Page 123 of Iridian

That’s why she was smiling.

Instinctively, I raised my hand and waved. “Hi.”

She said nothing, only disappeared for a moment, then reappeared on the other side of the tree, climbing down a ladder I couldn’t see very well from here—and to be honest, I couldn’t move for a good moment.

Long enough for her to run and jump in my arms and hug me with all her strength.

Yeah, she didn’t care about how I looked, and if she could hear the soldiers nearby, hiding in the dark, she couldn’t care less about that, either.

Her big eyes sparkled, and she said, “Come see my treehouse!”without giving me a moment to even look at her, to see that she was okay.

“Will I even fit in there?” I said, laughing, as she dragged me to the other side of the tree, to the ladder.

“Yes, yes, you will. Come on!”

I didn’t think I’d ever seen her so cheerful, so…carefree,exactly as a kid should be. That alone made me want to do everything in my power to keep it that way—but first, the treehouse.

She had a gas lamp there, an old one she got at the dollar store, she said, because using an electric light didn’tfit with the vibe. She had a couple of cushions and a lot of coloring books, a lot of colors and blankets, too. A tablet was playing music on a low volume, and she wasglowingas she told me about the day the guy I’d hired came here looking for her, asking to see the tree where she wanted the treehouse. She said she immediately knew that it was me, and she couldn’t wait for me to get back so she could show me.

Likeshe knewfor a fact that I would.

Fuck, I loved this kid, and I didn’t even realize how much until my heart about burst at seeing her so damn happy. With a treehouse—just a treehouse. A space for her to just…be.

“Tell me everything,” she then said, sitting cross-legged on a cushion, the lamp between us. The guy had really outdone himself—it really was big enough for both of us to sit comfortably.

“How much have you seen already?” I wondered.

“All the videos that are online,” she said, and I flinched. Yes, a lot of people had recorded the battle, recorded Taland and me on top of that bus, the fight of the soldiers with the Council, though those we’d taken down already by sending out a magically enhanced virus to destroy them completely in any device across the world. Nobody needed to see all that blood being spilled in that way.

But the rest remained.

“Okay, so…a very bad guy was trying to bring back an ancient army from—” I started, but…

“David Hill, the IDD director and the Delaetus Army. Yes, yes, I know. And?”

I burst out laughing—how could I not? Of course, she knew everything. They’d given it in the news on human channels, and most importantly, social media.

So, I wrapped things up for her as well as I could without telling her the especially ugly parts, and she listened intently, hanging onto my every word until I finished speaking.

“No more Iris Roe,” she finally whispered, and her shoulders slowly hunched, and her eyes slowly lowered to the light between us.

“No more Iris Roe,” I confirmed with a nod.

“I suppose it’s for the best,” she said, and I smiled—she was making herself say that, but I could see the tears pooling in hereyes. She was devastated about it because the Iris Roe to her represented a chance at magic.

She fucking loved magic.

I held back a smile as I reached for the inside pocket of my jacket and pulled out an envelope. It was thick, and her name was embossed on one side in beautiful golden cursive letters.

“This is for you,” I said and handed it to her.

She tried—oh, how she tried to smile, but she only managed to look like she was in pain when she took the envelope and read her name on the back of it, and…

She stopped. Looked at me again.

“What’s this?”

“Open it,” I urged her, so impatient I probably looked ridiculous.

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