Page 87 of The Monster's Daughter

“Well?” she pants, cheeks flushed. “Was I weird?”

I snort. “Yeah. In the best way.”

She beams, tail swishing madly. “Did I talk too fast? I forgot the part about Sorena teaching me to tie my boots. Should I have?—”

“Kid,” I interrupt, brushing a strand of hair off her forehead, “you were perfect.”

She slumps against me, boneless with relief. “I was so scared.”

“I know,” I whisper. “That’s why it was brave.”

Bella reaches us then, arms wrapping around both of us, pressing kisses into Natalie’s hair. “You were amazing.”

“Can we get fries now?” Natalie mumbles into my chest.

I laugh. “You can get fries, noodles, cake, a pony—whatever you want.”

“Fries and a pony,” she decides. “But only if the pony has horns.”

Later, when the crowd disperses and the building empties, Bella and I sit on a bench under the shade of an artificial tree, watching Natalie run wild on the school green. She’s shifted now—small scaled wings flickering, her form bouncing between humanoid and dragonlet. The other kids don’t run. They chase her.

“She’s gonna be okay,” Bella says softly, her fingers twined with mine.

I nod. “Better than okay.”

“She’s... she’s never going to feel what we did, is she?” Her voice trembles slightly. “The shame. The self-loathing.”

“No,” I say. “Not if we can help it.”

She turns to me. “We did this.”

“No,” I correct, squeezing her hand. “She did this. We just gave her the bones to stand on.”

She leans into me. “Kage?”

“Yeah?”

“I love you.”

My chest swells with something beyond language. I don’t say anything back.

I just press my forehead to hers, and let that be enough.

For now.

CHAPTER 49

BELLA

It starts with a message.

No subject line. Just a ping on the old comm-band I haven’t touched in months—the one buried so deep in the encryption net only a ghost would remember how to reach it.

Sender: [UNKNOWN]

Tag: REDLEVEL: INFORMAL

Content: “They’re moving again. Fractured. Desperate. Some want to rebuild. Others want you. Stay alert.”