Total pages in book: 148
Estimated words: 139178 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 696(@200wpm)___ 557(@250wpm)___ 464(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 139178 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 696(@200wpm)___ 557(@250wpm)___ 464(@300wpm)
Phoenix and Aanisa were firm friends and had been from the cradle. They’d laughed together as babies, and that friendship had continued unabated after both children returned to their own territories—because their parents made sure to give them opportunities to talk and meet.
“I fly see Anise!” Phoenix pronounced. “Scout Phin, Papa!”
Raphael grinned. “Yes, I think you will be a scout. You have the temperament.” Curious and brave and willing to take occasionally foolhardy risks. He met eyes of silver fire. I know exactly where he gets it from.
Elena winked. You’re welcome.
This time, Raphael threw back his head and laughed—and his son laughed with him, as around them, the entire city sparkled in the brilliant afternoon sunshine.
67
I love him, Ellie.
—Beth Deveraux-Ling (Once, between Sisters)
Elena ran into Harrison the next day, on her way to meet up with Ashwini.
Her brother-in-law had, to everyone’s surprise, turned a corner the day after he’d first realized she was pregnant. Back then, she hadn’t comprehended the pivotal nature of their interaction, but she remembered every second of it nonetheless—because she’d been certain it would be one of the last times she’d ever see Harrison.
The door to his private infirmary room had been open, and when she’d glanced inside, she’d noted the truth with a sinking heart: he’d done nothing to personalize the space—not so much as a poster on the wall or a few books on the bedside table.
As for the man himself, he’d been sitting like a statue in a chair in a corner.
Doing nothing.
Just waiting.
Nisia had warned her only a few days prior that Harrison was beyond medical intervention, whether via the few mood-stabilizing drugs that worked on vampiric systems or the healing abilities of not only herself, but of the specialist she’d called in from Suyin’s territory.
“I wanted to give him a full year of counseling, in the hope that he might find a pathway forward,” Nisia had murmured. “Such is not an excessive timeline in the case of a man who has passed the one-millennium mark. But now, we—all of us who have worked with him—agree that would be a cruelty.
“I’ve arranged for one final assessment by a senior healer who specializes in wounds to the mind and spirit in two weeks’ time. If he, too, agrees with the diagnosis to date—that Harrison has made his choice and will stand by it—then I will sign off on his petition.”
That day, emotion choking her throat, Elena had said, “Hey, Harrison.”
A slow lifting of his head, two long seconds before his vacant gaze snapped into focus—and landed on the bump she was cradling. “Ellie!” He’d jerked to his feet. “You’re going to have a baby!”
Happy to see such life on his face, she’d fought to keep her voice light. “In just under two months if it goes according to schedule.”
He’d stared at her belly. “Beth was bigger at seven months. She used to worry she was getting plump, but she was so beautiful.”
Elena’s nod had been jerky. “Bethie bloomed—had the glow and then some.” Sweet, happy, content, a woman whose dreams were coming true. “She always wanted to be a mom.”
“Yes. Brought it up on our third date.” A small laugh. “Said there was no point in us going on if I didn’t want kids.”
Startled, Elena had said, “I can’t imagine her being so take-charge at that age.”
His smile had held so much love, it hurt. “When it mattered, Beth could put her foot down.”
Elena had ended up spending a good thirty minutes with her brother-in-law—and he hadn’t been disengaged for any of it. She’d hoped, but hadn’t dared think beyond that…until Nisia gave her an update five days later.
“I canceled his final evaluation,” the healer had said. “Your brother-in-law has begun to take an interest in his space. He bought a plant for his window the other day. Then today, he asked if he could help me in any way.”
A month later had come another update: “Harrison continues his upward trajectory. He also has infinite patience—it’s quite extraordinary. He’ll sit and read a book aloud for hours if that’s what a patient wants.”
By the time of Elena’s return from the Refuge, he’d moved out of the infirmary and into a set of quarters lower down in the Tower. He’d also asked for and been given permission to come up to the more secure floors to see Elena and Phoenix; he was, however, always monitored—and it was to his credit that he didn’t take that badly.
“I was in a dark headspace for a long time,” he’d said. “I wouldn’t trust me alone with a baby, either. However long it takes for you to trust me, that’s how long it takes.”
Today, he raised his hand in a greeting, his face thin but healthy. “Hi, Ellie, I don’t suppose Nixie’s around? I have the afternoon off and thought we could go look at the fish in the aquarium my friend in the next apartment just put in.”