much.

"We cannot harbor a serial killer," Derek says. "She puts all of us—this entire world—at risk. She was never meant to exist at all," he argues. "We must let her go. It's the only way."

I expect Liam to side with Derek, but he surprises me. "No. I'm with Eve on this. If there's a chance she's innocent of intent, we must find another way. We have spent lifetimes defending the guilty, making sure they get a fair trial. We cannot turn this child over to someone we know will torture and destroy her. That's not who we are.”

Elijah cocks his head, taking in all the information. "I think we should hold off making any decisions until we know more. I can't deny turning her over would be the most expedient solution to our problems, but I also do not feel it wise to turn our back on our own values for sake of the convenient solution. That is not who we are, nor is it who we have ever been."

Sebastian shakes his head. "I'm sympathetic, I am. But… " he glances at me and I know what he's about to do.

"Don't," I say.

"I'm sorry," he says. "But they have to know. It's too important."

I close my eyes and know that in a moment, everything will shift, and it will be my fault.

"What do we need to know," Liam says, glancing at me.

I can't speak it, so Sebastian does.

"Eve is connected to this world," he says. "As a Fate, through the spell work she did to expand it. If the world is destroyed, she will die."

The room falls silent as they each process what this means.

Elijah speaks first. "This changes things," he says, turning sad eyes to me. "We cannot risk your life for this."

"My life is a small matter in the bigger scheme of things. Let's say we hand over Ana to her. Then what? She tortures and kills the child she created? Or who knows what? Are we sure she'll honor her agreement to spare the world? Racul didn't think so. And what happens next time she gets a wild hair up her ass? She comes at us again with different demands?" I ask, making eye contact with each of them. "No, we cannot allow her to hold this world hostage."

"What do you propose?" Elijah asks.

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