Chapter 21

Chapter 21
After getting Margo rooted into the ground at Locust and assigning Joyce and Rose to watch over her, he turned to Emily.
“Are you ready?”
She nodded. He tried to take the other boy’s hand, but he pulled away to take Emily’s. He reached for the little boy in her arms but was instantly denied again. He bared his teeth and was instantly lectured about them being children. Merlot lowered his lips to cover his teeth, still grumbling as he opened a portal to Columbus near the address where the children lived. He was so glad that his father had taught Jay how to navigate through the human police records without detection. What should have taken months or even years to investigate only took a few hours. He followed her through the portal and almost immediately had to scoop the older boy up when he took off toward the building they came out behind.
“Slow down, little one.” He eyed Emily. “We need to let our invisibility fall. Josh said there was a park right around the corner. There’s a bathroom there we can use.”
The boy looked up at him. “I want to go home.”
“And you will. We need to do something first.”
The boy settled down, allowing Merlot to take him to the park. Emily took the boys into the women’s bathroom since she was shielding them, while Merlot went into the men’s room to let his shield drop. They all stepped out about 30 seconds later, with Emily beaming at him.
“Let’s get these kiddos home. I’m ready to go home myself.”
Merlot put his arm around her shoulder as they walked back to the apartment building.
‘You know we will have to do this all over again when the kids come back to life,’ he linked her.
She looked down at the toddler in her arms. ‘I don’t know who’s luckier. The kids that we found alive or the ones that died. At least death ended their suffering.’
He squeezed her shoulders. ‘And you and Margo healed the surviving children’s minds. They are all going to be okay. That’s thanks to you.’
She sighed as she lifted the toddler to put her cheek against the boy’s forehead. ‘How could anybody hurt such beautiful, innocent children?’
He sighed as the longing in her voice touched his heart. He kissed her forehead.
‘One day, cousin, you will be able to hold your own child in your arms. I promise you, there is someone out there for you.’
‘Mhmm. Sure.’
They stopped outside the building, staring at the buttons on the call board. Emily peered at the directions before looking at Merlot.
“You have to press #304. I think,” she said.
Merlot rolled his eyes before pressing the buttons. When nothing happened, he tried again.
“That’s wrong, Em. Did you read it right?”
“Yes, Merlot. It said, press # and then the apartment number.”
“It’s not working,” he growled.
“Are you pressing the right buttons?”
“YES! The #. The stupid # is right there. See?”
He furiously jabbed the # button several times in frustration. She put her hand on his to stop his angry button pushing.
“Stop it before you break it.”
She pressed four buttons before looking at him with a smirk on her face. “You can’t always beat things into submission, LoLo.”
He shoved his hands into his pockets as the speaker continued ringing. “Stupid human studies.”
“Hello?”
“DADDY!” The toddler screamed.
“Excuse me, sir, we found your son and-”
The door behind them was pulled open, and the little boy was ripped from Emily’s arms by a man. The older child threw himself at the man, clinging to his legs.
“Uncle Tom!”
The newcomer picked the other boy up, hugging both of the children tightly.
“Lyle, Maurice!”
Merlot smiled at the man. “Hi. My name is Merlot, and this is-” Emily elbowed him, cutting him off. “This is my cousin. We found your children and wanted to bring them home.”
“Thank you!” He closed his eyes, rocking the kids back and forth. “I have been so worried. So has my brother.”
Emily cleared her throat as she started trying to push Merlot down the stairs.
“It’s our pleasure. Come on, Merlot. Let’s go.”
“Wait!” She stopped with her back erect. “Can you tell me what they went through? Do I need to take them to the hospital? I mean, I’m going to anyway, but what do I need to know?”
“I can’t tell you anything, but they will be okay. Do whatever your instincts tell you to. My cousin and I took care of them and then brought them here. We can’t tell you what to do with your son.”
She reached for the handrail, and the man grabbed her hand. “Wait! What’s your name?”
“It doesn’t matter. Please, let me go.”
Emily rushed off the small porch and was around the corner in seconds. Merlot eyed the man.
“I’m sorry about her. I can answer your questions, but we should go somewhere private.”
He nodded. “We can talk in my car on the way to the hospital. I’ll call my brother and have him meet us there.”
Merlot followed him to a black truck in the parking garage behind the building. He got the children buckled in before getting in the truck himself, while Merlot hesitantly got in the passenger seat. The man started the truck, and Merlot gripped the seatbelt.
“I’m Mark.”
“Nice to meet you.”
“So, what happened?”
“Your son and nephew were pulled into a supernatural war that, until very recently, my family had no knowledge of. Since we have been aware of it, we have been hunting down the people taking children and returning them home. The hospital will find nothing wrong with the kids. We made sure to heal their bodies and remove their memories of the events.”
He glanced at me. “Will they ever remember?”
“No. Not unless a witch gives them back.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Because if they were my children, I would want to know.”
Mark looked in the rearview mirror at the boys who were fast asleep in the backseat.
“So, what’s up with your cousin?”
Merlot leaned back against his seat, studying the man. “Why are you so accepting of what happened?”
“When my son went missing, I did everything I could to find him. I went so far as to speak to a psychic, who I later found out was a witch. She had a werewolf for a mate. We got very close in the search for my son and nephew, so nothing you told me surprises me.”
“Hmmmm. Well, I’ll go further and say that my family is the head of the supernatural. Everybody bows to us. We are not pleased that this has been going on under our noses. We will not rest until all the children are home and everyone responsible for their disappearances is dead.”
“Good. Can I help?”
Merlot looked at him, startled. “No, we’re okay. We’ve made good progress already.”
“I want to help! They took my son and nephew, dammit!”
Merlot put his hand on Mark’s shoulder. “Yes, they did, but your son is home now. He needs you with him.”
Mark’s eyes went back to his son in his carseat before he sighed. “You’re right. Thank you for bringing him home.”
“And about my cousin, her name is Emily.”
“Why did she run away?”
Merlot chuckled. “She has a thing about men. Goodbye. Don’t freak out.”
Merlot opened a portal, slipping through it before shutting it. Emily glared at him as he stepped out onto Locust land.
“What took you so long?” She growled.
He rolled his eyes. “He needed answers.”
“We gave him his son back. That was what he needed. He didn’t need ‘answers.’”
“Whatever, Em. I saw how you were with that little boy. You knew him for a few hours. How do you think his father felt?”
“Whatever, Merlot. He and his wife can handle it. They have their son back. They’ll be fine!”
She spun around to storm back into the house. Merlot stared after her in disbelief.
“I don’t think he has a wife, Emmy. He had no female scent on him. Stop being so angry all the time. Not all men are assholes.”
She flipped him off over her shoulder. “Whatever.”
Rose walked over to him. “What the hell happened?”
“I think when this is all over, we are really going to have to talk to her about second chance mates. She can choose one if the Goddess doesn’t give her another fated one. We all saw her with that little boy. She wants a family.”
Rose smiled softly as she patted his shoulder. “He broke her, cousin. It’s going to take a very special man to heal the damage he left behind. It won’t be easy.”
Merlot ran his eyes over Margo as she slept peacefully in her plant form.
“No, it won’t be, but it will be so worth it.”