The Dragon's Fate - Roxie Ray Page 0,63
of memories, Hayden still clung to my neck. She sobbed or hiccupped every once in a while, not handling having watched her father try to shoot her mother. She wasn’t dealing with it well at all. I couldn’t imagine what was going on in her head.
After things were settled with the cops, I drove my girls home, to their home, and when we unlocked the door and walked in, Sammy was waiting on the couch.
“I’m going to take her to lie down,” Bri said. We’d driven my truck, as the police had to tow Bri’s car in as evidence. As soon as Bri had gotten Hay out of the truck, she’d clung to her the way she had me.
I went into the kitchen and looked for the makings of tea. Sammy followed me in. The house was quiet, so we both heard Hayden sobbing in her mom’s arms. The sound broke my heart.
Sammy put one hand on my back as I stood at the stove, waiting on the water to heat in the kettle. “He won’t bother them anymore,” she said softly. “That little girl will get past this, and you can make sure she has a wonderful life.”
“Damn straight,” I whispered. “That child will be lucky if I don’t spoil her.”
Sammy chuckled and sat at the table. We listened to Bri reassure Hayden that they were safe and well, then she began humming.
A good half hour later, Bri tiptoed down the stairs. I held out my arms and she stepped straight into them, thank goodness. We still hadn’t talked about us. With her head on my chest, she looked at Sammy. “She’s out. She hasn’t napped in a long time, but after that mess, her mind needs some time to reset.” She looked exhausted. I kept my arms around her and led her to the table to sit down, then set a mug in front of her on the table.
Bri looked at Sammy. “Can you take her memory away?” she asked. “If we can’t, she’s going to need years of therapy.”
“Shouldn’t she know the truth?” Sammy asked.
“There’s no reason I can’t tell her the truth while she thinks she wasn’t present. The only people who know she was there are us and Damon and two cops who have no reason to ever tell Hay the truth.”
Sammy nodded. “Okay. I can remove whatever parts you want me to.”
Bri chuckled, but it was strained and almost sounded like she choked. “Hayden was so excited to realize you were a witch. But I’m not so sure it’s a good idea for her to know.”
“I agree. Not at her age. Not yet.”
Sammy shrugged. “I can do the same spell on her that I do all the other children. When and if she tries to tell anyone that doesn’t already know about the supernatural world, her mind will wander to something else and she’ll forget she wanted to tell them.”
Bri looked at me for guidance. I shrugged. “It works for us. Of course, you still need to drill into her head that she can’t tell. The spell causes mild confusion when it’s activated and the people she’s talking to might notice that she changed the subject or something. It’s best if she doesn’t say anything to anyone at all, but if she does, it’s effective.”
“Okay,” she sucked in a deep breath. “Let’s do that, then.”
Sammy stood. “Let me grab the potion. And you decide what memories I should remove.” She returned in seconds and placed a small vial on the table. “Here. Mix this into her next meal. We have to repeat the potion once a year or so. It’s better to administer it a little early, so say eleven months or so. Set a reminder or mark your calendar. Then when she’s old enough to keep the secret on her own, you simply don’t administer it anymore.”
Bri nodded. “Can you make her think she fell asleep in the car and woke up in her bed? I’ll tell her the story when she’s older about her father and tell her it happened before I got her from her room.”
Sammy nodded. “I can do that. Hayden won’t remember a thing. She’ll just think she fell asleep in the car.”
Tears coursed down Bri’s cheeks. “I think it’s best,” she whispered.
Every tear that fell broke my heart a little more.
Bri stood and grabbed my hand. “We’ll show you to her room.”
She wanted me to go with her. Was it wrong for me to be happy about that