Twice Tempted: Between Two Alphas (Mia and Cameron) novel Chapter 103

Chapter One Hundred and Three

“Everything.”

I don’t need to think about the answer. It’s right on the tip of my tongue, waiting for the question. With my daughter right in front of me, there’s no other possible answer. I would never give her up. If there’s a choice between Merilee and anything else—including myself—I’m choosing Merilee. Every time.

Mia nods, that cryptic smile on her face again.

“It’s how I’d answer, too,” she says. “Seeing what I’ve seen and knowing what I know doesn’t change my answer. I would give up everything to protect my children—to keep them alive.”

“That’s why I’m here,” I say. “I’m aware that it’s unusual to make a deal with another species this way. I’m not my brother, Mia. I don’t trust Cassian. But I don’t see another way to save her.”

“It will save her. The cost is steep, but she will survive it. I believe you ought to know what that cost is before we head further north, though,” she says. “You’re right not to trust Cassian. I saw—”

“Please don’t tell me,” I interrupt.

“Ashley—”

“No! I’m sick to death of prophecies and visions and sight! Aren’t you? If we’re on a path and there’s no getting off it, what’s the point of knowing what waits at the end? No offense, Mia, but I don’t care what you saw. I’m saving my daughter, and that’s that.”

“I understand your frustration. I’m having a hard time adjusting to the whole gift of Sight thing myself,” Mia says. “I’ll be the first to admit I don’t totally understand every vision. But without the Sight, I wouldn’t have been able to save Cam from Cassian. We never would have known Cassian could help Merilee. There are drawbacks, sure, but sometimes it’s better to be prepared.”

“No,” I say firmly. “I know Valaria thinks I didn’t know what I was doing when I gave up my gift, but I did. I don’t want prophecies anywhere near me. They’ve only ever brought me pain.”

I look away from her.

I don’t want to know if she’s sympathetic or not. All I really want is to curl up under the quilts, and then wake up to find out this was all one long, cruel nightmare.

“Alright. No more prophecies, then. Cam says they’re making dinner. It’ll be ready in an hour. I’m going to rest a while, but I’ll see you downstairs,” Mia says.

I get the feeling that she’s giving me space more than anything. It adds another weight to the scales in my heart: another kindness she’s shown me without expecting anything in return.

She shuts the door behind her and I exhale. It’s the first time I’ve truly been alone since Blakely Island. Exhaustion hits me all at once.