Page 43 of Monster's Secret Baby

I help her into her traveling clothes—a simple tunic and leggings, her tiny boots that Holt had made specially for her last winter. She stands patiently as I wrap her in her cloak, trusting me completely. The weight of her faith is almost unbearable.

"Listen to me," I kneel before her, taking her small hands in mine. "We need to be very quiet. Like when we pick zynthra in the garden without scaring the thaliverns. Can you do that?"

She nods solemnly. "Like shadow-walking."

"Exactly." I kiss her forehead. "We'll go down the back stairs and through the kitchen. No talking until we reach the road, alright?"

Another nod, her eyes wide with the adventure of it all. She doesn't understand we're running for our lives. That her father—the man whose eyes mirror her own—is the most dangerous part of staying.

I shoulder our bag, take her hand, and step toward the door. The floorboard near the threshold creaks, and I freeze, listening intently for any sound from below.

Nothing but silence.

"Ready, little bird?" I whisper.

She squeezes my fingers in response, her small face set with determination I recognize as my own.

We are leaving everything behind. Again. But this time, I know exactly what—who—I'm running from.

The night air washes over my face as I step onto the back staircase, Brooke's small hand clasped in mine. The familiar scents of Marda's herbs from the kitchen garden and woodsmoke from distant chimneys would normally comfort me, but tonight they feel like a goodbye I'm not ready to make. I pause, adjusting the heavy satchel on my shoulder and scanning the alleyway behind the restaurant.

That's when I feel it—a charge in the air that makes the tiny hairs on my arms stand up. Magic. Powerful and unmistakable.

And terribly, intimately familiar.

He materializes from the shadows like he's made of them, wings half-folded against his back, the pale silver of his eyes catching moonlight. Adellum stands at the bottom of the stairs, blocking our escape route, his presence seeming to expand and fill the entire alleyway.

My heart slams against my ribs. How did he know?

Brooke presses against my leg, her tiny fingers squeezing mine. "Dell!" she whisper-shouts. But she doesn't see the absolute murderous look on his face as his eyes narrow on the bags I have.

"Go back inside, little bird," I say, my voice remarkably steady despite the earthquake happening in my chest. "Go straight to bed. I'll be up soon."

She hesitates, looking between us.

"Now, Brooke." I gently nudge her toward the door. "It's just grown-up talk."

She gives Adellum one more glance before obeying, the door clicking shut behind her. I listen for her footsteps climbing the interior stairs, making sure she's truly gone before I face him.

Adellum's magic ripples through the night air, thick and electric, like a storm held barely in check. His face could have been carved from granite—all harsh angles and rigid control—but his eyes burn with something molten and uncontainable.

"You were leaving." Not a question. His voice is low, a current of barely contained fury running beneath the surface. "Again."

I lift my chin. "I don't owe you an explanation."

"Don't you?" He takes a step closer, and the magic around him intensifies, making it harder to breathe. "Five years, Harmony. Five fucking years I've searched for you."

"I didn't ask you to."

His laugh is sharp enough to cut. "No, you just disappeared. Vanished like smoke. Do you have any idea—" He stops, his jaw working. One hand dips into his pocket, clutching something I can't see. "You were going to run again. You were going to take her away from me, too?"

The words hang between us, heavy and irrefutable.

"She's mine," I whisper fiercely.

"You've seen her with me. She needs me, too." He moves closer, until he stands just below me on the stairs. "I don't care what you tell yourself. You both aremine."

"What do you want from us?" My voice trembles despite my best efforts.

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