Page 87 of Thunder with a Chance of Lovestruck

He put his hand on her upper arm. “Yer sad because this is another milestone in yer life, and yer father willnae be there.”

I tensed. Demi knew her father was a Nightshade Hunter, and she knew the story of how we’d met and fallen in love. I told her as much as I could without being graphic. She also knew the last time I’d seen him had been the night my brother unleashed the horde of monsters.

That I’d had no contact with him since then.

Rhys hadn’t been able to give me any details about Drest. And the other Hunters who had been involved in our relocation wouldn’t even let his name be brought up, let alone answer my questions.

After a few years, I realized that he clearly had no interest in seeing me or his child. That in the end, he’d picked the Nightshade Clan and his job over his wife and family. That stung, but I learned to live with it. And I did my best never to talk about him in a bad light around Demi or Astria. I wanted them to think of him fondly. No matter what the case was.

I held tight to my emotions. “Sweetie, we’ll bring the camera and take a lot of photos tonight. You can put one in your box for him, okay?”

She nodded. “Thanks. I might put one of the certificates in there, if you don’t mind.”

“I think that would be perfect,” I said, hating seeing her upset. If I’d have had the ability to wave a magik wand and fix everything for her—to give her a father who was present in her life—I would. But that wasn’t the case.

“If you wish, when we get to our new home in Grimm Cove, I can make a frame for some of yer certificates of achievement, lass,” said Arch.

Demi stepped closer to Arch and wrapped her arms around his waist, giving him a hug. “Thank you.”

He patted her back. “When I find the men who are responsible for turning yer lives into this, I’ll tear out their entrails and tie them in a bow for you.”

She snorted. “Uh, no thanks.”

“So, you do nae want them in a bow? Just as they come then? All right,” said Arch. “But I think they would take up less room in bows.”

Demi smiled up at him. “Thank you, but no disemboweling anyone. We’ve already discussed that being a bad habit of yours.”

He shrugged. “I figured the rules dinnae apply to them.”

“They don’t,” I said, gaining me shocked looks from everyone in the room.

“We should head out,” I said, nodding in the direction of my car keys. “Demi, want to back it out of the garage? You can drive us tonight if you want.”

Her eyes widened. “Uh, I’ll back the SUV out, but I don’t want to drive it.”

“Little one,” said Arch in an encouraging manner. “Yer nae that bad at driving.”

The look she gave him said she knew better.

He laughed. “Fine. I tried. Yer horrible at it.”

“I know,” she said with a laugh as she went for the keys.

The same strange feeling I’d been getting each time I woke from the Zombie-Amice dreams all week came over me. I tensed. “Demi, do me a favor. Put our go-bags in the SUV too. Okay?”

Her eyes widened. “Mom?”

“I updated some things in them and forgot to put them back in there, that’s all,” I said.

Arch looked at me over her head and raised a brow.

I smiled.

Demi laughed. “For a second there, I thought you were expecting trouble.”

ChapterTwenty-Nine

Rachael

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