Between Shadow & Ruin (Fangs & Fae Saga Book 2)

ninety-four.

The new year had come, but we weren't up for our usual party as we now had a newborn and were still struggling in dealing with the aftermath of the fight against the Brotherhood. Some of the vampires from France went back – many enjoyed their new lives here in Massachusetts. I struggled with the balance of being a Magister and taking care of Skylar. I didn't expect it to be different than it had when Odie and the twins were born, but something about Skylar having been born from my own body made it different. I hated leaving her for work, I couldn't get enough of watching her when I was home, and when someone offered to 'give me a break' I was slightly defensive before realizing that we were a team and Skylar would be safe with them.

Val and Zane had put off presenting Skylar to the fae realm long enough, so I sucked it up and allowed them to take her. I decided it was a good time for me to finally go back to the office as well, so I drove with Chris to the office to try and get some work done. Anna didn't want me to travel and said anything that required a personal visit, she would handle for a few months to give me time to adjust to having Skylar.

I sat down in front of my computer and answered a few questions and requests. Our fight with Jeanne and the Brotherhood was something I preferred we didn't spread, though the uptick in hunters throughout America was already present. I had many e-mails from my Sheriffs saying as much. I told them to be vigilant, but also do what they felt was necessary to protect themselves. Regardless of the outcome, this was going to cause a shift in the way supes lived their lives. Jeanne wasn't dead, but it was only a matter of time before she came back.

I decided to send another e-mail out to my Sheriffs asking if anyone knew of someone who could tattoo vampires leaving out why. Val said that while she was in the fae realm, she would do some research into whether it was even possible to imbue ink with the magical property of protection, but so far it was looking good. Steph must have been able to read through the lines though, as I received a text from her not twenty minutes after I sent the e-mail.

Steph said she'd ask around, Reid apparently had a lot of weird connections to supes – he liked to offer trades whenever possible. She also told me that Nat nearly went Ripper went they got back home and they were having to do a lot of backtracking in her recovery. I wished her the best and if they needed anything to let me know. Chris came into my office and sat down at my desk across from me.

"How are you doing, Momma Bear?" he asked.

"Not seeing Skylar is... killing me. I didn't think it would be this hard to be away from her."

"It's different this time... She came out of you... as weird as that sounds." I laughed.

"It's true though. She did. I was used to having her with me all the time and now... She's not. It's rough. I know what Val went through after having the kids firsthand now. It's like... I want to protect her from everything, even though she's got that handled on her own already... and she protected me more than she'll probably ever realize. But not having her right here with me is hard..." I looked at the picture on my desk.

It was all of us at the baby shower before shit hit the fan. I was in the center of the photo with my baby bump being caressed or kissed by the kids and Val, Chris, and Zane around us. I placed one hand on my belly and longed for the feeling of being kicked in the ribs one more time.

"It was nice that Zane let you help him cut the umbilical cord..." I said, remembering it.

"I wasn't expecting him to. We talked about it that night, and he said he wanted me to feel included. It was different this time... there being another baby, because it usually was just him and Val, but this time it was you. And he didn't want me to feel like I was pushed aside since I was the only one 'not involved' with this baby."