by HK Khan
“Is she going to be okay?” I ask anxiously. I didn’t know it could take so long for his venom to work.
Genji starts to wrap an arm around my shoulders, but cringes away as his arm touches me. “She’ll be fine, Kitten, but I need to check you next.” I shake my head, and he rolls his eyes. “Guine, you’re covered in blood. Do you expect me to believe none of it is yours?”
I glance down. “Whoa.” You’d be hard pressed to identify the original color of anything on me because I’m coated in gore. “I’m fine, Genji, I promise.” I incline my head to other team’s leader. “Now, I understand why he wasn’t answering me. I’d stare, too.”
Genji laughs and offers me a hand up. “Rick!” he shouts. The other guy shakes out of his stupor and jogs over. “Rick, I want to introduce you to our newest team member, Guine.”
The middle-aged man offers me his hand and gives me another once-over. He turns to Genji with a bewildered expression while tilting his head at me. “Is she alright, Doc?”
Genji opens his mouth to respond, but I beat him to it. “She is right here, Rick, and is just fine.” I hold my arms out and turn slowly. I glare at him, folding my arms across my chest. “As you can see, this isn’t my blood.”
I storm past him and back over to Auntie May, whose eyelids flutter open as I sit beside her. Rick lets out a whistling sigh, and I easily hear him say, “Wow, Doc. She’s gonna to be a handful.”
I tense, ready to give him another piece of my mind, but stop when Genji responds with a happy, “Yes, she will. Isn’t our Kitten glorious?”
Auntie May chuckles softly, drawing my attention immediately back to her.
“Help me up, hon.” She places a hand to her forehead with a groan. “Damn, that fight must’ve been worse than I thought if I’m still hurting.”
I lift her to her feet and steady her when she sways. “Take it easy,” I caution. “You lost a lot of blood before I could get some venom into you.” I drape her arm over my shoulders and escort her back to the van a little unsteady myself. To her credit, she doesn’t cringe away from the sticky blood coating me. “Lie down on the seat, and as soon as your boys return, we’ll get you home, okay?”
She nods her head and then winces at the movement. “Sounds good.”
Auntie May pats the seat beside her. “Join me for a minute, Guine. I need to talk to you.”
I glance back to find Genji showing Rick where to go on a map. I perch on the edge of the bench, careful not to jostle May, and stare at the monitor of heat signatures. The red dots remain blurry, but even the blur seems more in-focus now.
“I wish I could see with my own eyes that they’re okay,” I mumble. Auntie May places a hand on my thigh, and I deflate. I turn away from the screen.
“Guine, first, I want to tell you that monitoring you as you moved through the breeding house was both the most amazing and most terrifying thing I’ve ever witnessed.” She squeezes my leg, patting it gently. “You were incredible. Better than Beth, and that’s saying something.” She hisses out a slow breath. I pull a bag out of the back seat and wedge it gently beneath her head. “Second, I’m so sorry I didn’t take that monster down for you. I can’t even begin to imagine what he put you through.” Her eyes fill with compassion, and I hold my hand up, interrupting her before she can say something that’ll break the thin thread holding me together.
“Let’s not go there, Auntie May.” She nods, a slight smile gracing her lips, and we sit in silence for a minute.
Auntie May clears her throat. “When he knocked me out, my mind popped back to a day from my training years.” She moans and sits up slowly, staring intently into my eyes. “There wasn’t much remarkable about that day except for it being the beginning of my newly blossoming friendship with Beth. We’d been sparring, and she was showing me all of the openings I left for her to take advantage of.” She laughs and presses a hand to her temple. “That was her way of saying she was beating the tar out of me. We took a break, and our conversation turned toward our families. She’d met my sister, and I asked her if she had any siblings. I told her a story about the treehouse Jo and I built as kids, and she said she didn’t have family anymore. She told me they were killed a long time back, but she still kept their old place out west. Beth said it was in the Mountains near a big crystalline lake, and after she’d come to terms with her grief, she made it her home.” Auntie May’s eyes mist over. “She mentioned it was in a small human town off of the eastern side of the lake, and she loved sitting on her patio in the winter to watch the snow fall.” She grabs me by the hands, holding tight. “I can’t remember much right now, but I promise to keep digging. Maybe details will surface if I focus hard enough.”
I stare at our joined hands with a combination of hope and despair. “Do you think she went there to give birth?” My hands tremble, shaking hers with them. “Do you think we might find it?”
Tears break free from my control, and as soon as the first one drops from my chin, the floodgates burst. She pulls me into her shoulder and runs a comforting hand down my sticky, blood-soaked hair. “Shh, hon. It’s going to be alright.”
Auntie May holds me for some time before talking again. “Guine, if we can find the house, there’s a good chance we’ll find answers. Beth was obsessive about journaling. She wrote every single evening, and I’d wager she continued until the day she died.” My tears dry up, and I take a steadying breath. She smiles, offering me a tissue. “If anyone can help you find this place, Guine, it’s my boys.”
I wipe my face and nearly jump out of my skin when a voice sounds from behind me.
“Of course, we’ll help.” Kent places a hand on my shoulder, and I turn to get a good look at him. He’s a little ragged around the edges, but his posture is straight. Determination twinkles in his eyes. “You’re a part of us now, Guine. I’m just now realizing how that means none of us has to go it alone. We’re here for you, as you were there for us back in the warehouse.”
Phoenix peeks his head in over Kent’s shoulder and grins. “Speaking of which, Sunshine, what the hell did you do to cause the giant freaking hole in the floor back there?”
Kent shrugs him off and regards me with excitement. “Did you use the extract?” He practically vibrates with energy. My whole body warms when I see for myself that they’re healthy and whole.
“I sure did.” I grin. “Oh my goodness, Kent, that stuff’s amazing!” His eyes widen, and I wink. “We’re so making more glass grenades!”
“Ooh, nice name,” Phoenix remarks from behind the door.
“Is everyone here?” I raise my voice and stretch my neck to look around Kent.
“We’re all present and accounted for, Sugar Plum,” Ash calls out. “Thanks to you!”
“And you’re okay?” I ask anxiously.
“All good, Mo Chroí,” Declan rumbles from the front as he climbs behind the wheel. Hawk gets in next to him, and I relax at finally being able to see each of them. Kent crawls over me with a ridiculous grin, situating himself toward the back of the van. His foot knocks my arm and causes a familiar pain.
“Um, Genji,” I speak hesitantly. “I forgot to mention it yesterday, but there’s still a bullet in my arm from when Eric tried to shoot Ash.”
Auntie May’s eyebrows practically disappear into her hair as she gapes at me. Ash squeezes in by my feet and lays his head on my knee.
“I’m sorry, Guinnie. Why didn’t you say something?”
My throat clogs at the pained expression on his face, and as Phoenix and Genji settle where they can find room, I sign, “I really did forget. It doesn’t hurt.”
He nods, and signs, “It’s alright, Sugar Plum. I’ve got you.” He reaches back to shut the door, but it just bounces away when the latch fails to engage. Genji hops out to examine the door while Ashton snuggles into me.
Genji turns to me with a pained expression, and Auntie May stifles a laugh beside me. “What did you do to my baby, Kitten?” His plea cuts the tension, and I roll my eyes
as he lovingly strokes the side of the van, kissing the broken handle.
I manage to keep all but one chuckle contained as I apologize. “Um, I took off when you went still on the monitor. I might have broken it?” It comes out as more of a question than a statement, and he groans while wringing his hands.
“It’s okay, baby,” he croons to the van. “Papa will fix you up and teach Kitten how to treat you properly. She’ll learn.”
My sides shake with silent laughter, and Kent rolls his eyes. He tosses a roll of duct tape out the door. “Fix it for now, Papa, and get in the damn car.”
Genji does some temporary maintenance and reluctantly gets back in his seat.
“We all heard what you two were talking about, Guine,” Kent says once Declan has us moving again. “You’re family now, and we take care of each other. I put in a formal request with the Council, but just so you know, we’re with you. We’ll dig and find this house out west, and we’ll go with you to get your answers.”
A chorus of agreement surrounds me, and tears spring to my eyes once more.
“Thank you,” I choke out. Auntie May slides another tissue into my hand with a wink, and I can’t help but laugh.
I may be covered from head to toe in vampire blood and guts, and bawling like a baby, but in this moment, I’m happier than I’ve ever been. I battled an Old One who considers me his property, but I survived. I’ve discovered horrible truths about my past and have more questions than answers, but instead of being weighed down by any of it, for the first time, I feel loved. Free. Kent, Genji, Phoenix, Declan, Hawk, and Ash have each carved out a place in my heart, and I’m stronger for it. Auntie May holds me like a mother should and lets me roll through grief and pain and loss and joy in her arms. I glance around the van at the seven faces staring back at me and finally get it.
This is my family.
This is my home.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
When not writing, HK Khan teaches dance and music classes. She is an avid reader who loves to crochet and take photographs, and dabbles in many different types of art. Her husband is awesome and supportive (even if he's not really into her genres) and they have a wonderfully weird kitty named Serenity (yes, after the spaceship from Firefly).
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