by HK Khan
My hard sobs make it impossible to form a coherent sentence. “Sisters—my mom—Hawk bleeding—dead.”
When I dissolve back into tears, unable to say more, May summarizes our discussion.
Kent scoops me into his arms and sits on my chair with me still held tightly to him. “Oh, Guine, sweetheart. It’s okay,” he coos. “Let it all out.”
It takes me a couple of minutes to regain my composure. When I do, it surprises me that the entire team sits on the floor around us. They’re here for me.
“Do you want me to tell them?” Kent whispers into my hair.
I want to say yes, but don’t. This is my life, and I won’t live it by letting other people step in and speak for me when I’m uncomfortable. I shake my head and square my shoulders as I stand.
“Hi,” my voice comes out as a croak, and I clear my throat. “It turns out I look a lot like someone May used to know.” I breathe deeply, and she nods in support. “From what she told me, and from this picture”—May hands the photograph to Phoenix, who sits on the arm of her chair— “we think we might know who my mother is.”
Shock circles the room, and Phoenix mutters, “Holy shit.”
He passes the picture to Ash. His eyes widen with recognition, dart to me, and then to his aunt. The rest of them gather around the photo, and everyone talks at once.
“What the hell?”
“This can’t be right—”
“I thought she was just a nightmare—”
“Dia ár sábháil—”
Kent lets out one of his ear-splitting whistles, and the room falls silent. Genji looks like I killed his puppy, his hands clenching into fists.
Declan signs discreetly. “What’s wrong?”
Genji’s hands move in reply. “We need to detain her. I think she’s a plant.”
I want to shout, but keep my expression neutral. If they imprison me, I want to know ahead of time.
“She lied to me,” Genji adds. “She said females couldn’t reproduce. She looked me in the eye and told me it was impossible just an hour ago. Her mother’s obviously a vamp, which means she probably is, too. They sent her here as a spy.”
“Guys,” Ash interrupts their silent conversation. “She knows what you’re saying.”
He shrugs apologetically to me. I leap to my feet and whip out my two hidden daggers. Everyone scrambles, and I throw them as powerfully as I can into the wall on the other side of the room. If I have another episode when they try to take me in, I don’t want to be armed and accidentally kill someone.
They freeze at the resounding double crack of the blades impaling the wall. I stare at Genji and sign, “I didn’t lie. I don’t know how any of this is possible.”
He looks like he wants to trust me but he’s uncertain whether or not he should.
“Please believe me,” I whisper as tears prickle at my eyes.
Once again, I made the mistake of letting hope into my heart. I’m the stranger here. An interloper. It was ridiculous to think I found somewhere to belong.
“Guine.” May’s gentle tone pierces through the barriers I struggle to reconstruct.
We all turn to her, and she motions for everyone to sit.
Genji does so begrudgingly, and his anger pours out in waves.
May turns to me. “Why did you throw your blades, with stunning accuracy I might add, at my parlor wall?”
“There was an incident before. As much as I don’t want to be a prisoner ever again, I’d willingly relinquish my freedom to you before hurting anyone in this room.” I lock eyes with Genji. “You’re important to me, and I don’t want to risk having weapons available if I go back into Huntress mode.”
Genji’s hazel eyes soften, and I let out a breath when his hands unclench.
“But how’d you know what they were saying?” Hawk asks gruffly, glancing back and forth between Genji and me. It’s obvious Hawk’s torn between wanting to defend and wanting to throttle me. So nothing new there. “This isn’t something your vamps could teach you. It’s a secret language only Hunters know.” He examines me intently with his piercing, dark-brown eyes. “Who trained you?”
I fold my arms across my chest and glare at him. “They’re not my vamps, and I hate that you flipped so quickly from telling me I’m family to accusing me of being some kind of spy in mere minutes. I just learned my mom was a vamp, and that she went crazy and killed a bunch of people while abandoning me to be a blood slave. Instead of you exemplifying how I always dreamed a family should respond, you turn on me and act like them!”
I throw my arms up in the air in frustration, and stalk over to stand in front of Hawk. I point my finger at him. “I forgave you for being an ass and for calling me some really horrible things, and then again when you stole my first kiss without my permission.”
I whip around to Genji. “I trusted you. I told you things I’m not supposed to even know. Things I risked my life to learn, and you repay me like this?”
My vision clouds with tears as I turn to Phoenix. “I bared myself to you,” I whisper. “You know things about me nobody else does.” I wipe furiously at my face. “I showed you my scars.”
Nodding, he takes my hand in a tight grip, pulls me away from Hawk, and loosely wraps his arms around me. Violent shakes wrack my body, and I’m not sure if it comes from rage or fear. Maybe both.
“I’m sorry, Sunshine.” Phoenix squeezes me closer into an all-encompassing hug.
My trembling increases, and my knees buckle as a sob escapes my throat. Phoenix lowers us to the floor and sings a sweet song about sunshine and grey skies softly into my ear. As my breathing calms, he winks at me, and it lifts my spirits slightly.
“I’m disappointed in you, boys,” May growls, putting a protective hand on my shoulder. “This isn’t how we treat family.” She glares at them, and they lower their heads in shame. “Guine, hon, if you don’t mind me asking, how did you know our sign-language?”
I try to remember, as payment for her kindness, and a blinding pain spears through my head.
My tiny hands struggle with the complex forms my fingers are supposed to create. If I get it wrong again, she’ll punish me. I don’t want another tattoo. Even though they’re pretty in the morning sunlight, I don’t like how much they hurt.
“Not like that, girl.” She smacks me and shows the pattern again.
The tears creep closer, but I swallow them back. Daddy never hit me, and he was always patient. I miss him. He called me his little miracle, and told me stories about how my mom was a hero who left to keep me safe. I stare at the woman who killed him and wonder why Daddy lied. She’s not a hero; she’s a monster.
I try the word again, and when I get it right, I glance up at the scary woman who won’t let me call her Mother. The memories of Daddy’s stories give me hope she’ll praise me, but I only receive another slap.
“It’s not difficult, girl. You’ll stand there and practice it one-hundred times if you want supper.” She smiles, but it’s not nice like in Daddy’s pictures.
Her purple eyes, the ones Daddy said made us special, don’t sparkle like he always told me they did in bedtime stories. They’re cruel. It makes me afraid, and I struggle to keep my hands moving steadily.
“From this moment on, you are to sign only. I don’t want to hear your wretched little voice. If you want to eat, you’ll learn how to ask for it like a Hunter.” She unwraps the tattoo kit and kneels beside me. “Now stay still, girl, while you take your punishment.”
The tears finally escape as the first burning pricks of the needle pierce my calf.
My eyes open. I lie on the floor with my head in Phoenix’s lap, clenching his shirt in my fists and grinding my teeth. He still sings his sunshine song as he strokes my hair, and it soothes me.
“Did I hurt anyone?” I demand as soon as I can get my mouth to work.
Sitting up, I groan as my head spins. I press my hands into my temples and squeeze my eyes shut once more to ward off the harsh dizziness. My stomac
h rolls, and I swallow back bile.
Genji’s soft voice pierces through the pain, and I crack open an eyelid. “Guine, is there something I can do to help?” He hands me a cold-pack, and I hold it to the back of my neck. It slightly dulls the throbbing.
“No, thank you,” I whisper, afraid anything louder will make my head fall off. “Did I hurt anyone?” I ask again.
The silence forces me to open my eyes. No one appears to be bleeding, but they don’t answer me, either.
Panic rises in my throat, but Phoenix places a reassuring hand on my shoulder. “Don’t worry, Sunshine, you didn’t go all warrior princess on us this time. You just screamed like you were dying and gave me a damn heart attack.” He swallows and shakes his head. “You were like that for almost ten minutes. I’ve never been more scared, Guine, and I fight creepy-ass vamps for a living. Don’t do that again, okay?”
“’kay,” I agree, and wince at the sound of my own voice. It’s a lot like hers. My mother’s.
Genji kneels directly in my line of sight and gives me a tremulous smile. “We need to talk, but for now, I prescribe a good night’s sleep.” He studies me for a moment. “I’m sorry for how I reacted earlier. I believe you, Kitten. I believe in you.”
He nods to someone over my shoulder, and strong arms scoop me up. I don’t want to move my head to look, but I smell Kent’s minty toothpaste and know he stands behind me.
“Close your eyes and rest while I carry you,” he whispers. “I know your head hurts, but I’ll try to be quick.”
I do as requested and breathe shallowly to counteract the nausea. We move swiftly, and after what seems like an eternity of torture but is probably only a minute, he lowers me onto a soft bed.
As his arms pull away, I grip them tight and beg, “Stay with me.”
My hands go limp, and I lose my grip. My head pounds, and I don’t have the courage to open my eyes. A moment passes before I know whether or not Kent stays. The bed shifts, and he crawls in beside me, gently lifting my head to rest on his shoulder. Sighing, I relax into his embrace.
“I remembered something,” I say quietly into the darkness.
“Shh.” He places a finger across my lips. “We’ll talk tomorrow. Sleep now, and when you feel better, we’ll call a briefing.”
“You’ll stay?” I really don’t want to be left alone with my memories right now.
“I’ll stay,” he replies quietly as sleep claims me.
Chapter Twelve
I wake to the sound of deep, even breathing, and my body tenses before I remember asking Kent to stay with me. Slowly, I sit up and tilt my head.
Someone else is here.
I freeze and remind myself of the last time I sensed a threat in the middle of the night; it was Declan trying to be nice, not Mistress or one of her lapdogs.
I’m not a slave anymore. I don’t need to be on my guard while sleeping.
I inhale slowly and the Huntress backs down at the familiar scent of roses.
“May,” I exhale.
The floorboards creak as she takes a step closer. Her hand wraps around mine, and I gently extract myself from Kent’s grasp to climb off the bed.
We tiptoe out of the room and down the hallway into the living room. A cheerful fire dances behind the fireplace screen, and a steaming pot of tea sits on the table.
“Take a seat, hon. I want to chat.”
I do as requested while May pours us each a cup of the fragrant tea. Passing me one, she settles beside me, and I inhale the calming herbal aroma before taking a sip.
“How are you feeling now, Guine?” She blows on her drink to cool it. “Your head’s better?”
I nod gingerly, relieved to find it no longer feels like a bomb ready to explode.
“Hon, do you want to talk about it?”
I glance up from my cup, waiting for her to clarify. When she doesn’t, the emotions of the past few days rise and spill out of me in a tumble of words.
“Everything’s so confusing,” I blurt. “I went from being less than nothing to being part of this amazing group in less than a day. Then I explode and try to kill everyone while some voice in my head pushes me on, and I have no memory of the fight. We train with weapons I’m somehow an expert in, when I can’t remember ever holding something more dangerous than a pair of scissors.”
I shiver at the memory of Scarlett lying dead on the kitchen floor. “I’m nobody, and they’re wonderful, and I’m afraid I’m constantly messing things up. I don’t deserve to be here with them, and yet, there’s nowhere I’d rather be.” I take a breath. “And apparently, I understand this super secretive Hunter’s sign language I shouldn’t know, and I’m the human daughter of a female vampire hybrid, which, by all accounts, is impossible!”
I stop the flood of words and stare back into my teacup, swirling the amber liquid a few times before I continue. “When you asked me how I knew what Genji signed, this terrible pain speared through me like before, and I remembered something.”
I take a sip of my tea to put off talking about it, but May seems to be gifted with an abundance of patience. I guess she would need it in order to raise six boys.
“I was really little, I don’t know how old, but my hands were still pudgy with baby fat, so probably about four?” I shake my head. “Anyway, I was trying to form the signs for ‘I’m hungry’, but kept mangling it. The woman from your photo was there, and she was horribly cruel. She kept calling me ‘girl’ and smacked me every time I made a mistake. I remember thinking my dad was nicer, and that I hated her for killing him.”
Sucking in a breath, I realize for the first time that I had a dad. “I didn’t want to cry, though, because I was afraid it meant she would give me more tattoos. Unfortunately, I was right. I had to stand all night practicing the signs while remaining motionless.” I absently reach down and rub at the spot on my calf she inked that night. “She marked me while I stood, and slapped me when I screamed from the pain.”
When May puts a hand on my thigh, I jump but then relax at the compassion in her eyes. “She marked you?”
I nod. “I thought Kent or one of the others might’ve already told you. I’m covered in tattoos like theirs, only mine aren’t double inked to be visible.” I glance at the clock. “I’ll show you in about an hour, when the sun rises, if you like.” I calm my trembling hands before I continue. “This is the first time I remembered something from before becoming a slave, though. Now I understood how I got the marks.”
She sets her teacup down and smiles sadly. “I’d love to see them, hon. I’m sorry Beth did that to you, though.” Her grip on my leg tightens. “If I knew she had a kid, I swear, I’d have moved heaven and earth to make sure you were safe. When I sent her away, it was because of the threat she posed to the boys. I never stopped loving her as a sister, and I grieved for her loss as much as I did Joanna’s.” Her eyes drift over my body, pain evident on her face. “You look so much like her, it’s almost surprising when I don’t see fangs.” She ghosts her fingers across my cheekbone. “You have her eyes.”
I sit back and tuck my feet underneath me. “Tell me about her.” I bite at my thumbnail. “From before she changed. Do you think she would’ve liked me?”
May belly laughs and grins. “Oh, hon, she would’ve loved you.” She reaches into her robe and pulls out my daggers. “These were her weapons of choice as well, and her accuracy was deadly.” She hands them to me, and I wonder if any more weapons hide under the lavender silk wrap. She winks. “She had your sense of humor, too. I saw where you wounded the prisoners, and I can just hear Beth laughing at your choice of a target.”
I smile wickedly when I remember Eric and Zane are no longer free to prey upon innocent girls. “Oh, believe me; they deserve so much more than what I gave them.”
She laughs and someone snorts as they walk into the room. I turn and a smiling Kent greets me. Genji follows closely behind, now wearing a pair of outrageous, hot pink pajama bottoms covered in dancing penguins.
“I hadn’t gotten a chance to examine the prisoners,” Genji sits gingerly beside me. “Did you really stab one in the groin, Kitten?”
Kent takes the chair across from us and rolls his eyes. “I believe it was you, Ji, who warned everyone, ‘Kitten has claws’. You shouldn’t be surprised when she uses them.” He throws a handkerchief to Genji and smirks. “Wipe your face, Doc. You’re drooling.”
Genji throws the cloth square right back at Kent and flips him off. “Oh come on. You think it’s sexy too, that she can handle herself!”
I shift uncomfortably, not sure how to take their banter.
“Knock it off you two. I can think of a dozen or so bathrooms that need some deep cleaning at headquarters if you can’t treat one another respectfully.” She winks at me. “Or maybe I need to pull out The Gloves?”
Kent and Genji immediately fall silent, and I just barely catch Kent signing to the doctor, “I thought you burned those!”
May raises an eyebrow at him and they both pale. It’s on the tip of my tongue to ask, but I’m not quite sure I’ve earned that right yet. She shakes her finger at them, and I’m awestruck to witness parenting in action. It’s even better than I dreamed.
“We only heard the tail end of your conversation, Guine.” Genji deftly changes the subject. “But did you say you remembered something about your mother?”
“Yes. If it’s alright, though, I don’t want to dwell on it anymore right now.” My words come out sharper than intended, but I’m still a little hurt from his earlier accusations.
When I glance cautiously at Genji, pink tinges his ears. “I’m sorry for what I said earlier, Kitten. In my defense, it’s not polite to eavesdrop on private conversations.”
Indignation blasts through me, and I shoot right back with, “It’s also not polite to have secret conversations in public.”
