by Hawke Oakley
“Her omega father is a mage, so she has magic as well,” I said. Thankfully, the explanation seemed to calm them down.
“That’s cool,” Gabriel said with a smile. His tone was completely conversational, like nothing was out of the ordinary. “I actually didn’t know I could do magic until I arrived here in Cinderhollow. But my mate, Dante, has been doing it all his life.”
Dante nodded. “Dragons, right?” He shrugged. “It runs in our veins, I think, more than any other shifter.”
I prickled at that suggestion. I knew many dragons back in my time without the ability to use magic. Hell, I was one.
“Right,” I said, not wanting to argue. “And he’s fine at school and everything?”
Gabriel blinked, like I’d said something strange again. “How so?”
“Er, with his magic.”
“He’s fine? I guess?” Gabriel glanced at his mate and shrugged. “He doesn’t get treated any differently than the other kids, if that’s what you mean.”
“Oh - yes, sorry, that was my concern,” I said quickly. “My child isn’t old enough to go to school yet, so I was worried if she would fit in.”
Gabriel smiled. “I’m sure she’s gonna do just great. Noah loves school so far. Don’t you?”
Noah nodded vigorously. Gabriel chuckled and nuzzled his son’s face.
A horrible mix of longing and guilt and sadness struck me. Seeing this happy family before me made me terribly aware of how much I missed being part of a family, of having an omega to love, and a child to raise. My life was shattered, broken to pieces - and I could never put it back together.
“Ice cweam!” Noah yelled.
“Oh, right.” Gabriel shot me a shy grin. “We better get going.”
“Or the little guys will start an ice cream mob!” Dante added, throwing Noah into the air. His son let out a gleeful cry.
I gave them a halfhearted wave and watched them disappear into the nearby shop. Inside were other families, all as happy and carefree as Dante and Gabriel.
Suddenly feeling weak, I clutched my aching chest and collapsed on a nearby bench. I shut my eyes, trying to block out the world I’d avoided for so long.
What was I doing here? What was the point of this? Was my survival these past four hundred years just a cruel joke if I ended up with nothing in the end? I had no mate, no family… Everything I strived to protect as part of the Knights fell apart.
And possibly because of my own actions.
The thought struck me hard. Noah, the young boy, was a mage. So were both of his fathers. And they looked utterly normal. And happy. No one was trying to attack them, or arrest them. The woman from earlier, Dr. Lynden, she too had spoken about magic so casually.
A tiny voice spoke from the back of my mind as I stared at my hands.
Was I wrong?
The future in the hands of mages was nothing like how I imagined. Cold dread crawled up my spine as the truth settled over me.
I was so, so wrong.
I needed to find Halo.
10
Halo
I needed to find Angel.
That was the only thought running through my mind. Henry could wait, especially since Kass was genuinely searching for him, I hoped. Finding some guy just to reassure his friends he was fine was not my top priority right now.
It was easy enough to get Kass off my back. As soon as we entered one of our classic arguments, he would expect me to run off - and I used that expectation to my advantage. Now he wouldn’t be suspicious of why I was so eager to leave.
When Dr. Lyden pointed us in the direction Henry went, my heart skipped a beat. I was almost positive that was where I ended up the night I teleported into town, to leave Angel there. My chest squeezed at the thought of my daughter, alone in the middle of the night, completely helpless as I left her behind.
It was for her own safety, I reminded myself as the tears stung hot in my eyes.
But now that Silas and his scheme were out of sight, they were also out of mind. I didn’t feel the same dread I did while locked up in the old cabin, and that meant I could focus on finding my daughter and making sure she was really safe. When Kass asked about her earlier, I could only guess.
Maybe I had been lying. But I really hoped not.
Nobody cast me a second glance as I maneuvered through the streets and people. It took some getting used to - no longer did everyone afford me a wide berth from fear. I was just another omega trying to get by.
It was refreshing, in a way. But I would have been lying if I said I didn’t enjoy some of the infamy and attention I’d had four hundred years ago. I felt like putting my hand to my chest and scoffing and saying, Don’t you even know who I am?
I didn’t, of course. But I kind of wanted to.
Finally I rounded the corner and met the familiar view from the night I left Angel behind. An old street dotted with restaurants, and with a strange bar built into the base of the cliffside. The Drunken Dragon.
There!
My heart raced as I ran to the front of the bar. I’d left Angel here on the front step.
Of course, she wasn’t there anymore.
A sigh of frustration left my lips, even though it was to be expected. Somebody would have picked her up by this point, obviously.
But who? I thought with a flicker of unease.
I heard a sigh behind me. “Bar’s closed. Sucks, I know.”
A man stood behind me, leaning against the wall like he was waiting for it to open.
“Oh. Er, I wasn’t…” I trailed off as it was clear the man was going to continue speaking anyway.
“Think the owner has a kid now or something, keeps bringing it into work for some reason. Kinda weird, but eh.” He shrugged. “Booze is good, though, so I’m hoping he doesn’t take leave off work or anything.”
“I see,” I said stiffly, not quite sure why this man was talking to me. Nobody in Cinderhollow four hundred years ago would ever engage me in such casual conversation. They were too afraid. This situation back then would have been the equivalent of a rabbit walking right up to a wolf and talking about the weather.
“You got a kid?” the man asked.
At first I narrowed my eyes, suspicious of his intent, but realized there was no malice in his eyes. Just a kind stranger trying to make conversation.
“Yes,” I replied.
He nodded. “Cool. Me, I don’t have one yet. Not even a mate.” He held up a hand briefly. “Not that I’m trying to hit on you or anything, just so you know.”
I smirked despite myself. “Not a problem.”
“Nah, I just keep thinking it’s not the right time. The barkeep, though, I never imagined him to be the type of guy to have a kid.” The man frowned in thought. “Come to think of it, I don’t think he had the kid, actually. Never saw him get bigger or anything, the kid just showed up to the bar one day.”
Every hair on my body stood on end. “What?” I said breathlessly.
“Yeah, it was super weird. Just… poof, a child.” He chuckled. “We all think it’s strange to bring a young kid into the bar, but he owns the place, I guess. And she doesn’t seem to mind.”
She. It’s a girl.
My skin prickled with anticipation. “She…”
“Man, I’ve been talking so much. You’re probably like, doesn’t this guy ever shut up?” He laughed again. “My name’s Nate, by the way.”
I opened my mouth to return the favor, but realized I didn’t know how safe that was. Luce told us Halo wasn’t an uncommon name in his skulk, but the situation in Cinderhollow might have been different and I didn’t want to take any chances drawing Silas’s attention, no matter how nice this Nate guy seemed.
“Nice to meet you,” I replied. “I’m… Jason.”
“Right back at ya, Jason.” Nate must have noticed something from the corner of his eye because he grinned and said, “Speak of the devil. There he is. Do you think he’d open the bar early? I’m really itching for a drink…”
I didn’t hear the rest of what Nate said because my eyes locked onto the figures down the street heading in our direction. Three of them, two adults and a child in a carrier between them.
And the child was my daughter.
My breath caught in my throat, and I felt so far removed from my body that it felt like I was watching myself interact with the world. I kept waiting for something to happen, but it didn’t. Of course not. Angel was too far away to notice me. Her eyes, bright and happy, gazed up at the two men carrying her.
I noticed them now for the first time. The older one had a strange limp, and it wasn’t until I looked more closely that I noticed his prosthetics - one arm, and one leg. He had a gruff appearance, one that might have been intimidating if not for the gentle smile across his face as he peered down at Angel.
The other man - I assumed he was the first man’s mate - was younger, with black hair and a kind face. Lithe muscles peeked out of his shirt sleeves. His expression matched the joy of his partner.
That’s them, I realized. Those are the men who are raising Angel.
As they approached, my body froze. I wanted to stand there, greet them, meet the men raising my daughter, hold my daughter, kiss her forehead, tell her how much I wanted her back -
But it wasn’t safe. My selfish desire to retrieve Angel would ruin the whole effort of hiding her among Cinderhollow to keep her safe from Silas and whatever he was planning. My chest twisted in anguish, like someone was ripping my heart from my ribs.
Would saying goodbye to Nate make me look more or less suspicious? Quickly realizing I didn’t have time to decide, I lowered my gaze and flipped the hood of Kass’ jacket over my head before shuffling away, back into the alleys.
From around the corner, I heard a gruff voice - probably the man with the prosthetics. “What kind of ice cream do you think she likes? Do you think she’s lactose intolerant? Can babies even eat ice cream?”
I heard a sound like a chuckle, then a chaste kiss on the cheek. Carefully so as not to be seen, I snuck to the edge of the alley wall. The men stood closer now, with the older one holding Angel’s carrier in his arms.
“I’m sure she’ll be fine,” the other voice said, gentler and calm. The younger dark-haired man, I assumed. “Babies eat lactose all the time.”
“But - ”
“And if she gets sick,” the man continued in a tone that conveyed he clearly knew what the other had on his mind, “we can take her to Dr. Lynden. Okay?”
“Yeah…”
The familiar name made me jerk upright. Wasn’t that the name of the older woman we met earlier? A slight sense of hope kindled in my mind - if these men knew Dr. Lynden, and we knew the doctor worked at one of the clinics, then we could find Angel after the ordeal with Silas was over!
From my angle I could see the dark-haired man smile at his partner. “I love you, Scar. You’re a good dad.”
The other man - Scar - grumbled and replied, “Love you too, Ryu.”
My stomach tightened with gratitude as the men shared a brief kiss, then walked away away from the alley entrance.
Scar and Ryu… Thank you.
Excitement coursed through my blood. Knowing Angel was alive and well filled me with unimaginable joy. Tears welled in my eyes and I shut my eyes, pushing them back. I refused to cry. Crying alone in a back alley was pathetic.
Still, the incident shook me more than I thought it would, and I slid down to the ground. I sighed, then breathed deeply to try and regain my composure.
She’s alive, I thought again. Her face glowed, her eyes sparkled… She was happy and healthy and safe with those two men. I made the right choice, no matter what Kass thinks.
I frowned at the thought of my former mate. Somehow he always managed to worm his way into my mind. But despite my mistrust towards him, he was still Angel’s father. He deserved to know she was alive, at the very least.
Paranoia gnawed at the corner of my brain. What if Kass used that information to find her and hand her over to Silas?
No. I shook my head almost violently, rejecting the idea. He wouldn’t. No matter what an honor-bound, goody-goody dipshit Kass could be sometimes, he wouldn’t hand Angel over to Silas.
He did it once, the nagging voice reminded me.
I scowled at myself. He wouldn’t do it again. I was sure of it this time. Kassius helped me escape earlier, and he even told me himself that he didn’t trust Silas. He had no reason to turn on me this time.
That realization - that I could trust Kass, at least a little bit - made me pause. I remembered Ryu and Scar’s kiss. The love in their eyes. My stomach turned with…
Jealousy. I was jealous of their love.
Frustrated at myself, I turned and kicked the brick wall. The sudden shock surged through my ankle, which was still healing from my injury, and it took every ounce of willpower to swallow my yelp. Tears really did flow from my eyes this time, from physical pain instead of emotional, and I whimpered.
Great. I ended up crying alone in an alley anyway.
Now with a prevalent limp of my own, I grumbled and started back towards the square where I’d left Kass behind.
* * *
Thankfully, he wasn’t far from where I last saw him. At the sight of my awkward shuffling movement, Kass’s eyes widened with concern and he rushed to my side.
“Halo, what happened?”
“Er, I kicked a wall.”
Some of the concern visibly melted from his expression. He sighed. “Okay. Well, does it hurt badly?”
I shrugged. “I dunno. Can’t tell by my zombie crawl, huh?”
Kass exhaled in exasperation while looping his arm under mine to help carry me, muttering something about how he couldn’t take me anywhere without me causing trouble.
“The money I had in my wallet from four hundred years ago is apparently worth a hell of a lot more now. I booked us a motel room for the night,” Kass told me.
Kass always was frugal. It didn’t surprise me. “So, you’re saying we’re rich but you got the crappy version of a hotel anyway?”
He ignore me. “I’m taking you there now. You’re in no condition to walk around anymore.”
I didn’t argue. Walking was the last thing I wanted to do.
But the mention of a room made me remember something. “Kass… Do you think our house still exists?”
Kass paused. A bittersweet note of nostalgia and sadness tinged his expression. “I really don’t know,” he finally answered. “I never returned to it. I honestly haven’t a clue.”
“Oh.” If Kassius didn’t know, that meant there was a possibility of it still standing, at least. “Maybe… We can check? Tomorrow? I want to know if it’s been demolished or turned into something else, or - ” I paused, then added somewhat hopefully, “still around?”
Kass smiled. “Sure. Of course. I’d like that, too.”
* * *
It wasn’t home, but the motel room bed beat a cold stone floor in a cave any day.
I picked at the thin comforter, half considering about shifting into wolf form and smelling all the dubious scents I’d no doubt find on the fabric, then thinking better of it when Kass emerged from the bathroom.
He stood in the doorway, steam billowing from behind him, his eyes shut while he sighed contentedly. One hand gripped the white towel wrapped around his waist. My eyes immediately fell to the paler flesh of his abdomen, and the downward trail of hair that disappeared behind the towel. My fingers twitched, wanting to run my hands down his skin, past the droplets of water and the towel -
“Halo?” Kassius asked, quirking a brow.
“What?” I said. “I like the view.”
His cheeks flushed and he scowled, muttering, “I knew I should’ve brought my clothes with me into the bathroom…”
His hand reached for the shirt beside me on the bed. At the same time, I grabbed his wrist. The sudden change in his momentum caused Kass to stumble, and with a quick tug on my end, he toppled forward o
nto the bed. At the last moment he braced himself with one elbow so that he assumed an awkward position on top of me.
“What did you do that for?” he asked, blinking.
“Slipped.”
The blush on his cheeks deepened. He pulled himself up. “Very funny, Halo.”
But before he could leave, I grabbed his arm again. “Wait.”
Kass waited. He watched me expectantly for an explanation. My throat suddenly felt dry, like the words had evaporated into dust.
“I… I missed you,” I finally mumbled.
Kass’s cheeks turned an even deeper color, and I couldn’t help but smile. He looked the same way he did on our first few dates all those centuries ago - embarrassed, flustered, like he’d rather be anywhere else and nowhere else all at the same time. A small laugh fluttered in my stomach.
“What’s so funny?” Kass muttered.
“You.” I pressed the back of my hand gently to his cheek, feeling the warmth beneath his skin. “You’re acting like a teenager.”
“No, I’m not.” He tried to stand again and this time I let go. I wanted to see if he would return on his own. My eyes pierced his, waiting expectantly. Kass watched me, then sighed. “What are you doing, Halo?”
“I’m laying in bed.”
He shook his head. “You want something from me. And I don’t know if I can give it to you.”
“Oh, really? What exactly is it that I want?”
“I don’t know.” He paused, then raised a brow slowly. “Sex?”
I rolled my eyes. “Get your mind out of the gutter.”
Both his brows raised in surprise. “You don’t want sex?”
“No,” I said seriously, and then Kass finally realized I wasn’t joking around. He returned and sat on the edge of the bed. I tried not to be too aware of the fact that he was still naked, except for the towel. Now that he’d mostly dried off, warmth emanated from his body and I craved it.
“Tell me, then,” Kass said.
“I just want… you,” I mumbled.
“What do you want from me?”
I groaned. “You are so stupid. Just come here.”