“You know Grange is a very bad man, Cassie,” Callan said softly. “I’ve been checking into him. You know he’ll hurt you and your momma if he can get hold of you.” He held his hand up as Elizabeth began to protest. “I won’t lie to you, Cassie. I won’t tell you any of this is going to be easy, for you or your momma. Facts are facts. Dash and your momma can’t deal with Grange if you aren’t hidden first. If they try, something could happen, and Grange could end up hurting you all.”
Cassie trembled. “But the fairy can’t help momma if I’m gone,” she protested tearfully. Callan never looked away from the little girl. “But Dash can, Cassie. He and your momma can move faster and trick Grange easier if they know you’re hidden and protected. And you’ll both be hidden and protected at my home. I promise you this.”
“I want my momma,” Cassie whimpered, her arms tightening around Elizabeth’s waist. “I’m staying with my momma.”
“Callan.” The woman that moved behind him was much smaller than the others. Her soft golden-brown hair and eyes were immeasurably gentle. Dawn was a Cougar Breed and Elizabeth could clearly see the influence of the animal’s DNA in her. Her high cheekbones, slanted golden eyes and finely arched brows gave her a very feline appearance.
Cassie seemed to jerk in surprise when the woman approached her. She leaned forward, then back, then stared up at Elizabeth with rounded eyes.
Cassie cupped her fingers over her mouth and whispered up to Elizabeth. “She has a fairy, Momma. Right beside her. Just like mine.”
Elizabeth wasn’t certain what to say at this point. She had thought Cassie’s fairy was no more than an excuse for the knowledge she picked up through her more advanced senses.
“She does?” she whispered back.
Cassie nodded. “But she’s sad.” Then she turned to Dawn. “Why is your fairy sad?”
Dawn blinked then glanced at Elizabeth.
“Cassie has her own fairy,” Elizabeth explained. “She…comforts her.” She didn’t know what else to say.
Dawn finally smiled in understanding. “Perhaps my fairy gets tired of being alone.” She sighed. “There aren’t many fairies left in the world, Cassie.”
Cassie tilted her head, considering. “No. She’s sad because you don’t hear her,” she finally said. “You should listen to your fairy.”
“You’re right.” Dawn nodded. “But I don’t know how. Maybe I need someone to teach me how to listen to her.”
Cassie was silent for long moments. “I don’t wanna leave my momma.” Her voice trembled tearfully. Callan moved back as Dawn sat down on the couch beside Elizabeth and Cassie and watched the little girl with tender, though wary, eyes.
“I don’t blame you, Cassie,” she finally said sadly. “If I had a momma like yours, I wouldn’t want to leave her, either. But you and your momma will be safer if you are protected. And isn’t that what’s important right now, Cassie? That you and your momma are safe?”
Cassie’s fingers plucked at Elizabeth’s shirtsleeve for long moments. Finally she raised her eyes, the blue depths glittering with tears.
“I’m scared without you, Momma,” she finally whispered.
“I know, baby.” Elizabeth swallowed tightly. “And I’m scared without you, too. But I can’t make Grange leave us alone if he knows where you are. It’s very important that he can’t find you so that Momma can make him go away.” Far away, Elizabeth thought coldly. Cassie’s head lowered again. “Will you come back?” she finally asked faintly.
“Cassie.” Elizabeth lifted her daughter’s face until she could stare into her eyes. “You couldn’t keep me away. You’re my baby. You know I’ll come back for you. Right?”
Cassie swallowed tightly. “Even though I’m a Breed?” she asked her roughly. Fury engulfed Elizabeth, though she fought to contain it. “Cassidy, being a Breed doesn’t make you any different to me. If you want the truth, I’m so damned happy Dane isn’t your daddy that I could kiss that doctor that thought he tricked us. Because he gave me the most special baby in the world. Do you understand me?”
Cassie grinned faintly, though her eyes still swam with tears.
“Dash could be my daddy,” she whispered. “Maybe I wouldn’t be so scared away if I knew he was my daddy.”
“Cassie.” Elizabeth wasn’t shocked, but she hadn’t expected Cassie to strike so soon.
“Cassie.” Dash broke in on her protest. “Do you know any other Wolf Breeds, young lady?”
Cassie raised her eyes and shook her head no.
“Then it looks like you’re stuck with me. But I can’t convince your momma until Grange has been punished. To do that, you need to go with Dawn and Callan. We’ll discuss the rest of it later.”
Cassie’s eyes narrowed. Elizabeth had never known her daughter could be such a little schemer.
“You gonna take his chocolate, Dash?” she asked him, suddenly more than interested.
“Oh yeah, all of it,” Dash promised her. “And he doesn’t know the secret to get it back. Remember that.”
Cassie’s grin was wider now. “Can I have his chocolate, Dash?” she asked innocently. “Chocolate should be for good girls.”
“A whole boxful, Cassie. But you have to go with Callan so your momma and me can take care of this. Okay?”
Cassie sighed and glanced up at Elizabeth again.
“One day, I can buy my own chocolate,” she finally sighed. “You better bring me chocolate back, Dash, or I might have to tell Momma how you bargain for ways to stay out of trouble.”
Elizabeth was watching Dash, saw his eyes narrow, though his lips tipped into a grin.
“We might have to see about an allowance when we get back,” he finally said as though she had won.
“Little girls need their chocolate money.”
Cassie turned back to her mother, her smile sweetly innocent. “He will make a good daddy, Momma. I told you he would.”
Elizabeth snorted. “Why? Because you can twist him around your little finger?”
Cassie sighed. “That’s where all good daddies live, Momma. The fairy said so. We need to talk when you come get me. I could tell you all about it.”