Chapter 50
Chapter
Fifty
Elijah
T he next morning, we had breakfast with her teammates and I got to know some of the new members, we’d been too busy before now. Kainda went downstairs to get in a workout and I went up to the library to explore a little further. I planned to spend a lot of my time among all the books. After about twenty minutes, I sat down at the large conference table. We still had so much to figure out before we could move forward with our future.
First thing we had to do, call my parents. I’d put it off as long as I could. We had questions for them about my adoption and of course to let them know I was alive. Then we had to figure out how to explain my absence from the mental hospital and secure the proper discharge documentation. After that, I needed to figure out if I wanted to go back to work as a journalist or if I wanted to pursue a different career. I’d gone out to that cabin because I was facing a massive burn-out episode.
The more I thought about it, the more I didn’t want to do that. But I had to be able to support myself and Kainda. I didn’t think demon hunting paid all that well. Come to think about it, how on Earth did she support herself. We needed to have a discussion about it. I was pretty sure returning to journalism wasn’t in my future, which meant I needed to start job hunting.
About thirty minutes later, Kainda came bounding into the library. She smiled at me, wiping the hairs off her face plastered there by the sweat dampening her skin. Standing up, I went to her, and we headed upstairs to her apartment. She did the magic trick again and the door opened. “I’m going to take a quick shower and wash off the sweat. Be back in just a minute and we can call your parents.”
I stacked up a few books on the small table in the corner of Kainda's suite. Propping up my phone, I opened the camera app to check the angle for the call. Awhile had passed since I’d spoken to either of my parents. Or my siblings for that matter. I needed to call them soon, too. They were in for a shock. I didn’t look anything like I did the last time they saw me.
Kainda came out of the bathroom, a towel wrapped around her, and her long red hair already dry. She opened the closet door and pulled out some fresh clothes. I couldn’t help but watch her, absolutely gorgeous. She looked back at me and rolled her eyes. A chuckle escaped me, and I had to wonder if this connection would always link us. If we’d always catch each other’s stray thoughts and feelings.
Almost time to make the call now that she’d dressed, but she didn’t join me at the table. Nervousness gnawed at me, but not nearly as much as it seemed to affect Kainda. She started pacing the room and fiddling with her hair. Taking her hand when she came close enough, I pulled her down next to me and gave her a quick kiss. "Relax, they'll love you."
Her snort was far from ladylike, but she didn't make a move to bolt. I dialed my mom's phone number, put it on speaker, and waited. She answered a minute later, and the sound of her voice made me feel lighter.
"Hello?" God, I’d missed her, and I hadn’t even realized how much.
"Hi mom." Kainda placed her hand on my forearm, giving it a reassuring pat. "It's Elijah."
"Elijah? Where are you calling from?"
I took a deep breath. "It's a long story. Can we video chat?"
She didn't answer, but the prompt to accept switching to video call popped up on the screen. I accepted the call and her face filled the screen. Thankfully, she did well with technology, so I didn’t get a close up of her nose. She gasped when she saw me. Her hands flew up to cover her mouth and tears formed in her eyes.
"Oh, my baby! You look so much better than the last time I saw you. Your scars are nearly all gone. But how?"
I couldn't help but smile as I slightly turned the phone so Kainda came into frame. "Mom, this is Kainda Lane. She found me at the hospital and she helped me. I'm whole again."
Her hands dropped from her mouth and she looked Kainda up and down. "Hello dear. You're very pretty."
"Thank you, Mrs. Henry." Kainda blushed at the compliment.
Mom waved her hand dismissively with a hesitant smile. "Please call me, Grace. Are you a doctor?"
"Um, no. But I knew what Elijah suffered from and how to get him help."
Her eyebrow climbed into her graying hairline. "Alright. So you're not institutionalized anymore?"
"Nope. But I didn’t call you about that, mom. I had a question about my adoption."
She sighed and looked a little sad. "Of course, dear. What would you like to know?"
"Do you know anything about my birth parents?"
She shook her head. "We asked the adoption agency years ago when we realized you were special, but where you were dropped off anonymously at the fire station, they didn't have any information either."
Kainda placed her hand on my chest. "Wait, you said when you realized he was special. What do you mean? Special how?"
“He never got sick. Not once in his whole life.” She said, picking up her coffee mug and taking a long sip.
“I just always thought I had an excellent immune system.”
She laughed like I was ridiculous. “Oh honey, there’s having a good immune system and then there’s you. It really hit me when you didn’t get chicken pox with your brother and sister. I tried to keep you all separated; I put Ian in my bed since you two shared a room. He had a movie on and Kimmy wanted to watch it too, so I moved her in there. I decided to take a shower when they finally fell asleep. When I came back out, you were in the bed right between them. You were petting Kimmy’s hair and holding Ian’s hand. When I asked what you were doing, you said that they’d started fussing in their sleep, and you want to comfort them. I thought for sure you’d catch it then. But a week later, and you still hadn’t shown any symptoms.”
“I don’t remember any of this. Was that the only reason?”
Mom shook her head. “No. You also seemed to never really get hurt, either. When your father taught you to ride a bike, and you fell for example. I thought for sure you’d have a skinned knee and hands, but you stood up, dusted yourself off and got right back on the bike. When you finally came in, you didn’t even have a red mark. That night, your father and I talked about it; we agreed that it was all very strange.
So we decided to call the adoption agency to see if maybe they could tell us anything. It was a long shot since they hadn’t given us anything at the time of the adoption. When they told us they didn’t know anything more than what they’d already told us, we got a little desperate. I started researching but came up empty. Then the school sent home the ID kits and we got the idea. Do you remember us doing the DNA swabs for the kit?”
Kainda sat up straight as a board, and she practically vibrated with rage. I put my hand on her thigh and gave her a reassuring squeeze. She didn’t say anything and let my mother continue. I wasn’t sure what had her so upset. “Yeah, mom, I remember.”
“Well, we didn’t send your swab off with the kits. We sent it to a lab for genetic testing.” Kainda’s hands curled into fists and I felt her magic like static electricity in the room. “Unfortunately, the results didn’t give us anymore answers. All the report said was mother’s species human; father’s species unknown other.”
It hit me like a punch to the stomach. Ever since meeting Kainda, I’d suspected something along those line, but having it confirmed was a whole other thing entirely. It didn’t give us the answer we’d hoped for. But more proof of what we suspected, and nothing more. That part was frustrating.
Kainda’s patience finally snapped. “Do you have any idea how dangerous it was for you to send his genetic material off to a lab? There are so many of those labs that are fronts or are working with monster hunting organizations?—”
“I’m fully aware of that.” Mom cut Kainda off before she could really get going. “We researched dozens of labs before we decided where to send it. This was the most difficult decision we’ve ever made outside of having Elijah committed to the hospital for his own safety.”
I couldn’t help the flinch that followed the mention of being committed. At the time, all I wanted was to feel safe, and the hospital didn’t feel safe. Not that I knew where I would’ve been safe from a demon. But I knew now that my parents had done the right thing because they loved me and were scared for me. Taking Kainda’s hand, I gave it a gentle squeeze before bringing it to my mouth and kissing the back of it. She visibly relaxed as she looked away from the phone’s screen.
“I’ll forgive that outburst because you obviously care for my son and he you.” Mom said as she straightened her blouse, not that her temper had ruffled it.
Kainda looked back to her. “Sorry, Mrs. Henry. The thought of anything happening to him is terrifying. We just lost a good friend of mine, and I’m still reeling.”
“Oh dear, I’m so sorry for your loss. And for the last time, call me, Grace. Mrs. Henry was my mother-in-law.” She took a sip of her coffee with a smile on her face before whispering over the lip of the mug. “And I’m nothing like that crazy old bat.”
I couldn’t help the coughing laugh, but Kainda looked a little shocked. “Don’t worry, they’ve been feuding for years. But secretly they love each other. And mom, stop referring to grandma in the past tense, she’s still alive.”
“What lab did you send the sample to?” She asked, shifting in the seat next to me to get comfortable.
“Crypt ID Genetics. I still have the reports here somewhere. If you want, I’d be happy to give them to you, Elijah. Bring Kainda and come for a visit. I’ll make your favorite meal, and we’ll invite your brother and sister.” She looked elated by the idea.
Kainda sat forward with a smile on her face. “You really did do your research before sending off his DNA.”
“Huh?” I asked, looking at her, a little confused by her reaction.
She smiled. “Crypt ID Genetics. You honestly don’t get it?”
I shook my head and she sighed. “Crypt ID, cryptid. It’s a subtle way of saying that they specialize in cryptid and other genetics. Their current CEO is a werewolf. There’s a rumor that they have Atlanteans working for them and have Atlantean technology on loan.”
“They have the largest database of supernatural genetic material and research on the subject.” Mom said. “I wrote the CEO at the time with questions, and she called me to answer all of them. She founded the company to figure out her own adoptive child’s background. Since then, she’s used the business to protect orphaned supernatural children.”
All I could do was nod to them. It was a lot to take in, and I’d learned so much today. Well, more like I had some things confirmed for me that I had started to suspect since meeting Kainda. But until now I’d been too afraid to really find the answers. Now, I felt a little foolish for putting it off. Quite a few things now made more sense.
“Find those reports, mom, and we’ll come for a visit. But we’ll have to get back to you on when we’ll be able to make it by.”
She looked a little sad. “Alright, but you have to promise me that you’re going to stay in touch between now and then.”
“Deal. Love you, mom. Say hi to dad and everyone for me.” This had gone a lot better than I expected.
She gave me a little wave. “Of course. It was lovely to meet you, Kainda. I look forward to meeting you in person and getting to know you better. I love you too, my sweet boy.”
“You too, Grace.” Kainda said as mom picked up the phone and tapped the screen to end the call. She turned to me with an awkward smile. “That wasn’t as bad as I was afraid of.”
I laughed. “My badass demon hunter afraid of her boyfriend’s mom. I’m sorry, but that’s hilarious.”
“Fuck off!” She gave me the middle finger salute as she climbed to her feet, moving away from me. “I can’t wait to get my hands on those lab results. Hopefully, Hida will have some contacts that can help us decipher the unknown genetics part.”
I shrugged. “It doesn’t really matter to me. I mean, it would be nice to know some of my background and origins, but it's not the end of the world if I never find out. Would it bother you to never find out?”
“Other than the insanely curious part of me that likes a good puzzle, no, it wouldn’t bother me. If you don’t want to find the answers, then we won’t. It’s not like we’re going to be having kids anytime soon, if ever.” She paused, looking nervous. “I guess that leads to the next question. Do you want kids? Because I’ll be honest, I don’t have any plans to ever have them.”
I hadn’t expected that, but okay. I thought about it for a minute, but the answer was easy. “I’d rather have you and no kids than have kids with someone else. It’s not something I’ve always pictured for myself. Before Uttu’s attack I was married to my job, kinda always was, which is why I was on the verge of burning out, that lead me to taking a vacation to that damned cabin.”
“Thank the goddess!” She blew out a big breath of relief and the tension bled out of her shoulders. “You don’t have to go back to journalism if you don’t want to. It’s not like we need the money living out here.”
She’d just given me the perfect segue into the next question on my mind. “Not to be rude, but how exactly are you all paying for this? I can’t imagine demon hunting pays the bills.”
“Oh, it definitely doesn’t. But we have other sources of income. Sometimes we take on jobs for other magical beings to help them with problems or to mediate. Though most of the money comes from our online store. Between hunts, we manage a magical supply business and we fortune tell for humans. You wouldn’t believe how much desperate humans will pay for a glimpse at their future. Not that we tell them anything real. We can’t see the future. Mine and Evin’s witch powers don’t intersect with the power of premonition. And even if it did, the rules of magic don’t allow us to share what we see. Mostly it’s us telling them what they want to hear or telling them their horoscope. Evin makes a lot of harmless potions and charms for them, too.”
My eyebrows climbed up my forehead and my smile slipped. “That sounds a little scammer-ish, and you seem really proud of that.”
“No, it’s not like that. We take their requests seriously, and we’re never disrespectful or condescending to our clients. But we have to use good, sound magical judgment. Not to mention, we have to follow the natural laws of magic. You know that old saying, ‘all magic comes with a price’?”
I nodded and she continued. “It’s a saying for a reason. Humans don’t always understand that price, and even the ones that do get it don't always care because it’s not them paying the price since they aren’t the one wielding the magic. I’m not going to put myself or those I care about at risk of magical repercussions for some stranger that wouldn’t give a shit about me.”
“That sounds better when you explain it all the way. Maybe next time, give me a little more detail. I want to learn about it all, but it won’t happen overnight. Can you be patient with me?”
Her laugh was like music as she walked up to me and wrapped her arms around my neck. “I think I can be patient. Though I warn you, I’m absolutely terrible at it. Just so you’re warned. Don’t worry too much, there are a lot of people here that can help you along the way. Besides, if you learn all things magical, you’d be useful in my line of work.”
“You’d really let me go on missions with you?” I asked as my hands squeezed her sides as we kind of moved about the room, almost dancing.
She shook her head as her eyes went dark and sharp. “No. That’s completely out of the question. But sometimes it’s good to have someone here at ‘mission control’ so to speak that can feed us information on the fly. I think you’d be good at that. The fact that you’d be safe here, as far from danger as possible, is just a bonus.”
“Gotcha.” I pressed my lips to hers and scooped her closer to me, giving her a quick kiss. “Glad we got that all cleared up. Now, is there anything else that we have to do right now?”
Her head tilted, and she looked deep in thought for a moment before lips tipped up into a wicked smile. “Hm, other than jumping into that bed for some mind-blowing orgasms. Not that I can think of.”
She didn’t have to ask me twice. Her squeal of surprise when I pick her up quickly cut off my by kiss. Damn, she was perfect.