Page 61 of Monster's Secret Baby

The moment her words fade into the evening air, I feel it—a gentle tug in my chest, a thread connecting me to Adellum. It's subtle but undeniable, like the awareness of a limb I didn't know I had until now.

"Mama!" Brooke can't contain herself any longer. She dashes forward, bare feet kicking up wildflower petals as she launches herself between us. "Did it work? Are you magic now?"

I laugh, the sound bubbling up from a well of pure joy. "Not exactly, sunshine. But something magical happened."

"Can I see the mark?" She tugs at my neckline, peering at my chest. "The Nashai said there would be a mark!"

"Here." Adellum tugs down his collar, revealing a shimmering design over his heart—intricate swirls and patterns that seem to shift in the fading light.

I look down and pull aside my own collar. The same design marks my skin, though where his glows with a soft silver light, mine has a golden hue.

"It's pretty," Brooke breathes, tracing the mark with a gentle finger. "Does it hurt?"

"No, little one." I smooth her wild curls. "It feels like... belonging."

The Nashai bows to us and steps back, her formal role complete. She'll share a meal with us later, but this moment—this belongs just to us.

As the sun dips below the horizon, Brooke twirls away from us, arms outstretched, face tipped toward the darkening sky. "Look! Stars!" she calls, spinning faster, her bare feet kicking up grass and flower petals. Her giggles float on the evening air as she dances in wild, joyful circles around us.

Adellum pulls me against him, one wing curving around to cocoon us together. "How do you feel?" he murmurs against my hair.

"Complete." I tuck my head under his chin, feeling the steady thrum of his heart against my cheek. "Like I've found the missing piece of myself."

His arms tighten around me. "I can feel you. Here." He touches his chest where the mark glows. "It's like... an echo of your heartbeat beside my own."

Above us, the first stars appear—tiny pinpricks of silver against the deepening blue. The same stars we used to sit beneath in the gardens of New Solas, when our love was still a dangerous secret. The same stars I wished on during those lonely years in Saufort, before he found me again. The same stars that will watch over us for all the nights to come.

"Remember that first night you convinced me to sneak out?" I whisper, tipping my face up to his. "When you showed me the constellations?"

His smile is soft, his silver eyes reflecting the twilight. "You wore blue. You had dreelk leaves in your hair from the kitchen gardens, and you tried to hide them when you saw me."

"You noticed everything about me, even then."

"I still do." His finger traces the line of my jaw. "Every new freckle, every laugh line. They're all precious to me."

Brooke collapses in a breathless heap at our feet, her cheeks flushed with exertion. "The stars are coming out," she pants, pointing upward. "Ms. Marda says stars are the eyes of people who loved us watching over us."

And it feels like that now. Especially as I look into the eyes of the one man who has always loved me more than anything.

Adellum pulls me close, kissing the tip of my nose. "I love you, little bird."

I wrap my arms around his neck. "And I love you."