Page 5

But as the days went by and she kept kicking in his belly, Uriel began to grow fond of her and her resilience. He began to consider keeping her for himself, making plans and selling his spell work so he could support them both.

Now, he loved her completely, even if she wasn’t entirely a mini-him. They both had dark brown hair and the same nose, but instead of his walnut-brown eyes, hers were a brilliant sea-blue.

The eye color was something he could dissociate from her alpha dad. After all, lots of people had blue eyes.

What was more difficult to ignore, was the red birthmark on her belly. Most days, it looked like a burst of fire on her skin.

Nope, we’re not going there.

He swung her into the air so she shrieked in delight. Then he blew a raspberry on her stomach. Her giggle was infectious.

She was his most important person in the world.

And there was no way in Hell he was sharing her with her asshole other dad.

He lay on his back and set her on his chest, about to start his dad-and-baby yoga routine.

His phone chimed with the emergency tone.

Uriel’s insides tightened, even as he unlocked it and pulled up his alpha friends’ chat.

Crush: We got a lead from the phone we picked off that kidnapper. Looks like they’ve got a holding facility 4 hours out. I’ll pin the coordinates. Everyone who can help, join us ASAP.

Uriel glanced at Cassie, and back at his phone. This was an 8-hour round trip, not counting however long it took to break into the facility and rescue any victims.

He sighed. “Sorry, hon. I’ll have to leave you with a sitter for a while.”

He sent a text to a handful of people, waiting for a reply.

The texts came in:

Sorry U, I can’t commit for 10h+ today.

Sry have sth on

Damn it, I just made plans that I can’t change. If only you’d texted 2h earlier.

Uriel stared at the messages and cursed. He had to help with the trafficking ring; he couldn’t let more people suffer like he had.

But he also couldn’t go to his regular omega friends for help. An overwhelming number of his Cartfalls friends were bonded to alphas... alphas who were friends with Bruiser.

None of them could discover his and Cassie’s secret. The last thing Uriel wanted was for Bruiser to find out his secret, for Bruiser to give him a disgusted look and attempt to take Cassie from him anyway.

Ten hours was too much time for Cassie to slip and breathe a bit of smoke or fire. Worse, she could shift completely, and there weren’t many emerald dragons around.

Once the word got out that her secondary species was a dragon, his friends would start asking questions.

Especially if they saw the birthmark.

“Guess you’re coming with me,” he said with a sigh. This was going to take so much more work, keeping her safe.

He set her in her playpen and hurried around the apartment, collecting the things he would need—food, baby supplies, magic supplies, and a heavily modified broomstick.

The broomstick was something Uriel was extremely proud of. It had a sturdy handle and neat straw bristles, and a cushioned seat so he wouldn’t have to ride with the handle wedged up his crack. He fastened the carrying case to the tail end of the broom and began fitting all his supplies into its enchanted space.

One last check on his messages—nope, no one was available to watch Cassie. Uriel dressed her for the journey: diapers, charmed hoodie, tiny pants and shoes. He strapped her to his bare chest so she had access to his nipples, then tucked water and snacks onto his person. He pulled a large hoodie over them both, and locked up.

On the roof of his apartment building, he wove an invisibility spell around them and kicked into the air. Broom travel was convenient if you knew what spells to use to ease your way.