Later that afternoon, I was sitting in the nursery, finishing up the baby blanket I’d been working on, when I heard a bit of a commotion outside.

Even though it sounded like it was coming from the garden out by the living room, I could hear it in the back of the cottage, in the nursery. But then, the cottage wasn’t that big.

My first thought was that Ethan had come to see me, and Soren and his guards had shown up and caught him. My heart began to pound in my chest at the idea.

I pushed up ...