Chapter 43

On the rickety old docks at the edge of the city, Tessa swayed back and forth with the sea breeze, and she glanced down in her arms to the little gold monster bundled in her black baby blanket. "Shh. Momma's coming for you, don't you worry."

The sizzle of his healing fingertips grazed the skin at the back of her neck. And Tessa shielded her eyes from the blinding light of the Healer's energy as he came to kneel beside her. "Hello, Rohi."

Even in her dreams, she understood he wasn't real, but she gathered his chin in her palm anyway to kiss him. "I love you. Wherever you are, I'll find you."

Soft lips kissed at her palm, and his hand covered hers against his cheek. "There is no distance between us." Their joined hands moved to his chest. "I have always been right here with you, and I always will be."

While his fingers rubbed over their baby's forehead, he licked the tear from his lip and smiled. "When you are ready to know the truth, we will be waiting where our love's miracle was made. Always waiting."

The dim light of morning came through the curtains, and as the sun grew hotter against her face, the pint-sized witch's eyes fluttered open.

Though she was covered in massive, tattooed bodies on both sides of her, the ache of loneliness started at the top of her head. By the time it sprang from her throat in little whimpers, she slapped her hand to her mouth to contain it.

After she wiggled her way down the bed, she slid out the bottom and left them snoring under thick white blankets.

The door to Marissa's room was squeaky, and she scrunched her face together before she pushed it open. Her very image laid before her and smiled at peaceful dreams, and she leaned down to kiss her forehead.

As her fingers wiggled and crawled with her magic, each cluttered item left behind by her family the night before found its right place while she inched silently across the house. And as she came to the door, she yanked her old silk cloak from the hook on the wall.

The once-great Queen was little more than the housewife she swore she'd never be, and a tear dripped from her cheek at how she hated her life.

The rounded wooden door of the little cottage she shared with the two Lycan men and their daughter clicked shut behind her as Tessa sneaked out into the early morning air. The salty breeze that blew in from the sea through the city carried with it a familiar mixture of clove and cinnamon and brought a smile to her face as she strolled along the path to Haldir and Mory's house.

Even if it was only her imagination that ran wild again, she savored every moment of it. The feeling of his lips on hers still lingered, and she rubbed at it with her fingertips while she whispered the song to herself. "I sleep…"

The sensation of being examined from afar like a lab rat never left her, and as she crept down the pebble lane, she peeked back over her shoulder. "Who's there?"

Still every day in her mind, they danced, but she hoped just one time that he would answer her as she searched the woods around them. "Is that you, Baby?"

She was a slave to the sins of her past, and she understood that the good part of her was gone forever. Still, it ached in her throat, and she cleared it as she wiped the tears from her face. "Of course, it's not. It never is."

But she glanced back to the woods behind her one more time anyway as her knuckles clacked on Haldir's door. And when Mory's muffled voice came from the other side — "Come on in" — a blast of hot air blew up into Tessa's face.

At the kitchen table, Mory glanced up from the pile of clothes she sifted through, but her warm smile withered when she noticed the blackness that consumed Tessa. But the prideful icon, plastered on her fakest smile as she searched the living room. "Hey, beautiful. Where's that handsome little brother of mine? He's got a couple of chubby cheeks that need proper kissing, and I'm just the big sister to do it."

A tiny blue shirt snapped out as Mory jerked it, and then it folded over her underneath her palm. "He and your father are out on the town picking up chicks, I think." The wicker basket she dropped the stack of clothes in slid from the table, and Mory motioned to sit with a tip of her head. "You want some tea?"

There was still a flush to her bronzed skin, and Tessa fanned at her face as she pulled the bench back with her pointed toe boot. "Sure."

The widowed witch always carried an aura of sadness wherever she went, but it consumed her this morning like a giant black bear had her in its grasp. "Is something wrong?" Mory's shoulder bunched up to her ear as she looked back over it. "You seem kind of off this morning."

She was too proud to ever admit that anything could shake her, and Tessa pushed out her lips and wagged her head no. "Nothing new." Her thumb pointed over her shoulder quickly before she went back to rubbing her fingernails against the table's wood grains. "Those two fools I live with have baby fever again. As soon as they realized that their little girl was about to leave the nest, they started pawing at me like a couple of horny teenagers."

A cup landed in front of her, and Mory yanked the chair free from the head of the table to sit beside her. "Do you think you'll have more kids someday?"

As she slid her finger around the top of the mug, Tessa curled her lips under and shook her head. "Not with them, that's for damn sure."

A steady stream of air blew from Mory's lips as she cooled her drink, but one eyebrow rose to her daughter. "You need to get them a pet or something to occupy them."

Both her bony shoulders jumped up as Tessa laughed out. "I need to find them a damn girlfriend is what I need to do."

Though she hated the both of them, Mory sighed as she looked to the window. "I don't know, they both seem just crazy about you."

"Crazy about me?" Both arms crossed her chest as Tessa's naughty eyebrow dared Mory to pretend she didn't know the truth. "Come on now. You and Haldir have been together for a while, and I'm sure he's told you everything." Her finger shot out to point at Mory. "You know as well as I do why they want to keep me barefoot and pregnant."

The guilt of keeping secrets from Tessa was heavy, and it was always at the tip of her tongue. "So, what's going to happen when he shows up? What do you reckon you'll do?"

Her fingertips moved over her cheek as Tessa's pointy chin moved back and forth and she cleared her throat. "He's not coming for me." The bright sun crawled over the roof of the next house to cover Tessa's face, and the path of her future became clear in an instant. "But once Marissa gets married next year, I'm leaving the Woods. I have to find him; my soul won't ever be at peace until I do."