Connections

Connections


Chase

After dinner, Trent, Eric, and I walked Emma to her room before we went to our own rooms. I had every intention of remaining in mine, but I feel restless. I think Emma does too because this feeling is too strong for it to be just me.

Before I knew it, I was knocking on her door. “I'm sorry, I cannot go.”

“No, don't. Come in,” she said softly.

I hesitantly went inside. I'm nervous around her, and I second-guess myself, but the Griffin in me has control and knows exactly what he wants. She is the only woman to ever have me at war with myself. She calms me when the Griffin in me wants to take over. I'm not a shifter, but I am like them. Part of my personality is like what I become, while the other seems more human. But I'm not human, not even part human as shitters are.

Part of my personality only seems human because I allow it to. It makes having Earth as my territory easier if I appear and act human. But honestly, I identify with them. I know I could wipe them all out, but I never would. I only seek to protect anyone from evil. Is there an evil inside of Emma? Yes, I think so, but it's not a huge part of her. I know she can control it, and I will help her do it. “Nice room.” She chose Mike’s small guestroom. It has slate blue walls and white trim. It is airy and understated, much like my mate.

She smiles. “I like blue and I like to read. This room had both. Will he make it dark outside so we can sleep?”

“He should soon. Is that why you're so restless?”

Emma shakes her head. “I'm not.”

I know she's lying. “Emma…”

Emma huffs. “Fine, I am, but it's not the light. Come sit.” We go and sit on the sofa at the end of her bed. “I tried lying down. All I did was stare at the ceiling.”

“I paced my room and then ended up here.”

Emma cocks her head. “Ended up? How?”

“I felt you were restless, and the next thing I know, I'm knocking on your door.”

“Is that why you wanted to leave the moment I opened the door?”

“Yes, I wasn't sure if this was a mistake or not.”

“Does it feel like one now?”

I give her a soft smile. “No. You calm me, and I need that.” It is the truth, no matter how insane it sounds.

“You do me too,” she replies with the hint of a smile.

“I'm sorry about earlier. I get protective. It's a huge part of what I am. I know you are your own person and can't help what you feel,” I explained.

“I sense a but.” She chews on her bottom lip.

“But I wish this were normal and I had you all to myself,” he says as I briefly look down..

“I get that. I don't like attention.  I don't like being touched.” She looks down at her lap, where I have her hands in mine. I wasn't even aware that I was touching her. My soul just craves to be near her, as near as she will allow. “But with you and me suspecting them, everything is different. Eric is right. We all need to adjust and work together.”

She breaks eye contact and looks around before locking eyes with me again. There's a bit of a tear forming in the corner of her eye and sadness on her face. “I feel like I have a family for the first time in my life.”

“What was your childhood like?”

Emma sighs. “I had a mostly normal one until I got hit by lightning. I was five or six. After that, everything changed. People started paying too much attention to me. I started having visions, too, when I touched people or they touched my skin.

It grew worse the older I got. I withdrew more. I did get to the point where I could control the visions a bit by the time I was a teenager. That's when my parents split. My dad and his buddies paid too much attention to me. They got sexual. I told my mom and teachers. We moved and kept moving. I never had a home after that.

We always bounced around, never staying in one place very long. When I was 18, she was struck by a car. She died.”

“Emma…” I pull her against me and stroke her hair. I feel her heartbreak. I feel her pain. 

She takes a shuddering breath before she continues. “I raised myself after that. I never had long-term relationships. Men kept going batshit crazy around me, and some women, too. I gave up after a while. Before I ended up here, I met a guy online. We chatted for a few months before we met. Things were good for a while. Then he got super controlling. I rebelled. He kept pushing me. He stalked me when I would leave. I even moved out and got myself an apartment, but he found me. We were outside arguing, and a storm came up out of nowhere. I went inside and locked him out. He grabbed me, and I shocked him. He fell to the ground. I called an ambulance and ran. I destroyed my phone. I left everything behind. I came here.”

“Did he die?” I need to know because I have this sinking feeling.

“No,” she quickly replied.

I stroke her back. I can sense what is coming. “He wasn't human.”

She nods. “No, he wasn't. When he grabbed me, I saw rot and fire. He wanted to claim me. He wanted to…”

“Turn you. He's a demon,” I say. I am going to need to tell Malcom. She trembles in my arms. It is all starting to make sense. The Siren in her was always there. It attracts evil because part of it is evil, but part is light, too. Sirens were muses once, revered like angels, pure good souls who wanted to help the Gods. But she's clearly a hybrid. Sirens can make storms at sea, but only at sea.

Their curse makes them powerless on land, and they were stripped of their ability to fly after they attacked Eric's people. That's when Demeter cursed them all. The attack and then their failure to bring back Persephone were the final straw.

There has to be more good in her than evil because of how strongly I feel for her. I would die for her if I could die. I will tell her at some point, but now isn't the time.

Emma stutters. “Y..yes.”

“Emma, it is okay. You got away.”

Emma shakes her head. “He might find me.”

Chase kissed her forehead. “If he does, it will be the last thing he does. I would kill Hades himself to protect you.”

“I know. I feel like I have always known,” she replies.

“Emma.”

“Chase.” Nothing has ever sounded so sweet as my name from her lips. I would give up it all for her.