WE WERE STILL STANDING OUT IN THE WOODS, and I was still holding Declan. Amazingly, he’d gone to sleep, blissfully unaware of what a confusing and heartbreaking world he’d just been born into. Sydney leaned against me, and I put an arm around her as best I could while still keeping a firm grip on Declan. Rose and Dimitri stood nearby? watching with stricken faces as Olive was gravely taken away.
“We need to act fast,” I said, keeping my voice soft. “If we’re going to honor her wishes.”
Sydney looked up at me and blinked back tears. “You don’t really think—that is, do you believe her? About Neil?”
I didn’t answer right away. “I saw them at Court. You did too. When this whole thing started, it was impossible for me to believe she’d been with another guy. Now I understand. And when I look at him—at Declan—well, it’s hard to explain, but there’s something special about him. His aura. It’s like he’s got this light dusting of spirit, kind of like what Sonya and I kept trying to create. He’s got it naturally.”
Sydney’s breath caught. “If that’s the case, a lot of people are going to be interested in him.”
“They can’t know about him,” I said adamantly. “Olive was right about that, and I owe it to her to keep him secret. It’s the least I can do since I failed her.”
“Adrian—”
I wouldn’t let Sydney finish. “We have to hide him. Will you help me?”
Her face was filled with concern for me, but she didn’t hesitate in her answer. “You know you don’t need to ask.”
I kissed the top of her head. “We’re going to need help.” I beckoned Rose and Dimitri to come forward. They approached immediately.
Rose swallowed, her dark eyes shining with tears. “Adrian, I’m so sorry. There was nothing anyone could do.”
Well, remarked Aunt Tatiana, you could’ve done something if you hadn’t been so careless with spirit.
“No time for that,” I said briskly. “I need your help. What’ll happen to Declan now? You know these kinds of places, Dimitri. What’s the protocol when the mother dies? I need to know if we can take him.”
“Who’s Declan?” asked Rose.
I nodded down at the baby in my arms, still wrapped in someone’s coat.
Dimitri’s face was hard to read. “If she had family living here in this camp, he’d go to them. I’m sure we could also contact her family on the outside, whoever’s left of them. There’s a tradition . . .”
“Yes?” I prompted.
He studied the baby uncertainly before continuing. “There’s an old tradition among dhampirs, especially those living in dangerous places and in uncertain conditions. Whomever the mother first gives the baby to becomes its guardian. Like I said, it’s old, but I’m guessing that’s why Olive was so insistent about seeing you and why Lana hasn’t tried to take him from you yet. I’m sure as soon as you tell her—”
“No,” I interrupted. “That’s perfect.”
“You . . . want this baby?” asked Rose, making no attempt to hide how improbable she found the idea.
“I want to get the baby out of here,” I said. “I want as few people to know about him as possible. Or that I’m taking him.” I thought back to who’d been around, Lana and the two warrior dhampirs. I wasn’t sure if anyone else had been there when Olive had been found. “Can you talk to Lana? Tell her we’re taking the baby to Olive’s family but that it’s being kept quiet? And tell her not to mention my involvement to anyone. If we don’t make a big deal about any of it, most of these people will assume we’re taking him to his next of kin. But I’d prefer if he was as unmemorable as possible. I don’t want anyone else seeing him or thinking too much more about him.”
Rose and Dimitri exchanged understandably perplexed looks. “Adrian, what’s going on?” asked Dimitri.
I shook my head. “I can’t tell you. Not yet. But believe me when I say this baby’s life may depend on what we do now. Will you help us?”
That was a hard argument for them to go against—and it wasn’t a lie either. Because as we walked back toward the heart of the commune, my power gradually began creeping back. And each time I tuned into Declan’s aura—looking closely, almost at the cellular level—I could see that infusion of spirit. It’s unlikely anyone would notice it unless they were really looking for it.
And I understood with a shocking clarity why Olive had been afraid. Why she’d turned her back on everyone she knew and run off to a hole in the woods. What had happened, what I was holding in my arms, shouldn’t exist. Two dhampirs couldn’t make another dhampir. It went against one of the most basic rules of biology in our world. It was impossible, yet here it was.
He was a miracle.
But Olive had been right that there were people who’d want to study Declan, who’d want to possibly lock him up and experiment. And while I was ready to acknowledge that his birth was a wondrous, joyous thing, I wasn’t ready to let his life be a series of experiments and finger-pointing—especially when his mother had died to protect him from that.