Time

RORY

When Lucy vanishes in my arms, the entire group gasps. I even hear some people scream. I’m frozen in shock, looking at Martha’s furious face, my heart hammering in my chest.

“You did this!” A guard captain shouts, backed up by her warriors. Growls and howls fill the air. “Some kind of spell to steal the baby!”

The other packs join in the accusations, righteous anger spreading like wildfire. “Traitors! Kidnappers!” Martha’s attention turns away from me, and I take a step back behind Everett.

That’s not what happened, and I’m the only one who knows it. I’m not interested in correcting the record. This is my chance to get out of here, and I’m going to take it.

I look for Freya in the crowd and catch her eye. I jerk my head toward the pack house, and she nods, pushing through the crowd to follow me back in.

Everett hears me leaving, and I see him take a step toward us. I shoot him a look and project through our mind link: ~I have a plan. Stay where you are. Lucy is safe.~

He nods, and I can tell he’s tense and unhappy about being away from us, but he trusts me. He’ll follow my lead.

“Hold! I am your alpha, and I say hold back! We are not starting a clan war!” His voice carries clearly, even over all the noise, calling for calm.

I hear Martha shrieking at the top of her lungs, sending shivers of old fear down my spine. “You did something. You’re hiding my niece from me—”

Everett interrupts her, growling deep in his chest. “Martha, if you don’t want bloodshed, you’ll shut up right now.” I hope he’ll be able to keep ahold of Chaos without me.

We make it inside, finally. Freya closes the door behind us, and the shouting is instantly muted. I relax, relieved, and Lucy pops back into visibility, held in my arms like she’d never left.

Freya’s mouth drops open as she looks at the baby. “Holy shit, what did you do? Was that a plan? I would’ve appreciated a heads up.”

“I didn’t do anything.” I hold Lucy close, trying to settle my jangled nerves. “Seems like my little girl has some powers of her own. When Martha scared her, she cloaked herself.”

“How come you didn’t panic?” Freya asks, coming to fuss over Lucy herself. She lets her grab onto her finger. Lucy coos, the scary lady apparently already forgotten.

“She was just invisible. I could still feel that I was holding her.” The weight of her in my arms had been the only anchor I had, and I was praying that it meant nothing was wrong.

Freya whistles and raises her eyebrows at me. “You can’t do that. Disappear, I mean.”

“Nope. Jason’s the one taking after me, I guess.” I chew my lip. I don’t know what it means for Lucy that she has these powers, if I’ll still be able to guide her.

Everett bursts into the packhouse, looking around wildly for us. His face absolutely glows with joy when he sees that we’re both here and fine and he hurries over to grab me up in a hug.

“That scared the hell out of me, little mate,” he says in my ear, voice rough with emotion.

I laugh a little shakily. “Me too, trust me.” He lets me go, though he stays close. “Are the Red Mooners gone?”

He shakes his head, frowning. “Not yet, but they’re leaving. I got most of our people to go home, but I left a squad of warriors. Lucius and Ace are overseeing everything.”

He reaches for Lucy and I’m happy to hand her over. He’s had the worst of the panic today. He sniffs her hair and presses kisses to her cheek, reassuring himself that she’s really here and alright.

“She hid herself when Martha leaned over her. I think she could tell something was wrong,” I explain. It’s a lot of awareness for a two-week-old, but our babies are special.

Everett nods slowly, frown growing deeper. “I’m not surprised that she has abilities, but I would have thought she’d have healing. Jay does.”

I sigh. “I guess Lucy takes more after my dad. Cloaking is a Tartarus power, not an Evermore one.” I’ve never even met him. I don’t know much about my Tartarus heritage.

Everett looks as worried as I feel, but we’re interrupted as the door opens again and Ace comes in, still holding Jason. “How’s it going out there?” Everett asks.

“Everything’s under control,” Ace says, handing Jay to me and going to kiss Freya. “Lucius and a few warriors are escorting the Red Moon back to the border.”

“They’ll be back in a month, though,” I say, tired now that the adrenaline’s wearing off.

Ace nods. “Now that they’re both confirmed to have powers, Martha will want them more than ever. We can’t assume we can keep it secret.”

We talk about the problem for a while longer, but my legs start to hurt. I tap Everett’s arm. “Let’s go up to our room. I think we’ve all had enough excitement for one day.”

Everett kisses the top of my head. “That sounds fantastic. I’ll call a couple of guards.”

We say goodnight to Freya and Ace and head upstairs. Beth and Felix meet us there and take up their post on either side of the door.

I collapse on the bed, Jay on my chest. Everett joins us and hands Lucy over to snuggle her brother.

“You know what?” I say. “I bet she was cloaking herself during the sonograms. The feeling must’ve startled her.”

Everett’s eyes brighten. “That’s why she didn’t show up.”

“But she couldn’t fool her papa’s ears.” We laugh and I kiss him. It’s nice just to lay together and enjoy each other’s company. I nurse the babies and they fall asleep quickly.

After twenty minutes, I put Lucy and Jay in their cribs. They don’t stir at all. The poor things must be exhausted. And no wonder, after the day they’ve had.

When I turn back to the bed, I see that Everett’s fallen asleep too, his arms still crossed over his chest. His face is relaxed, mouth open as he snores softly. I smile at my sleeping family, my heart full of love.

Then, I tiptoe out of the room, closing the door softly behind me. I nod to Beth and Felix. “Stay in the pack house, please?” Beth whispers, and I cross my heart.

I head downstairs to the library, letting the smell of the books and leather comfort me. This is one of my favorite places in the world, a safe place, and also a place to find answers.

My daughter still needs protection. I pull book after book from the shelves, stacking them up beside my favorite reading chair. There has to be a solution in here somewhere.

I sit down and open the first one, skimming the table of contents for the best place to start. I’ll read all night if I have to. There’s no time to waste.

We only have a month to save my daughter.