Chapter 16 — Emmy

It’s been about a week or so since Calder showed up. I still can’t believe I have a brother. I get why my parents never brought him up. They thought he was dead. I know the memory of him hurt them to even think about him. I feel bad for Calder. He has been the Enchantress’s prisoner for his whole life and only now was he free.

I can’t imagine what it will be like to grow up surrounded by death, fear, and desperation. It seems like our family has just been through the shredder and then some. My parents, my brother, and I have all had our worlds shattered, torn apart by one person, the Enchantress.

Calder says he hates the Enchantress and I’m inclined to agree with him. The Enchantress brings a whole new meaning to the term home wrecker. The sad part is that she is our grandmother. She should love us and be helping us, not tearing us apart like a vicious monster.

I have a few other things to worry about. One, Ryan is more moody than normal, and I don’t like it. So, I read his mind and damn I wish I hadn’t. The Enchantress reached out to him. She is getting desperate to bring me down. With Calder gone I am sure she is even more pissed. Calder was her secret weapon and now he was gone.

Right now, though I have to talk to moody Ryan. I don’t want to tell the others, especially Brie because I know she has a huge crush on him. Ryan is not my biggest fan, and I wasn’t his either, but this is something that really needs to be addressed.

Ryan is out in the garage doing something to his bike. I don’t get cars or motorcycles, so I have no clue what the hell he is doing, but I do know he’s alone. Bex and Avery took a date day, Brie and Alice are off doing their own thing, and Carter is visiting his parents. He has to show face here and there. His parents think he went off to college in the fall and that he was touring the country for the summer.

Since my dad and I had fixed things with the Chase family Carter had to tell his parents he met me at college. Carter couldn't very well tell his parents the truth they would have never believed him. Most humans can't handle the fact that there is more to the universe than just them. Sometimes the lies are a lot to keep track of, but we can't expose the magical world to everyone mainly because most would never accept that it was real, which would sadly be the case for Carter’s parents.

I walk into the garage and lean on a table filled with tools. Ryan looks annoyed that I am in his personal space. I have better things to be doing than talking to him, but I am the leader of this team and I have to confront him about this.

“Ryan, we have to have a little chat.” I say in my most authoritative voice.

Ryan snorts. “Yeah, about what?”

“The Enchantress. I know she came to see you. I know she wants you to work with her.”

Ryan looks at me in shock that I even know this information. I've never seen Ryan look surprised and nervous at the same time. I won’t lie, I’m loving this moment.

“How the hell...” Ryan pauses as it dawns on him how I know this information. “You can’t go around reading people's minds Emmy, it's not cool.”

“It’s not something I enjoy doing, but I noticed you were more moody than normal, so I had to read your mind to figure out what was going on. I know you haven’t accepted her offer. I’m here to tell you that you can’t. You’re not stupid Ryan. You know you can’t trust her. You’ve seen it over and over again how untrustworthy she is. She will use you, and then kill you. We both aren’t huge fans of the other person, but you’re a member of my team and I care about you. I don’t want you to do something that will get you hurt or worse killed. Besides, I know how much you care about the team. You’re loyal and devoted to us, even to me. I know that you fight your feelings for Brie. I know how close you are to Bexton, Carter, and Alice. Please promise me you won’t be her spy.”

“I have no intentions of spying on the team for her. Sure, I thought about it, but you’re right I’m not stupid. After seeing what she did to Calder, hell what she’s done to your whole family, it’s safe to say she will just use me. Does anyone else know?” He asks, worry etched on his face.

“No. I didn’t want to tell the others until I talked to you. Ryan, stop fighting your feelings for Brielle. I don’t know what happened to make you so skeptical of love, but you should give it a shot. Worst case you two aren’t meant for each other. Oh, and being a man whore isn’t going to help you get over whatever the hell it is you need to get over. Besides, you should know better. You’re blackening your soul with your manwhore ways.”

I didn't know why I decided to become the love doctor and dish out some romance advice for Ryan, but I did. It felt like the right thing to do. It’s an odd thing for me to do since I had issues getting my own love life started. Hell, if it wasn’t for fate intervening, I might have never had gotten my love life started. For once fate did something useful.

“I hate that you read minds.” Ryan states with a sigh. “Fine, I'll give Brie a shot. She’s hot, but I don’t think she is my soulmate. I don’t believe in that shit.”

I roll my eyes. “I don’t know who is more stubborn, you or Alice. Just do it! For heaven's sake it won’t kill you. Be open with Brie about how you feel and maybe tell her why you feel that way. Share your secrets with her. If anything, you gain a new friend.”

“Yes Yoda.” Ryan says sarcastically. “You know for someone who doesn’t want to be our leader you sure have taken charge.” Ryan gives me a half smile. “It’s a good thing. I might be able to get along with this new Emmy.”

I laugh. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves now.” I wink at him and leave him be.

I'd have to keep an eye on him, but I didn’t think he would work with the Enchantress. However, I am concerned about who she might try to get to work against me and the team. She seems desperate and a desperate Enchantress is not a good thing.

I call my dad and Calder to tell them about Rya, and what the Enchantress is up to. They both agree she is getting desperate and that we need to be careful. My dad and Calder are going to go reinforce the spells we put on the Chase family, so that the Enchantress can’t use them. I don’t know who else she might use, but I will have to talk to the team to see if they have any enemies. I knew Avery’s stepsister was a rogue witch, but I didn’t know what happened to her. We have to cover all our bases.

I don’t like the sinking feeling I have in my gut. Something bad is coming. I try to shake the bad feeling off and focus on my team. We still had a lot of training. Calder filled Darren, Ivy, and Stella in on some of the Enchantress’s weak spots. So, they have now modified our training to help us be better equipped to fight her. I just have to focus on my team and training. For once I hope things will just fall into place, but fate seems to like to screw with me and my family, so I doubt things will go smoothly.