Rasha yelled.
Hiro cringed. “Sorry, peanut… you know Basil said one, too, right?”
Rasha waved him off. “He’s allowed.”
Hiro’s eyebrows rose, and I bit back a laugh as he asked, “Why is he allowed, and I’m not?”
“He’s a witch, duh, and you’re my Daddy,” she replied as if that answered the question. Which to be fair, it kinda did. She’d been around enough cursing witches for that to make sense.
Hiro’s eyes met mine again, and I couldn’t help but chuckle. Luckily, his eyes were filled with amusement.
We finally headed across the street and as soon as we hit the sidewalk, Rasha let go of my hand, and asked Hiro, “Can I play outside?”
“Sure, peanut. You know the rules; stay in our yard, and no running—”
“In the street!” she finished.
Hiro grinned at her, then stepped closer to me and grabbed the back of my neck. His thumb rubbed the back of my neck as he whispered, “Want to have dinner here with just the three of us?”
“That would be nice.” While we had meals at my house often, we usually had Niya there, too. Plus, it’d be nice for them to do one last dinner here, and kinda sweet that he wanted me with them.
“Of course I want you with us, witch.” He rolled his eyes. “For fuck’s sake.”
I snorted. “Are you cooking?”
“We haven’t been here for a month, there’s no food in the house.”
“Guess we’re ordering.”
He leaned in for a kiss, but right before our lips met, he whispered, “Do you feel that?”
It took me a second to figure out what he meant— having him this close meant my libido was in overdrive—but I took a breath and ignored him. As soon as I did, I felt it. A dark, ominous presence nearby.
Pushing away from him, I said in my head to Hiro, I feel it. Can you tell what it is?
He was still getting used to the telepathy thing, but he answered easily enough. It’s not anything I’ve ever come across. I can tell ya what it’s not, but not what it is, if that makes sense.
It does. Shit. The strange dark presence seemed to move closer, so I said, “Get Rasha and get inside.”
“Basil—”
“Now, Hiro!”
“I can’t leave you out here alone. Come in with us.”
“No, I gotta see what’s coming. Get her inside.”
He hesitated, then nodded, ran over, and grabbed Rasha from the other side of the yard, and they disappeared inside the house.
Jorah, Thayer, I might need you.
We’re already on our way, Jorah said. It didn’t even surprise me.
I brought my power to the surface, ready to fight whatever this thing was, but almost as suddenly as it appeared, it seemed to disappear entirely. Pulling my magic back, I glanced around, but the thing was gone.
Guys, it disappeared, and I don’t want to leave Hiro and Rasha unprotected.
Thayer said, We’re almost there, so we’ll scan the area and see if we can find anything. Stay with your family.
Thanks.
Hiro’s voice made me jump. “It’s gone.”
I turned to find him on the porch. “I know. What the hell was that?”
“I’m not sure, but maybe we should get back to coven land and do this another day?”
I nodded. “Yeah, let’s get Rasha home.”
A half-smile pulled up on his lips. “Yeah, baby, let’s go home.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Hiro
After making my way out of the big house unnoticed—I’d grabbed a basket of bread to take back to our house—I rushed all the way back to Basil’s house—our house—ready to fix some sandwiches for lunch. It had been a week since we felt that weird energy at my old house. Bas and I had gone back a couple of times to pick up our belongings, but we hadn’t taken Rasha with us, just in case.
I heard whispers coming from the back porch, so after setting down the basket, I followed the sound and found Basil and Rasha sitting on the top step with their heads together, speaking quietly. Basil knew I was there, but he didn’t turn around because his entire focus was on my daughter. Leaning against the doorframe, I watched them with a small smile on my face. Every time I observed Bas with my daughter, my heart seemed to grow, and the feelings I had for my viramore exploded. He was so good with her, and the fact I could feel how much he loved her… meant the world to me. He loved her like she was his own, and it was a beautiful thing to see.
Basil pulled out something from his pocket and