Page 9

Wynter, back before she died and reincarnated as herself, saved him.

He loved her so much for that.

Both versions of her.

Still fighting to pull his mind out of that other place, Nick blinked at the couch directly in front of him.

Once he focused there, he saw a little girl sitting up from a pile of fuzzy blue and pink blankets and stuffed animals. She rubbed her eyes, blinking just like he had. She gasped a little as she caught her breath from some dream. Her mussed hair looked like two cats were fighting and hissing at one another on top of her head.

She crawled over a big, extremely fluffy purple cushion and sat there, in between a stuffed unicorn and a stuffed dinosaur.

That same little girl, the one who’d been asleep on that couch when Nick last saw her, suddenly noticed Nick standing there.

Taking him in with a sweeping glance, she gaped at him.

She stared up at him with wide eyes, her jaw hanging.

She looked utterly, completely shocked.

She looked like he’d just blown her little baby-seer mind.

Nick frowned.

Then, realizing it really washimthat had shocked her, he looked down at himself.

He was naked.

He was completely fucking stark naked.

He didn’t speak.

He streaked back up the stairs. He slammed and bumbled his way into the closet, threw on underwear and a pair of pants, yanked a T-shirt over his head, then grabbed a thicker one off a hangar to shoulder on over the T-shirt.

He put every stitch of clothing on with a scowl on his face.

But at least he knew the kid wasn’t dead.

At least he knew a vampire hadn’t snapped her neck.

She was perfectly fine.

Why the hell had he screamed?

His headset pinged from the night table.

Nick walked over with a scowl and scooped it up, arranging it over his ear.

His wife’s voice rose on the other side, sounding much more awake than his.

“Nick?” Her voice sharpened a touch. “Are you and Tai okay? What is going on?”

“We’re fine. The kid just gave me a damned heart attack, screaming bloody murder from the couch.” He spoke through same scowl, yanking the heavy shirt around his shoulders to cover his chest. He immediately buttoned up the long-sleeved flannel. “Everything’s fine though, honey. Kid just scared me, like I said.”

“She wasscreaming?”Wynter’s alarm grew more prominent. “Did you just say she was screaming downstairs? Why? Why was she screaming?”

Nick shrugged, letting her see it through his avatar. “A dream? I don’t know. I was about to go find out.”

“Oh. Okay.”