Page 44 of Iris
He shakes his head.
“We’re not going to get caught,” I repeat. “And besides, the risk is worth the outcome if we succeed. Don’t you think?”
Xavier sighs.
That’s what it all comes down to.
All of this, every single thing, is for our baby girl. Council be damned.
We both get ready for the evening, and to keep things easy for Freya, we open early today and close well before dark.
I check the register, making sure we have enough for any possible rush. I’ll be around, of course, but Freya’s used to running the place if we’re elsewhere. The couple of others we employ don’t share that privilege.
Trust is a hard thing for me to give nowadays.
I should’ve learned the lesson after that fire. When I lost my sister. But Tamara’s betrayal is what sealed it. There will be no strike three for me.
When I’m finished with the register, I make sure the feeds on the cameras work.
Xavier brings a container of clean glasses from the drying rack and starts to stack them on the shelf.
“Always,” I say. “But since we’re hosting this one, I want to keep an eye on who comes and goes.”
Xavier checks his phone and signs.
I close the hidden panel in the wall that houses the electronics. “Need help?”
I nod, and we part ways.
As the first patrons trickle in, Freya takes the bar, and I go and tuck Emmie in for bed. She’s not going to stay in it, I know. It’s too early according to her, but hope’s always an eternal thing and maybethistime, she’ll listen.
Right.
“Daddy?” she says as I reach to turn off the light.
“Yes, bug?”
“I am not tired. I’m awake! See!?” She sits up and arcs her arms in the air like she’s miming a sun.
Somehow I withhold the groan. “Do you want a story?”
“Yes. I will fall asleep if you read me a story. The Space Princess one.” It’s her new favorite, one of the contraband books I brought back from the mainland.
As I read her the story, she yawns, snuggling down with Delores next to her, a wing sticking up. She finally closes her eyes, and I kiss her forehead before heading back down to the bar.
The moment I step out onto the bar’s floor, the front door opens and in walks the one person I never expected to see again.
Iris.
CHAPTER
FOURTEEN
Killian
Istare at her.
