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She’s going to be something special in the witch world.
And she’ll always be something special to me, even when I’m gone.
Love like this doesn’t die, it only…transforms, the way a perfect day becomes a beautiful memory, something you treasure from a peaceful, less-painful distance. But no matter how painful it is to have Casey so close, but forever out of reach, I don’t want the days to pass any faster. I want to treasure every second with her and Amy, the cutest toddler ever to sprout a pair of horns and steal my heart.
As usual, the moment Amy steps through the daycare door in front of Casey, wearing her signature cat-ear sock cap and her tiny backpack looped over her shoulders, she searches the walk to see if I’ve come along for the walk home. When she spots me, a giddy grin stretches her face and she lets out an excited squeal that makes me feel like a surprise birthday cake and Christmas morning rolled into one. “Ed-ed!”
I bend down as she runs toward me, her chubby legs churning until she collides with my outstretched hands. “There you are, sweet girl,” I say, my heart flipping as I lift her into my arms, and she squeezes my neck tight. “How was your day? Did you get to play on the swings?”
“I swinged two times,” she says, thumping my chest with one little fist as she grips a lock of my hair tightly in the other. “I swinged with Mia and Lisa, and I had peanut butter and jelly for dinner and cookies for snack and no nap!”
“Wow, that sounds like an amazing day,” I say as Casey rolls her eyes.
“Yes, amazing. Way to encourage this No Nap Madness.”
“No nap!” Amy crows, beaming as I start toward home. “No nap, no nap, no, no nap!”
Casey laughs, a sound Amy echoes with a chorus of adorably mischievous giggles, and for a moment I can feel what a miracle it would be, to have an ordinary life with these two extraordinary people.
I would give anything for that.
Anything.
I send the silent prayer into the universe, just in case.
I should know better than to hope for impossible things, but with Casey’s arm threaded through mine and this little girl clinging to my shoulders, I can’t help it.
I light the candle of hope in my chest and let it burn all the way home.
Chapter Four
CASEY
It takes five books and nearly half an hour to get Amy down—for some reason, she always has a harder time getting to sleep when she’s missed her nap—but when I pad quietly down the stairs, Edmond is waiting for me at the kitchen table.
A man who keeps his word is still a novelty.
After years of never knowing if my ex would show up to watch Amy while I worked or leave me scrambling to find last-minute childcare, I’m so pleasantly surprised by Edmond. He’s Manny’s polar opposite.
In most ways, that’s fantastic, but I can’t help wishing he were as susceptible to my charms as my ex used to be. I’ve tried every weapon in my arsenal—tank tops without a bra, arching my back when I reach for things on high shelves, “accidentally” falling into his lap after a few too many beers at a party last week—but the man is immune to all my seductive tactics.
Especially when we’re alone, a fact he proves by scooting his chair a few inches to the right as I settle into the seat beside him.
“What’s this?” I nod at the big dusty book on the table. “A little light reading material to bore you to sleep?”
“It’s a history of the Shadowbane clan. I found it on Blaire’s shelves downstairs,” he says. “It should be enough to keep you busy until Annie searches the library catacombs tomorrow. She said she’ll be over with material for you as soon as she gets the baby fed and settled with the sitter.”
“She doesn’t have to do that. I know she’s busy with Aurora and exhausted by being pregnant again already.”
“She wants to do something,” he says. “We all do. I’m going to offer to question Sultan’s chihuahua tomorrow. She’s allegedly a cantankerous creature, but if I bring treats, I may be able to coax some useful information from her.”
I arch a brow. “A chihuahua?”
“Yes. An old chihuahua. He’s had Annabelle for nearly twenty years.”
I humph beneath my breath. “That’s kind of odd, isn’t it? I don’t think I’ve ever seen a dog at the Blackmore mansion.”
“To my knowledge, Annabelle is the only one. Sultan kept her inside his apartment for her own safety. Vampires tend to prefer cats.”
