Elena shoved the argument—and the reason behind it—to the back of her mind as she came to a smooth landing in front of the brownstone that was Sara and Deacon’s. Her best friend dragged her inside an instant later ... where Elena got a welcome surprise. “You bought the neighboring town house!” They’d taken out the facing wal s of both homes, then closed the smal gap between the two buildings by extending one of the houses.
Since Elena hadn’t noticed anything from the outside, they had to have recycled the materials removed during the demolition of the wal s to build a seamless exterior over the extension. Fantastic as that was, it didn’t compare to the inside—the entire first floor was a massive open-plan space that flowed into the kitchen.
“Yep.” Sara beamed, her rich coffee-colored skin al but glowing. “With the way Deacon’s business is going, we could afford it so we decided why not.”
A pause. “More important, I wanted my best friend to feel welcome in my home.”
Swal owing the knot of emotion in her throat, Elena put down her bag to wander over the gleaming wooden floors covered with Navajo rugs that matched the warm, earth-toned color scheme of the house. “It’s gorgeous, Sara.”
“Deacon did most of the renovation himself—Zoe and I just held boards, took him the occasional nail, and general y supervised.” A big grin.
“I know you chose the colors.” Feeling total y at ease, she spread her wings. “It’s—”
“Oh, God, El ie,” Sara said on a gasp, clutching the back of the sofa. “Each time you do that, I start to feel faint.”
Elena was laughing at the look on her friend’s face when a big, bad-ass man with deep green eyes, golden skin, and dark hair walked into the room, a little girl cradled in the crook of his arm. “Deacon.” Smiling, Elena moved close enough that he could tug her into a one-armed embrace.
He held her for several long seconds. “It’s good to see you, El ie.” Quiet, powerful words.
Looking up, she met the eyes of the child who’d tucked her head shyly against her father’s neck. “Hel o, Zoe,” she whispered, amazed at how big Sara’s baby had become in the year and a half since Elena had last seen her.
Sara came over then, picking up one tiny hand and pressing a kiss on Zoe’s palm. “This is Auntie El ie, Zoe.”
That was when a massive hel hound of a dog came around the corner, heading straight for Elena. “Slayer!” Laughing as he jumped on her, intent on loving her to death, she looked up to see Zoe giggling.
It made her want to tug the girl into her arms and pepper that precious face with kisses, but she was a stranger to Zoe right now. A stranger with bribes.
“I have presents for you,” she said after Deacon pul ed Slayer off with one hand.
Eyes the same dark color as Sara’s went wide with interest.
Giving Slayer a final scratch that had his tail wagging triple-time, Elena went to her bag and took out the handcrafted dol she’d bought from one of the artisans at the Refuge. Zoe took it with careful hands, rising away from her father’s shoulder to pat at the dol ’s thick curls.
“What do you say, baby girl?” Deacon prompted.
Zoe’s “Thank you” was shy.
Elena said, “You’re welcome,” and retrieved the col ection of angel feathers she’d been saving since she woke from the coma. Startling gold and white, blue edged with silver, midnight and dawn, shimmering gray, a sweet, beautiful brown, and an incredible crystal ine white, they made Zoe hold her breath.
When Elena lifted her hand, her goddaughter stared in wonder ... then closed one fist gently around the feathers. “Papa. Down.”
Obeying the order, Deacon bent to put her on the floor. Feathers in hand, Zoe toddled over to the coffee table and put her treasures on the glass so she could admire them one by one, the dol held close to her side. Slayer, having been banished to sit by the mantel, sidled around to stand next to his favorite human being.
Sara touched her hand to Deacon’s heart when he wrapped a heavily muscled arm around her shoulders. “Didn’t you have something for El ie?”
“Let me go grab it.” Kissing his wife on the nose, the former bogeyman of the Guild prowled out of the room after ruffling Zoe’s tiny curls.
“I got you and Deacon gifts as wel ,” Elena said. “From the Refuge. Found a gorgeous col ar for your monster dog, too.”
Sara took her hands, squeezed. “The best gift is you, here. I missed you so much.”
Elena had to look down for a second to blink away the surge of emotion. Sara wasn’t her blood, but she was her sister in every other way that mattered.
“I had a run-in with Jeffrey.” It spil ed out, the one subject she hadn’t been able to talk about when they’d met earlier, the wound too raw. “He’s furious that the girls have been targeted because of me, and I can’t blame him.”
Sara’s jaw tensed. “That’s—”
“He’s right this time, Sara.” Guilt twisted through her, a hard, abrasive rope. “But at least that’s something I understand. What I don’t know is why he wants to meet me tomorrow.”