“The girl is human and is Lily’s half-sister,” Bill said.
“What,” Lily exclaimed, slipping her feet off the table then she got a sick look.
“She’s the wrong half,” Bill said simply, meaning if they actually tried to turn this girl she’d end up just like the rest. A deformed, raving and rabid depravity that sooner or later would die from the change. “I believe they’ve taken her to Thompson’s old labs in Montana or are close by. Dorin and his team will be coming along as well,” he said and Dorin gave him a quick stiff nod in agreement.
As he turned back to them, James knew exactly what he was going to say next. He glanced at Lily and saw she knew too. “Bullshit,” Lily muttered with a scowl. “This is pure bullshit,” she said louder, getting up from her chair and leaving the room. Tony called after her, but Andrew simply shook his head. Bill sighed, watching her leave.
“I was going to say…” he started, but James stopped.
“We know what you’re going to ask but exactly who are you asking to go with you, Crow?” James asked, with a bit of a sneer in the nickname. Lily had just been through a lot, she’d just got her son back after she feared he might have died and he wanted her to go out looking for danger? Not to mention just dropping the bomb that she has a sister like that and in front of everyone.
“Her… you, and anyone the alpha can spare. The criminal faction we’re facing is mostly vampires wanting to escape the danger the sun presents to them, feel it’s warmth on their skin again, and essentially more power. There are a few werewolves, but they are all like Thompson. Omegas, who feel ostracized by their pack, unwanted and abused. I don’t trust any of the local vampire factions so I’m relying on pure of Lycanthrope help or vampires from old alliances like Dorin,” Bill explained.
“I’ll have to meet with my lead enforcer and the beta to discuss how my pack stands as far as safety then I’ll see if I can offer you aid or not,” Tony said. “But I warn you, we’re a small pack and I may only be able to lend you a couple enforcers at best and only if they’re willing. I will not order any of my people to leave their families for a carrion bird who courts death daily,” Tony finished in a matter of fact tone.
“A carrion bird? Do you realize who you’re talking to,” Dorin demanded at him and Tony gave in an uninterested look.
“Yes, I know perfectly well who I’m talking to,” He said then nodding to the others that it was time to leave. James chuckled softly and followed the others out.
“Tony,” James called to him once they left the room and jerked his head to the side for them to talk privately. “I need to find Lily, make sure she’s alright,” he said lowly and Tony gave him a small smile.
“Of course, but careful James. You now know as well as I do that she doesn’t take this stuff well,” Tony warned him.
“I know, trust me I know,” James replied before leaving to find Lily. He didn’t need Tony to remind him of what was becoming his biggest fear. With all this that’s been dumped on her, Lilly might turn her back on him again. Her scent wasn’t hard to follow and he found her on the edge of the forest, sitting with her back against a tree. Her knees were pulled up and her head hung low, hidden by her arms. He sat down next to her and waited for her to speak to him.
“I thought I had put it behind me,” she said after a long period of silence. “I really did, especially after coming here and I didn’t want to strangle the life out of you as soon as I saw you,” she went on and he grinned with a lowly laugh. He wasn’t sure what she was talking about, but he was just thankful she was actually talking to him. Lily sighed, lifted her head and rested it against the tree. “But here I am again… so angry just like before!”
“It’s almost all I can feel! Jessie, Charlie, Hazar, Andrew… All of them! I’m so damn angry at all of them! I believed in them, trusted them… I thought they were…” she spat angrily as a few tears slipped down her face and she brushed them away from her quickly, looking, even more, angry that she was crying. “They all pretended to care! They just betrayed me instead!”
“My dad? Can I even call him that? He wasn’t just my dad. He was my savior. When he came home, everything stopped, my mom didn’t drink or use as much, there were no parties. Life was almost normal and I felt… loved. When she left what, does he do? Run off after some her when she obviously didn’t care if he lived or died and abandons me! Me, who loved him as much as a person could love another, who needed him, who only wanted him to love me back,” She said, growing even angrier.
“And Andrew knew it! You know how many nights I cried in his arms, begging and praying for my father to come back, and I asked him, James! I asked him if he knew where my dad was and he lied. I was devastated and he just sat there and watched,” She continued, batting away the tears furiously. “Now, that man just walks back into my life, expecting everything to be as it was, and I should just accept his abandonment as if he really was thinking of what was best for me!”
“But that’s not it,” she said, shouting now, her face contorted with pained fury. “No, now he’s actually asking me to go rescue her! The daughter that was good enough! I don’t want to help her! I already hate her!” Her expression grows more pained and with a sigh she slumps against the tree even more.
“But she’s just a girl, some poor innocent girl, whose only crime is the curse of being genetically tied to me. They’ll put her through what Thompson made me go through… made us go through… I can still feel the pain, even after all these years. The intense white hot pain that burns inside you until you can’t even remember what it’s like to feel anything but that pain. These people want to do that to her… and she’ll die or worse become one of those monstrous mutated things,” she says, much quieter now.
James wanted nothing more than to pull her into his embrace, but she wasn’t ready. She had to speak her mind and maybe even then she wouldn’t be ready for it. He couldn’t push her, even a little or he may lose her forever. She looked at him, pain, anger, sadness, and defeat swimming in her eyes and expression.
“I don’t want to help her, I hate her but have I lost that much of humanity that I’m not willing to help a child just because my mother loves her more than me? Because she’s some pretty little white girl that my grandmother wouldn’t sniff her nose at and call a dirty mix breed, a stain on the family name! Is that really the kind of person that I am… am I that much of a monster James?” There was a yearning, an earnest need in her voice now and he decided now was the time.
He moved over so he was next to her, place an arm over her shoulder and pulled her against him. “No Lily, you’re not,” he told her softly and kissed her temple. “A monster wouldn’t doubt themselves like this,” he told her, taking her in both arms now since she hadn’t pulled him away. “It’ll be okay Lily. Life’s shit and there are a lot of shitty people in this world. Sadly you’ve met more than your fair share,” he told her in a soft, soothing voice.
“But sometimes good people can do shitty things. Your dad and Andrew, they care for you, Lily. They made some stupid decisions, but it was because they thought they were doing what was best for you at the time,” he explained.
“So what? I’m supposed to just not be mad, forgive them and forget about it?” She asked, and he felt her stiffen in his arms. Her anger was returning and it made him smile. He kissed the top of her head and gave her a gentle squeeze.
“No, or course not. I’m just saying don’t put them in the same place as you do Jessie and the vamp, who we will find and we will kill for what they’ve done. All I’m saying is don’t just try to give them a chance to make up for it… and don’t close yourself to everyone else,” he said, wary and a bit nervous about how she may take what he said.
“I’m talking to you, instead beating the crap out of you, aren’t I?” she offered and he swore he could hear a hint of humor in her voice.
“You? Beat the crap out of me? Please, woman, I don’t think so. Who took care of Silvano,” he said then cleared his throat and added smugly, “Yours truly that’s who!” She started to laugh and it was the sweetest sound he heard in days.
“Cocky little asshole aren’t you?” she retorted then looked up at him. “Thank you, James, for you know, saving my life, for looking for A. J. and all that.” He smiled down at her.
“Well he’s my son too,” he replied then after a lot of hesitation forced himself to say what he’d been wanting to say a long time. “Lily, I’d do anything I could for you, even if it meant my own life. I… I lo-” he said, but she cover his mouth with her hand.
“Don’t James,” she said quickly then added more gently. “Please. I ca… I’m not… just not yet okay. I need time to deal with everything that’s happened. Just friends, okay,” Disappointed sparked in him but at the same time hope. She didn’t tell him to quit being stupid or tell him that there was no way in hell that they’d happen. She was just asking for time and that was a big step. So he smiled at her with a nod.
“Of course, take as long as you need. I’ll be here, always,” he told her and gave her another little squeeze. “I hate to ask, but I feel I need to, what are we going to do,” he asked her and she looked up at him confused.
“We?” She asked and he shrugged with a small grin.
“Yeah, we. Whatever you do, I’ll follow. That’s what friends are for,” he replied and she sighed, letting her head rest against his chest.
“I suppose we should go,” she said with an unhappy sounding sigh. “It’s not just about the Aequivalere or my half-sister, but Nick’s seems MIA too and what about his daughter, Wendy? Would they take her as well? I can’t just forget about them and pretend everything’s fine… so yeah, we should go but not under The Crow’s orders… we go when ready and only under our own volition,” she replied.
“Sure thing boss,” he teased her and she rolled her eyes at him.
“Now quit being so handsy and lazy and let’s get to work. See what Tony’s got planned,” she said giving him a light slap on the arm, getting up.
“Yes ma’am,” he said, getting up and following her. James felt relieved that their talk had gone so well. She wasn’t ready to take things further than friends, but he knew she wasn’t so totally opposed to the idea as well or go running off at the first chance she got. He honestly believed she was finally there to stay. She’d be ready one day and that’s all he needed to know. For the first time in a long time, he had hope for the future.
But a frown crossed his face at the thought of Montana. This wasn’t something like they faced before. He had a feeling that this was something big but whatever it was, at least, he and Lily would face it together.