Boundary Born (Boundary Magic Book 3) - Melissa F. Olson Page 0,106

every day, changing diapers and singing songs and stepping on Legos. Having an aunt is great. Having a parent is imperative.”

His face softened as he finally relented. He reached out and squeezed my good fingers. “I love you,” he said softly.

“I love you, too. And I love Charlie.”

“I know you do, Allie. She’s as much yours as she is mine.” He gave my fingers a final squeeze and stood up. “I should let you rest now.”

I snagged his hand. “Hang on. Can I borrow your phone for a minute?”

He raised an eyebrow, not unlike Quinn, but handed it over. I opened a new text message and addressed it to all the members of my family, including my parents. By the time I got all the names in I was sick of typing with one hand, so I gave it back to John to take dictation. “FYI, Lex was in a minor car accident last night, getting checked out at BCH. She’s fine, just a broken wrist.” It didn’t hurt that my actual car was in the shop by now, thanks to Simon’s arrangements.

Before he could hit “Send,” I asked John, “What do you think for emoticons?” I pretended to give the matter serious thought. “Is there one with like a tiny ambulance? Maybe an exploding car?”

“I do not emoticon,” he said airily as he sent the text. He pocketed the phone and kissed my forehead. “I’ll come visit in the morning with Charlie, okay?”

“That would be nice.”

As he walked away, a thought sprang to life in my brain, out of nowhere, and I heard myself blurt, “Hey, John? What made you decide to go to Disney World?”

He paused on his way to the door. For a moment he looked bewildered. “I . . . I don’t know. I wasn’t planning on it or anything. I was just going to do a dinner for Charlie’s birthday, keep things low-key, but then . . . I don’t know.”

I waved him on. “Never mind. I’m just glad you guys had fun.”

When he had disappeared down the hall, I let the smile fade from my face, feeling a sudden ache of grief. Emil. He must have gotten one of the Denver vampires to press John into taking Charlie and my parents out of town. I was sure it hadn’t been Lysander—he would have just killed anyone in his path. Hell, he’d probably told Emil to kill John, Charlie, and my parents to pave the way for Emil to swoop in and pose as my long-lost family member. But my brother had chosen to spare them. Charlie was, after all, his niece, too.

Maybe Sam had been right about Emil after all.

Chapter 42

After John left, I called Elise to check in. I had to spend a little time reassuring her that I was okay and she didn’t need to visit me in the hospital. As much as I loved my cousin, if anyone would recognize that my injuries didn’t line up with my cover story, it would be her.

“Oh, hey,” I said after convincing her not to rush over. “My friend Lily thought she saw you at her yoga class last night. Any chance it was actually you?” Elise had exactly as much patience for yoga as I did.

There was a pause, and then Elise said, “Nah, I don’t think so.”

“Don’t think so?”

“I, um, drank most of a bottle of wine last night,” she admitted. “I passed out on the couch at like eight-thirty, woke up with weird bruises. I don’t think I got up and made my way to drunken yoga, but if asked to testify under oath . . .”

I laughed. We talked a little bit about her recent pressures at work and how the police were starting to think the two dead bodies were just a bizarre coincidence. Maybe Quinn could nudge that theory along a bit. She didn’t mention any weirdness at the Botanic Gardens, which just meant that the cleanup crew in Denver had done its job. If the poor security guard’s body was ever found, they would make sure there was an obvious cause of death.

I checked myself out of the hospital a few hours later, ignoring the protests of two doctors and several nurses. They really just wanted me to rest in bed for the next few days, though, and I could do that at the house. As a concession to their efforts, I did call my cousin Anna to drive me home. I bought a scarf in the