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14

Istood in theloft’s entryway, staring at the double doors, Gavin at my side. He had replaced my clothes with upgraded versions of the same—leggings and a short-sleeved shirt—but the quality and fabrics were far superior. I fiddled with the hem of the plum-colored silk tunic, unused to wearing something so soft.

“All will be well,” Gavin murmured, his confident tone rolling through me.

I glanced at him. My focus dropped from his face to the new sigil that had appeared on his neck during ourcommunion, centered on where I had bitten him and wrapping all the way around to form a collar. His existing sigils, with the phases of the moon at its core, seemed to have rearranged themselves around the complex design, with the full moon now positioned directly over the spot where my bite mark had vanished.

Gavin cocked his head to the side just a smidge, and his focus shifted to the doors, then back to me. “He’s here.”

My throat was suddenly parched, my heart hammering. I shook my head, slowly at first, then more vehemently. “I can’t do this,” I said, my voice breathy. All my earlier certainty evaporated. What if revealing the truth drove him away? “I can’t tell him.”

The doors opened inward, admitting first Thane, then Micah, my sweet, handsome, and very confused boy, dressed in his usual jeans and hooded sweatshirt. I could see some of myself in him, especially in his eyes, but his overall appearance, from his darker coloring to his bone structure, was all Wes.

Micah scanned the loft, then Gavin, and finally, his attention locked on me. “Sophie?” he asked, a quizzical wrinkle between his brows. He stopped in front of me. “What’s going on?”

Thane retreated into the landing, pulling the doors shut.

“I’ll give you a moment,” Gavin said, turning and walking into the living room.

Micah’s brow furrowed further. “Soph?”

I tried to smile, but the attempt mostly just resulted in twitching cheeks. “Iwillexplain everything, but first you need to know—” I took a deep breath, my entire body trembling.

Micah’s features softened, and he looked so much like Wes at that moment that it hurt my heart. “You’re my mother—my birth mother,” he said. “I know.”

My lips parted, and I shook my head, at a complete loss for words. “You—but,how?”

Micah averted his stare to the floor, his expression turning sheepish. “About a year ago, you gave me your wallet to buy us coffee. I didn’t mean to snoop, but I found a photo of you as a teenager with some guy. You were super pregnant, and the guy looked just like me.” Micah shrugged one shoulder. “I took a pic with my phone, and the more I looked at it, the more I had to know. So, I borrowed some of your hair and had the DNAcompared to mine.” He smiled gently, sweetly, and his eyebrows rose. “It was a match.”

I shook my head, searching for words. “But you didn’t say anything about it.” Because he was angry with me for giving him up? My chin trembled and tears welled. “I–I couldn’t—I didn’twantto do it,” I said, my voice wobbly. The tears spilled over. “I didn’t want to give you up, but I was so young, and Wes was gone, and it wasn’t safe, and—”

Micah stepped forward and wrapped his arms around me. “I’m not mad,” he said, his tone soothing.

It was the first time he had ever hugged me. My baby, all grown up. Wes’s son. He was an excellent hugger, just like his dad had been, making me feel safe and loved and like he would never let me go. What remained of my composure crumbled. I wrapped my arms around him, gripping the back of his sweatshirt tightly as I fell to pieces against him.

“I love my parents,” Micah said. “I’ve had a great life.”

A sob tore out of my chest, and Micah’s arms tightened around me.

“But it’s even better now that I have you, too.”

I shook my head against his shoulder. “You might not feel that way after I tell you everything.”

“Like what?” Micah asked. “That you’re filthy rich? I mean, look at this place.”

I let out a quiet, shaky laugh. “It’s not mine.”

“Technically, itisyours,” Gavin corrected from the living room behind me.

I ignored the vampire, unable to handle that revelation right now, and pulled back enough that I could see Micah’s face. I scanned his features, memorizing them for fear that this would be the last time I ever saw him. There was a very good chance that he would run from me after what I was about to share with him.

“Come and sit,” I said, stepping away and guiding him to the couch. “And I’ll tell you my story.”

15

“Okay, wow,” Micah said,rubbing his hands over his clean-shaven face as he processed everything I had just dumped on him. He combed his fingers through his short, slightly unkempt dark brown curls and slumped back in his armchair.

I perched on the edge of the sofa, hunched forward, my elbows resting on my knees. Beside me, Gavin sat with his knees spread wide, one arm extended behind me along the top of the couch back.