Chapter 4 #2
I stared at him. Then at Darian sleepily chewing on Marcus’s shirt collar. Then back at Marcus again. “That is deeply weird.”
“It is.” Marcus looked away briefly, a shadow crossing his face. “The more I think about it now…” He exhaled slowly. “I should’ve known something was wrong with her long before everything happened. She kept parts of herself hidden,” he said after a moment. “At the time, I thought she was guarded.”
“But?”
“But it felt calculated sometimes.”
Darian yawned loudly, little fangs flashing briefly before he buried his furry face against Marcus’s chest again.
“She used to watch people,” Marcus continued. “Study them before deciding how she wanted to act around them.”
“Creepy.” A little chill crept down my spine.
Because Addison had done exactly that on the porch—observing, maybe even studying.
“She lied easily,” Marcus added. “Not obvious lies. Small ones.”
“Like what?”
His expression tightened slightly as he thought about it.
“Stories that didn’t fully add up. Gaps in her past. Things she’d avoid answering directly.”
“And you still got engaged to her?”
Marcus gave me a very flat look.
I raised my hands in surrender. “Sorry. My bad. We’ve all made questionable romantic decisions before.”
There was that one vampire musician in my twenties who lived in a converted funeral home and thought bathing was “spiritually restrictive.”
We all had a journey.
“At the time,” Marcus said slowly, “I think part of me sensed something was wrong.”
“And?” I asked softly.
“And I ignored it.” He paused for a second. “When I ended things with Allison, it felt like escaping something.”
A knot tightened in my chest. Not jealousy. Just sadness. Because despite everything Allison had become, there had probably been a time Marcus genuinely tried to love her.
And now here we were.
Dead ex-fiancées. Mystery twins. Revenge threats.
I sighed long and brushed a strand of hair from my eyes. “Well. It’s like Addison barely existed before showing up on our porch.”
Darian grabbed Marcus’s hair enthusiastically and pulled. Hard.
Marcus didn’t even flinch.
Fatherhood looked weirdly good on him. Comfortable. Natural.
Dangerously sexy.
Like every time he held Darian, some deeply hormonal part of my brain went: Yes. That one. We keep him forever.
I tore my attention away before my hormones took control. “The prison reports barely mention Allison’s death,” I continued. “No details. No witness statements. Nothing about Addison either.”
Marcus’s expression darkened slightly. “So this Addison… she threatened you.”
I sighed. “Not openly. But yeah. It was there.” I felt it in my witchy bones.
Marcus sat beside me on the couch, still holding Darian easily with one arm while reaching over to pull the laptop closer with the other.
“She’ll make a move eventually,” said Marcus after scanning part of the screen.
Yup. I already knew that too. Just instinct.
That same instinct told me when magic was wrong. When danger was coming.
When somebody entered a room carrying hidden intentions.
Nobody traveled to Hollow Cove looking that relaxed unless they were hiding something.
Darian suddenly yawned loudly and slumped against Marcus’s chest, his fuzzy little body finally starting to slow down.
“Aww,” I whispered. “Right on schedule.”
Marcus glanced down at our son, something softer crossing his face instantly. That stupid sweet dad look absolutely destroyed me every single time.
“He fought the couch bravely,” said Marcus.
“He lost to the curtain earlier.”
Darian made a sleepy grumbling sound.
Marcus brushed a hand slowly over his fuzzy back, impossibly gentle for someone who could probably punch through concrete.
And just like that, some of the tension inside me eased.
Not completely. But enough. Because no matter how stressful things became, no matter how many creepy revenge twins appeared in Hollow Cove, this still existed.
Us. Our weird little family. Our tiny gorilla child currently drooling slightly on Marcus’s shoulder.
And for a moment, I took comfort in that. In the feeling of somebody standing beside me no matter what. For most of my life, survival had always felt temporary. Fragile. Like happiness came with an expiration date.
But Marcus…
Marcus made things feel solid. Even when the world around us got weird.
Which, to be fair, was constantly.
Marcus finally looked back at me. “You okay?”
I opened my mouth automatically to say yes. Instead, what came out was, “She looked exactly like her.”
Marcus went quiet.
“I really thought Allison was standing on the porch,” I admitted softly. “For a second I actually thought she’d escaped and come back.” To try and kick my ass again or kick me in the vajayjay like she’d done once before. That hurt like a sonofabitch.
Marcus’s jaw tightened. He reached for me without hesitation, pulling me closer against his side while Darian remained half asleep between us. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”
I smiled. I know he meant it. But he couldn’t be with me all the time. And it only took a moment for something to happen.
I rested my head briefly against his shoulder and let myself breathe for the first time all day. The cottage felt quieter now. Softer.
Outside, dusk had fully settled over Hollow Cove, shadows stretching across the yard while distant shouts—Dolores’s shouts—came from next door.
I smiled. Tomorrow the Spring Awakening Festival would start.
People would laugh, drink too much enchanted cider, and dance around magical bonfires.
Beverly would probably flirt with three or more bachelors.
Ruth would accidentally create at least one magical incident involving decorative wildlife.
Dolores would threaten volunteers with clipboards.
I loved it.
And somewhere inside all of that madness… Addison would still be here.
Watching. Planning. Waiting.
The thought settled heavily in my stomach.
And then Darian sneezed directly into Marcus’s face.
I burst out laughing.
Marcus closed his eyes slowly while baby gorilla drool slid down his cheek.
Darian screeched happily.
“Wow,” I managed between laughs. “Fatherhood really is beautiful. And sticky.”
Marcus gave me a flat look. “I live with savages.”
“Correction,” I said proudly. “You married into savages.”
The tiny smile that finally appeared at the corner of his mouth made the entire awful day feel just a little less heavy.
Darian made another sleepy little gorilla sound and grabbed a fistful of Marcus’s shirt.
Marcus looked down at him with complete surrender.
Yup. Absolutely doomed.
Watching the terrifying chief of Hollow Cove Security Agency get emotionally conquered by an exhausted baby gorilla was one of my favorite things on earth. That and some horizontal tango with the said chief.
Marcus sighed. “He has your crazy.”
“He has your climbing skills.”
Marcus smiled proudly. “He does.”
“And he’s stubborn,” I added. “Just like you.”
“More like you.”
I thought about it. “Right. That’s a me thing.”
Marcus narrowed his eyes slightly. Very sexy eyes. Annoyingly sexy.
My heart did a little somersault, and then my lady bits joined in.
Seriously, after everything we’d survived together, you’d think my hormones would calm down eventually.
Nope.
Still fully obsessed with my husband. Tragic really.
Marcus shifted slightly beside me, one large hand resting against my thigh while Darian drifted closer toward sleep.
And for a few moments, I let myself pretend things were normal. No revenge. No dead wereapes. No creepy emotional tension.
Just us.
Then my gaze drifted back toward the glowing laptop screen. Toward Allison’s blurry prison intake photo still sitting open.
And just like that, the heaviness came back.
Because somewhere deep down, beneath all my sarcasm and irritation and spiraling thoughts, I already knew this wasn’t over.
Not even close.
My mind drifted to Allison. Grimway Citadel wasn’t some small-town jail with lazy guards and broken locks. It was one of the most secure supernatural prisons in the world. Dangerous creatures went there specifically because getting in or out was nearly impossible.
So how the hell did a riot happen?
And more importantly... how had someone managed to reach Allison inside her cell?
Something about that didn’t add up.
And the more I thought about it, the less I liked it.