Page 64 of The Devil's Ice

Keira leaned in closer, kept her voice low. “Yes. What secret?”

“I found a man who likes me for me,” Vixen told her quietly. “He thinks that I’m beautiful, even with these scars, and I believe him. You see, when someone cares about you as a whole person, they care aboutallof you, inside and out, and they look past things that aren’t perfect.”

“And he thinks that you’re perfect?”

“Noooooo,” Vixen said. “Nobody’s perfect, but he likes me for me, and that’s something really good. It means that I can have a scarred face, or I can gain twenty pounds, or I can let my hair go back to brown – and he’llstillthink that I’m beautiful.”

“Even withbrownhair?”

“Even then.”

“Huh.” Keira cocked her head. “I think you should keep your blonde hair, though.”

“Do you?”

“Yes. I think it’s very pretty. Also, I like having the same hair color as you.”

“Totally convincing argument,” Vixen said. “I’ll stay blonde.”

“Yay!”

“And actually, Keira… I wanted to say sorry toyou, for pushing you so hard and yelling at you. I was just really,reallyscared, and sometimes scared people are a bit loud and not very careful. I’m sorry.”

“That’s OK,” Keira said brightly. “Saint told me that it was good that you pushed me, because he’s not a very fast runner, and he wasn’t sure he’d get to me in time.”

“So it all worked out.”

“Yes. Vixen?”

“Yes, Keira cutie?”

“You’ll come to my party?”

“One hundred percent,” Vixen said. “I promise.”

“OK.” Keira gave Vixen a tiny kiss on her unmarked cheek, then bounded away. “Can I watch TV now, Mommy?”

“You sure can,” Zoe said, bringing Vixen a cup of coffee and the sugar bowl. “Then we’ll read a little bit, OK?”

“Can Vixen read with me?”

“Of course,” Zoe said. “If she’s not too tired.”

“Oh, yes,” Keira said, standing on one foot, then the other. “Mommy did say that you need to rest.”

“I do,” Vixen agreed, adding an extra spoonful of sugar; she felt like she needed the energy after a restless, worried night, then getting up with Ice at five o’clock. “But we can absolutely read together.”

“Yay!” Keira bunny hopped towards the living room. “I’ll bring Peach. She’s learning to read too.”

“Excellent.” Vixen took a much-needed and -appreciated sip of coffee, wishing that it was possibly, just a tad stronger. “You let me know when Peach is ready.”

“Ohhh-kaaaay!”

Keira’s voice had faded, and now Zoe and Vixen looked at each other: the two women hadn’t laid eyes on each other since they’d stood in Satan’s and Zoe had asked Vixen to please go with Keira to get Peach from Blue Dragon. On every single level, Zoe knew that what had happened afterwards wasn’t her fault, any more than it was Keira’s, but there was a big difference: Zoe was her mother, and it washerjobto protect her daughter.

And when her child had needed her – when a van was trying to run her down, to snuff out her beautiful little life – Zoe had been talking to her husband. Maybe giving him a kiss goodbye, saying that she’d see him at home later. Maybe chatting with Cole on her way out, maybe smiling at Viking and Elle.

What shehadn’tbeen doing was standing between her daughter and a killer.

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