Ajax shot a look at Diesel, almost as if asking for permission, but Diesel just shrugged, smiling.

  Relaxing a bit now, Ajax knelt on one knee and held out his hand, palm up. There was nothing there. Then a small, swirling ball of earth appeared, spinning and melding until it had fashioned itself into a small rock figure.

  It was a basilisk standing on its hind legs.

  Then he held it out to her, and Grace took it, staring at the figure as if it were made of pure gold.

  “Cool… How’d you do that?”

  There was a twinkle in Ajax’s eyes as he stood back up.

  Grace looked back at the figure. “Thank you. Diesel’s powers are still my favorite, though. He fought off a rock wyvern for us.”

  Out of the corner of her eye, Morgan saw Diesel’s chest puff up in pride.

  Ajax considered Grace for a second, then grinned. “You’re right. That is a pretty cool power. Speaking of, I need to talk to him. Excuse us.”

  As the two men made their way outside, Morgan paused, thinking that this Ajax didn’t seem to be anything like he looked. Those red eyes were beyond intimidating, but he’d been so sweet to Grace. It seemed these big men had a soft spot for children.

  Speaking of…

  Morgan checked her watch. “Looks like we need to get you ready for trick-or-treating. The Smiths will be here to pick you up soon.”

  “Yay, candy!” she nearly shouted, running for the stairs.

  Morgan turned to follow, enjoying her daughter’s excitement, when her phone beeped in her pocket, and she pulled it out.

  When she read the message, her lips turned down in a frown.

  It was from the Smiths. It looked like they had decided not to go trick-or-treating last minute. That meant that Grace wouldn’t be able to go.

  Crap.

  This would break her heart.

  As Morgan made her way up the stairs, it felt like her shoes weighed a million pounds. Her heart fell all the way to her toes when she got to Grace’s room and found her laying out her costume on her bed.

  “Hey, Grace, change of plans. It looks like the Smiths canceled. I promise we’ll leave as soon as the store closes this evening, but…” She trailed off.

  That wouldn’t be until late when all of the best houses had stopped giving out candy.

  Grace’s face fell at the pronouncement, and Morgan could see tears begin to glisten in her eyes, a painful reminder of the situation she was in as a single mom.

  She hated having to live in this harsh reality where their needs as a family had to come against her precious child’s wants.

  Grace reached out, running a hand down her costume. Then she shrugged sullenly. “I guess it’s okay.” She looked up. “I’m probably too old for this anyway, right?”

  “Too old for what?” Diesel had come up the stairs and was looking around, perplexed by the scene. “What’s Grace too old for?”

  “The family that was taking her trick-or-treating canceled,” Morgan said, feeling stuck.

  Diesel frowned. “Why don’t I go with her?”

  “What? No, that’s not safe,” Morgan protested.

  “She’s safer with me than anyone else,” he asserted confidently.

  Morgan bit her lip, unsure, but when she saw the hope gleaming in Grace’s eyes, she just couldn’t say no.

  “Can I? Mom?”

  She thought about it for a second longer, then nodded slowly. “Yes, I guess Diesel can take you. So long as you promise to stay safe.”

  “Yay!” Grace leaped up from her bed and jumped up and down, then ran over and threw her arms around Morgan.

  Morgan smiled, trying to reassure herself. Diesel was a big, strong, capable guy. They would be safe, right? No motorcycles would be involved. They would just be walking around the neighborhood, after all.

  Everything would be fine. After last night, she knew she could trust Diesel with herself and, to some extent, Grace. But still, Grace was her everything.

  She had every right to be worried, even if there was no logical way that things could go wrong.

  14

  So this is trick-or-treating, Diesel thought to himself.

  Diesel couldn’t help but smile as Grace stepped back down from the porch after having grabbed a few pieces of candy from the smiling lady who had opened the door.

  He looked around for a second, taking in the groups of children all wearing funny costumes and being paraded around by human grown-ups.

  It was a beautiful fall evening, and a chilled breeze danced through the night air, sending leaves tumbling down from the trees alongside both sides of the road, which was illuminated by a line of streetlights.

  As for Grace, she was dressed up as an elf, and she was holding a plastic candy basket in one hand and a harmless bow in the other. Her outfit certainly looked outdoorsy, complete with a green cloak with a leaf-shaped clasp and brown coverings that made her shoes look like brown leather boots.

  Diesel had never really thought about having children before. Having a mate had always taken priority. But now that he was spending time with Morgan, he was really coming to think of Grace as his own.

  It would absolutely break his heart if things didn’t work out between him and Morgan, not only because he would lose his mate, but because he could lose Grace.

  Double heartbreak.

  After they passed by another house, Grace stopped on the sidewalk and looked up at him.

  “Are you and my mom dating?” she asked, cocking her head to the side.

  “I think so,” Diesel replied thoughtfully.

  Grace considered that. “Do you love each other?”

  That was a more difficult question to answer. At this point, there was almost no questioning that Morgan was his mate, but how did she feel about him?

  Did she want him the way he wanted her, forever? He wasn’t sure, and they hadn’t really talked about it. He didn’t want to push her, especially because Grace was involved.

  How the hell was he supposed to explain all that to a ten-year-old?

  “Depends on who you ask. Why?”

  “I saw you staring at each other.” She frowned. “You’re not going to leave, are you?”

  Diesel pursed his lips, deciding that he liked her basilisk questions rather than these complicated relationship ones that he didn’t even really know the answer to.

  He thought about it. “No, of course not.”

  Not if I can help it.

  But it wasn’t completely up to him. If it were, he already would have mated Morgan. But that was why he was trying to hold back. The old Diesel would have rushed right in headfirst, but now he had Morgan and Grace to think about.

  Grace let out a relieved sigh. “Good, you’re part of our family now.”

  Diesel’s heart twinged with warmth, and he wondered if Morgan felt the same.

  As the night drew on, it got colder, and Grace’s basket got more and more full.

  “Time to head back,” he said when they reached the end of the street. It was getting really dark now, and Diesel had promised they wouldn’t be out too late.

  Grace nodded. “Yeah, I have more than enough candy now.”

  “Good.” He pulled out his phone and typed in a quick text letting Morgan know they were headed back.

  By now, there were fewer and fewer groups of trick-or-treaters. But as they walked down the street, a cluster of men near a streetlamp caught Diesel’s eye. He ignored them until he got closer and saw they were all men wearing the telltale blue shirt, khakis, and nametags on their shirt pockets.

  Uh-oh.

  He peered around for a second, wondering if he should move himself and Grace over to the other side of the street to try and avoid the group. But it was too late, as one of them had already turned around and was pointing a finger at him.

  “Unholy beast,” he hissed.

  “Monster,” another one said.

  Diesel frowned. While he usually would have taken that as a compliment, this was not one of those times.

  Grace seemed to be noticing something was wrong.

  “Don’t worry. It’s gonna be okay,” he said.

  She narrowed her eyes at them. “It’s those weirdos from TV.”

  Looking closer, it seemed to be a group of five or six full-grown men, and they were moving toward him and Grace.

  “You’re the basilisk creature everyone’s been talking about. You are dangerous, destructive. Not safe to be around anyone in this town, especially a child,” said the biggest one, presumably the leader, stepping forward.

  Diesel’s hand tightened into a fist.

  How dare they?

  “Let the child come with us, or there will be consequences. The Crater dragon shall see to it when he returns.” The man continued.

  Where these people had gotten these ideas about him being dangerous, Diesel had no clue.

  But if they caused trouble, they’d find out exactly how dangerous he really could be. Especially for the people he loved.

  “We’ll see about that,” Diesel replied with a growl. Right now, his basilisk was roaring that he should go ape shit on these lunatics, but how would that look in front of Grace?

  He shook his head. The number one most important thing was getting her back home safe, and he reached down, motioning for Grace to get behind him. She took a step back, pulling out her small bow and aiming at the cultists.

  If the situation weren’t so tense, he would have found it admirable how brave she was being.

  “Suit yourself. We shall just have to pass judgment ourselves, then.”

  Diesel stepped forward, scowling at his opponents. “Bring it on.”

  With that, one of the men let out a yell and ran at him, throwing a wild punch, which Diesel easily dodged before kicking the man in the stomach, sending him rolling down the sidewalk in the opposite direction from Grace.

  Another rushed at him, pulling out a large knife and swinging it desperately. Diesel caught the man’s wrist, enraged that he could think of pulling out a knife in front of a child.

  Just as he was about to ram it back into the man’s chest in revenge, he paused.

  Grace didn’t need to see that. She shouldn’t have to see that. He was the basilisk, violent and monstrous, and she was just a kid.

  Instead, he knocked the knife away and hit the man with a harsh uppercut, knocking him out cold.

  Better to get this done quickly, even if it was much less satisfying for his basilisk.

  The others were being more careful now that two of them were down for the count. They circled. Then two ran at him from opposite sides, and he waited for the last second, then stepped back just in time as they collided with each other, a loud crack echoing through the night as they both crumpled to the ground.

  Diesel snuck a look back at Grace, making sure she wasn’t distraught. Thankfully, she seemed fascinated, almost unaware of the danger. When he dispatched another, she cheered.

  Then it was just the leader left, and he stood, looking undaunted.

  “You’ve really done it now,” he said. Then, to Diesel’s surprise, he began to shift.

  Where the ringleader had stood a few seconds ago now stood a large brown bear, and it roared before charging at him.

  Diesel took a deep breath and rooted himself to the ground, ready to not give up an inch. He put up his hands right in time to catch the charging bear as it collided with him, but he stopped it dead in its tracks.

  “Why won’t you budge?” it muttered, snorting with frustration.

  “You’ll never get past me,” Diesel said, glaring at him.

  Then a small plastic and rubber arrow whizzed over his shoulder, hitting the bear in the eye, who stumbled back groaning and scratching at its face

  He turned to find Grace holding her bow and looking pleased with herself. “Bad bear.”

  The girl had spirit, but even in the middle of a fight, she didn’t seem scared. Was it just because she was too young to perceive the threat? Or was it because she trusted him?

  He hoped it was the latter but would have to think about it later, as there was still a bear in front of him.

  “Okay, I think we’re about done here,” he said, walking forward. When he got to the bear, he punched it with a wickedly fast hook, and it keeled over, unconscious.

  Once he was satisfied that all of the cultists were dispatched, he gestured to Grace, and he looked her over, relief seeping through him that she was unhurt.

  Thank God.

  “You took them all out in one hit,” Grace said as they walked quickly back down the street toward their home, looking amazed.

  He chuckled. “Yup, I wasn’t about to let anything get close. Those people aren’t right in the head.”

  “Yeah.”

  When they got back, Morgan was waiting upstairs for them at the dining room table, reading a book but looking a little tense.

  “Oh good, you’re back. Did everything go okay?” she asked, looking relieved.

  Grace walked over and showed Morgan her basket. “Yeah, I had a lot of fun and got a lot of candy. Want to help me count?”

  “Of course.” Morgan’s eyes gravitated over toward Diesel. Then they narrowed for some reason.

  She seemed to be looking at his shoulder. When he looked down, he saw that there was a long scratch in his clothing and a cut that was already healing up. It must’ve been from the bear. He hadn’t even noticed.

  Oops.

  Anger and fear moved across Morgan’s face as she stepped over and appraised the slice in his clothing.

  “What’s this about?” she asked.

  “Nothing,” he said, shrugging. It was fine. He would heal in minutes. There was no reason to worry her about this.

  Grace looked over. “Oh, that? There were some crazy people, and Diesel fought—”

  “Fought? You promised you would be safe,” Morgan said, looking back at him, eyes wide.

  “I didn’t have a choice. It was those Children of the Crater people, and one was a shifter. I did what I had to, to keep Grace safe.” He tried to explain, but she shook her head.

  “That doesn’t matter,” she exclaimed before taking a deep breath and rubbing her forehead, looking distraught. “I can’t do this right now.”

  Guilt pooled at the bottom of his stomach. He should have been more careful; he shouldn’t have given her any reason to worry.

  But for some reason, he felt like there was something else going on here.

  “Grace, we can count in the morning. It’s pretty late.”

  “Really? Okay, I guess so. Night, Diesel.”

  Diesel nodded as Morgan ushered Grace out of the room and to bed. When she came back, she folded her arms, looking harried.

  “What happened?” she asked.

  Diesel sighed. “A bunch of the cultists stopped us on the way back. They wanted to take Grace away, thought I was an abomination and that I shouldn’t have been around her.”

  “So you beat them up and got yourself hurt in the process?” she retorted, eyes full of worry.

  “I was protecting Grace just like I promised I would. I don’t know why it’s such a big deal.”

  “A big deal?” She shook her head. “Today, it’s a scratch, but what about tomorrow and the day after?” She gave him a hurt look, and he stepped back. “Can’t you see that I can’t do this again?” Tears were beginning to pool at the sides of her eyes now.

  “Can’t do what again?” he asked, leaning down and holding her chin up to face him.

  She looked away. “Lose someone again.”

  Understanding flared inside Diesel’s stomach, followed by sadness.

  This wasn’t about him. This was about her past, about Grace’s father, he guessed.

  The idea of something happening to him was impossible. He was nearly indestructible. He knew it, but it was unfair to assume Morgan could know it.

  Was there any way to show her?

  He looked down at the cut on his shoulder, realizing that it had already healed. Then he took her hand, tracing a finger over the closed cut until she looked up, confused.

  “How…?” she asked in wonder, small sparkles of tears still in her eyes.

  “Nothing is going to happen to me. I heal too fast, and I’m too strong. I don’t know what happened in the past, but I’m not going to get taken from you.”

  She collapsed against his chest. “I want to believe you. I do, but I don’t know how.”

  Sensing she needed to be held, he put his arms around her. “I’ll remind you until I can convince you.” He paused. “I’m sorry I scared you.”

  “I’m sorry I overreacted. Thank you for taking Grace trick-or-treating and keeping her safe. I’ll try not to worry so much.”

  “You’re an amazing mom. And an even more amazing, strong woman for caring so much after everything you’ve been through.”

  She pulled away and looked up at him for a second, a grateful smile on her lips, and Diesel couldn’t help leaning down to place his lips against hers.

  God, how had he come to deserve her?

  15

  A few days after Halloween, the trees in Heller’s Rest were already on their way to winter, leaves turning from bright yellows and reds to murky browns and golds.

  Everything seemed to be going perfectly. Diesel was becoming such a regular part of their family that it was almost hard to remember what life had been like without him.

  Morgan still hadn’t talked about the future with Diesel. And for now, that was fine with her. Heck, she and Adam had been making all sorts of plans for the future when the accident had occurred, and look where that had gotten her.

  Somehow she couldn’t really imagine Diesel leaving, though. In fact, he had introduced her and Grace to another one of his basilisk friends, Gunnar, and his wife, April. Gunnar had been an interesting character, with one eye blue and the other red, but Morgan supposed it was normal for basilisks.

  Not only that, but it really seemed like Diesel was coming to care for Grace as if she were his own. And Grace seemed to be reciprocating the sentiment.

  To Morgan’s surprise, she had accidentally called him “dad” a few times before going back to calling him Diesel. Grace seemed happier and more exuberant than Morgan had really ever seen her before.