“He’s…” Zeke breaks off and takes a deep breath. “Whatever is preventing us from getting a read on her is not affecting their bond. He’s in a lot of pain.”
“Which means so is she,” I say slowly. Kristoff loves pain. He never physically hurt Alice, which is odd, considerin’ all de damage he’d done to de o’ders. In her head, dou, dat was a different story altogether. He kept her in constant agony.
Zeke makes a sound, and I can see de pain on his face. He’s hurtin’ because his child is. Sometimes I wish I still had dat, but with both my parents gone, I doan.
“The witches from West Virginia are trying to find a way to break the spell over the crawlers in the water so we can get onto the island. But until they do, it’s too dangerous for us try to breach it.”
Mary twists her hands as she speaks. I’ve never seen her do dat before. She’s tryin’ to be calm, but she’s no’. She’s startin’ to panic inside. Emma told me wha’ she and Mary went t’rough at de hands of her old foster mo’der. Mary has to be havin’ flashbacks t’inkin’ of wha’ Emma’s going t’rough right now.
“What can I do to help?”
“Funny you should ask that, my darling boy.”
My head whips around to see de demon Silas lounging against the fireplace. He hadn’t been dere before. I know because I always make a sweep of every room I enter. It’s som’tin Uncle Rob taught me when he was teachin’ me and Robert to be hunters.
He’s dressed in black slacks and a white dress shirt, his usual attire. The English accent is t’icker today, dou. I know he loves Emma in his own way and has gone above and beyond to keep her safe, but I doan trust him.
You never trust a demon. Ever.
It’s de first rule of hunting.
“That’s why we called you,” Mary said. “You’re the only person who can help.”
“Me?”
“Your blood, more specifically.”
“Silas has a spell. It’s an old one, but it requires the blood of an angel, a demon, and a reaper. Basically, Heaven and Hell, with a binding force that can traverse both planes.”
“And the bloodlines have to be related to the person you’re scrying for.”
“I doan understand.”
“We’ve found out some information about your heritage. Silas was able to identify your mother’s species.” Mary takes a deep breath. “She was an Angel, one of the fallen.”
“I am no’ a Fallen Angel!” Dere is no way I have dat kind of evil in me. No way.
“No, you’re not, my darling boy.” Silas steps forward, coming closer, and I take an instinctive step back. I know he’d have no qualms about killin’ me if it meant protectin’ his granddaughter. “She’s one of the fallen, not a Fallen Angel, who was cast out of Heaven by God himself after the great war with Lucifer. Your mother’s kind decided to fall from grace on their own. In her case, it was because she fell in love with a mortal man.”
Et’an shoves a chair at me as my knees buckle, and he barely gets it under me before I fall. I’m part Angel? I doan know wha’ to say, how to react.
“And de man, he was my fa’der?”
“He was, but he didn’t love her in return, so she hid her pregnancy from him. She even lied to him later when he asked her if the boy was his.”
Dis from Zeke. He looks pissed off now.
“You know who my fa’der is?”
“I do.”
“Den who is it?” I whisper. It’s a question dat has been hauntin’ me since I found out I wasn’t really a Willow.
He takes a deep breath. “It’s me, Cass. I’m your father.”
“No!” I stand, de chair falling backward. “You be lyin’. You’re no’ my fa’der. My mo’der wou’ ne’ver…”
“He’s not lying.” Mary puts her hand on my arm. “I promise you, Cass, he’s not.”
I shake my head, refusin’ to believe it. He’s a Crane. I’m no’ a Crane. I doan have demon blood in me. I doan.
“I know this is hard to hear, Cass.”
“You know?” I shout at her.
Nathaniel growls and shoves her behind him. “Careful.”
“Cass won’t hurt me,” Mary huffs and tries to step around him, but he sidesteps, keepin’ her behind him. If I wasn’t so upset, I’d be laughin’, but bloody hell, dere’s no way I’m a Crane.
“Cass,” Zeke starts, but I put up a hand to stop him. I doan want to hear it. I want no’tin to do wit’ him.
Unable to process, I turn and barrel past Nat’aniel, running blindly until I’m outside. Escaping into de maze of gardens, I find a spot hidden away from view and collapse to de ground.
It’s hard to get air into my lungs, and I wheeze.
Dis has to be a panic attack.
I’ve heard about dem but never experienced one before.
No wonder Uncle Rob refused to tell me who my fa’der was. He hates de Cranes. He taught us to hate dem as well. He’d never willingly allow dem near me. He might be civil to Emma, but he’d ra’der we leave her to her own devices and stop askin’ her for help.
Emma.
If dis be true, she’s my sister.
My lungs shudder, and it’s like breat’in’ t’rough a straw.
My sister.
I might have a sister.
I’m no’ a Crane.
I can’t be.
But I have Zeke’s eyes. De exact same shade of blue. I was about eight de first time I saw him, and I remember t’inkin’ it was funny de tall man had my eyes. Uncle Rob flew mad and told me to never say dat again.
He scared me so bad at de time, I tried to hide whenever Ezekiel Crane was wi’tin sight. My uncle fostered dat fear and turned it into a burning hatred. No’ just me ei’der, but in Robert and Caryle too.
And it’s no’ just de idea of being a Crane.
De t’ought of having demon blood runnin’ t’rough my veins makes me physically ill. I’ve spent my entire life huntin’ demons and o’der evil creatures. To be told I’m now evil? It’s more dan I can handle. I doan want dis. I doan want any part of it.
Is dis how Emma felt when she learned de trut’ about herself? I doan know how she came to terms wit’ it, because I’m havin’ a hard time.
But Emma’s no’ evil. She might get all dark and twisty when her demonic side comes out, but I’ve never seen her do any’tin evil. She tries so hard to help people. Even dose who doan want her help like de o’der hunters. No’ one of dem lifted a finger to help find her.
And dat is no’ fair.
I need to get myself toge’der and try to help get to her. She’d do it for me. Sister or no’, she tol’ me I was her family, and dat meant a lot to me. No matter wha’ I’m feeling now, I have to put it aside and find Emma.
De scuff of shoes draws my attention from de patch of grass I’d been starin’ at and directly to Ezekiel Crane. His blue eyes are stricken and so full of pain, I have no words for it.
He comes over and sits down in de grass in front of me. I doan want him here.