Page 160 of Nanny and the Beast

“She only took a sip of the tea,” I say.

Vera nods. “Whoever gave it to her miscalculated the dosage required to kill a person. He forgot to take into account how different variables?—”

“Vera,” Klaus says, cutting her off.

She blinks, coming out of the scientific haze.

“Would you like the antidote now?” Vera asks me. “From what I know about this toxin, she must be experiencing extreme fatigue.”

Tears spring to my eyes. “She doesn’t admit it, but I know she’s in a lot of pain. She’s tired all the time.”

“I’ll prepare the antidote for you, but you have to be careful to wean her off any other non-essential medication,” Vera says. “Especially if she’s on any steroids. Certain medications have cross reactions when taken together.”

“That makes sense,” Klaus says.

“You don’t know what this means to me,” I say. “If my grandmother gets better, it’ll mean that I can bring her home.”

Vera gives me a soft smile. “If you’d like, I can come to Ravenwood to give her the antidote in person.”

“You would do that for me?” I ask.

“Sure, that’s what friends are for,” she says, looking between Klaus and me.

I’m overcome by gratitude. I step forward and wrap my arms around her. She’s startled for a second, but she hugs me back.

“Thank you,” I say. “Thank you so much.”

It feels like my life is going through an upheaval.

All of these new people entered my life recently and turned my whole life around. I’ve only known them for a handful of weeks, but they’ve shown me what love and compassion look like.

They’ve shown me what having a family can look like.

35

EMMA

He’s still asleep when I wake up.

I stare at him for a moment, wondering how I got so lucky. With every day that we spend together, he’s revealing new sides of himself. And the more I get to know him, the deeper I fall for this man.

My heart holds so many emotions right now that I’m afraid it’s going to burst.

I slip out from under the sheets and pad over to the window. It faces the lake, which glitters like a jewel under the morning sun. It’s breathtakingly beautiful.

But the man on the wooden dock grabs my attention.

I think I know him.

I quickly get dressed and make my way down to the dock. Dry leaves crunch underneath my boots as I walk. The morning is colder than I thought it would be. I stuff my hands inside my pockets, trying to retain my body heat.

When I reach the lake, I stop to look at him. He’s dressed in a light brown trench coat, still facing the water.

As I cross the distance between us, the soft rays of the morning sun fall on my face.

He turns around.

“Just the person I was hoping to see this morning,” Alaric says. “Hello, Emma.”

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