Nerissa nodded, but I could sense her fear. And she was right to be afraid. The Queen of Vampires held an incredible amount of power, and I had no desire to see her wield it—unless it be against a common enemy.
Hanna emerged from the hall, carrying Maggie. Our little calico woodland gargoyle was a baby, about as big as a medium-sized dog at this point. She was a toddler, though, and would remain so for many, many years. Camille had rescued her from a harpy intent on making the baby her lunch, and we had decided to keep her. Maggie was adorable, though dangerous to small animals and children, and I had no clue what we were going to do when she got to her teenaged years. For that matter, I had no idea if gargoyles went through a rebellious phase. Maybe we’d be lucky and she wouldn’t. But it would be decades before we had to worry about that.
I reached for her and Hanna settled her in my arms. Nerissa snuggled around both of us. Maggie was covered with a soft, plush layer of fur, and she was just learning to talk. She yawned, her wings opening wide as she stretched her arms, and then she folded them together around her and curled up against me, softly closing her eyes and falling right to sleep. The past few weeks had been hard on her, with so much activity and with only Hanna having enough time to pay attention to her properly. I kissed her forehead and stroked the fur on her back, glancing at Nerissa, who was smiling softly. Maggie snuffled as she slept, and before long, Nerissa had nodded off next to me.
Delilah was playing some game on her phone, and Shade was reading. I stared at him. He had undergone a lot of change—unwelcome changes, at that—yet he was handling it all gracefully. I had no doubt that losing his Stradolan nature to the devil-wraith that had invaded our home had hit him deeply, but he hadn’t allowed it to affect how he treated everyone else.
After a little while, Delilah glanced over at me. Maggie was asleep. Nerissa was asleep. Kitten motioned for me to extricate myself and follow her into the kitchen. She gently took Maggie and, just as gently, I slid out from the crook of Nerissa’s arm, making sure she was in a comfortable position before following Delilah.
Hanna was still up, sitting in the rocking chair by the stove, dozing lightly. She started as we entered the room. “Let me put her to bed.” She rose and—refusing to take no for an answer—carried Maggie into the room they shared to tuck her into her crib.
Delilah wrapped her arms around herself. “Do you ever feel like things are moving too quickly? Like the world has sped up around you and all you can do is hold on for the ride?”
I gave her a soft smile. “Every day since the day I came out of my madness. And yet . . . for me . . . the world feels like it will stretch on forever. It’s a solemn thing, knowing that unless somebody stakes me or some accident happens, I’ll go on and on until I choose to end it.” I usually didn’t talk about things like this, but tonight seemed a night for reflection and realizations. “If nobody kills me, someday I’ll be forced to make that decision on my own.”
Kitten nodded. “I sometimes think about your life and what it must be like.” She paused. “Shade and I will be married on the autumn equinox. And then . . .” A flash of fear crossed her face. “I have no idea when the Autumn Lord will want me to bear his child. I don’t know if I can do it. I mean, it’s one thing to have a baby, but to be the mother to an Elemental? I have no idea how to approach that.”
“You’ll do fine. Just love your child and . . . teach him or her not to destroy the world in a fit of temper.” I repressed a smile, but at least it got a giggle out of her.
“I can just see it. Go to your room or you can’t go out and make the leaves change color! Or something that seems equally absurd right now.” She snagged a couple more cookies off the tray on the counter.
“How’s Shade doing?” I opened the fridge, excited to see that Morio had enchanted more blood for me. One label read chocolate cake and I eagerly pulled it out. I really did need to figure out a thank-you present for him.
“Shade . . . he’s taking everything in stride.” She hopped on the counter, eating her cookies and swinging her feet. “That’s one thing I’ve learned about shadow dragons. They tend to be less volatile than the others, from what I gather. He has an even nature. Oh, he can get angry, but he takes things as they come and he deals with them calmly. I know losing the Stradolan genetics hit him deeply—that was an essential part of his nature—but since there doesn’t seem to be much he can do about it, he’s doing the only thing he can. He’s relearning who he is now.”