Chapter 22
Jace
As soon as Briana composed herself, she called the cops. Sammy disappeared before they showed up and I came up with a reason for being in the area. I’d driven my truck here to save time, so we just agreed to say mostly the truth. Porter had called and told me about the meeting.
“I took off as soon as he told me how upset her ex had become.”
“Why didn’t you call us immediately?” the officer asked.
I wished my buddy, Ian, had been on duty.
He was a dragon and would help us make sure the paperwork passed muster.
I couldn’t tell them that the reason the bullet hole in Bri’s car hadn’t hit Bri or Hayden was because a witch had frozen time and stopped the bullet in mid-air.
She’d gotten Briana and Hayden out of the car and then the bullet had gone forward and buried itself into Briana’s car seat.
It would’ve gone right through her chest if she’d been sitting there.
We just kept it simple and she acted all shocked. Not an act really, I was fairly sure she was in shock. “I must’ve ducked at the right time,” she whispered. “Thank goodness it didn’t hit Hayden.”
They took Damon into custody. “There’s no getting out for him this time,” the officer said.
“We’ve all been sort of following the case.
It’s a small town, we all talk. And we’ve been pretty pissed when he’s gotten off with a slap on the wrist after violating his restraining order.
We’re all ready for him to rot in jail.”
Damon glared at us out of the back of the cruiser and looked extremely confused in his anger. That had a lot to do with Sammy. She wiped a select few memories before she took off.
Speaking of memories, Hayden still clung to my neck. She sobbed or hiccupped every once in a while, not handling having watched her father try to shoot her mother. She wasn’t dealing with it well at all. I couldn’t imagine what was going on in her head.
After things were settled with the cops, I drove my girls home, to their home, and when we unlocked the door and walked in, Sammy was waiting on the couch.
“I’m going to take her to lie down,” Bri said. We’d driven my truck, as the police had to tow Bri’s car in as evidence. As soon as Bri had gotten Hay out of the truck, she’d clung to her the way she had me.
I went into the kitchen and looked for the makings of tea. Sammy followed me in. The house was quiet, so we both heard Hayden sobbing in her mom’s arms. The sound broke my heart.
Sammy put one hand on my back as I stood at the stove, waiting on the water to heat in the kettle. “He won’t bother them anymore,” she said softly. “That little girl will get past this, and you can make sure she has a wonderful life.”
“Damn straight,” I whispered. “That child will be lucky if I don’t spoil her.”
Sammy chuckled and sat at the table. We listened to Bri reassure Hayden that they were safe and well, then she began humming.
A good half hour later, Bri tiptoed down the stairs.
I held out my arms and she stepped straight into them, thank goodness.
We still hadn’t talked about us. With her head on my chest, she looked at Sammy.
“She’s out. She hasn’t napped in a long time, but after that mess, her mind needs some time to reset.
” She looked exhausted. I kept my arms around her and led her to the table to sit down, then set a mug in front of her on the table.
Bri looked at Sammy. “Can you take her memory away?” she asked. “If we can’t, she’s going to need years of therapy.”
“Shouldn’t she know the truth?” Sammy asked.
“There’s no reason I can’t tell her the truth while she thinks she wasn’t present. The only people who know she was there are us and Damon and two cops who have no reason to ever tell Hay the truth.”
Sammy nodded. “Okay. I can remove whatever parts you want me to.”
Bri chuckled, but it was strained and almost sounded like she choked. “Hayden was so excited to realize you were a witch. But I’m not so sure it’s a good idea for her to know.”
“I agree. Not at her age. Not yet.”
Sammy shrugged. “I can do the same spell on her that I do all the other children. When and if she tries to tell anyone that doesn’t already know about the supernatural world, her mind will wander to something else and she’ll forget she wanted to tell them.”
Bri looked at me for guidance. I shrugged.
“It works for us. Of course, you still need to drill into her head that she can’t tell.
The spell causes mild confusion when it’s activated and the people she’s talking to might notice that she changed the subject or something.
It’s best if she doesn’t say anything to anyone at all, but if she does, it’s effective. ”
“Okay,” she sucked in a deep breath. “Let’s do that, then.”
Sammy stood. “Let me grab the potion. And you decide what memories I should remove.” She returned in seconds and placed a small vial on the table.
“Here. Mix this into her next meal. We have to repeat the potion once a year or so. It’s better to administer it a little early, so say eleven months or so.
Set a reminder or mark your calendar. Then when she’s old enough to keep the secret on her own, you simply don’t administer it anymore. ”
Bri nodded. “Can you make her think she fell asleep in the car and woke up in her bed? I’ll tell her the story when she’s older about her father and tell her it happened before I got her from her room.”
Sammy nodded. “I can do that. Hayden won’t remember a thing. She’ll just think she fell asleep in the car.”
Tears coursed down Bri’s cheeks. “I think it’s best,” she whispered.
Every tear that fell broke my heart a little more.
Bri stood and grabbed my hand. “We’ll show you to her room.”
She wanted me to go with her. Was it wrong for me to be happy about that even as I was upset about everything that had happened? Maybe. But I was.
Sammy sat on the bed and put her hand on Hayden’s head. A dim glow shone from under her palm for a second before she removed it. “It’s done,” she whispered. “She’ll sleep until morning without dreaming.”
We filed back downstairs. “I’ll leave you two to talk.” She pulled Bri into a hug. “I’m glad you’re okay, and I’m so sorry we had to meet this way.”
Bri echoed the sentiment. “I’m glad to know you, Sammy, and so thankful for you. If we hadn’t met Jace and you, I’d be dead right now and my little girl would’ve grown up in a much different world.”
We sat on the couch and Bri snuggled in close to me. “I can’t believe all this,” she whispered. “It’s so shocking.”
“Agreed. Do you want to sit here for a while or talk about what you wanted to talk about over dinner?”
She nuzzled closer. “I wanted to tell you that I love you. I wanted to tell you I was sorry for freaking out and getting angry, and that we’d find a way to make it work, all of it. I’m glad fate chose us for one another, and I want to be your mate or your wife, or whatever works best for us.”
She looked up at me with big, scared eyes, and my heart melted into a puddle that belonged to her. But then her gaze turned from hopeful and wary to overwhelmed. “I almost died today,” she whispered.
I pulled her close, into my lap, and rocked her as she cried.
“My daughter would’ve been without a mother,” she wailed.
Good thing Hayden was in a magical sleep because I’d learned something new about my mate.
She cried loudly. “I was terrified,” she choked out between sobs.
“And then there you were. You saved us.”
“As long as I’m alive, you and Hayden will be safe.
” I continued to rock her. “We’ll raise Hayden knowing about dragons and witches.
She’ll be human, but she’ll know. She’ll be a very special little girl for that.
No humans know other than mates.” My talking seemed to be soothing her, so I kept going.
“Maybe one day she’ll meet a dragon, and maybe she’ll meet a human, but whatever happens in her life, she’ll be safe and loved.
And she’ll have a whole clan of dragons to protect her.
They would’ve all come running in an instant if I’d called them, you know that? ”
She shook her head against my chest.
“Oh, yes. The entire clan came out to fight the witch that tried to steal Skye’s babies from her.”
Bri sat straight upright. “What?” she asked in a near shout.
“Well, it was more complicated than that, but the entire clan came, and then the clan rebuilt the house after it burned down.”
Bri slapped my chest. “You’re messing with me.”
“I’m not! It’s not my story to tell, but Skye will have to forgive me for distracting you.” I proceeded to tell her the story of how Skye found out about Anthony being a dragon and what happened after.
By the time I finished, she was much calmer. “Oh, Jace,” she whispered. “I’m sorry it took me all week to figure this out, but I’m not totally on board.”
“What’s still bothering you?”
“The bite. It’s a lot. I’m not sure I’m ready for that.”
I growled low in my chest. “We’ll wait as long as it takes until you are ready. You and Hayden are my future and that’s not going to change, bite or no bite.”
She snuggled closer and we sat on the couch in each other’s arms until we were both starved.
After we ate, she asked me to stay with her.
We lay down and I was pretty excited for what would come, but the trauma of the day had her completely exhausted.
She was asleep with her mouth hanging open within minutes.
And that was okay, too. I snuggled close and spent most of the night awake, marveling at how my life had changed for the better since spring.
The next morning it was clear that Sammy’s magic had worked. Hayden bounded down the stairs with a big smile on her face. “Jace!” she yelled. “You’re here!”
I hugged her while Bri watched us, looking very relieved.
Halfway through breakfast, my phone rang. It was Porter. “Hayden, your mother and I are going to take this outside. We need to talk to my brother. Are you good to sit here and eat your food?” I asked.
She nodded. “Yeah, you put syrup on my pancakes, and Mom never does.”
I snorted and Bri burst out laughing. “Kiddo, you and I are gonna get along fine.”
Out the back door, on her small patio, I put the phone on speaker but turned it way down so Hayden wouldn’t catch any of it. Bri stood close to listen.
“Okay, Porter, whatcha got?” I asked.
“Damon will no longer be a problem. His multiple restraining order violations and him carrying a gun with intent to harm are going to have him locked up for an exceptionally long time. And I think the DA is going for attempted murder, since he actually discharged the weapon.”
I looked at Bri with a big smile on my face.
Now I could focus completely on my girls and claim my family.