Free Shadow Rising by Yasmine Galenorn

what I wanted to see, or thought someone wanted to hear.
    “You want to know what I think? I believe you’d fade here, Chase. You don’t have enough elf in you to ever be accepted by the other elves. While they might seem all cozy with you now, the long-lost son and all—trust me, discrimination is rampant over here in Otherworld.”
    “I wondered about that.” He shook his head. “Your world isn’t much better than ours in some ways.”
    “Damn straight. Each has its trade-offs, but no matter whether you’re in Otherworld or over Earthside, people are people and a lot of them are jerks.”
    “I keep thinking about how much I’d miss.”
    “While you might enjoy the difference at first…I think you really would miss home too much. After a while, you’d have to leave, or you’d wither like a blossom in the frost. If Sharah
does
return home, I think you should limit yourself to visits. Maybe on weekends, or for a week every few months. But I promise you, as much as I can promise anything, Sharah will make certain you get to see your baby, and more than just once a year. She has too much respect for you to do otherwise.”
    “You really think so?”
    I nodded. “I know so. She loves you, Chase. Even if she’s not ready to get married just yet. And you love her.”
    He ducked his head, smiling. “Yeah…I do. I really, truly do. I never expected it to work out like this, but Sharah…I think…I’ve found out what it really means to be
in
love. And the thought that she’s having my baby scares the hell out of me, and yet it’s so absolutely right.”
    And then, we were scrambling in the carriage, and off to the portals, on the way home.
    The house was bustling by the time we burst through the door. Iris and Bruce were back—and since their house was still a ways from being a reality, Bruce was now living with us, too. We’d slowly enlarged our extended family to the point where we were now a freaking commune.
    As we walked through the front door, Smoky caught up Camille and planted a kiss on her as he swung her around. Morio was helping Hanna clean up a patch of wet finger paint that had managed to take out one of the roses on the handwoven rug. Hanna looked flustered and Morio was trying to calm her down.
    “It’s okay. She gets away from all of us at times. Don’t worry about it.”
    “I did not see her run! She’s picking up speed from the time I get here.” Hanna had come to us from the Northlands. She helped Camille escape from Hyto. She spoke English now, and though she was still a little awkward around us, her heart was in the right place.
    Iris trailed out of the parlor, a very colorful Maggie in her arms. Our baby calico gargoyle was in the toddler stage and she’d be there a very long time, much to our consternation. She was getting into everything, and that wasn’t likely to change for the foreseeable future. Her fur was matted with blue and red paint, and she was giggling as she watched Hanna and Morio.
    “Maggie—no! You were a bad girl. No playtime tonight for you. You can just take a time out and think about what you did.” Iris caught sight of us and let out a sigh of relief. “I’m so glad you’re home. Tonight has been one disasterafter another. But Menolly, you don’t have long before sunrise. You’re cutting things close—” She stopped, looking at our faces. “What happened? I can see something happened while you were over there.”
    I was about to tell her to gather everyone in the kitchen when a loud whistle sounded. Smoky immediately set Camille down and she raced for the kitchen, with Trillian on her heels.
    “The wards! They’ve gone off.” Her voice echoed from the kitchen, and, giving Iris a helpless shrug, I took off after Delilah and the guys. Iris let out an exasperated sigh in the background.
    “I swear, can’t we have one evening in this house where we’re left in peace?” The talon-haltija muttered loudly, and then I heard her say, “Maggie! You