SWNOVELS Chapter 103
Chapter One Hundred and Three
"Everything."
I don't need to think about the answer. It's right on the tip of my tongue, waiting for the question. With my daughter right in front of me, there's no other possible answer. I would never give her up. If there's a choice between Merilee and anything else including myself I'm choosing Merilee. Every time.
Mia nods, that cryptic smile on her face again.
"It's how I'd answer, too," she says. "Seeing what I've seen and knowing what I know doesn't change my answer. I would give up everything to protect my children-to keep them alive." "That's why I'm here," I say. "I'm aware that it's unusual to make a deal with another species this way. I'm not my brother, Mia. I don't trust Cassian. But I don't see another way to save her."
"It will save her. The cost is steep, but she will survive it. I believe you ought to know what that cost is before we head further north, though," she says. "You're right not to trust Cassian. I saw " "Please don't tell me," I interrupt.
"Ashley-"
"No! I'm sick to death of prophecies and visions and sight! Aren't you? If we're on a path and there's no getting off it, what's the point of knowing what waits at the end? No offense, Mia, but I don't care what you saw. I'm saving my daughter, and that's that."
"I understand your frustration. I'm having a hard time adjusting to the whole gift of Sight thing myself," Mia says. "I'll be the first to admit I don't totally understand every vision. But without the Sight, I wouldn't have been able to save Cam from Cassian. We never would have known Cassian could help Merilee. There are drawbacks, sure, but sometimes it's better to be prepared."
"No," I say firmly. "I know Valaria thinks I didn't know what I was doing when I gave up my gift, but I did. I don't want prophecies anywhere near me. They've only ever brought me pain." I look away from her.
I don't want to know if she's sympathetic or not. All I really want is to curl up under the quilts, and then wake up to find out this was all one long, cruel nightmare.
"Alright. No more prophecies, then. Cam says they're making dinner. It'll be ready in an hour. I'm going to rest a while, but I'll see you downstairs," Mia says.
I get the feeling that she's giving me space more than anything. It adds another weight to the scales in my heart: another kindness she's shown me without expecting anything in return.
She shuts the door behind her and I exhale. It's the first time I've truly been alone since Blakely Island. Exhaustion hits me all at once.
I lay Merilee in the cradle before my arms give out. I drag the cradle next to the bed then curl up right on the edge so I can still see her while I rest.
My head hasn't been on the pillow two seconds when my phone rings. I slide it out of my pocket and my heart lifts at the name on the screen: Philipe. "How'd you like my welcome home present?" he asks.
His voice is smug and a touch amused.
"You mean Oliver and his brothers?" I ask. "That wasn't much of a present."
Thinking about the attack snuffs out the relief at hearing my brother's voice.
For so long, Philipe was my lifeline. He was the only person who gave a damn about me at all. I'd given up on myself and my life, but he wouldn't give up on me.
But things have changed. That attack put Merilee at risk. I'm frustrated that he didn't realize that. She needs me now.
Cassian asked Cam for me by name. Cam can't do this on his own; I have to be the one to bring Merilee to him if she's going to live.
Philipe put all of that in jeopardy without a second thought.
"Oh, come on, Ash," he says. "Consider it light hazing. A warning of sorts for the kind of behavior Eric MacPhearson can expect up here."
"I could have died!" I argue. "I don't have my wolf and even if I did, we were outnumbered. Right now, I can't bounce back from the kinds of injuries normally can. You could have orphaned my daughter! We agreed when we started all this that we weren't going to hurt innocents, not when we could help it. Who is more innocent than my daughter, Philipe?"
"I wouldn't ever let anything happen to her," he insists. "That's the reason I'm calling you. I'm trying to help. I can cure her, Ashley. I know a way to save her life, if you're willing to cooperate."
I sit up, excitement racing through me.
If there's a way to save my daughter without handing her over to Cassian, I'm all ears. Maybe this is what Mia sawan her vision. My choice is the same, no matter what. S
"I'll do anything," I promise.
"Alright," Philipe says calmly. "All you've got to do is kill your husband."