Page 27 of Triplets for the Dark Elf
“Lunch.”
My grin grows wider. “Right. Lunch.”
My heart soars as I take a few steps back, and before I can stop myself, I say, “Good night, my little lumiola!”
I swear a ghost of a grin graces her lips. “Good night, Miothro.”
It’s notmon lutinbut I’ll take it. For now.
15
ANNALISE
Icollapse into my bed, and although my body is achingly tired, my mind is too restless to succumb to the sleep lurking on the edge of my subconscious.
Sighing, I shift. It was hard getting the triplets into bed. There were so many questions I could barely understand what they were saying. There was a lot of ‘elf! elf!’ and I know that they want me to explain who that man was.
But I couldn’t. I didn’t know how to. Not when my heart had already been shredded enough.
I sling an arm over my face and groan into the crook of my elbow. Tears start to brim in my eyes and this time I don’t have the strength to stop them. I manage to muffle my cries as that moment in the alleyway plays over and over again in my mind.
“Because I want to be here for them if they are. I want to be in their lives.”
I bite down on my fist to quiet the sobs that are wracking my body. His indigo eyes are piercing even in my memory and his voice is desperate, pleading in a way that undoes me.
“I want to make up for it before they think their father abandoned them.”
Gods, why does he have to be such a good man? Why couldn’t Miothro be like all the other elves? He couldn’t just be an asshole. Instead, he has to break my heart by being the perfect dad that I had to hide his kids from.
“If they are mine, please don’t keep this from me. I want this so bad, and you know it.”
I’m curled into a ball at this point, all the pain I caused him hitting me acutely. I tried so hard to protect him from the dangers we presented in his life. But somehow I still managed to hurt him in ways I hadn’t even imagined.
Maybe I had been lying to myself when I left. Maybe I didn’t consider that he could possibly care for me like I did for him.
Because, if it weren’t for the triplets, I would have rather been attacked that night than have chosen to leave Miothro if I could do it over again.
And I’m starting to think he would have chosen any alternative over my disappearance no matter the consequences.
* * *
“Park! Park! Park!”Maeve chants as she parkours off our furniture.
“She’s amped,” Daphne murmurs as she cuts through to the kitchen. She pulls a carton of milk out of the icebox and sips straight from it. “Is it your day off?”
“Yeah,” I grunt as I try to wriggle Indie’s arm into his jacket. He’s too busy trying to steal the toy from Maeve to pay much attention to what I’m doing.
“Ready,” a quiet voice murmurs behind me. I turn to see Hazel standing by the door, shoes and jacket on. My independent girl who is wise beyond her two years.
I grin. “I’m almost there, sweetie.”
“Have fun,” Daphne shouts as she heads for the bathroom. She looks like she worked the late shift again at the theater in the neighboring district.
I finally manage to get all three gathered and dressed, and only then do my nerves set in. I passed off my shakiness as fear of them meeting their father, but in truth, I’m terrified to go near the shop district. Or the theater district. Both spell trouble for me.
That’s why I picked the park. It’s just outside the temple not too far from our home. It should be safe, and hopefully, no one will see us there.
As I lead the kids through lowtowns, my eyes dart in every direction. It’s rare the triplets go farther than Lucy’s house, and this is making me incredibly nervous.