“And when they reached the clouds, they did not know if they could step off—”

“Cass,” Dora interrupted him quietly. “She’s asleep.”

“I know, little bean,” he whispered, and my heart squeezed yet again that day, but in an entirely different way.

I had not thought they’d grown close in their time together in The Enchantments.

Though Dora never gave indication she didn’t like him. She answered when he spoke to her (and not in the cheeky way she did to me) and she watched him often and at least gave indication she found him intriguing (not as intriguing as she found Cass’s man Ian, but still intriguing).

But that was not closeness.

However, with that day’s events, I supposed you latched on to whatever you had that was real and breathing.

And lucky for Dora (and Aelia and me), Cass was both.

“I’m reading to you,” Cassius finished.

“I’m too old for bedtime stories,” she informed him.

“Indeed?” he asked with teasing disbelief.

“Yes,” she answered firmly, my Dora, wanting to be a grown warrior and wanting that a week ago. “I’ll listen if Aelia wants, but I can get to sleep without them. Ellie stopped reading to me years ago.”

Those years being, maybe…one.

“Well then, if I tuck you in and turn out all the lights, will you go to sleep?” he queried.

“Of course.”

I watched as Cassius bent to kiss the top of her golden head.

“This I’ll do,” he said after he did that.

I should leave them to it.

I was stuck in the vision of watching Cass kiss Dora’s hair, thus, I did not leave them to it.

And I would be glad I didn’t.

For after Cass tucked her in, Aelia beside her, and blew the lamp out by Aelia’s side, he came back around to Dora’s but grew still when she asked, “Will True be all right?”

Oh, my darling Dora.

Cassius stood immobile for a long moment before he replied gently, “You know he won’t.”

I closed my eyes tight.

“You know he won’t too,” I heard her whisper.

I opened my eyes wide.

How did she know Cassius lost his mother?

Did Aelia tell her?

Did my mother?

Half a dozen other big-mouthed Nadirii (namely, Jasmine)?

“Yes, Dora, I know he won’t either,” he confirmed.

“You have that. I have that. Aelia has that,” she noted. “I love Ellie, and I’m glad she doesn’t have that. But it makes us a little family inside a family, doesn’t it?”

His voice was deeper, thicker, when he replied, “I guess it does, little bean.”

“I don’t like why we have that family, but because of that why, I like we have that family. Still, I don’t like it that True became a member of our family today,” she whispered.

“I don’t either. We’ll have to keep a close eye on him, you and me, while we’re here. Yes?” Cass suggested.

Dora nodded. “Yes, Cass.”

“Now sleep,” he murmured, bent to kiss her cheek and that was when I skedaddled from my position, went across the hall and entered our room.