Page 66 of Kiss the Dawn
The danger was over.
For now.
But they’d turned on a night when the moon wasn’t full, months before Ordell had expected to have to worry about it even being a possibility.
They were beasts. Cursed.
But they were also children.
What the fuck were we going to do?
The children shifted backto human after an hour, and we locked them in the master suite to sleep. They had no memory of the change or chasing me.
I followed Ordell down the stairs. “What do we do now?”
He raked a hand through his hair. “I have to take them away. Somewhere safe. Somewhere where they can learn how to master the beast until…Until you break the curse.”
My stomach quivered. “You can’t just take them. You have to speak to Bella and Dash and explain?—”
“I know.” He blew out a breath. “I’m going to call them now. Could you…could you make some coffee?” He needed to do this alone. I got it. “Sure.”
I left him in the hallway and headed to the kitchen.
Coffee was simmering in the pot when Ordell joined me. “How did it go?”
“It could have been worse. They might not have believed me but turns out that Dash has cameras installed around the house. They were able to log into the feed remotely, and they saw everything. Bella was sobbing when I got off the phone.”
“I’m so sorry, Ordell.” I wrapped him in a hug. “So fucking sorry.”
His sigh vibrated against me. “Yeah, me too.”
Bella and Dasharrived at dawn. Her face was puffy from crying, and Dash was pale and red-eyed. They peeked in on the children, still fast asleep, then joined us in the kitchen, where Ordell laid out his plan to take the children into the Rim to a place owned by a group called the Sisters, where they could learn to control their beasts.
“I’ll stay with them, of course,” he said. “I won’t leave them.”
Bella dissolved into sobs once more.
Dash rubbed her back, his jaw tense, his lips pale with anger. “You should have told us about your curse. We had a right to know.”
“I honestly didn’t believe that the curse could be transferred, but I was always so careful when I…” He trailed off and shook his head. “I’m so sorry.”
“There must be a way to lift it,” Dash said.
I looked to Ordell, speaking with my eyes because they deserved to know, but he shook his head slightly in warning before responding to Dash. “Yes, and I won’t stop until I find it.”
Dash’s jaw worked. “Yes, and in the meantime, we make them forget what happened, and we manage it. Together. Christian Constrange can alter the memory of tonight, and we can?—”
“They don’t remember what happened,” Ordell said. “But even if they did, wiping it wouldn’t help them.”
“I want to spend the day with them,” Bella said. “Before you…you take them.”
“I’m sorry,” Ordell said. “I have to take them and leave now. They turned outside of a full moon, and who knows, they might be able to turn in the day. We can’t risk waiting.”
She pressed her hand to her mouth. “We should never have gone. We should have stayed home and?—”
“You’d be dead.” I looked levelly at her. “If you’d stayed home and we hadn’t been here, then you would both likely be dead. The only reason I survived is because Ordell was here. They listen to him. They see him as their pack leader. He can control them.” I reached out and covered her clenched hand with mine. “Let him help them.”
She exhaled shakily and nodded. “Do it. Take them, but I swear to you, Ordell, if any harm comes to them?—”
