“Just this morning,” she said. “Came by and held the baby for a while. Didn’t say much. Then he was on his way. I thought you knew.”

I had picked up Declan and was cradling him in my arms, surprised that I’d missed his warmth and, for lack of a better term, baby scent. Adrian stood by me and shared my surprise. “We had no idea,” he said.

“He left this,” Daniella added. She handed over a sealed envelope that Adrian tore into immediately. Inside was a handwritten letter that Adrian opened so that we both could read it.

Adrian and Sydney,

I know each of you have your own ways of figuring out where I am. If that’s the course of action you choose to take, nothing I do can stop you. But, I’m begging you, please don’t. Please let me stay away. Let the guardians think I’ve gone AWOL. Let me wander the world, helping those I can.

I know you think I should stay with Declan. Believe me, I wish I could. I wish more than anything that I could stay and raise Olive’s son—my son—and give him all the things he needs. But I can’t shake the feeling that we’d never be safe. Someday, someone might start asking about Olive and her son. Someone might connect the baby I’m raising to him, and then her fears would be realized. News of his conception would change our world. It would excite some people and scare others. Most of all, it’d make Olive’s predictions come true: people wanting to study him like a lab rat.

And that’s why I’m proposing that no one finds out he’s my son or Olive’s. From now on, let him be yours.

No one would question you two raising a dhampir. After all, your own children will be dhampirs, and from what I’ve seen, you two are smart enough to find a way to convince others he’s your biological child. I’ve also seen the way you two love each other, the way you support each other. Even with as challenging as your relationship has been, you’ve held true to yourselves and each other. That’s what Declan needs. That’s the kind of home Olive wanted for him, the kind I want for him.