GERARD WOKE WITH THE gentle sounds of a cooing baby outside the home. He thought instantly that it was a trap devised by their enemies. He grabbed the long-bladed dagger that he had stashed under the pillow and moved as silently as a cat to the porch that surrounded the home. The blade was one that he had designed specifically to help him achieve his vengeance.
The handle was engraved with the images of their parents in their dragon form and he had his own blood forged in the steel of the blade. Since it was completed, he had never allowed it to be more than an arm’s length away from him. The feeling of it in his hands always gave him peace as he prepared to face a fight.
He didn’t find the threat he expected to find. Instead, he saw Jackie sitting on the front steps, with the baby held
