I grab her arm and pull her into a tight hug against my chest. She wraps her arms around my waist and gently rubs my back.
“If it’s a girl?”
“Dresden picked that one. Mihnea.”
“Lily’s name?”
She leans back and looks me in the eyes. Pride shines in them. “Yes. We’d like you both to be the godparents as well.”
I let out a huffed breath, smoothing her hair with my hand. “Of course, Shan. Thank you.”
She squeezes me again and leaves. I sink into the chair and take Lily’s hands in mine again.
“You hear that baby,” I whisper. “They want to name their kid after us.”
I tear slides down my face as I trail my fingers down her cheek. Everyone’s so busy trying to work this situation out, and Hyde’s arguments with Bates over Maria’s death have been more than colorful. At the end of the day, I don’t give a shit about any of that. I just want my Lily back and healthy for once.
That isn’t asking too much, is it?
†††
~Lily~
Where the hell am I?
Trees surround me, bright silver light gleaming through their leaves, illuminating a soft dirt path. How did I get here? There’s no movement around me. No wind, no animals, or . . . anything. There’s just light, and this strange twinkling in the tops of the trees.
My toes melt into the dirt with each step I take, cool and velvety between them.
Am I dead?
A long, flowing silk gown wraps my body, billowing behind me as I walk. It shimmers, catching the light at all the right angles. Rounding a bend, my breath catches in my throat. Everyone stands in the center of a large clearing. Blake has Sorina tucked under his arm and they’re smiling gently, their eyes twinkling. Shannon holds a small bundle, tufts of brown hair barely visible around the top edges of the blanket.
“Welcome back, baby,” Blake says holding his hand out, inviting me to join them.
Rushing toward him, elation courses through my veins.
A sharp pain radiates through my head as I’m thrown backward, landing hard on my ass.
What the fuck?
Scrambling to my feet, I move toward them again, but some kind of invisible wall stops me a foot from them. My breath hitches, a lump forming in my throat.
“Blake!”
A shadow creeps in from behind them— a wall of darkness, my heart-stopping and filling with fear. Pressing my hands against the invisible wall, tears stream down my face. Screams erupt on the other side as the shadow moves over the people I love, each of them falling to the ground.
I scream and bang my fists against the barrier until the darkness reaches Blake. He cringes, his face distorted with pain before he slumps to the ground, Sorina following him. His eyes stare at me, lifeless, seeing nothing.
I sink to my knees, sobbing uncontrollably, all my worst fears realized.
†††
~Blake~
Teresa sets dinner on the table as everyone takes their seats. Sorina and Samuel refused to leave me alone until I agree to eat with everyone else. The food smells amazing— chicken and dumplings . . . one of my favorites.
“Teresa, join us,” I say before she can shuffle off to the kitchen.