Jason carried the baby through the barrier, his steps light, his heart full. The infant cooed softly in his arms, her tiny fingers wrapped around his thumb, her mismatched eyes blinking up at him with innocent curiosity.
Tauriel followed behind him, her mind still reeling from what had just happened. She had prepared herself for rejection, for hostility, for the cold anger she had seen in Jason's eyes during their last encounter. She had expected him to perceive her as an enemy, to remind her of all the pain she had caused him, of the mark she had placed on Thalion's neck, of the chaos she had unleashed.
But Jason did not care.
The moment he had seen the child, everything melted away. The tension in his shoulders, the hardness in his eyes, the guarded wariness that had become second nature to him—all of it vanished. He had looked at the baby, and his entire world had shifted.
Now, he was speaking to her in baby language, his voice soft and playful, his grin wide and genuine.
