Chapter Four
She sat and sipped at her soda as her father approached. She had seen him as a tarantula from the moment whatever had happened to her vision had happened.
He stopped in front of her. “You don’t greet your father, Emhara?”
“I thought you had disowned me.”
He frowned. “Why?”
“I have tried to call you ninety-seven times in the last twelve years, and your assistant said that you were not taking my calls every time. A father helps. A father cares.”
“I sent funds to support you.”
She started to laugh wildly, and Echel came to her side.
“You think I saw any of that? I have been making digital ad art in exchange for food for years. They bought my clothing and then billed me for it. What do I need with designer gowns? I never even wore them. They were just purchased to keep me in debt.”
Em looked at him and saw the horror crossing his face.
“So, if you were paying them, they had more contact with you than I ever did. And if you are handing out money, can I get a hundred bucks so I can buy food tomorrow and get some jeans and a shirt? Wait. One fifty. My underwear is disgraceful.”
He frowned. “You didn’t receive anything?”
“Punches. Gouges. Kicks. Lots of slaps, hair pulled out in chunks, split lips, trips to hospital that were always disguised as clumsy behaviour. I called for help. No one answered.”
Her father stared at her, his spider face confused. “Who did you speak to?”
“Genevive. You know. Your wife’s sister-in-law.”
Her father paused. “You seem to be recovering well.”
“Well, it’s been a week. The surgical sites are nearly gone.” She looked at Duran. “You still have all the images? Let him see how it isn’t anything to worry about.”
She smiled pleasantly as her father flipped through the images of her battered, swollen, unrecognizable and then her on life support while they waited. Then the surgical sites, before and after, with the distinctive marks of the heels on her belly.
Her father tapped rapidly, and she knew he was sending them to himself.
She looked at him lazily. “Now, I don’t want those ending up on a revenge porn website. It will give other fathers bad ideas.”
He looked at her, fury in his gaze. She grinned. “There you are. I thought you had shrivelled up and left a shed in your place.”
He blinked. “What do you mean?”
“It isn’t a secret, but I don’t see your human seeming. I see your beasts. The first time it happened was long ago, but you are a big, fat tarantula, and Mateo is a leaner spider with longer limbs and a harder thorax.”
“Wait. You see me?”
“Yup. Do you remember that day I spilled red juice on my new dress and your wife flipped out? That was the day. Then Mateo came toward me, and I just started crying, so you sent me home, and then Mom and Bobby locked me in my room. They didn’t have anything weird, so it was a while before I figured out what I was seeing.
” Em smiled. “I have seen some interesting things.”
Her father staggered back. “You know what we are?”
“Spiders with bondage clubs? Sure. I have known for way too long.”
Mateo snorted.
Her father was paranoid. “Who did you tell?”
“You, dumbass. I only tell the person I am talking to what I see. The dark elves are easy. They have light extras but nothing major. They don’t have beasts.”
Her father frowned, which was funny on a creature with no eyebrows. He reached out and touched the silky dark hair that was everywhere in the family. “I need to look at this. Why didn’t you leave when you got your trust fund?”
“They stole it. It starts with a power of attorney for me that Mom had, and it continues to this day, so until I can get it overturned, I am going to keep moving. I don’t know if they are in or out, but if they catch me again, they can force me back to that house again and again until they manage to kill me. ”
Samsor said, “We aren’t going to allow that.”
Duran and Echel had moved closer, and Em realized they were going to protect her from her father.
Duran smiled. “We have a hearing tomorrow afternoon. We should be able to overturn the power of attorney.”
She blinked. “We do? How should I fix up my sweats?”
Her father growled. “I will send someone to dress you.”
“I haven’t had anyone dress me since I was two.” She wrinkled her nose. “I don’t think I will cooperate without a juice box and some animal crackers.”
Echel laughed. “We can arrange that as soon as the stores open.”
“Yeah, you had better.”
Her father said, “Did he speak?”
“Sure. Didn’t you hear him?”
“No.”
“Oh. Get your hearing checked.”
Echel was laughing and stroked her back. “He can’t hear me. I use ASL most of the time.”
“Oh, that sucks. Oh, wait, this is related to my seeing things.”
“Correct.”
“Great, so now, I am hearing things.”
He chuckled. “Just don’t mention that in court.”
“Right. Great. Another thing to keep under wraps.”
Her father touched her cheek. She flinched.
He pulled his hand back.
“Dumbass, use the heat-sensing vision and actually look at me. Head to toe, and figure out if I should let people touch me right now.”
The spider stared and gasped. “I am going to kill them.”
“Right, if you do, make sure you aren’t implicated.”
He smiled, mandibles clicking. “This isn’t my first effort.”
“Fine, but let me get my finances free first. I don’t want any of my money going to one of their heirs. Their families are as bad as they are.”
“No children?”
“No.”
“Good. So, they have taken your trust accounts, your income, and put you into debt with clothing that probably isn’t to your taste but fits Augusta.”
She snorted. “It’s like you are psychic.”
He leaned in and kissed her forehead gently. “You have a thick skull.”
“Yup.”
“You get that from me.” He touched her cheek just as gently. “My beast has always been on your side, you know. It was human me that is a jackass.”
“I will accept your greater wisdom on the matter.”
He nodded. “Right. I am going to call the clan seamstress and have her over here in the morning.” He looked to Samsor. “What time should I send her?”
“Eight. She’s a solid size ten to twelve if that helps.”
He nodded. “It does. Thank you. Her name is Ms. Alderna, and she is my sister. She will have two assistants. If anyone gives an attitude, tell me immediately.”
“I don’t have your number, Father.” She shrugged. “My phone broke when they were kicking me.”
That elicited outrage.
Samsor unplugged the phone he had been charging and handed it over. “This is her replacement.”
“It has a stylus. Nice. She used to draw and sketch all day.” He typed his number in, and when he was done, Mateo did the same.
The elves had an idea, and they were next in line to add themselves to her phone.
She swayed in her chair, and Echel stabilized her with a hand on her back, on one of the minimally bruised sections.
She sighed. “Three points for paying attention.”
He smiled, and she leaned against him. Duran saw them and smiled. Samsor handed the phone to her. “I think the book club wants to know why you left.”
She took a deep breath and sent Luna a text. She hoped that Luna acted on it.
* * * *
Luna was mid-early morning feed when she got the text and immediately sent a text to Rayd. He needed to get to his grandmother by six in the morning. She texted Em a thank-you and sighed when she got a response from Rayd. Emma would be taken care of.
* * * *
Duran asked, “What was the text?”
“Like Echel isn’t going to look for it.”
He chuckled.
“It was a warning to Luna. Tomorrow morning, early, the pack hired some weasels to get custody of me. They are going to be at Emma’s house and try to shake her down for my whereabouts. If my phone hadn’t died, I would have warned her earlier, but she went to bed, and I got out of there.”
Her father said, “Weasels coming to the home?”
“Yes, they were watching the house, but I am hard to see. I got away. The hospital uses nullifier, and that came in handy. I can’t even get a safe safehouse.”
Her father smiled. “This we can help with. What does the homeowner look like?”
“Little old lady whose grandson is a demon alpha and now has a pack. He smells like aircraft fuel and flies a helicopter.” She remembered what Emma had chatted at her. “His name is Rayd. Well, Raymond, but that doesn’t look cool.”
The men around her stared. She shrugged. “What? Emma is chatty as fuck, and very proud of her big, dangerous grandson.”
The guys around her chuckled.
She muttered, “Yes, yes, you are all very scary.” She was running out of energy, and Echel was very warm.
She could feel a slow throbbing in her body that matched something he was putting out.
Arms lifted her, and she was carried to a room that was warm and quiet, where the men who had arrived were holding conversations.
Even Echel participated, and Duran translated.
They discussed the financial issues and what had happened, all the medical treatment she had received, and everything else that Echel had dug up, which was quite a lot.
She got the feeling that Samsor, Echel, and Duran all worked together regularly.
Em listened to the drone of men, and like it always did, it sent her right to sleep.
She woke up and stretched, punching Echel in the nose. Dawn was on the way.
She looked at her chair. “Oops. Sorry.”
He rubbed his nose and smirked. “No problem, but you have a solid punch.”
Em yawned and then grimaced. She looked around, and everyone was gone. “Where did they go?”
“They are off to collect the leftovers once the demons are done with them. They made it there in time, by the way. Emma is safe.”
“Good. She was a little mean about making me do chores, but she was nice enough. I think she is better as a rehab home and not a safehouse.”
“She was unsure of why you were there, so she went with what worked.”
“Ah. That would explain it.” She squirmed. “I have to go brush my teeth.”
He kissed her neck and said, “Top of the stairs, first door on the left.”
“You are getting really touchy-feely.”
He smiled as she got up. “Am I?”