Page 181 of Unholy Obsession

“She’s coming back,” I say again, softer this time. “She loves you.”

He looks up, eyes red-rimmed. “You don’t know that.”

“I do, actually.” I mean it. I might be chaotic, but I know love when I see it. And whatever MadAnna is—assassin, enigma, avenging angel—she loves my brother with a ferocity that rivals my feelings for Bane.

Speaking of.

Bane shifts beside me, his arm sliding around my shoulders, drawing me against his side like he can’t bear to have me too far away. Even now, after everything, he still touches me like I might dissolve into smoke at any moment.

To be fair, I did kind of pull a Houdini on him once. Can’t really blame the man for his attachment issues.

Kira returns with wine for me and Domhn, water for herself and Bane. Isaak is still occupied with Lily, who’s attempting to grab his nose with sticky fingers.

“She’s got your smile,” I tell Kira, gesturing at the baby with my wine glass.

Kira beams. “You think so?”

“Definitely. Look at those dimples.”

Shit, I sound like a normal human having a normal conversation. Progress!

Baby Lily chooses that moment to let out a gurgling laugh that does weird, squeezy things to my insides. Like my organs are being hugged.

“Do you want to hold her?” Isaak asks, and my stomach drops through the floor.

“Oh, uh?—”

“She won’t break,” he adds with a rare smile. “Trust me, we’ve tested it.”

Kira slaps his arm. “Isaak!”

“What? She rolls off things all the time. She’s resilient.”

I glance at Bane, panicking. He just smiles, that knowing, infuriating smile that saysI see you, I know you, and I love you anyway.

“I don’t think?—”

But Isaak is already moving, and suddenly, there’s an eleven-month-old being deposited in my lap like a warm, squirmy loaf of bread.

Holy shit.

Lily stares up at me with huge, curious eyes. I stare back, frozen.

“Support her head,” Bane murmurs, his hand sliding beneath mine to show me.

His fingers are warm and steady against my own. I follow his lead, cradling the tiny human in a way that apparently won’t result in permanent damage.

Lily reaches up to grab a fistful of my hair, yanking with surprising strength.

“Ow, fuck—I mean—shoot!” I wince, trying to untangle her grip without hurting her.

Bane chuckles, the sound rumbling through his chest and into my side. “I think she likes you.”

“Yeah, she’s expressing it through violence. Takes after her dad.”

Isaak actually laughs at that, which makes me unreasonably proud. Getting the stoic giant to crack is my personal Olympic sport.

Domhn watches us from his chair, something unreadable on his face. For a moment, I wonder if seeing me—wild, unstable Moira—holding a baby is just too bizarre for his brain to process.

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