by R. A. Boyd
“I know, Daddy. We’re staying.”
The silence from Shaun spoke louder than any words he could express right now. He wanted his family with him. Jace wouldn’t say it, but he knew that Emma and Lily would be cannon fodder if they sought out protection from Shaun. From the sound of defeat in his voice, he knew it too.
“Okay, Baby. I just…” he began, hesitance choking his words. “I’ll see you tomorrow. I love you.”
“I love you too, Dad.”
“Put Jace on the phone.”
Hell no. He didn’t want to talk to her father. Jace may have millennia, strength, and size on Shaun, but there was some immeasurable force when it came to a parent and their child. Right now, Jace was the one thing that seemed to be bringing Emma’s world down around her.
“Take it,” Emma gritted low through clenched teeth, but he could see the humor in her eyes.
Clearing his throat, Jace took the phone and said, “I’m here.”
“I’m not the kind of man to offer idle threats, Jace, but you need to know something. Emma and Lily are my everything. I already lost the love of my life. Sanity will no longer be my companion if something happens to my family. You will pay dearly if it does. Do you understand?”
Jace couldn’t blame him one bit for how he felt. Right now, they both shared something. The two most precious beings in this world to both him and Shaun were here under his roof.
“I understand. No harm will come to either of them.”
Shaun hung up the phone without a good-bye or go fuck yourself. Before the line disconnected, Jace heard the man say a quick prayer for his family. God, please keep them safe.
Jace uttered a prayer for himself before he turned to Emma, her hands linked behind her head as a flood of tears finally escaped the prison of her eyes.
Creator of all, please let me keep them safe.
Chapter 7
“And all this happened yesterday? In one day?” her father asked as he cut an eye to Lily and Audra. They sat in the living room playing with some toy that they’d found in Lily’s new toy chest this morning. It was teaching her to speak Spanish.
Emma nodded and took a sip of her coffee. “Mostly. Jace and I met up a few weeks ago. That’s when we found out we were mates.”
Her father towered over her, their heads close together as he whispered so Lily couldn’t hear what they were saying. “Is Lily okay with this?”
“She’s fine,” Audra sang from the next room. “Lily and Auntie Audra are the best of friends.”
“She’s awesome!” Lily yelled as she tackle-hugged Audra, little arms flailing just before she draped them around Audra’s neck.
Audra went tumbling over, pretending that the force of Lily’s tiny frame was enough to ball her over. “My goodness, you are one strong little girl. Did you know that?”
It felt so good to see Lily take to the Ghost shifters like they’d been part of her life since the day she was born. This morning, she woke up and asked if it was time to go eat with the new people. She had become enamored with all of them, especially Cass and Audra.
During breakfast, Lily leaned over and whispered into Emma’s ear, ‘Cass is small, but she seems to so big on the inside. How’d she do that?’ Emma didn’t miss the sweet smile that spread across Cass’s lips even though she sat further up the table from them, talking to her mates.
“Come on, Auntie Audra. I want to show you my room here at Pop-pop’s house,” Lily said, standing up and attempting to pull Audra with her. “It has a bed for little people like me, just like my bed at home. But I like my new bed at Jace’s better. It’s so big, my momma slept there with me last night. I love her, but I wanna sleep in it by myself tonight. Like a starfish,” she said, whispering, but unaware that she hadn’t mastered the art of whispering yet.
“Not cool, Emma,” Audra said as she ran up the stairs after Lily. She winked and then disappeared to the second floor of the house, following the rampant giggles of her new best buddy.
Her father waited until the soft bumps of Lily’s feet jumping on the bed sounded above their heads. “Are you sure you’re okay? You can tell me. I’ll get you somewhere safe if need be.”
Chewing on her bottom lip, Emma swallowed a few times as she tried to find the right words to put him at ease. It would be a hard thing to do since she was still on the fence about what was happening. Not between her and Jace and the rest of the Ghosts, but with the Rogue clan. This was dangerous. She had an inkling of how risky it would be when she first agreed to bite Jace, but her and Lily being in the thick of it changed the dynamics of everything.
She nodded and shrugged. “I’m sure. It sounds crazy, but this feels right being there with them. It’s like going home. Other than the obvious weirdness between Jace and me, it just feels good. Feels right. They accepted us like we’d always been a part of them.” She put her mug on the counter and then placed her hand over her heart. “Last night, Jace told them about Lily’s gluten allergy, and when we went to breakfast with the clan this morning, they had a spread just for her. Pancakes, waffles, French toast, biscuits. All gluten-free. And you know what a struggle it is to get Lily Pad to eat anything new, but she did. She took a bite of everything. She likes waffles now. I’ve been trying to get her to try waffles for months. And every time she tried something new, they cheered her on. She just lit up, Dad. I know it seems small, but it’s not. It’s so big. All of this.”
Despite trying to fight her obvious affection for Jace, it was more of a fight to keep herself from giving in. Yes, she wanted to take it slow, but it seemed pointless. Like parachuting out of a plane. No matter what you did, gravity was going to pull you down. That was her and Jace. No matter how hard she fought, he was the only endgame.
Her father made a hard clicking noise with his tongue. He did it when he was confused. Or pissed. And right now he was probably both.
“Did you call your instructor?” he asked, grabbing the coffee pot and topping off her cup.
She turned around and opened the refrigerator, taking the half-and-half from its regular spot on the door. “Yes. I told him I wouldn’t be there for a while. He said you could find me another instructor.”
“You bet your ass I will,” he muttered, handing her the sugar bowl. “You may not be able to take a shifter, but making sure you keep practicing couldn’t hurt.”
Emma’s father had been teaching her Krav Maga since she was in high school, and when she moved to Baltimore, he’d found her a class to attend. Dad studied it in the military and was insistent that she learn to protect herself after a boy slapped her butt in school.
By the time her dad retired, he and her mother decided they wanted to live out the rest of their lives in New Rose. He’d told her he was too old to teach her. She didn’t think that was it, though. Not truly. They’d been sparing in the backyard, and for the first time, Emma got the better of him. She also made a mistake and dislocated his shoulder. He’d given her the finger and told her he’d find her an instructor by the end of the week. Best. Day. Ever. Her dad was a badass, and getting the upper hand while they spared was monumental.
“Here,” he said, bending down to reach into a drawer near his feet. “It’s small, but you’ll like it. You still have your other one?”
She took the small rectangular box from him and pulled back the top. In the foam-filled box sat a gold and silver, automatic stiletto switchblade. Emma squealed and jumped up and down. “Oh, Daddy, it’s so pretty!”
“It’s a knife, Emma Sue. Please don’t call it pretty.”
“Please don’t call me Emma Sue,” she replied, eyes still glued to the pretty little package of sharp heaven. “It is pretty.”
“No,” her father said, shaking his head back and forth as if that alone would change her mind. “No. It’s well made. It’s sharp. It’ll help keep you safe.”
“It has a pretty pony on it,” she added teasingly.
“It’s a stallion, Emma. A stallion.”
When she final
ly looked up after admiring it, she said, “My other one is back at the house. Willow, she’s a fallen angel and a witch, wants to make sure none of our stuff has some kind of death curse on it before we go take anything from the house.”
Her father took in a sharp breath and pressed his fists to his hips. A passing mirage of rage, fear, and confusion flipped across her dad’s face until he finally settled on sheer anger. “Death curse? The fuck, Emma?” Two times in two days he’d dropped the F-bomb when talking to her. He never cursed around her. Who could blame him? He felt just as helpless as she did, probably even more so.
There really wasn’t too much she could say to comfort him, so she didn’t try. “This is happening. Unfortunately, we’re in this. But we’re safe. Willow—”
“The witch who is also a fallen angel.”
“—yes, the witch who is also a fallen angel, is making a protection spell for Lily.” Her father started to speak, but she interrupted him. “It only works on kids. I’ll explain later,” she murmured as Lily’s footsteps came rushing down the stairs with Audra trailing behind her. Emma shoved the switchblade into her side pocket and pulled her shirt down to cover it. “Did you two have fun?”
Audra’s hair was a mess. Her usually neat braid was lop-sided with wisps of hair sticking out this way and that. “Lily’s learning to braid,” she said, pride high in her voice.
“Want me to fix that?” Emma asked, trying to hold in a laugh. Lily had tried on many occasions to do Emma’s hair, and if Audra’s scalp was anything like hers the poor woman must be in pain.
Shaking her head as Lily snuck a side glance at her, Audra proclaimed, “Absolutely not. She is learning and I will wear this braid with joy.”
Emma blew out a breath. “You do realize we have to go to the school and see Sara when we leave here, right?”
Audra’s face tightened in something akin to embarrassment, but it vanished almost as fast as it had come. “Yes. I know this. No matter. I look awesome,” she said, turning to grace Lily with an encouraging smile. “You did awesome.”
“School?” her father asked, looking just as amused and horrified as Emma felt.
“Yep.” Trying to push away the reluctance, Emma walked closer to her father and rested her head on his shoulder. “You remember Sara Winston? Neil’s mom? She volunteers at the elementary school. She promised to keep an eye on Lily.”
The idea of Lily being anywhere but surrounded by a group of shifters and witches who were hell-bent on keeping her safe had brought on so much anxiety. Deep inside, she knew she couldn’t keep her daughter locked in a bubble. Being around the ‘new people’ amused her now, but soon she would feel the isolation from not being around kids her age.
Emma felt the tension tighten in her dad’s shoulders. She knew exactly how he felt.
Her dad kissed the top of her head. “Are you sure she shouldn’t be somewhere safer? They came to your house, Emma. Your house. What’s to stop them from going to the school? I mean—” he said, low as to not scare Lily. “—it’s like they’re hunting you. Oh, and those SOB’s set your car on fire.”
“Daddy, I’ll be there every day with her. It’s only three days a week. I don’t want Lily to think she’s locked in a jail cell. She needs to interact with other kids.”
“Besides,” Audra said. Leaving Lily playing with a circular game that shouted out the alphabet. “Sara is more like me than she’s comfortable admitting. You do know about me, don’t you Shaun?” A slow smile spread across her lips. She winked at them. “I’m better now, but you’ve seen me in action. I know you remember.”
Hell yes, he had. They both did. Emma and her parents were together when they’d seen Audra in action. It was hard to forget. They’d only been in New Rose for a few months when it happened.
Emma and her parents had been having lunch in Melinda Bale’s Bar and Pub when a fight broke out between a server at the restaurant and three guys who were passing through town. The visitors didn’t like that their waiter was gay. They were giving him trouble, tried to gang up on him when Audra came out of nowhere and handed their asses to them.
She was all snarls and glowing eyes. All three of the men towered over her small frame, but she battered them like a tornado no one was prepared for. She was fast. Scary fast. She laughed the whole time. They had to call an ambulance for one of the guys, and no one in the pub had a bit of concern for any of them. After she tired of playing with them, she went to the counter, picked up the next order, and delivered the food to the patrons.
That was the day Emma decided that she wanted to be Audra’s friend. A year later she met Jace. And now, here they were.
With a worrisome smile, Emma’s dad nodded his head. Leaning toward Audra, he said, “I remember. I’m still impressed.”
“As you should be.” Audra preened, tucking a stray hair into her braid. “Lily will be safe. Despite the face-lifting, tight hair bun and cashmere cardigans, Sara Winston could give me a run for my money if it ever came down to it. But she is an ally of the Ghost shifters. That should count for something.”
“It really does,” her father muttered, relief coloring his words.
Audra patted her hair and grabbed Emma’s coffee cup. Before she put the mug to her lips, she looked at Emma. “Am I safe to take a sip of this or did you and my brother do weird things last night or this morning?”
Dear God, Audra had no freaking filter. “No, Audra. And you do realize my dad is right here?” Emma growled out, trying to appear upset but really just sounding embarrassed and amused.
Audra scoffed and took a sip. “You’re a grown woman. The only one that deserves a filter from me is Nugget over there. Don’t tell her I called her Nugget until next week.” She spared a glance over to Lily. “So rest easy, Shaun,” she said, turning to face them. “Other than in our little protected community, being with Sara is the next best place Lily or Emma could be.”
“B is for banana,” Lily called loudly. “B-A-N-A-N-A. Momma, I can spell banana and binoculars.”
Emma leaned over and smiled. “That’s ‘cause you are awesome!”
“Fuck me sideways,” Audra said, just before there was a knock on the backdoor. She leaned forward and grabbed the butcher knife from the knife block. “Call my brothers. Now.”
“I’m your brother too.” A smooth, deep voice called from the other side of the door. “Well, kind of. You and Emma should come out here before I come inside.”
A rush of fear dumped in Emma’s chest, clogging her voice as her gaze flicked to Lily. She grabbed her father’s arm and squeezed.
“Shaun,” Audra said. Her voice boomed in the room, overtaking the joyous sounds of Lily’s toy. “Why don’t you go put on something loud and playful for Lily to listen to.” She started to move toward Emma but paused. “Shaun. I need you to fight every instinct raging inside you right now to protect your family. They don’t need to see you die today.”
“I only want to talk,” Ronin sang out.
“Shut the fuck up, Samiyah, and butt out,” Audra spat, voice low. “We’re coming.”
Audra handed Shaun the phone, and when Emma looked up into her eyes she saw something that frightened her even more. Audra was afraid. Even though her shoulders were squared and she held the butcher knife life a freaking professional, she was scared. Emma never knew her to be frightened of anything. This was really, really bad.
“Come on, Emma. There’s truth in his words. He only wants to talk.”
Emma pushed her father toward the living room where Lily sat, oblivious to the menace waiting for them on the other side of the door. Jace had told her about Ronin. He was dangerous, strong as hell, and possessed by an angel who was even crazier than him.
Everything inside of her begged her to grab Lily and run. That would get everyone hurt. Besides, she would never run out on her family. Not her father. Not Audra. And she certainly would never do anything to jeopardize the safety of her daughter.
Just as Audra tucked the knife in her b
ack pocket, Emma leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. “Thank you for making sure Jace and I cleared things up. This situation may suck but at least I know the truth now.” She clutched Audra’s hand and intertwined their fingers, holding on to bring both of them comfort. “I’m here with you.”
“And I’m here with you,” Audra said, voice trembling like a loose leaf caught in the wind. She lifted Emma’s hand and kissed the back of it. “I knew you were going to be my sister a long time ago.” She leaned into Emma’s ear, whisper as low as a midnight breeze. “You and Lily make me strong. Thank you.”
When Emma pulled back and looked into Audra’s face, all traces of fear were gone. Audra’s beautiful, whiskey brown eyes were intense, clear. If her brother decided he wanted a confrontation, the fight in Audra’s determined eyes said she was ready to rumble.
“How lovely was that?” Ronin said from the other side of the door.
Just as Audra pulled the door open, Emma heard the blaring sounds of a kid’s jazz exercise CD that her mother bought her years ago when she was a kid. She used to dance to it with her when she was a child. She was amazed it still worked.
The back porch was empty. Emma looked around the familiar backyard. The patio set her mom had to have from the Amish Market when they first moved to New Rose. A pink and yellow hammock lazily swung between the two flowering trees at the far end of the yard. The lavender bush that she and her mom planted. And leaning against the natural wood colored picket fence that her mother insisted on having installed was Ronin.
Dressed in a hunter green t-shirt that stretched across his broad chest, and dark jeans that led to thick, black boots, Ronin looked the part of a wicked fallen angel. Panic clogged the breath that tried to escape Emma’s mouth as she realized who he was. The one that her friend had been dating for two weeks now. The same man that knocked over Paddie’s mocha latte the day after Emma met with Jace and bit him, giving him back his saber-tooth, and his grace.
Damn-it. She really was being hunted.
Chills rippled up and down her spine as she watched his perfect smile widen. He knew she recognized him.
