Page 25 of Solstice

“Where are you?” I stood, glancing into the kitchen.

Big brown eyes peered around the corner, her blond hair messy with sleep.

“There you are.” My heart melted at the sight, and I squatted to get on her level, holding out my arms so she could rush into them. She did, giving me a tight hug. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing, just a nightmare.” She shook her head and wiped her wet face on my shirt. “I couldn’t go back to sleep there. I needed to see you.”

“It’s okay.” I kissed her on the forehead, and we walked back to the couch where she sat between Miri and me, tucking the blanket around her body. It had been two years since we’d brought her here from Faerie, and in that time, she’d grown about a foot and a half. She didn’t know how old she was, but we’d guessed about ten. Now in the body of a twelve-year-old, she struggled to fit in. Sometimes I looked into those eyes and saw a soul as old as time. Sometimes, I’d swear Poppy knew more than she admitted.

“It’s Solstice,” she said.

“I know.” Miri brushed hair behind Poppy’s ear and cuddled closer to her. “You’re safe here. No one will find you.”

Poppy rubbed her hands over her face. “That’s not what I’m afraid of.”

I narrowed my eyes, about to ask what she meant, but the front door swung open and Carter came through holding a bundle of logs. He stomped his snowy feet on the rug and hung his mouth open when he saw the girl between us. Poppy launched off the sofa and ran toward him, causing him to drop the wood to the side so he could pick her up when she jumped into his arms.

Of the four of us, Poppy had attached herself to Carter the most. Little wonder why, after the way he’d protected her in Faerie, the way he’d fought to bring her with us.

“There she is.” Carter gave her a big hug and a kiss. “It’s good to see you, kiddo.”

“You too, Carter,” she said. “I missed you lots.”

Watching them together always set my maternal instincts on high alert. He loved her so damned much, and his tenderness with her made me want to yank him into the closest dark corner so we could get to work on another one just like her. That, of course, was a pipe dream because Miri had been right. Any child of mine would be Lex’s, even if it had been biologically sired by Carter, and that broke my heart.

I cleared my throat and gulped down the rest of my wine to hide it, blinking back the tears in the corners of my eyes. It would tear my heart apart to see Miri and Carter together publicly, just as it had while they were in California years ago. But if it meant saving my princess from a dark and terrible prince, I’d sacrifice my true love and much more.

* * *

We waitedout the long night the way we would have hundreds of years ago, huddled together on the couch around the fire. Poppy sat in between Carter and me, Lex on my other side, Miri on the other side of Carter. We played cards and read stories, and once Poppy fell asleep, the four of us drank whiskey and dreamed about an imaginary future that would never exist—one where Poppy could stay with us full-time, where we’d have our own children and no one would judge us for not knowing or caring whose was whose.

“Maybe we should have stayed in Faerie,” Miri said, dancing her fingers through Poppy’s wild curls. “Maybe once the king is gone, we can go back.”

“The king will never be gone. He’s immortal,” I added. “The king and the queen can’t be killed.”

“How do you know that?” Carter asked.

“It’s what the lore says.”

“Yeah, the lore also says fairies eat human flesh and demand sacrifices and sprout wings when they get pissed off.” Lex rolled his eyes. “I didn’t see any wings. Everything can be killed.”

“So that’s what you’d do?” I tilted my head at him. “You’d try to end him once and for all?”

“I told you two years ago what I’d do.” Lex licked his lips and raised his eyebrows at us. “I’d lure him out onto our playing field to trap him and send him right back where he came from.”

“How do you propose we do that?” I didn’t bother to hide the indignation in my tone. Lex would pick it up anyway.

He looked at Poppy for a moment, only a split second, but I saw it and it pissed me off. “No.”

“What?” Carter looked between us; he hadn’t caught what I had.

“I obviously wouldn’t let anything happen to her.” Lex shrugged as if the idea weren’t as diabolical as it really was.

“Then you won’t use her as bait,” I whispered-hissed, not wanting to wake Poppy.

“We’re all bait, X.” Lex pinched the bridge of his nose. “He’ll come after Miri because of what she can do. He’ll come after the rest of us for what we took from him, and I don’t just mean Poppy.”

I scowled and looked down at her, praying she didn’t hear this. She already had complicated feelings about Lex because of his wanting to leave her behind.

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