Chapter 14 — Compromises

Ash shuffled the kids upstairs, and Kier came back into the kitchen, already looking exhausted. He’d called his aunt almost an hour ago, and she promised to stop by. He didn’t tell her why he needed her to come over, but she couldn’t have been stupid enough to think it didn’t involve me. Kier also hadn’t mentioned me, so she might’ve thought that her plan worked, and I’d gone missing. I hoped that we’d surprise her when she saw me in the house.

I guess having so many people trying to hurt me made me spiteful…

As Ash got the kids upstairs, Kier glanced back at me. “I’m sorry that this is getting so crazy.”

“It’s okay,” I said, touching his shoulder. “I’m sorry that I’ve brought all of this into your home.”

“We should stop now, before we get into an apology loop that never ends. Let’s just agree that everyone else is making this too hard by being fucking idiots and leave it at that.”

“Agreed,” I said, smiling in the hopes that he would return the expression.

He did not. I almost curled into myself out of embarrassment, but then Kier stroked my cheek. The simplest touch, but it drove right through my head. For some reason, I wanted to hide my face, or maybe look away. Instead, I continued to watch Kier. His eyes moved down my face, over my neck. It felt like they could touch me, as gently as Kier’s hand could.

God, how stupid did that sound?

“Are you going to tell me what Emerald said to you?” Kier asked, dropping his hand from my face. The fragile moment didn’t break, so much as come to an end. I still mourned its passing and tried not to show it in my face.

“It really isn’t that important,” I said, shrugging.

“I disagree,” Kier said.

“You’re close with him, right? I don’t want to make you mad with Emerald just because I’m too sensitive.”

“You aren’t too sensitive. Not when you came from the kind of home that you did.” His voice turned into a growl on the last words, and for the first time, I wondered what he would do to my father. If the two of them, for whatever reason, ended up in the same room, what would happen? Would Kier kill the man, even as I tried to keep him from doing that? Would he try to beat Dad up? Or would he only make nasty comments and glare? I honestly didn’t know, and that scared me.

My father wouldn’t have stood a chance against Kier.

Shaking that thought, I said, “I am sensitive. It doesn’t matter what someone does, I always end up flinching, or getting my feelings hurt. I should’ve learned to be tougher by now. You’d think that I could be, considering my father.”

“Did he say that you were too sensitive?” Kier asked.

I bit my lip, which answered him.

Kier shook his head. “Anything that man ever said, you need to throw it out of your head. It’s all bullshit, and you can’t trust someone that once held your head underwater for breaking a cup.”

It happened more than once, but I kept that to myself. With Kier so agitated, it felt like the smarter option.

“But he’s right. I cry a lot, and when someone says something I don’t want to hear, it hurts me.”

Kier put his hands on the counter, and leaned toward me, getting so close that I could feel his breath against my cheek. “Stop,” he said, as gently as he ever got. “Just because your father said some bullshit doesn’t mean you have to listen to him. If something hurts you, then it hurts. It doesn’t make you weak. If you let it stop you from doing something, then you’d be weak. But you keep going. No matter what the fuck happens, you keep going. That makes you strong enough.”

My instincts said to dismiss his words. Kier only wanted to make me feel better, so he would lie to get what he wanted. Then I thought about my father, and how he would say things to hurt me. Is there a difference between what Kier is doing and what my father did?

The thought stopped all others in their tracks. Maybe… maybe my father lied just to hurt me. Because he could. And maybe Kier lied to make me feel better, because he could. Maybe neither of them lied, and they just saw me in different ways. I didn’t know, but maybe I shouldn’t dismiss Kier out of hand. Why would I listen to a man who wanted to destroy me over the boy that wanted to help?

I didn’t know.

Frowning, I looked back up at Kier. “I see your point,” I said. “But I’m not sure if it’s true.”

“It is,” Kier said, and brushed his thumb against my cheek. “Don’t worry, it’s true. You’ll see that eventually.”

I rubbed my hands down my jeans and looked around the kitchen. Anywhere but at Kier. It felt like too much. If I stared at him, then I’d have to see how he felt about me. I already knew. I’d done stupid things, and he felt obligated to make sure that I didn’t die. Simple as that.

He had no reason to try keeping me as safe as he did. None.

Stop, stop.

God, those words made so much sense to me, but why would someone risk their entire family for a stranger? Just out of obligation? That didn’t make sense, but if not out of obligation, then why would Kier bother with me? I didn’t do anything but bring more trouble to his doorstep. Or down in his basement, as the case may be. He should have booted me out. He should have let me run from my father’s house or get arrested in that alley. Kier should have let me burn.

His phone went off, and he checked the screen. “Brook. She’s about five minutes out.”

“Do you want me to hide, or something? I can go upstairs, too,” I offered, sliding off my stool.

Kier stopped me with a hand to my side. I didn’t pull away from that touch, but it took a lot of self-control to keep from doing it. “No, you’re fine here,” Kier said. “I’m not going to hide you. Let Brook see that she failed, and maybe she’ll think twice before trying again. I doubt it, though. She’s about as smart as a paper bag.”

A little smile curved up my lips. “You shouldn’t be so harsh on your aunt. She’s your elder, you know.”

“Maybe in years, but certainly not in intelligence,” Kier grumbled.

Again, I smiled, and did something daring. I moved closer to him. Not close enough to crowd his personal space, but enough that I could feel the heat baking off his body. I’d noticed that he ran hotter than humans, and I liked it. He would never feel clammy, and I could always be warm with him next to me. Not that we spent any time close together.

Kier’s hand stayed on my side, and then his other one came to my other side. He could grip my waist, and his fingers would touch. His hands were that large, and it sent a little thrill through me. I tried not to blush too hard when he pulled me a little closer. Until we almost touched fully. I imagined being bold enough to lay my body against his, just for a hug. For a second.

I’d never learned to like that kind of contact but Kier felt safe. I thought it would be all right to do that with him. Even if my body didn’t match up to what he found attractive. Too skinny, boney. No one wanted to cuddle up to a skeleton. I’d gone days without eating at my house, enough times that my body showed it. Not attractive skinny, but grotesque.

Kier’s thumbs started to make little circles on my sides, just above my hips. He flipped his eyes up, so that he could stare at me, and my heart thudded so hard in my chest, I could barely breathe. I licked my lips and tried to think of something to say. Something to relieve the sudden tension in the room. Thoughts zipped through my head so fast, I couldn’t touch any of them.

I had to say something, though, because we just stood there. Him making those little circles on me. Every second we drew closer and closer. Soon we would touch, and then what? We would be touching, and this fragile thing between us, it would shatter. I would shatter it, because I ruined absolutely everything. My father told me a thousand times about how I ruined things. I broke them, shattered them to pieces, and he’d hurt me for it. He would get so sick of watching me ruin his life and mine that he’d chase me down, beat me, or destroy my things.

Kier’s hands tightened, bringing me right out of those thoughts. I looked into his clear brown eyes and wanted to stop thinking. All those thoughts, those ugly, tar covered thoughts, needed to stop. But I didn’t know how to control them. They screamed louder than my happy thoughts, and they crowded my head.

My entire life had turned into a simple question. How can I save myself? I tried so hard, and it felt like I never made any progress.

One bare inch. We had one bare inch between us and Kier wouldn’t close the gap. He knew too well that I could freak out. He had seen it too many times. My mind flashed back to the first breakdown I had in front of him. He’d held me and just let me ride it out. As if Kier knew that nothing else would work.

Just like he knew right now that I had to take that last inch. If I wanted to touch him, then I had to do it.

I wanted to. My entire body screamed to move forward and get what I wanted. A little comfort, someone holding me. Kier. It wouldn’t be that hard. A step forward, my cheek resting against his shoulder. Nothing else had to happen, even if images of kissing him floated through my head like mad. I didn’t have to do that. We didn’t have to do that, if I didn’t want to.

One inch. I could move one inch.

A car door outside slammed shut and Kier looked over. The moment broke, and I stepped away from him. I wrapped my arms around myself, and said, “That Brook?”

Kier nodded, tapping his fingers against the counter. “She might make a scene, and if that happens, the kids will try to come downstairs. They’ll get curious. I don’t want them to see this.”

“I’ll get them to go back up,” I said. “I can offer to play with Amber, or something.”

Kier took a deep breath and nodded. “Thank you,” he said, rising from the stool. He paused before heading for the door and looked back at me. I could see wants and thoughts flashing through his eyes and screamed at my body to move forward. To hug him for just one second.

My legs felt like stone, and too many seconds passed. Kier walked away from me, toward the door. I slumped back in the stool and started to curse myself mentally. Not only because I didn’t take the chance when I should have, but because, and this mattered more, I wanted to. I wanted to take it, even after doing so much damage to Kier’s life. I wanted to do more, and that made me feel selfish and ugly. He should have been disgusted with me.

He opened the front door, and Brook came into the house. “What happened?” she asked. “You sounded strange on the phone.”

“Whilda,” Kier said, his voice hard and unapproachable.

Brook missed the note. “What? Did she leave?”

I cocked my head, and decided she needed to be startled for what she had done. “No, I didn’t,” I called.

Brook tensed and turned around to look at me. Her dark eyes hooded immediately, and her body language changed. She went from the concerned aunt, to the pissed off woman in under a second. Impressive, really. She crossed her arms over her chest and cocked a hip out. Her expression became bitchy. “Oh,” she said. “Then what’s the problem, Kier? Did you decide she needed to be sent away?”

“No,” Kier growled.

His aunt clearly didn’t see him as much of a threat, because she stared at him over her shoulder with something akin to disappointment. “Then why am I here? If you aren’t getting rid of her and there isn’t an emergency, what’s up?”

Kier started to advance on Brook, and she backed away from him, worry finally coming into her eyes. “Get rid of her?” he repeated.

His aunt dropped her eyes. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize that would offend you.”

“It does,” Kier growled.

“Kier,” I said. “Don’t scare her too badly. It’ll make the rest of this evening much harder.”

“What are you talking about?” Brook asked, looking up.

Kier leaned back on his heels, giving Brook her personal space. He wandered around the counter, until he could stand next to me. I didn’t think he did that on accident. He wanted his aunt to know exactly whose side he took, and that he wouldn’t be putting up with her bullshit anymore.

I slid off my stool and sighed. “I’m sorry that you and I have gotten off on the wrong foot. I didn’t mean to… do whatever it is that I did. Whatever made you dislike me so much. I’m sorry.”

“If you’re sorry, then you’ll leave my family alone,” Brook said.

“However,” I continued. “That doesn’t give you the right to try and hurt me.”

“I’ve done nothing of the sort,” Brook snapped. “Don’t go accusing me of things that I didn’t do. Kier, she’s lying. Don’t listen to her.”

Kier slammed his hands down on the counter. “Shut up! You think this is fooling me? It isn’t.”

He walked away from her, going to the basement stairs. Brook watched him, caution in her eyes. I couldn’t blame her, but we all needed to head downstairs. Our part would really get to start then. When I followed Kier, Brook fell into place behind me, much like I thought she would. She couldn’t let her nephew go into a dark room with me, a human. What kind of aunt would she be, then?

Emerald lifted his head when we rounded the corner. Kier hadn’t seen him until then, and I watched as his eyebrows lifted, and he turned to stare at me. I felt thankful for the dark room when my cheeks heated. I didn’t think my skin tone would hide the blush, unfortunately. Mom’s might have, but I had too much of Dad in me.

Emerald, surprising me, laughed. “Hey, Brook.”

“Oh my god,” Brook said, and tried to run past us. Kier grabbed her by the arm and threw her to the side. she crashed into some boxes and sent them flying. One broke open, and an assortment of baby clothes came flying out.

Brook straightened up, pulling her shirt down with dignity. “What the hell did you do?” she asked Kier.

“Oh, it wasn’t him,” Emerald said, sitting further up. He looked at me meaningfully.

Brook’s mouth fell open, and she turned to stare at me. “You did this?”

“She did,” Kier said, nodding. “You shouldn’t look so surprised. You’ve been going on and on about how dangerous she is. If you really think that, then why are you so shocked that she managed to get the drop on one of us?”

Once more, she opened her mouth, but nothing came out. “I’m not… Well… I thought…”

“That you could get one over on me, go behind my back, and call in someone to take care of the human problem?” Kier asked. “Despite the fact that Whilda has done nothing to earn this animosity, and that we talked about this. You and I, we talked about it, and you knew how I would feel if you did this. Yet, that didn’t stop you?”

“Kier, you’re just being stubborn,” Brook said. “I wanted to get this taken care of before it got out of hand. I figured that you’d see reason when Whilda wasn’t around to cloud your judgement.”

Emerald snorted. “Thanks for that. I’ve been down here for hours. My ass went numb a long time ago, and these binds are starting to chafe.”

“It’s not my fault that you let a human girl get the best of you,” Brook said.

“Stop,” Kier growled, and rubbed his eyes. He paced around the basement, and I watched the agitation coming into his shoulders. “Just stop.”

Emerald leaned his head back against the wall again and sighed. “Look. We can all talk about this like rational adults, provided someone unties me. I’m willing to do that. Are you?”

Kier looked back at Emerald, and I saw the hint of betrayal in his eyes. It sliced right through my chest, reminding me that I had caused this. The guilt rose up to swamp me, and I couldn’t fight it off. Not with logic or the words that I knew Kier would say to me. That this wasn’t my fault, and that I didn’t do anything wrong. The words would mean nothing, and I wouldn’t believe them. Clearly, I’d done something wrong. Otherwise, so many people wouldn’t be trying to fix my mistakes.

“I’m willing to do that too,” Brook said with all the dignity in the world.

I looked back at Kier. “We don’t have to go upstairs. Let’s just stay here and talk. I can untie Emerald as a show of good will.”

“I’m not sure I feel that right now,” Kier said, staring at the man that he thought of as a brother. “But go ahead.”

I walked over to Emerald and knelt down. “Sorry about this,” I said.

He laughed. “No, no. Brook’s right. You got the best of me. You should never apologize to your enemy when you win.”

That again? “Is that what we are?” I asked. “Enemies?”

Emerald’s eyes slid from me to Kier, who still stood tensed by the boxes. He watched Brook without a single hint of mercy in his stare, and I could see all the muscles packed onto his arms and sticking out from his shoulders. When Emerald spoke, he did so softly enough that only I could hear him. “I’m not sure,” he said. “Not anymore.”

I unlocked the chain, and it fell from his wrist. Emerald undid the knots in the jump rope himself. He stood up and stretched his arms and legs out. “That feels so much better.”

“Why him?” Kier asked, looking at Brook. “Why would you call him. I know you two have a thing going, but why would you ask him to do this to me?”

“I wasn’t doing anything to you. I did it for you,” she said, shrugging helplessly. “And I thought that if you were home, then maybe Emerald could talk you into seeing reason. I didn’t think the girl would attack him. She seemed—” Brook cut herself off, but I could fill in the blanks.

Mousy.

Timid.

Breakable.

I lifted my chin and decided not to let that bother me. She had been wrong, and I managed to get Emerald onto the ground. Even if it had been through a fluke, I managed it.

“You gave him a key?” Kier asked. “So that he could come and talk with me? Not so that he could break into the house and take Whilda while I wasn’t there?”

Brook shrugged again. “I thought… Fine, yes. I thought that if you went to school and left the girl here, then maybe we would be able to fix this problem without having to get you involved. If she vanished, then you would be upset, but you’d get over it. It would’ve been fine.”

One second, Kier stood by the boxes. The next, he had Brook pushed up against the wall with a hand around her throat. Her feet dangled above the ground, with her nails digging into his skin. She stared at Kier with wide eyes, and gasped. “Kier, let go. Don’t make me hurt you. Let go.”

“It would not have been fine!” Kier shouted into her face.

Brook flinched.

Emerald moved slowly around me, approaching Kier. “You need to let her go,” Emerald said. “Kier, listen to me.”

He snarled wordlessly, and I could see how this would end. I had to do something, so I walked up to Kier. My heart shot up into my throat, but I kept moving forward as if I didn’t worry about what he would do to his aunt. “Kier,” I said, my voice soft. “I know that she probably deserves a good pummeling, but you can’t give that to her. Not over this. Please, put her down.”

Kier looked over his shoulder at me. “You would’ve died if Emerald took you away. You would have ended up in one of those facilities, and you would have died.”

“But he didn’t get me. I’m still here. Please, put her down?”

His hand released, and Brook fell to the ground in a heap. She coughed and struggled to breathe for a couple of seconds. Kier paced away from her, and Emerald rushed in. He put his hands on Brook’s shoulders and talked softly. “You’ll be fine,” he said. “Just a little bruising.”

I let out a sigh.

Kier hovered around me, and I watched him try to get control over himself. I reached out and squeezed his hand. He squeezed back, careful not to break anything. He took a deep, deep breath, and let it out through his nose. The tension drained out of his body slowly.

I looked back at Emerald and Brook. Emerald stared at Kier, and I watched his eyes. They looked worried and certain at the same time. He began to rise to his feet, but then paused to move slower.

“I’m sorry,” Kier said, his voice barely above a growl. “I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“It’s all right,” Emerald said. “Tempers are hot right now, and tension is high. Brook went behind your back, and I understand why that would’ve upset you. Let’s just take a moment to calm down.”

Kier turned to face the other two people. “No,” he said. “Let’s not take a moment. I’m telling you right now that Whilda is not leaving. Do you understand that? I’m not sending her back to her father, where she will get tortured to death. I’m not dropping her off at a shelter where anything can happen to her. And I absolutely refuse to let you take her anywhere.” He said this last in a low voice that sent shivers running through my stomach. “Does that make sense to you? Do you finally believe what I’m saying?”

Brook rubbed her neck, and wouldn’t meet Kier’s eyes, but Emerald… He looked unsurprised.

Nodding, he said, “That’s fine. You want to keep Whilda here, then we’ll figure something out. I’ll make some calls, and we’ll make sure that nothing ever touches her. Okay, Kier?”

“Why are you so agreeable all of the sudden?” I asked. “You’re not just saying this to placate him, right?”

Emerald turned to look at me, and he had an odd expression on his face. Kind of like he realized something but needed to hide it. “I swear to you, that I will not remove you from this house for any reason. Kier and I are like brothers, and I will not do a single thing more to jeopardize that friendship. Okay?”

I believed him. “Okay. But what about her?”

Brook looked up and breathed out. “I’m not sure.”

Interlude Kier Not sure, not sure. Of course she couldn’t be sure, because she hadn’t gotten her way yet. Brook would never admit that she had screwed up…

“Let’s all head upstairs,” Emerald suggested. “Unless there’s a reason that you’ve got us locked up down in the basement?”

“Not particularly,” I said. “The kids are on the second floor, and they’ll stay there.” I crossed my arms over my chest and eyed the people in front of me. Emerald had been training me since my parents died. He was about fifteen years older than me, a little younger than Brook. She’d been after him for years, ever since his mate died. Lately, he seemed to be letting her reel him in. I hoped that this wouldn’t be what my life turned into, if she actually managed to get together with him.

I’d have to kill one of them.

Brook… I just wanted to hurt her. She had been nothing but a pain in the ass these last couple of days. I didn’t think she’d chill out with that, but I thought beating her over the head with something would help. It’d have the added benefit of being a load of fun too.

Whilda cleared her throat, and said, “Are we headed up?”

“Yeah,” I answered, not taking my eyes off the people in front of me. They looked so easy to hurt. It wouldn’t take much effort, and then Whilda and the kids would all be safe. I could say that I hadn’t seen Emerald in a long time, and no one would notice Brook had gone missing until her boss realized her work hadn’t gotten done. No one expected me to know where Brook had gone off too anyway. I could play it off like the two of them had taken off together, and no one would argue with me.

When no one moved, Whilda’s eyes darted between all of us. She took a breath and headed up the stairs first. I let Emerald out next, but no way in hell would I allow Brook to be in the same room as Whilda without me. Even for a split second.

We got to the kitchen, and I found Whilda sitting on a stool. She still wore my clothing, and the other two surely had noticed that. I wondered what they thought. I hoped that they understood that touching her would only lead to them getting the hell beaten out of them.

“So, um,” Whilda said. “If you just leave, will everything turn out all right?”

Emerald sighed and rubbed his head. He didn’t look directly at Brook, but I felt his attention slide her way. “No, that wouldn’t be a wise thing to do. Someone else might find out about you, and that would turn sour. Fast.”

“You mean that Brook might decide she knows best again, and turn against us?” I asked.

My aunt sighed. “Kier, I don’t get what’s going through your head, but you need to think about this. Clearly, for once.”

Whilda bristled. “Maybe he’s just annoyed that you keep sticking your nose into his business when he wants nothing to do with you.”

“Hey now,” Emerald said.

“She’s right, and you know it,” I barked back at him, turning my eyes his way. “If Brook had kept quiet, you wouldn’t even be here.”

“I probably would have figured out you had a human eventually. Like when you stopped letting me come over, and I got concerned. Or the fact that you’d eventually come to work smelling like her. Your aunt just sped up the inevitable, and that’s no reason to be angry with her.”

I’d been careful with Whilda’s scent, actually. I tried to touch her as little as possible before I had to leave for school, and I could’ve done the same thing for work. If we had gotten there, which we hadn’t. Thanks to Brook. Emerald could say a thousand reasonable things, but that didn’t mean I had to listen to him.

Breathing out, I eased onto my stool, and tried to find some measure of calm. Something that would get my body to uncoil from its ready to strike position. Something about having Emerald come after Whilda when I hadn’t been there to protect her… My brain couldn’t handle the things that could have happened.

If they sent her to one of those facilities, then I would’ve gone after her. I’d taken it upon myself to keep her safe, and Huntress help anyone that stepped in my way.

But, Whilda didn’t need my help, it turned out. The image of her sneaking up behind Emerald with a frying pan brought a smile to my face. He had been taken down by a small human girl, and I’d never let him forget it. Especially if he got her taken away from me.

Then he’d burn.

Brook glanced at Whilda and shifted uncomfortably in her seat. “I think we need to talk about this like rational adults, and no offense, I don’t think that can happen with you in the room.”

I bared my teeth at her.

Emerald held his hands up. “I hate saying this, Kier, but she’s right. We need to talk to you.”

I knew what they would say already. That this would end horribly, and that I’d lose the kids and that Whilda would leave. I’d be all alone in the world, all because I didn’t want to give up some human. They would make it sound like I asked for that fate.

Whilda slid off her chair, and I grabbed her hand. The second my skin touched hers, some of my tension drained away. My head exploded with images from us in the kitchen earlier. I’d screamed at her in my mind, begging her to touch me. The thought of her laying her head against my chest had been enough to give me heart palpitations.

She turned her hand around in mine, so that she could squeeze back. “It’s okay,” she said. “I actually think they’re right on this one. I told Amber that I’d read her a story anyway. Why don’t you talk with them, and I’ll be upstairs? You can call me down as soon as you’re done.”

I wanted to hold onto her but released her hand instead. Whilda stepped away from me, eyed the other two people in the room, and walked off. I kept my eyes on her the entire time she went up the stairs, ignoring my aunt when she tried to get my attention. She could fucking wait.

Amber cheered the second she saw Whilda, and a small smile appeared on my face. I would bet anything that Amber had her reading One Fish, Two Fish. She loved that book, to the point that I nearly had it memorized by now. She’d only been reading it for about three months, but that seemed like more than enough.

“Kier,” Emerald said.

I waited until I heard Whilda’s voice talking to my sister before I turned back to them. All the joy and contentment that I had sort of been feeling drained away. It left behind nothing but ugly, black feelings. I wanted to take Brook’s head and smash it against the counter. Then I’d like to grab Emerald by the throat and choke him until he understood that entering my house without permission had been a mistake. Even if Brook had given him a key. A key which I gave her exclusively for emergencies.

“I’m sorry that this happened,” Emerald said. “When Brook called me, she made it sound like something urgent. She said that you found a human and didn’t know what to do with her.”

“She lied,” I stated.

“It would seem so,” Emerald agreed, his voice flat and emotionless.

Brook bristled. “I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you every detail over the phone, but this was important.”

Emerald gave a bitter smile and glanced away from Brook. “I think that you aren’t paying very close attention.”’

“I think you’re being blasé about someone that attacked you,” Brook countered.

At that, Emerald’s smile went from bitter to amused. “I’ve never been hit with a pan before. I actually find it rather amusing and almost worth the story. And I had been threatening her at the time, so I feel that her attack was more than justified.”

A low growl crept up my throat. “She should have hit you harder. I would’ve forgiven her.”

“I bet you would,” Emerald said.

“Excuse me, I don’t get what you two are talking about, but can we get back to the point?”

“I am getting to the point,” Emerald said, and looked at Brook. “You’re so concerned with her being a human that you aren’t paying attention. First of all, I don’t believe that Whilda has any intention of hurting someone, let alone someone in this house. She seems to genuinely care about them. I know this, because she tried to make me as comfortable as possible after tying me up. Because she didn’t want Kier to be upset that she hurt me.”

Despite my anger, I shook my head in amusement. “I’ve seen that girl beat the crap out of someone else. You should count yourself lucky.”

“Furthermore,” Emerald continued. “I was willing to believe you when I first got here, that Whilda was lying about her abusive father. You seemed so adamant about it, and I didn’t know what was going on. I figured I’d needle her until she told me the truth. But now, I think she was telling the truth from the beginning.”

“Why?” Brook asked. “Because she’s a weak little thing?”

“No,” Emerald said. “It’s the look in her eyes. Perpetually ready for someone to hurt her.”

I winced and tried to hide it. They didn’t need to know what bothered me and what didn’t.

“Does it matter?” Brook asked.

“I think so,” Emerald said, “But beyond that, there’s something else that you’ve ignored, that I think we need to discuss. And that’s the way Kier is acting.”

I blinked. “I’m acting perfectly reasonable, considering what’s happened. You two have both done things that I’ll find very hard to forgive. If I ever bother trying.” For the last bit, I stared directly at Brook until she began to squirm in her seat again. I wanted her to worry and feel uncomfortable. I’d never actually boot her out of my house, for the reason that I told Whilda. The kids deserved to have an aunt they loved. Even if I hated her. Even if I wanted nothing to do with her, I’d deal with it for them.

Emerald cleared his throat. “Yes, you are acting reasonable for people you need to protect. If this had been a different human, though, I think you would have alerted us to their presence a lot sooner. Maybe even brought them to the station yourself. Instead, you’ve been hiding her from us, and you’re acting…”

“What?” I growled.

My friend stared at me as if I should have figured it out. “You’re seventeen,” he said.

“I know that, believe it or not.”

“And you’re being unreasonably protective of this girl.”

At that, I snorted.

“You are,” Emerald said. “You wouldn’t even let her walk away from us because… what? You worried that she would find some kind of danger upstairs? Your siblings would probably treat her better than anyone else she’s met.”

Everything he said was true, but I still felt like I had been more than reasonable in my overprotectiveness. At least with Whilda right next to me, I could make sure that no one touched her.

“With your age and all… Are you at all getting what I’m trying to say?” Emerald asked.

“Oh, fuck,” Brook said. “No, no, no. Stop talking.”

“What are the two of you going on about?” I demanded, tired of the bullshit already.

Emerald sighed and rubbed his eyebrow. “I get that you probably haven’t been paying much attention at school, but what are all the other guys in your class doing right now?”

I thought about it, trying to figure out what he tried leading me to. I couldn’t wrap my head around it… and then it clicked. “No,” I said, not so much a denial as confusion. “That doesn’t make sense.”

“Why not?” Emerald asked.

“Because…” I trailed off.

“Because she’s human?” he asked. “It’s happened before. Not often, since we don’t interact with humans all that much, but it has happened.”

“Fuck,” Brook said, tilting her head back.

I still wanted to deny it. “But she wouldn’t know what’s happening,” I said. “Wouldn’t that change something?”

“Yes,” Emerald agreed. “It would mean that you have to explain everything to her, and then hope that she understands what you’re saying.”

“What about everything else?” I asked. “No, this can’t be happening. It would be too much for her, too soon.”

“It doesn’t work like that,” Emerald said, dryly. “When it happened with me, Cerulean punched me in the stomach, because she was so mad.” His eyes got lost, like they always did when he thought of his mate. She had died almost three years ago. Some asshole mugged her, and then stabbed her afterward. It was one of the reasons I felt so worried about dropping Whilda off at another shelter. She could get hurt so easily. One stab wound, and she would die. If a knife could kill one of us, then it could easily kill her.

“I’ve known her for a week,” I said.

Emerald nodded. “That actually helps my theory. The fact that you’re so protective over someone you hardly know… What would you think if you were talking with a classmate, and he was acting like this over someone else?”

I pushed my hands through my hair and tried not to scream. “I would think that he had Chosen.”

“It’s all instinct,” Emerald said, which made me think I looked frazzled. Why else would he tell me things that I already knew? “When you find the right one, the rest is instinct. And if I went upstairs right this second, and pulled her out of this house against her will—”

Before I realized what happened, I’d leapt over the counter, and had Emerald’s throat in my hand. I shoved him against the kitchen table in the next second, making sure that it hurt him. “If you touch her,” I snarled. “Then I’ll kill you.” The words didn’t sound like they came from my throat. Too low, too guttural.

“My point has been made,” Emerald said.

I shoved him against the table all the harder.

“I swear to you that I won’t touch Whilda, ever,” Emerald promised. “And if I go against that promise, it will only be to protect her from something else.”

I pushed away from him, a snarl still on my face, and paced around the room. It took a lot to convince myself to believe his words, as reasonable as they sounded.

“You’re almost eighteen,” Emerald said, sitting up and rubbing his throat. “You had to know this was coming soon.”

I shrugged. “I wasn’t paying all the much attention to the kids at school. I figured it would pass me by.”

“You figured wrong.”

“Why are you two acting like this doesn’t make everything so much worse?” Brook asked.

“It actually doesn’t,” Emerald said. “Depending on how Whilda reacts, it makes things easier. She could still reject you, after all.”

That she could.

“But if she doesn’t reject you, then we can work with this. Like I said, a Nightmare Choosing a human as their mate has happened before. Enough times that we have a policy with it. It would complicate things that she’s only seventeen, but I’m sure we could work around that, as well.”

“I’m not going to tell her that the only way to get her out of her father’s reach is if she stays with me,” I said, shifting around uncomfortably.

“No, of course not,” Emerald said. “But if you lay out all the cards, then I think we can work with it. She doesn’t even have to decide right now. She could wait until she’s eighteen, and then we can move forward with the process. I think there’s a band or something that she has to wear. Something that lets the other Nightmares know that she’s okay. We’d send out a notice so that people wouldn’t attack her, but I’d still suggest sending Ash out with her if you can’t go, ya know, when she leaves the house.”

“We’re acting like this is all said and done,” I interrupted, pacing away from him and putting my hands on the counter. “No offense, but it’s not.”

“I know that, but we have to act quickly,” Emerald said, sighing. “Just tell her that this is a temporary solution, after you explain what Choosing her means. Okay?”

I shoved my hands through my hair, trying not to pull it out. I couldn’t fathom saying any of this to Whilda. She would panic, thinking that she had to make a decision right there. Even if I told her that she could wait a decade, she would panic. Plus, she didn’t know anything about Nightmare culture but what I had told her. This felt like a lot to explain.

“What happens if she rejects him?” Brook asked, acting like that would be a given. “What do we do then?”

“We’ll deal with that if and when it happens,” Emerald said dismissively.

“Let’s talk about it now,” Brook demanded.

My mentor turned to my aunt, and his eyes looked unfriendly. The two of them had been flirting a lot lately. Now, I could only see animosity between them. I wondered why Emerald would bother flirting with Brook, when right then, he held nothing but contempt.

“You need to calm down,” Emerald said. “You’ve done more than enough damage thus far.”

“I’m only doing what I think is best for my nieces and nephews.”

“Then it’s a good thing you didn’t get them,” Emerald said.

Brook flinched like she had been struck. She slid off her stool, trying to get further away from him. I blinked in surprise but didn’t say anything while they stared each other down. “That… was a cruel thing to say,” Brook whispered. “I didn’t realize that you could be that cruel.”

“I didn’t know you could be this blind,” Emerald countered back. “Whilda is not going to refuse Kier. It might take a few weeks for her to adjust to the idea, but anyone with eyes can see how badly she wants to stay. In this house. With him and his family. She knows what she wants, and when she realizes that getting it won’t hurt her, she’ll take it.”

It all seemed like so much to dump onto Whilda. She’d had one hell of a week already, and I didn’t want to add pressure. At the same time, if we wanted her to live past the next week, I didn’t think we had much of a choice.

“All right,” I said, putting my hands on the counter. “I’ll talk to her about this, but what’s the next step? How do we keep her safe until she decides what to do with my having Chosen her?”

Emerald turned away from Brook, and I felt the iciness between them. Their body language had changed, becoming colder, tenser. When he faced me, my friend had vanished, and the Authority had taken his place. “I’ll make a call to my superior and explain the situation to him. Forrest should be able to make some more calls, until we get the information that we need. Namely, how to keep the other Nightmares from harming Whilda and paperwork that allows her to exist in our world. Right now, she’s only got a human ID, and that won’t work for us.”

“No,” I said, agreeing.

“We should also be able to figure out what kind of grace period she’ll have. I wouldn’t give her a time limit if I were in charge, but you know how officials are. They like to make sure that no one is cheating the system.”

I nodded.

“I’ll do my best to make sure the grace period is long enough that she won’t feel trapped or stressed. The two of you will be able to get to know each other better, and hopefully that will work out in the end. I still don’t think she’ll reject you.”

I couldn’t feel so confident. Whilda had been through a lot of trauma in a short time. Any more pressure, and she’d blow eventually. I thought of that woman that she had beaten up in the alley. When Whilda blew up, she didn’t do it in small doses. She made sure that everyone around her knew what she felt.

I didn’t mind that so much, though.

“Okay… All right,” I said, still rubbing my hands down my jeans. Part of me still wanted to pin Emerald to the ground and slit his throat for threatening Whilda. The rest of me had gone into shock.

Brook shook her head. “This is going to end in a disaster, and you’ll be the reason now.” She stared right at Emerald.

My friend shrugged. “At least I didn’t lie to him. You should have realized what happened sooner, but you were too busy trying to make sure everyone listened to you. Always you. All the time.”

She flinched again. I didn’t have the patience to deal with them anymore. I rose from the stool, and said, “I’m going to speak with Whilda. Don’t kill each other in my kitchen. Thank you.”

They didn’t say anything as I left the room. At the bottom of the stairs, I could hear Amber asking Whilda to read one more book. “Please, please?” Amber asked. “Kier always reads me two, so you should read me three. Please.”

Whilda laughed. “All right, just this once. I’m not going to compete with your brother on reading skills.”

“Yay!” Amber shouted. “This one!”

“You really like Dr. Seuss, huh?” Whilda asked.

“Yes. I like all the colors, and the way the drawings are.”

“That’s very specific.”

“I like what I like.” Amber giggled, and then I heard Whilda starting to read the next book. I didn’t want to head to Amber’s room anymore. It felt like they had earned the last couple of minutes. Just to finish the book.

At the top of the stairs, I leaned against the wall to wait.

Ash opened his door and stuck his head out. “Are you almost done yelling at them?”

“Yeah, we’re finished with that. I’ve got to talk to Whilda about some things, though.”

“Oh?” Ash asked. “Did you figure out a way to keep her?”

“Maybe.”

He came the rest of the way out of his room, a curious expression on his face. I thought about dismissing him, but I tried not to do that. Ash helped me with the other kids a lot, so I figured he had earned the right to know. I explained the entire situation to him and tried not to squirm as I said it. It felt pathetic as hell.

“I had wondered,” Ash said.

“Really?” I asked.

He nodded. “You were acting… different around her. Too careful about some things, while also growling whenever she said something bad about herself. Normally, you wouldn’t have given a damn.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?” I barked.

“I figured you would have known if you had Chosen someone. Guess not, though.”

I sighed and shook my head.

“Now that I’ve seen it, though. I’ll be prepared,” Ash said, turning back toward his room. “I’ll be sixteen in almost a year and a half. Right in the age group. But hey, maybe I’ll be like you, and be almost eighteen before I Choose. Probably not, though.”

Didn’t that thought give me heartburn.