Page 56 of Demon Daddy's Baby Girl

I come forward without hesitation, my knees hitting the floor beside her chair. Our eyes lock, and I see everything in hers—the pain, the triumph, the uncertainty. She places Sephy between us, adjusting her so the baby lies partly on my knee, partly on hers.

For a single heartbeat, all three of us are touching. My calloused hand brushes Aurelie's smaller one, both of us supporting Sephy's small body. The connection vibrates through me like a struck chord.

"You came for me," Aurelie whispers, voice cracking on the final word.

"I will always come for you." The words leave my mouth with absolute conviction. "Both of you."

She touches my face, her fingertips tracing the scar across my eyebrow. "I need to wash away... everything." Her eyes drop to her bloodstained clothes.

I nod, understanding what she can't fully express. "Go. I've got her."

Aurelie leans forward, presses her lips to Sephy's forehead, then hesitates. For a heartbeat, I think she might kiss me too. Instead, she rests her forehead against mine, breathing the same air.

"Thank you," she whispers, then rises with a wince she tries to hide.

I watch her disappear into the bathroom before looking down at Sephy in my arms. Her violet eyes, flecked with silver, stare up at me with impossible wisdom.

"Your mother is the strongest person I've ever known," I tell her, adjusting her weight in my arms. Her tiny hand wraps around my finger with surprising strength. "But don't tell her I said that. She's stubborn enough already."

Sephy makes a gurgling sound that almost seems like agreement, and I can't help the smile that breaks across my face. The tension in my shoulders eases slightly as I rock her, savoring the fact that I have both my girls back.

My girls. The thought stops me cold. When did they become mine? When did I become theirs?

I remember the look in Aurelie's eyes when she struck the final blow against Kaelith. Cold fury mixed with righteous vengeance, her small frame becoming somehow larger in that moment of justice. She hadn't hesitated—not when it mattered most. The shadow magic had swirled around her, but she'd pushed through it, driven by something deeper than fear.

I remember her silence in the woods afterward, cradled in my arms as we escaped the burning estate. Her body had trembled, but whether from exhaustion or emotion, I couldn't tell. She'd pressed her face against my chest, fingers curling into my shirt, and said nothing for miles.

Now, as I sit here holding her daughter—a daughter I've begun to love as my own—I'm terrified. Terrified that now she's free, she won't stay. That I'm just a chapter in her escape, a temporary shelter before she builds a life elsewhere. Somewhere without demons. Somewhere without the constant reminder of what she's been through.

"What if she leaves, little moon?" I murmur to Sephy, using Aurelie's nickname for her. "What then?"

Sephy blinks up at me, face scrunching momentarily before relaxing again. No answers there.

The sound of water running in the bathroom reminds me that whatever comes next, right now, they're here. Safe. Alive. And for this moment, that has to be enough.

26

ROLFO

Ifind myself frozen in the doorway, watching her silhouette in the dim nursery. Aurelie stands over the crib, her fingertips gently trailing the curve of Sephy's cheek. The baby's breathing has evened out, tiny chest rising and falling in peaceful slumber. It's taken three baths, a change of clothes, and more whispered reassurances than I can count to get us all clean. To wash away the evidence, if not the memory.

"Sleep well, my little moon," Aurelie murmurs, her voice carrying the melody of an unsung lullaby.

I shift my weight, the floorboard beneath me creaking slightly. She doesn't startle—just turns her head, acknowledging my presence without fear. Something twists in my chest at that simple gesture of trust.

Her hair hangs loose around her shoulders, still damp from her bath, curling at the ends where it touches the borrowed nightgown. Steam rises from her skin like mist over mountain lakes. I've never seen anything so beautiful.

"You should rest," I say, keeping my voice low to avoid disturbing Sephy. The words come out rougher than intended, scraped raw by the day's events.

Aurelie's eyes find mine across the shadowed room. I expect to see exhaustion there—and I do—but there's something else. A quiet determination, a newfound certainty that wasn't there before. Maybe she feels a weight lifted without the threat of Kaelith pressing on her.

"I don't want to be alone," she admits, her fingers fidgeting with the edge of her sleeve. Not nervous—just processing. "Not tonight."

I nod, understanding completely. After battle, solitude is its own kind of torture. I'm not sure I could have let her walk away from me tonight.

She crosses the room toward me, her bare feet silent against the wooden floor. A faint scent of lavender follows her—the soap she'd used to scrub Kaelith's touch from her skin.

"Sephy's finally asleep," she says, glancing back at the crib. "She fought it so hard. Like she was afraid I'd disappear again."

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