Antonio’s head tilted as he stared at her, lightly running his thumb over the side of her precious cheek. His eyes glowed softly, and he lifted his other hand, murmuring silently, and touched her chest, right over her Core, his finger glowing.
She stilled, her lips thinning and her eyebrows puckered.
Instantly my wolf growled — savagely. “You’re not hurting her, are you?”
“No,” he whispered with a slight shake of his head. “It only feels warm to her.” He blinked, and his eyes and finger stopped glowing. He smiled softly, leaning to kiss her forehead. “A little Vampire you will be.”
I nodded once then jiggled her a little, worried that she wasn’t screaming at me…then her lips trembled and she went back to squalling. There. A good pair of lungs.
Antonio explained, “You won’t be able to just say you adopted her. You’ll have to legally do it, so no one ever scents the lie.”
I cooed to her, rocking her softly. “Let’s get that done as soon as possible.”
He nodded, smiling at me.
I instantly backed off from the love shining in his eyes, and I watched him flinch, his smile dimming. Just because I was having a conversation with him outside of the battlefield, it didn’t make things all right between us. In fact, even though I was brimming with love that couldn’t be diminished while holding my baby girl, a bit of the usual coldness seeped back into me as I stared at him.
His nostrils flared, and he inhaled heavily. Lips pinched, he swiftly turned his devotion back to my daughter. Lifting a hand, he rubbed her back softly, and she quieted some. “What are you going to call my granddaughter?”
My jaw clenched at his reference, but I didn’t renounce his claim. I turned my attention to her. “Her name will be Isadora Marie Ruckler.” I ran my hand over her soft head. “For a nickname, I’ll call her Isa.”
“That’s a beautiful name for a beautiful girl,” Antonio stated, an affectionate, full smile curving his lips. “It’s perfect.”
“All right,” Bindi murmured, moving around me. “I need to check Isa out.” She glanced at Antonio. “And you need to do your spell.”
Antonio hesitated then asked, “May I?” His hands hovered over her.
I kissed her forehead, my eyes welling again with warm tears as I didn’t want to let her go, but after a few more caresses, I eventually nodded.
Antonio lifted Isa with the greatest care and began the protection spell, doing the only thing right by me he had done in a long time…keeping my daughter safe.
Chapter Two
“Ba-ba-blah-bu-blah-ba.” Isa grinned, gifting me her sneaky smile. “Ta!”
She wiggled merrily, giggling, her red and black hair swaying with her rocking motion as she started again, staring down at me where she lay on my chest. “Ba-blah-blah-bu-ba-ba.” She laughed, hiccupping with her merriment, which she then thought was equally hilarious and just about rolled off me with her hilarity.
“That’s right,” I nodded grandly, smiling at my daughter and holding her safely. One of my true joys in life. I brushed my hand tenderly through her soft hair, amazed every day at how fast she was growing. She may be tiny for a Mystical her age — just a little over three months old now — but it seemed like she was huge. “You tell me all about it.”
This was part of my cherished free time. I had taken only a week to recover after giving birth to her and having my tubes magically tied — again — before going back to work, my duty unbreakable. Plus, I couldn’t do anything to rouse suspicions. The fact that so many had seen me ill when I was in labor had actually worked in my favor, giving me an excuse for being gone for the entire week. I had told everyone that I had simply been overworked, and it had made me ill. The excuse was true, and no one batted an eye, most already having taken a few days here and there for relaxation from our stressful duties. But, on the plus side, going back to work meant I got to alleviate my anger by fighting again, the one other true joy in my life.
I opened my eyes wide when Isa changed up her babbling to make a ‘ma’ sound. Coaxingly, I urged, “Ma…ma.” I was determined that was going to be her first word. I nodded, smiling blindingly. “Come on, Isa. Say mama.”
She blew a raspberry instead, then to add insult to injury she babbled, “Pa.” And stared. “Pa.”
My eyes narrowed.
Antonio had been spending a lot of time with her when I wasn’t around. He had better not have been trying to get her to say ‘papa’ or ‘grandpa’ yet. I had gotten over the fact that he was dead set on calling her ‘granddaughter’ every time he was around because he pretty much was her grandfather, but still, he was not going to own her first word. That was mine. Staring into her eyes that had once been blue, but were now the most stunning spring green, I pointed the tip of my finger against her bitty bronze nose, her coloring darker than my peaches-and-cream complexion. “Mama. Not pa.”
She grunted, shaking her head swiftly and puckering her Cupid’s bow mouth. “Pa.”
My lips pinched, and I held her close, lifting us off the bed and marching straight out of my tent. Everyone had seen her here, so it was no longer a shock when they saw me carrying a Vampire baby, the legal adoption process having been completed. I had gotten some grief from the Shifter Elders —I had to kick the living shit out of one for his comment, greatly enjoying it — but adopting a child wasn’t anything they could really argue about, plus most here knew and respected/feared me. Now, they practically called me a saint because I had adopted one of our own ‘needy’ children, so many kids having lost their parents already in this war. I only kept my distance, like normal, letting them believe what they wished since it worked in my and Isa’s favor.
Isa bounced in my arms, clapping her hands because we were outside, staring up at the Mage-spelled protection dome over our encampment.
Not bothering to ask for entrance, I barged inside Antonio’s tent, which was almost identical to mine if you disregarded all of the golden spells lingering throughout. He was lying on the couch, relaxing while reading a book. Again, as normal, the very sight of him made my blood run cold. When his startled gaze met mine, I demanded, “You’ve taken my first word! You’re not supposed to do that!” I pointed at my chest, riotous anger flooding my veins, melting a bit of the ice. “It was supposed to be mine!”