Chapter 109

Agnes

Thea and I spent an afternoon the following weekend in the kitchen, the air filled with the sweet scent of rose petals and the sound of laughter. Honestly, it was the most fun I’d had in weeks, maybe even months. Thea was practically bouncing up and down with excitement as we laid out all the ingredients for the perfume.

We started by drying some rose petals in the oven, the kitchen quickly filling with their sweet, heady aroma. Thea stood on a stool beside me, watching intently as I spread the petals out on a baking sheet. She carefully helped me space them out evenly, then insisted on holding one side of the pan while I placed it in the oven.

I couldn’t help but smile at how serious she looked as we worked, like this was the most important task in the world.

While the petals dried, we ground up lavender and sandalwood. I showed Thea how to use a mortar and pestle, which was apparently the best thing since sliced bread for her.

“This is so cool,” she said, grinning up at me. “It’s like we’re real scientists!”

“We kind of are. Perfume-making is a science, you know.”

Her eyes widened. “Really?”

“Really,” I said, nodding. “Most store bought perfumes have a lot of chemicals and ingredients in them that need to be perfectly balanced in order for the mixtures to work properly.”

Thea wrinkled her nose. “Well, this is better then, because we’re just using natural ingredients.”

I grinned at the sight of her small hands working the mortar and pestle. It was moments like these that made me forget, even just for a little while, about the pain of my past. Thea might not have been my biological daughter—although, I couldn’t help but admit that there was still a tiny shred of hope lingering since the second DNA test still hadn’t returned—but she was mine in all the ways that mattered.

She was my little girl, and I loved her more than anything.

As we worked, I couldn’t help but imagine what it would have been like if she were my real daughter. If I had been there from the very beginning, watching her grow up, teaching her everything I knew. The thought made my heart swell with love, but it also brought a pang of sadness that I wasn’t ready for.

I thought about my missing child, the one I had been searching for all these years. The case had been reopened thanks to Elijah, but I hadn’t heard anything in a long time, and he hadn’t mentioned it. I tried not to dwell on it too often, knowing that Elijah would update me the moment he heard anything, but sometimes the ache was too much to ignore.

Thea must have noticed the change in my expression because she reached out and placed her small hand on mine. “Are you okay, Mommy?”

I forced a smile, pushing the thoughts away. “I’m fine, sweetheart. Just thinking.”

She studied me for a second, as if not entirely believing me, but I quickly distracted her with the process of making the perfume. Thea had such a habit of concerning herself with things that no child her age should ever have to worry about, and I didn’t want her burdened with something else.

And I knew, if she did know more about my missing child, that she wouldn’t sleep at night because of it. For all I knew, I’d find her building crime maps in her bedroom with yarn and push pins in an attempt to help.

I just wanted her to be a child. Because if my daughter really wasn’t out there anymore… then I wanted Thea to at least have the childhood that my own daughter never got to have.

The thought nearly made me tear up, and I quickly distracted myself to keep from crying.

We finished the perfume a little while later, boiling the ingredients in water and straining the mixture through cheesecloth into a small bottle that I’d repurposed from an old, nearly-empty perfume that I hadn’t used in a long time.

Thea watched in awe as the liquid turned a soft pink color, the scent filling the kitchen. Then, reading carefully from the book, we spoke a few words into the bottle: “Let this perfume bring love my way. So it shall be, and so it is done.”

When we were finished, the liquid inside the bottle looked just like that: liquid. The last part of the ‘spell’ felt a little silly, but Thea seemed to enjoy it.

“It’s so pretty,” she said, holding up the bottle to the light. “Do you think it’ll work?”

“Maybe,” I replied, chuckling even though I knew it wouldn’t do a damn thing except smell nice. “But even if it doesn’t, we had fun making it, right?”

She nodded eagerly. “The most fun ever!”

Later that evening, just when I was starting to get hungry for dinner, I found Elijah in his study. He was sitting at his desk, his brow furrowed as he flipped through a stack of papers.

“Hey,” I said, knocking lightly on the doorframe. “Do you have a minute?”

He looked up, his expression softening when he saw me. Something about it made my heart flutter, although I tried not to show it. “Of course. What’s on your mind?”

I stepped inside, closing the door behind me. “I was just wondering… have you heard anything about the case? My case, I mean. On my daughter.”

Elijah’s face fell, and he shook his head. “Not yet. But I’ve been monitoring the detectives, and I know they’re genuinely looking. They haven’t given up.”

I nodded, trying to hide my disappointment. “That’s all I can ask for, I guess.”

He studied me for a moment before he said softly, “You’re doing everything you can, Agnes. Don’t forget that.”

I forced a smile, although I couldn’t quite manage to make it reach my eyes. “Thanks, Elijah.”

There was a brief silence before he cleared his throat. “Actually, there’s something I wanted to talk to you about.”

“Oh?”

“I went to see a psychic the other day.”

I blinked, surprised. “A psychic? Since when do you believe in that sort of thing?”

“I don’t, really,” he said, dragging a hand through his hair. He looked almost sheepish, which was a rare expression for the normally confident Alpha. “But I was driving by and got curious, and figured it couldn’t hurt. And she said some… interesting things.”

“Like what?”

He hesitated, his gaze flicking to mine before looking away. It seemed there was something he wanted to say, but couldn’t get it out or find the right words. Finally, he said, “She thinks there might be a way to reawaken your wolf. She wants to see you. See if she can figure out the nature of the spell keeping your wolf down, if there is actually one.”

I swallowed. “What are you saying? You want me to talk to her?”

“I know it sounds crazy,” Elijah said, rising from his chair, “but… what if it works? What if she can help you?”

I bit my lip, considering his words. It did sound crazy, but I was desperate. If there was even a chance, I had to take it. And the look in his eyes, hopeful and innocent, so much like Thea sometimes, made it impossible to say no.

Finally, I shrugged. “Sure. I’ll give it a shot.” I didn’t want to get my hopes up, though. I smiled faintly and added, “Thanks for looking out for me, Elijah. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“You’d manage,” he said, glancing away. There was a brief silence before he cleared his throat again. “So… what were you and Thea doing in the kitchen earlier? It smelled… interesting.”

I felt my cheeks heat up, and I quickly looked away. “Oh, it was nothing. Just a little… science project.”

Elijah raised an eyebrow, but didn’t press further. He hesitated for another moment, and the air was charged with something strange and enticing briefly. Then, he sat back down in his chair. “Get dressed to go out, by the way,” he said. “Thea, too. I’m taking both of you out for dinner, so don’t try to cook anything.”

I blinked, surprised. “You are?”

He nodded, his expression softening. “To celebrate your success with the fashion show. You deserve it, Agnes.”

I opened my mouth to protest, but he cut me off with a wave of his hand. “No arguments. We’re going.”

“Alright. Dinner it is.”