Chapter 21 - Damian
“Which one do you like better, Danny?”
“Ah, I don’t know, Ma. It’s so hard to choose. They’re all good,” Daniel groans, staring at the platter full of desserts on the table suspended across my lap. He uses his spoon and points to the tiramisu as if he’s finally putting his sword down.
“This one,” he says reluctantly, and a smirk grows across my face.
“That’s my favorite, too,” I chuckle, glancing at Poppy and seeing her eyes twinkling as she stares at our son.
“What about you, Ma? Which one do you like?”
“Hm…” Poppy narrows her eyes at the range of desserts spread out on the table, brought over by my mother this morning.
“I’ll put my bet on the passionfruit cheesecake,” I whisper, throwing a wink at Poppy when she looks up and blushes.
She smiles playfully as she nods slowly. “Yes. That is my favorite. Especially the way Luna Diane makes it.”
Ten years later, some things haven’t changed. Heat crawls on my face as I stare at Poppy, recalling those memories from the past when I used to grab a bowl of Mom’s cheesecake before meeting Poppy on the cliff for a night out.
We’d gaze at the stars as I’d feed spoonfuls of her favorite dessert to her. The only pang of regret I have is that last night on the cliff, when I hesitated to make the obvious choice and claim her as my mate.
There’s also more lingering regret about the weeks leading up to that night, when I’d been pulling away from her without realizing it.
I notice she’s staring at me with confusion etched in her brows, and I clear my throat, turning to Daniel.
“Hey, Danny,” I tap his arm, “have you shown your mom that thing you’ve been keeping for her?”
“Oh, yeah!’ Daniel exclaims, reaching into his pocket before producing the gold chain with the dangling pendant. He holds it out to Poppy. “Here, Ma. I found this when those bad women got you to the warehouse. They ripped it off your neck and threw it aside. The clip is broken.”
Poppy’s lips tremble, her eyes instantly welling with tears as she reaches for the chain. “Oh, Danny…” she whispers. “You found my mother’s necklace. I thought I lost it for good.”
Daniel shakes his head. “Well, I had it with me this whole time. It’s what gave me strength and hope that Dad was gonna save us.”
Poppy lifts her eyes to him as she closes her hand on the necklace, another reaching out to touch his cheek.
“I am so proud of you, Daniel,” she tells him. “And I am so sorry that I didn’t tell you about your father sooner.”
Daniel proudly puffs out his chest as he throws me a smile. “Oh, I kinda knew he was my dad when I met him outside the pack center that one day.” He shrugs. “I dreamt about it that night. That’s why I wasn’t worried when you went missing. I knew you two needed time to talk things through.”
Poppy’s eyes widen as she glances at me, and all I can do is shrug.
Ever since Poppy saved me from the attack yesterday and healed me, we’ve barely had time to speak about things. When I woke up this morning, I just knew that Poppy somehow emerged as a very powerful witch who saved us all from the dark witches last night.
Dorian came by to see me this morning and told me what happened when Poppy used her magic on me. It was a miracle, and everyone seems to be in awe of her.
That’s why I waited until she came to visit me in the hospital, saving the desserts Mother sent for me so that we could share them. I was hardly surprised when Daniel accompanied her to see me, and I’m just glad that mother and son have been reunited.
Whatever powers have awakened in Poppy must have somehow brushed off on Daniel for him to have figured out that I was his father even before anyone told him the truth.
I clear my throat and draw Daniel’s attention deliberately. “Son, Uncle Dorian said he’ll be waiting for you in the lobby. Do you wanna go to his house? Your mother and I need to talk.”
Daniel nods and immediately slides off the bed. “Sure! I don’t mind. Uncle Dorian and I have a deal, anyway.”
“Yeah? What kind of deal?” I ask him.
“I get paid every time I babysit Damita!”
Daniel is at the door in the blink of an eye. “Bye, Ma! Bye, Dad!”
With that, he races out of the room, shutting the door behind him.
From where she’s seated on a chair beside the bed, Poppy sighs, staring at the necklace in her hand.
“I really thought I lost this,” she mumbles to herself.
I stick out a hand toward her. “Want me to get it fixed for you?”
Poppy smiles hesitantly as she passes the necklace to me. “I hope you don’t plan on doing that anytime soon. You still need to rest.”
“Oh, I know.” I give her my most charming smile as I tuck the necklace into my pants pocket under the covers, making a mental note to have the jeweler make a matching piece that’s long overdue as a gift.
As I draw my hand out, I pick up the cheesecake, a spoon, and pass them to her.
“Wanna have the rest of this dessert with me? I don’t know what my mother was thinking, sending over this much sugar.”
Poppy giggles as she takes the tub. “Well, like everyone else, she was worried. You almost died.”
“Yeah, but you saved me. Why don’t you tell me how you did that?”
Poppy bites her bottom lip as she lifts her eyes to mine. “You’ve probably heard about it from Dorian, and everyone else who’s been fussing over me since last night, treating me like I’m something special.”
I arch one brow and cock my head to the side as I watch her casually put a spoonful of dessert between her lips.
She huffs as she swallows. “Fine. I’ll tell you what happened…”
Poppy proceeds to tell me all about what she saw during the ritual, shocking me when she describes the Moon Goddess who came to her because her soul called out for help.
Though I’m surprised by everything Poppy just told me, I’m not shocked by learning that she’s something different.
I saw how tirelessly Aoife and the Golden Raven Sisters worked to find a way to undo the curse on Poppy and extract the poison from her.
I may have had a certain…twisted opinion about witches…but I have come to realize that not all witches are bad. And if Poppy emerged as a witch, discovering previously hidden gifts, how can I possibly dislike witches?
“…There’s a part of me that believes it wasn’t just my soul that called out for her, but yours, too.”
I frown. “Mine?”
Poppy nods thoughtfully. “It’s not something I consciously remember—calling out to Her Holiness. But I do remember hearing your voice in my trance…” She tapers off, pressing her lips into a firm line as she turns away.
“What did you hear me say?”
She gulps, visibly uncomfortable with the question. “I don’t know exactly what she meant when she told me to remember who I am,” Poppy sighs.
“I think you are special, Poppy,” I declare with certainty and a soft smile when she finally returns her eyes to mine. “This is a big deal, you know? We probably wouldn’t have made it out alive if you didn’t come to that battlefield.”
Poppy takes a deep breath and stares at her palm, inspecting her fingers as she wiggles them. “Yeah…I’m just not used to it, I guess,” she shrugs.
“You didn’t answer my question…” I remind her with a hint of amusement in my voice.
Poppy looks up, bewildered. “What question?”
“What did I say to you while you were in the trance?”
“Damian, I—” she begins, then stops abruptly.
I chuckle, suddenly feeling the same nervousness I once felt when I asked her out many years ago.
“It’s okay, Poppy.” The sound fades as I become more serious, realizing that I shouldn’t be wasting any more time between us.
Ten years is way too long.
“I don’t know if you heard what I said when I held you in my arms in front of that fire,” I say earnestly, “but I’ll tell you anyway.”
Poppy simply stares at me as I continue.
“I told you I loved you. Always have—”
“Always will,” she finishes for me.
One corner of my lips turns up in a smirk. “So, you did hear me.”
Poppy lowers her chin and averts her eyes as she blushes profusely. “For a while I thought I was imagining it.”
“You weren’t, because it’s true,” I admit, turning my face away when a bout of shame comes over me.
“I love you, Poppy. I’ve loved you since the start of our friendship, and I’ve loved you even in the time of your absence.
” I turn my face back and meet her teary eyes.
“I’ve always loved you, and I failed you. ”
She shakes her head slowly. “I allowed my insecurities to make me do very stupid, impulsive things. I never should have left—”
“No,” I say firmly. “I don’t want us going forward with any regrets.”
I let out a determined breath and pulled the covers off me, sliding my legs off the side of the bed.
“Damian, what are you doing?!” Poppy exclaims and shoots to her feet. “You’re not well, and you need to be lying down.”
I chuckle, though I’m touched by her concern, and begin peeling off the bandage that covers my chest over one shoulder and under one arm. “Look. You’ve healed me. I’m fine.”
Poppy gasps as she steps closer, reaching out with both hands to touch my chest where a ghastly wound almost had me bleeding out last night. I close my eyes momentarily and bask in the warmth of her fingers on my flesh, and when I open them again, she’s staring at me with soft eyes.
“I thought I lost you,” she whispers, and that’s when I reach out to cup her cheek.
“You won’t get rid of me that easily, Poppy,” I chuckle. “I had to survive. I needed to hear if you feel the same way.”
“Of course, I do, Damian,” she whimpers, her bottom lip trembling like she’s on the verge of crying. “I love you, too, and I told you that last night.”
My lips curve into a mischievous smile. “I know. I heard you.”
Poppy gasps and playfully smacks my shoulder. “You sneaky ba—gah!”
She’s startled when I suddenly grab her and pull her onto my lap, our lips so close that I can taste her just from her breath. Her hand slides over my shoulder, snaking up through the hair at the back of my head.
“What was that? Sneaky bastard, huh?” I tease playfully, skimming a hand on her side until my fingers find the hem of her T-shirt.
“Yes…yes, you are…” she breathes, visibly flustered.