He’s right. Emma wou’ and never t’ink of de consequences or how much it cost her personally. Dat be how she is. If you’re family, dat’s all she needs to know. She’d move mountains to get to me.
I’d never forgive myself if I didn’t do de same for her.
“Fine. As long as de demon or Nat’aniel doan touch my blood.”
“I swear to you they won’t.”
“How soon do you want to do dis?”
“Silas has gone searching for the last few things he needs, so probably not until tonight or tomorrow.”
“Okay. Can I use your phone to call Rob to come get me? I need to sleep. I been up most of de night.”
“You can use one of the rooms upstairs.”
There’s fear in his eyes, a fear if I leave now, I won’t come back. And dat means Emma might die. I’d never do dat to her. But it’s more den dat too. But I doan want to t’ink about dat right now.
“You can use Eric’s room.”
He sounds desperate, not dat I blame him. If it were my kid, I’d do ever’tin I could to get her back too.
“Okay, but I doan want dat demon popping in while I sleep.”
“I wish I could promise that, but Silas has slipped past every demon ward I’ve ever put up. I will ask Eric and Ethan to go upstairs. Their rooms are directly across from each other. Leave the doors open, and they’ll see if Silas sneaks into your room.”
“I need to call Uncle Rob to let him know where I am.”
“You can use the house phone.”
Zeke stands and holds his hand out to me.
I doan want to take it.
But a small, almost forgotten part of myself whispers dat I do want to take his hand. I do want wha’ I’ve missed since I was little.
Reaching up hesitantly, I latch onto de offered hand, and he pulls me up. Only he doesn’t drop my hand like I expect him to. He pulls me into de tightest hug I’ve ever had. Not even Uncle Rob hugged me like dis when my parents died. I feel all de emotions Zeke is trying to keep under control, but he can’t hide de one emotion coming off him in waves.
I’m sensitive to emotions. Always have been.
The strongest sense of love I’ve ever felt seeps into my bones, and it frightens me to de point I stiffen up. I doan want dis, but at de same time, dat little whisper calls me a liar. I miss havin’ a family dat loves me more den any’tin else.
Not dat Uncle Rob doesn’t.
He loves me.
But it’s not de same love he feels for his own children.
I’ve always felt de difference, t’anks to dis hinky gift I have.
But Zeke? It’s de same love I felt when my fa’der hugged me or kissed me when he put me to sleep at night. My fa’der loved me fiercely, but even dose feelings pale in comparison to Zeke’s.
He finally pulls back, not upset I didn’t hug him back.
“You’re my son, Casstiel David Willow. I might have only found out about you yesterday, but that doesn’t change how I feel. I’ve known you for months. I’ve grown to respect you during that time. You gave my daughter a chance when others spurned her. That meant a lot to me and your grandparents. Lila loved you the moment I told her. That’s how she is. She loves fiercely and instantly. She’s a lot like Emma Rose. As soon as she come to a determination about who she decides is family, that’s it. She loves you for life.”
“I love Emma too. She be my friend.”
“She’s your sister,” he says quietly. “She was so happy and proud when she found out. I wish you could have seen her face.”
I swallow past a lump in my throat.
“Come on. Let’s get you inside so you can rest and get a shower. I’ll have Eric give you some clean clothes. They might be a little big, but they should at least fit.”
Eric is a football player, a wide receiver at dat. Dude’s huge. “Uh, maybe I’ll ask Et’an. We’re about de same size.”
“Of course.” Zeke nods. “Are you hungry? Mrs. Banks made her famous burgers. She has plenty left over.”
“I wouldn’t say no to food and a shower.”
Zeke smiles, just as hesitant as I am. “Let’s get you fed, then.”
I follow him back inside, dis tightness in my chest. It’s unfamiliar, and I scratch at it. I’m no’ sure dis is a good idea, but I need to sleep, and at de same time, I want to ease some of de fear and worry in Zeke. He loves Emma. I love her too. She cou’ be my sister. I’m still no’ sure I believe dis, but I will do ever’tin in my power to save her. Not because of Zeke or anyone else.
But because she be my family. She chose me as her family before she even knew we migh’ be related by blood. She was right den, and she’s right now.
Sometimes de family you choose for yourself be more important den de family you’re born into.
She chose me.
And I chose her.
Blood or no’, I’ll move de same mountains she wou’ have for me to get her back.
Saidie
New Orleans, LA
I step out onto the back patio and look for Alesha, who had texted me to come find her. Aleric’s already outside somewhere, basking in the sunlight. He missed it so much in the years he’d been a vampire. At least one of us is enjoying our stay in New Orleans.
Not seeing her, I go farther into the gardens, finally spotting Alex’s mom in the gazebo, sitting cross-legged as she pours over a text that looks ancient.
“Hey, is there any news?”
Alesha shakes her head and waves me to sit down.
Sighing deeply, I do as she asks. Even though I don’t know Emma Crane that well, I do know Kristoff, and he’s crazy. God only knows what kind of torture he’s putting her through. Aleric assured me the vampire doesn’t get off on sexual assault. He prefers head games and straight-up physical torture. There’s that much to be thankful for.
Cass Willow, the hunter who is fond of Emma, arrived yesterday, and Silas hasn’t returned either. He’s collecting the things he needs for his ancient spell. It will, in theory, transport them directly to Emma, bypassing the creatures in the swamp. Alesha isn’t sure that it’ll work, though, and has been focusing on her own version of the spell, this one probably not requiring as much dark magic as a demon spell would.
When she’s done muttering whatever incantation she was doing, she finally looks up at me. She’s tired. Really, really tired. She hasn’t slept much either. I’ve seen her at all hours of the day and night. Alex and I have a theory. We’re fairly certain Ezekiel Crane is her true mate. Which is all kinds of messed up. He’s got a girlfriend who he seems to truly love, and she him. It’s a hell of a mess if that’s the case. We’re both thinking Alesha is working herself to death to save his daughter because of the whole mate bond thing.
Jason and Alex are not sure how to feel about the thought of their mother mating with one of the most well-known criminals in the country. One the law has never been able to touch. And it’s not just regular crime either. He’s known as a very bad man in paranormal circles as well. Alesha would be damn stupid if she’s not careful here. He could potentially hurt her very badly, mate bond or not.