Page 26 of Monster's Secret Baby

My heart stutters in my chest. I've known this moment would come, have rehearsed answers that are gentle half-truths. "You do have a father, little one. But he... he travels and lives far away. So we stay here, where you're happy and safe, and he lets me love you enough for the both of us."

"Will he ever come back?" Her lower lip trembles.

"He can't," I say softly, gathering her close. "But that's okay. You have me, Brooke. You'll always have me."

She lets me hug her tight and tuck her in. But as I pull her curtains closed to section off her room, my chest aches. I know it will only get harder to face my past with Adellum as time goes on.

I knowit's only a matter of time before Brooke's gift becomes impossible to hide. Every mother thinks her child exceptional—but mine truly is, in ways that terrify me.

This morning, I find her crouched in Eira's garden, surrounded by a circle of violet midsummer bellflowers that weren't blooming yesterday. She's whispering to them, her small fingers hovering just above their petals, which seem to strain toward her touch like sunflowers following light.

"Brooke." I keep my voice even despite the panic fluttering in my chest. "What are you doing, little bird?"

She looks up, beaming, golden sparks dancing between her fingertips. "Making them pretty for you! Look, Mama!" She waves her hand and the flowers bob their heads as though caught in a breeze that doesn't exist.

I glance around quickly, relieved to see only Eira watching from her cottage doorway, her ancient face impassive. The old earth nymph has known about Brooke's abilities from the beginning, likely sensed them before I did.

"They're beautiful," I say, kneeling beside her. "But remember what we talked about?"

Her smile dims. "Magic is private."

"That's right." I brush dirt from her knees, tucking a wild curl behind her ear. "Just like bathing or changing clothes. Some things we only do when we're alone or with family."

"But why?" She frowns, lower lip jutting out. "Joss can make his clay move without touching it, and everyone says it's amazing."

I sigh. Joss's elemental magic is different—he's otherwise human and it's just a touch of earth magic. What flows through Brooke's veins is far more dangerous.

"Joss is older," I say, knowing it's a weak explanation. "And his magic is... safer."

"Is my magic bad?" Her eyes—so like her father's—widen with hurt.

"No, sweet one. Your magic is beautiful." I cup her face. "But it's special. So special that some people might want to take you away to study it." It's as close to the truth as I can get.

Her tiny fingers curl around my wrist. "I don't want to go away."

"And you won't." I press my forehead to hers. "That's why we practice being careful."

Despite these conversations, hiding Brooke's abilities becomes harder each day. She charms an extra sweetroll from Tam the baker with nothing but a smile, though I know it's the faint iridescence in her eyes that truly persuades him.

She coaxes raindrops to dance in midair when she thinks no one's watching. Once, when she fell from the apple tree beside Marda's restaurant, I swear she floated for a heartbeat before landing.

This afternoon, she sits at a table in the restaurant, drawing with the charcoal sticks Holt made her, while I prepare for the evening meal. Marda works beside me, her capable hands deftly chopping dreelk greens.

"She made Eira's potted brimbark bloom this morning," Marda murmurs, her voice pitched low. "In the dead of winter."

I nearly slice my finger. "Did anyone else see?"

"Only me." Marda's eyes find mine. "But Ansel was asking about her yesterday. Said he noticed a glow when he treated her hand after that thorn scratch."

Fear coils in my stomach. "What did you tell him?"

"That he works too hard and sees magic where there's only childhood wonder." She sets down her knife. "But he's not a fool, Harmony. None of us are."

I turn away, blinking hard. "I don't know what to do."

Marda's hand settles on my shoulder. "We protect her. All of us."

My throat tightens. "Why would you risk yourselves for us?"

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