Page 94 of Suck This

“Tell him that her grave was destroyed. He’ll understand.”

My confusion was likely plain on my face, but before I could ask her any more questions that she wouldn’t answer, she was gone, and I was left with a three-year-old that was likely freezing to death in my arms.

“Let’s go inside. You’re cold.”

“Daddy is inside?” came the little girl’s whispered reply.

I swallowed.

“Who is your daddy, pumpkin?” I hurried toward the front door that was still hanging wide open.

Before I could reply, the bellow of my name was enough to rock the roof of the compound, and people started to pour outside, Con in the front.

His eyes were wild, and for the first time in nearly a week, he made full eye contact with me.

The moment he saw me with the little girl, he took a step back.

“What are you doing?” his voice grated out. “What did you do?”

“Is that…” came Fox’s reply from somewhere beyond Constantine.

I couldn’t look away from my man, though. The pure agony on his face was enough to have me moving toward him.

But the moment I stepped foot in his direction, he took a step back.

“I didn’t do anything,” I said. “I woke up and something felt off. So I went to the window and saw her standing alone in the front yard.” I cleared my throat when nobody said a word. “There was a lady named Seraphina who said this was her child. She said that a grave was destroyed and that you would know what that meant.”

Con’s jaw tightened.

A look passed between him and Pavlov, and then he gestured for me to come to him.

I did, and each step I took, Constantine looked closer and closer to freaking out.

“Con, what’s wrong?” I asked. “Why aren’t any of you going after that woman? Who, might I add, disappeared.”

The moment I was within reach, Constantine reached out, but his hand passed straight through the little girl in my arms.

We all froze.

“It’s time, Daddy.”

The breath left Constantine’s body in a rush.

“No.” He shook his head. “I’m not ready.”

“You are,” the little girl promised. “I’ve made sure of it.”

“How?” Constantine reached forward again.

The same thing happened.

I took Con’s hand, and the moment I did, she became solid for him, too.

Con’s hand tightened on my hand, and he ran just the tip of one finger down the long strand of curls that tumbled down the little girl’s back.

“I’m not ready for you to go, Nola.”

Nola. Con’s daughter. The little girl that hadn’t passed yet. The little girl that was killed in the house fire by her mother.

Oh, shit.

“I’ll find you again, Daddy.” She smiled. “And you finally have someone that will watch over you like I did.”

With that, the little girl in my arms, the solid weight, was gone.

And there Con was, holding onto nothing.

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