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“I am.”
“We have the same color hair?” She tugged at her long locks, thick and black just like his. She began to smile, and just like that, love swelled in his chest, a mountain of sensation he would never have believed possible.
On impulse, he opened his arms and the child flew hard at him. She grabbed him around the waist and held on. He moved inside her mind. You belong to me, blood of my blood.
She looked up at him and pathed in return. You’re inside my head.
He nodded.
Mama doesn’t like to do that very much. She says it’s rude. And she can’t fly like you. Are you going to stay?
I live in Swanicott.
Her small tight arms released him. “Oh. That’s far away.”
“Not very far and I fly fast and I intend to come here often to see you.” He reverted his attention for a second to Emily and pathed, I’m thinking flight school in Swanicott.
More tears as Emily nodded and smiled. “A brilliant idea.”
“What are you talking about?” Tiffany asked.
Zane turned his attention back to his daughter. “How would you like to go to flight school in my realm?”
She blinked rapidly. And her mouth opened wide. She gave a long, ecstatic scream, then, “Mama, can I? Can I? Can I?”
“Yes.” The word came out of Emily in a long rush of relief.
“However,” Zane said sternly. “I do have a couple of stipulations for you, daughter. And I will be obeyed.”
Tiffany pinched her lips inward and crossed her arms over her chest, still hovering in the air. She narrowed her blue eyes and in that moment he understood completely why Emily had burst into tears at the gallery and begged for his help. The child was a wall of steel.
Still levitating, he swooped close to Tiffany. He took her shoulders firmly in hand and held her gaze. “You’re to do as your mother says, obey her in all things, or your time in the air will be severely restricted. And if you think I can’t do that, you’re greatly mistaken.”
She drew a deep breath, ready to argue, so he added quickly, “However, if you obey, you’ll be flying every night for hours and hours with a lot of other vampire children who love it as much as you do. What do you think? Can you obey your mother? Do you want to fly in Swanicott? I need to know both things right now.”
He felt Emily’s panic as she levitated close to him. She put her hand on his sleeve, attempting to intervene. She would say he was being too harsh, but Zane understood the child; she was just like him.
Without shifti
ng his gaze from his daughter, he pathed to Emily. Just let her think it over.
Are you sure?
Yes. Trust me.
Emily removed her hand from his shirt and drew back several feet, giving Zane room.
He’d been a belligerent kid himself, but he’d always responded well to a combination of threats and rewards, both promised then fulfilled.
Finally, Tiffany relaxed her stance, letting her arms unfold. “Will I really be flying every night?”
He released her shoulders and swept his hands wide. “Against the wind that blows off the ocean in strong, powerful currents. But I don’t know. Maybe that would be too much for you.”
“It wouldn’t!” she cried. “I can battle the wind. Just wait and see.”
He smiled, pride for his daughter’s spirit filling his heart.
Tiffany then turned to Emily and threw herself on her mother’s chest. “I’ll obey you, mama, but please say I can go. I need to fly.” She then flipped in the air to face her current, exasperated flight instructor. “And I’m sorry for all the things I did to you tonight.”
