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Authors: Yasmine Galenorn
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tucked me against his shoulder.
“Camille will be okay. Your father will—or will not—come around.”
“You don’t understand. All our lives, Camille was the strong one. If she can be hurt so badly, then anything can happen. You know how you always rely on someone to be there? To be the backbone? That’s gone. She’ll be okay, but there was a time when…I really thought she was dead. And everything changed.”
“But don’t you see, my love, that means that you have to step up and be the strong one. For yourself—not for anybody else, but just for you. And you’ve done that without realizing it. Do you know how strong you are? How incredibly proud I am of you?”
I looked into his face. His eyes were ancient—and I could smell the soft hints of bonfire smoke in his aura, a comforting scent that had become, for me, a cologne.
“Thank you.” I let out a sigh. “I do know that I’m stronger. I do know I’m growing up and I’m actually happy about it. But…it’s just…”
“Just what?”
Sucking in a deep breath, I finally shook my head. “Nothing.I just don’t deal with change well.” I shrugged, coughing off the phlegm that had gathered thanks to my waterworks. “I’m a cat. You know that we have trouble when our routines are interrupted.” As I tried to dash away the tears, he caught my hand and brought it to his lips, kissing it gently.
“Shhh…no—no, don’t blow this off so quickly. Don’t shortchange your emotions. Tell me everything.”
I closed my eyes for a moment. There was no getting out of it—that much I’d discovered about Shade. Once he wanted to know something, he made sure to find it out. He gave persistence a new meaning.
Searching inside for the right words—for the right meaning—I finally let out a long sigh. “Okay. Last night, at the bar, we were up on stage singing to Iris. It was a lot of fun, but the song—‘We Are Family’—set me off. I realize now I was starting to slide into a depression, but then Iris threw up and the stripper got pissed and the bar wanted us out. So I pushed it away. By the time we got home and Chase called, I was primed to spiral down.”
“Why did the song depress you? You aren’t that bad a singer.” Even as he said it, I knew he was joking, trying to goad me into a smile.
I shrugged again, not wanting to admit the truth, even to myself. But the words took on a life of their own and burst out of my mouth.
“Are we
really
still family? Oh, we love each other and we’re here for each other, and I’m not unhappy that we’re each finding our niche, but damn it, we used to be so close. So tight. And now, now we’re lucky to eat meals together. We hardly ever have time to sit around and talk. We plan movie and shopping dates when we used to just take off whenever we wanted. I hate that things are changing so fast.”
Even as I spoke aloud, I blushed. “I don’t mean to sound like a little girl hanging on the coattails of her sisters. I’m not that anymore, but damn it, I miss the days when we were first in the Y’Elestrial Intelligence Agency, when Father still loved all of us, before Menolly was turned into a vampire. Before…before…”
“Before you came Earthside?” Shade didn’t flinch, didn’t pull away.
Feeling embarrassed, feeling selfish, I nodded. “Yeah. Before we came Earthside. It’s like, we got sent over here and everything changed. The spirit seals started showing up. The demons are pounding at the gate. Camille got married—three times. Menolly found a girlfriend—and apparently, a steady source of party-hearty vampire invitations. We met Iris and now
she’s
getting married. I know it sounds petty, but who the hell is going to remind me to clean out my cat box? I need those things. I need…a mother. And until now, Camille filled that spot and Menolly was the one who pushed me into trying new things.”
Shade laughed then, a deep, honey-rich laugh that echoed through my body. “Honey,
“Camille will be okay. Your father will—or will not—come around.”
“You don’t understand. All our lives, Camille was the strong one. If she can be hurt so badly, then anything can happen. You know how you always rely on someone to be there? To be the backbone? That’s gone. She’ll be okay, but there was a time when…I really thought she was dead. And everything changed.”
“But don’t you see, my love, that means that you have to step up and be the strong one. For yourself—not for anybody else, but just for you. And you’ve done that without realizing it. Do you know how strong you are? How incredibly proud I am of you?”
I looked into his face. His eyes were ancient—and I could smell the soft hints of bonfire smoke in his aura, a comforting scent that had become, for me, a cologne.
“Thank you.” I let out a sigh. “I do know that I’m stronger. I do know I’m growing up and I’m actually happy about it. But…it’s just…”
“Just what?”
Sucking in a deep breath, I finally shook my head. “Nothing.I just don’t deal with change well.” I shrugged, coughing off the phlegm that had gathered thanks to my waterworks. “I’m a cat. You know that we have trouble when our routines are interrupted.” As I tried to dash away the tears, he caught my hand and brought it to his lips, kissing it gently.
“Shhh…no—no, don’t blow this off so quickly. Don’t shortchange your emotions. Tell me everything.”
I closed my eyes for a moment. There was no getting out of it—that much I’d discovered about Shade. Once he wanted to know something, he made sure to find it out. He gave persistence a new meaning.
Searching inside for the right words—for the right meaning—I finally let out a long sigh. “Okay. Last night, at the bar, we were up on stage singing to Iris. It was a lot of fun, but the song—‘We Are Family’—set me off. I realize now I was starting to slide into a depression, but then Iris threw up and the stripper got pissed and the bar wanted us out. So I pushed it away. By the time we got home and Chase called, I was primed to spiral down.”
“Why did the song depress you? You aren’t that bad a singer.” Even as he said it, I knew he was joking, trying to goad me into a smile.
I shrugged again, not wanting to admit the truth, even to myself. But the words took on a life of their own and burst out of my mouth.
“Are we
really
still family? Oh, we love each other and we’re here for each other, and I’m not unhappy that we’re each finding our niche, but damn it, we used to be so close. So tight. And now, now we’re lucky to eat meals together. We hardly ever have time to sit around and talk. We plan movie and shopping dates when we used to just take off whenever we wanted. I hate that things are changing so fast.”
Even as I spoke aloud, I blushed. “I don’t mean to sound like a little girl hanging on the coattails of her sisters. I’m not that anymore, but damn it, I miss the days when we were first in the Y’Elestrial Intelligence Agency, when Father still loved all of us, before Menolly was turned into a vampire. Before…before…”
“Before you came Earthside?” Shade didn’t flinch, didn’t pull away.
Feeling embarrassed, feeling selfish, I nodded. “Yeah. Before we came Earthside. It’s like, we got sent over here and everything changed. The spirit seals started showing up. The demons are pounding at the gate. Camille got married—three times. Menolly found a girlfriend—and apparently, a steady source of party-hearty vampire invitations. We met Iris and now
she’s
getting married. I know it sounds petty, but who the hell is going to remind me to clean out my cat box? I need those things. I need…a mother. And until now, Camille filled that spot and Menolly was the one who pushed me into trying new things.”
Shade laughed then, a deep, honey-rich laugh that echoed through my body. “Honey,
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