Jane West couldn’t sleep. Her arm ached too much. And all the memories from the day kept jumping out at her when she closed her eyes.

She was going to have nightmares, she knew it. A broken arm and nightmares and a daddy who was getting erased. No, terminated. That was the word. Only not like the cyborg in those movies.

It was her eleventh birthday, and it was probably the worst day of her life.

It wasn’t fair.

She heard the light tapping at her door, but ignored it, thinking it was one of the staff making noise in the hallway. When it came again, though, it was louder, and she sat up in bed, smiling for the first time that day. “Come in!”

The door opened right away, and Dallas hurried in, then shut the door quickly behind him.

“I had to wait until everyone was asleep,” he said. “And I couldn’t get Liam. The grown-ups are talking in the kitchen, so he’s stuck back there in his rooms with his mom.”

Jane just nodded. Liam was one of her best friends, too, but right then she really only wanted Dallas.

He climbed onto the bed, a lanky boy of eleven, taller and leaner than most of the other boys in school. His hair was short, and right now it was spiky, probably ’cause he ran his fingers through it when he was worried. Jane knew he’d been worried about her. She could see it on his face, and in the green eyes that had always seemed magical to her.

He had Mr. Fluffles with him, and he passed the bunny to her. “Here,” he said. “I figured he’d help.”

“He’s yours.” For some reason, it was really important to her that he keep the bunny.

“Well, duh. But just for tonight I thought you’d need him.”

“Oh.” She smiled at him, and when he smiled back she forgot a little bit how much she hurt all over.

“So what happened? Nobody’s saying anything.”

She shrugged. “Daddy called Mom and wanted to take me out today because it’s my birthday. Mom and Eli didn’t want him to but they let me go anyway because I haven’t seen him so much lately.”

For the last year, Colin had been serving his second prison sentence, this one for tax fraud, and he’d only gotten out a few weeks ago. Her mom, Lisa, had gotten a divorce after the first time he’d been locked up for something called insider trading, and then she’d married Eli right after Jane’s seventh birthday.

“So what happened when you were out with him?” Dallas pressed.

She bit her lower lip, then pulled her knees out from under the covers so that she could hug them to her, along with Mr. Fluffles. “He took me to dinner and that was nice, and then he said he had to see a friend on the way home.”

“Were you in the city?”

She nodded. “For dinner. But then we went over into New Jersey. He said he needed to pick up a package and move it somewhere else. So we ended up in this warehouse by the river filled with boxes and crates and stuff.”

“Cool.”

Maybe on another day she’d think so, but not today. She shook her head. “We got the package, but as we were leaving these guys in suits came in. Daddy started to pull me back, but one of the guys grabbed me by the arm and yanked me toward him, and—and he had a gun.”

Dallas’s eyes went wide, and he reached for her hand. “Who was he?”

She clutched his hand as she told the rest, not really wanting to talk about it, but wanting him to know. “I don’t know. But the guy standing next to him said my daddy owed him money, and if he didn’t pay up, he’d be sorry.”

“What happened?”

“I don’t know. Not really. But Daddy walked with that man to a corner and I could hear them shouting. And then they came back and the guy told the one with the gun to let me go. And he shoved me toward Daddy, but I fell and I heard a crack and it hurt so bad. I think I fainted because then we were in the car and we were almost to the hospital.”

“Whoa.”

She nodded. Now that it was over, she had to admit it was a pretty good story. She couldn’t wait to tell Liam. He’d be impressed, too.

“So what did Mom say to him at the hospital?”

“To him? Nothing. He left while they were putting my arm in the cast. And he didn’t even give me my birthday present.”

“Oh!” Dallas dug into the pocket of his robe. “I got you one.”

She took the little box he passed her and ripped off the paper, then opened it to reveal a shiny golden locket. She looked up at him, delighted. “It’s so pretty. And it’s a heart.”

He lifted a shoulder. “Yeah, well. That’s all they had.” He didn’t quite look at her face. “So open it.”

She did, and found two tiny pictures inside. One of her, and one of him. Her heart fluttered in her chest as she gazed at the little images. “It’s the best present ever.”

“Really?”

She looked at him, and felt weirdly shy when she smiled. “I promise.”

“So what happened next? What did Mom do?”

“Well, she couldn’t yell at Daddy, but she sure yelled at Eli. Big-time.”

“At him? Why?”

“Well, to him, I guess. Said it was the last straw and she wanted Eli to file the papers. She didn’t care if it cost them everything, it needed to be done.”

“What?”

“That’s what I asked. And she said that she was going to have a court terminate Daddy’s parental rights. She’s gonna sue so that he’s not my dad anymore.”

“Wow.”

She nodded, then swiped away a tear. “And then Eli came to the bed I was in and told me not to worry. Everything would be just fine, because he would adopt me, and I’d have a mother and a father again, all living in the same house.”

“Just like that?” he asked.

“I guess so.”

“Then that means we’ll be brother and sister.”

She frowned. “We already are.”

“Nope. You’re my stepsister. Because Eli and Lisa adopted me after they got married, so I’m their kid.”

“I know that,” Jane said. She remembered when the drugged-up lady who was Dallas’s birth mother had been found dead, and Eli had said that it was sad, but good, because it would make the adoption process go easier.

“And Lisa already had you before she married Eli,” Dallas continued. “So we’re steps. Eli’s your stepfather and I’m your stepbrother.”

Jane rolled her eyes. “I know that, dummy. So what?”

“So, if Eli adopts you, then we’ll have the same two parents for real. Eli will be your real dad, I’ll be your real brother, and you’ll be my real sister. Wild, huh?”

Her eyes went wide as she thought about it. “Yeah.” She wrinkled her nose. “Is that good?”

He frowned, considering. “I don’t know. I guess.”

After a second, he shook it off. “You want me to stay with you tonight?”

She nodded. “It’s not scary anymore—I mean, I’m home and it’s all over. But I think it will be scary in my dreams, and I don’t want to have nightmares.”

“Okay then.” He sat up straight, looking every bit the determined bodyguard. “In that case, I have to stay. And you don’t have to worry because I’ll protect you. I’ll always protect you.”

He dropped his robe on the floor and crawled up to the head of the bed in his version of pajamas—flannel sleep pants and a Tower of London T-shirt from his last trip overseas with his parents. Soon to be her parents, too.

He slid under the covers and she scooted over to share her pillow. They both laid on their backs, and he held tight to her uninjured hand.

“Do you think they can really do that? Make my daddy not be my daddy, I mean?”

“I guess so.”

“I didn’t know you could lose people like that. I mean, just all of a sudden, and then they’re no longer who you thought they were.”

“Don’t worry,” Dallas said. “You’ll never lose me.”

And then he pushed himself up, leaned over, and very sweetly—very awkwardly—kissed her cheek.