Page 42 of Monster's Secret Baby

It terrifies me. It thrills me. It makes me see just how fundamentally different he is from me—from humans.

For the first time, I understand: this man would destroy anything—anyone—for me. For Brooke. For the family he claims as his own.

20

HARMONY

Iwait almost a full hour after tucking Brooke in before I start packing. My hands shake as I pull our battered leather satchel from beneath the bed, wincing at every creak of the floorboards. The lamplight casts long shadows across our little attic room, making the familiar space feel suddenly foreign.

"This isn't panic," I whisper to myself as I fold Brooke's tiny tunics into tight squares. "This is survival."

I'd scrubbed the restaurant floor myself after Adellum left, on my hands and knees, watching crimson swirl into muddy brown. The smell of iron still clings to my skin despite two thorough washings. Marda had come downstairs during the cleanup, taken one look at my face, and wordlessly grabbed another brush.

We never spoke of what happened. What could I possibly say? A corrupted nymph threatened my daughter, and then my former lover appeared like vengeance incarnate and slit his throat?

I shove my garden-stained work clothes into the satchel, pressing them down to make room. Four years in this village, and everything we own still fits in one bag. I always kept it that way on purpose, though I never admitted it to myself until now.

"Mama?" Brooke's sleepy voice startles me. She sits up in her little alcove bed, rubbing her eyes. "Why are you putting our clothes away?"

I cross to her bed, smoothing her wild blonde curls. "We're going on an adventure, little one. Just for a little while."

"Because of the bad man?" Her eyes—so silver, so like his—blink up at me in the dim light.

"Yes, but he can't hurt us anymore." I stroke her cheek. "But sometimes when bad things happen, it's smart to go somewhere new."

"Is Dell coming too?" She clutches her stuffed lunox to her chest.

My throat tightens. "No, sweetness. Just us, like always."

"But he helped us." She frowns, her little brow furrowing. "He made the bad magic stop."

I turn away, pulling herbs from the drying rack above our tiny hearth. "Yes, he did." I wrap the meadowmint and dreelk leaves in cloth, securing them with twine. "But we don't know him, not really."

A lie. I know him better than I've ever known anyone.

"I know him," Brooke mumbles into her toy's fur. "He's my friend."

My hands freeze mid-motion. I guess I didn't realize she had gotten so attached.

"He was never going to be around long, Brooke," I say, the lie bitter on my tongue. "Now, which book do you want to bring? We can only take one."

"The one about the thaliverns." She hugs her lunox tighter. "Where are we going?"

"Somewhere with lots of gardens." I pull the book from our small shelf. "Maybe by the sea. Would you like that?"

She nods, but her eyes drift to the window. "Will Marda be sad?"

I think of Marda's wrinkled hands beside mine, scrubbing blood from the floorboards without questions. The way she slipped us extra bread at meals. How she taught Brooke to count using sugar cubes.

"Yes," I admit, my voice catching. "But she'll understand."

I return to packing, sliding the meager contents of our savings pouch. Eleven novas and a handful of lummi—enough for passage on a trader's cart and perhaps a week at an inn. After that...

I shake my head. One problem at a time.

"When will we come back?" Brooke asks, her voice small.

"I don't know, little bird." I stuff the last of our belongings into the satchel and fasten it. "But we'll be together, and that's what matters."

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