Page 33 of The Dark Elf's Surprise Baby

“Why do you say that?” I ask him, trying to make my voice as casual as possible. I fail dismally, and my voice wavers, cracks on the last word.

“Because Jasper only knows human children.”

“Does that mean…”

Kerym finishes my sentence as I trip over the words.

“Adelaide is human, of course.” He smiles at me, seemingly not noticing my new distress.

Adelaide is human, of course.

The words echo around and around my head, and at first, I cannot make sense of them.

Adelaide cannot be human, because she is my child. My baby. My girl.

She cannot be human because I have already given her a thousand pet names, and bought her the most expensive toys I can find.

She cannot be human, because that means that she isn’t my child. She cannot be human because that means a whole life has been taken away from me, before I even had it.

She cannot be human because that means that only months after I left, Harper had found another man.

A human man.

Only months after I left, she moved on, and had a child with another man.

That is why, for a second, Adelaide cannot be human. Because if she is, many things become true that I do not think I can handle.

When I look down, both my hands are shaking.

I let out a heavy, loud breath, and stumble backwards slightly.

How quickly did she find him? How insignificant were you to her? That she could jump into someone else’s bed so easily?

“Demethys?” Kerym is frowning at me, his eyes wide and confused.

How quickly did she lose her love for you?

My inner voice speaks mockingly, as though I never should have believed that Harper could love me.

As if I never should have hoped that she would wait for me.

I turn and walk away from Kerym, heading for the large, open windows behind us.

Kerym follows me, and places a hand on my shoulder.

“Demethys? What is going on? You’re acting like a spooked capra.”

I try to speak, but right then, I cannot find the words within myself.

“You’re not being yourself. Are you okay?” I have never heard such tenderness in Kerym’s voice before. He honestly cares about me.

He is apparently the only one. Because Harper clearly does not.

My face and body are warm and my eyes are wet. I am not even conscious that I am crying.

I wipe my face quickly and turn back to the crowd. As much as it is killing me to realize that Harper barely waited for me to move on, I need to see her.

I need to see her face, to examine the lines and curves and ridges of her face. A face that has changed so much but also stayed so much the same.

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