Emmerson is in my arms, and I'm running towards Trident's cottage. He's not there, but I'm hoping he's left behind enough of his materials for me to fix Emmerson's leg and give her something for the pain in her head.

Whoever meddled didn't know what the fuck they were doing, or she wouldn't be in this kind of pain. Amateur hour. Which is both comforting and worrying. Whoever is playing with Emmerson doesn't have enough power to be a true concern, but the fact that someone is messing with her makes me wonder what they're after. Is it someone trying to get to me? To my family?

My name set off the migraine, so whatever tinkering happened, it was around something to do with me. The stupid part is that Emmerson never remembers me anyway. By design, humans don't remember me or my immediate family. There'd be no need for anyone to intervene. At least not with her memory.

Ahead of me, Kaden is leading the charge. To say he's a reluctant part of this is an understatement. But when I told him I was answering Emmerson's screams whether he heard them or not, he figured he should tag along in case I got myself killed. Given how weak I've become, I was happy for the company.

Even shifting, something I used to be able to do with ease, takes an intense amount of effort. It's why Kaden had to jump in to protect Emmerson first. I wasn't sure I could hold my wolf form, and if I couldn't, I'd be fucking useless if the wolves surrounding her decided to attack.

The door to the cottage is already missing, and Kaden enters, immediately searching through what's been left behind, potions, bottles, and spells, strewn all over tables and shelves. The place has been ransacked, and it's possible anything of value is already gone. Other witches, people who fancy themselves to have some sort of power, maybe even my father, have pillaged Trident's stash.

I lay Emmerson on the couch and take up the search with my brother.

"Here," Kaden says, tossing me a vial. "Fairy blood. Basic pain killer. It'll fix her head."

"And it might turn her insane." I grimace at the blue liquid.

"She's not human," Kaden says. "I don't know what the fuck she is, but she's not human."

"Smells pretty fucking human to me."

"Yeah, of course," Kaden says. "Someone has gone to some trouble to disguise whatever she is. The witch in her head isn't the same one hiding her identity, guaran-fucking-teed."

Tonight has turned everything I thought I knew upside down and shook it. "She's not one of us," I say.

Kaden goes to her sliced heel and takes a deep sniff. "Fuck, she smells human. Like one hundred percent human."

"I know." Seeing him do that reminds me that her head isn't the only thing I need to take care of. On one of the shelves I find a mummy poultice, and I unravel it, striding to her foot while Kaden stands over her, shaking his head.

Carefully, I wrap the deep slice at her heel. At least with this on, she won't need stitches, and the cut should heal without a scar in a day or two. As much as I don't trust magic, I can't deny how handy it can be. Except when it's being deceptive against me.

"Page Trident or whatever you do. See if he knows what's going on with her."

"Doesn't work like that," I say, going back to checking the bottles that have been left behind. "He decides when he wants to speak to me. There's no 9-11 number in my head."

"Shame," Kaden says, picking up a vial, reading the label and dropping it back on the counter. "You've only got four weeks to figure this out before you'll be bound to Clara forever."

"Not like figuring this out will help. Clara's blood calls to mine. No choice. The minute I smell her, it's like my brain switches off and my dick switches on. Whatever this is with Emmerson has nothing to do with me."

Kaden glances at me and he raises his eyebrows.

"What?" I ask.

"I'm just the second son, what do I know?" He holds up his hands and goes back to riffling through the leftovers.

"You've got an opinion."

"What's your favorite saying? Opinions are like assholes—everyone's got one."

"Spit it the fuck out."

"The whole thing is weird, and you can't say it's got nothing to do with you when whatever this is surrounds you. She didn't grow up here, so she came here on purpose. You're drawn to her. You hear her screaming when no one else does. The energy the two of you were building before you got off with her with the one night is another oddity. That's hardcore mating shit. It's the type of energy sparking off you when you met Clara for the first time. But you gave into that connection. Satisfied your urges. Not giving in just means you're fucking obsessed."

"What part of, "I haven't seen her in weeks" are you struggling to comprehend?"

"Totally fits with the bitch-ass mood you've been in for weeks too. Changes nothing about my theory." He picks up another vial and stares at it.

"You think I should give into whatever this is with Emmerson. Go all in when I know nothing?"

"That's not what I'm saying." He huffs out a breath as though I'm the one being dense. "Tell me you don't find any of this unsettling, and I'll drop it."

I can't. If I take out all the scattered pieces, between my feelings and interactions with Emmerson, there'd be things Kaden hasn't twigged, things I probably haven't put together. Partially because I haven't wanted to. As long as Emmerson is human, my path is clear.

But if Emmerson isn't human, I don't even know what that means. My path gets muddy, might even become quicksand. I feel things for Emmerson that I never felt for Clara, blood bond or not. Considering the health of my entire clan rests on my shoulders, I can't afford to get dragged under.

Which is a reality I forced myself to face weeks ago. As much as I might want Emmerson, crave her, even, she's not good for me. She's definitely not good for the Shoreditch clan, but I'd have never sanctioned this. Never. Emmerson doesn't need to die for the clan to survive.

The minute I heard her scream, there was no way I couldn't answer. I was compelled, but that's a dangerous word around here, and definitely not something I admitted to Kaden as I was leaving or something I'll say out loud now. I'm not that connected to Clara. Even though I haven't seen Emmerson for weeks, I know she's fucked her boyfriend. Both times I could feel her reaching for something he couldn't give her, and I spent hours trying to run off that energy, the desire to seek her out, finish what he couldn't.

Clara is a blank space in my mind, and I don't know if that's the residual spell from Trident or if this situation is as screwed up as Kaden thinks. Makes my brain hurt.

"Was it Mom and Dad?" I ask.

"Makes the most sense to me," Kaden says. "If they didn't send the assassin group, we've got bigger problems."

"I didn't recognize any of them," I say. "Wasn't sure if that's how weak I've gotten."

"I didn't know any of them either," Kaden says. "Mom and Dad have friends all over. Doesn't mean much."

The ache in my head is increasing, and I glance at Emmerson who is still out cold, her beautiful face pinched in pain.

"Where's that fairy blood?" I ask.

Kaden picks up a discarded vial from a bucket and tosses it to me. I uncork it and down it in one gulp.

"What are you..." Kaden's question dies when he hears Emmerson's sigh of contentment. "No. Fucking. Way," he says.

"It was a hunch," I admit, staring into the bottle still clutched in my hand.

"Did you do the ceremony with her and not tell anyone? I don't even know how that's possible, but that's the only explanation. That's blood bond level connection. You took the fairy blood; she got the cure."

"I was starting to feel her head pain," I admit, though I'm not sure I should say it out loud.

"If Mom and Dad find out about this, they will kill her. There's no advantage to having the head of the clan tied to a human... Or whatever she is. This is..." He stares at me, his confusion and horror clear. "This is really fucking dangerous."

"You don't think I know that? Why do you think I've been staying away from her for weeks? I thought it would all just go away." But ever since I got a taste of her against the security hut, whatever is between us has only gotten more intense. Feeling what she feels. Hearing her in my head. I can't keep nurturing this closeness with her, but it might already have gone too far. You play with fire, and you're bound to get burned.

"Whoever came after her tonight, if they know what's happening to you—hell, even if they don't—they'll come after her again."

"Yeah." That's not news to me, but I haven't figured out what to do about it. Whenever I'm around Emmerson, it feels like my brain doesn't function properly. My basest instincts take over.

"What are you going to do about that?" Kaden leans against the counter, his posture belying how serious this whole thing is.

"Protect her," I say. "I can't—I can't let her die." And I mean that more than anything I've ever said in my life. If she's in danger, I'm not even sure I could ignore it, even if I wanted to, even if going to her would require sacrificing my life.

"And once the ceremony with Clara is done in four weeks?"

"Whatever's between me and Emmerson will be gone," I say with more confidence than I feel. "The bond with Clara will supersede everything else, and Emmerson will be safe again."

"Magical thinking," Kaden says. "I love it." His laugh is bitter. "Except when it might get me killed. You'd better be right about this, brother."

I'd love to tell him that sticking to Emmerson like a second skin for the next four weeks can't possibly make anything worse. For better or worse, I'm not that naïve.

"You got a better idea?" I ask, unable to hide my annoyance.

"Go back in time and stay the fuck away from her like we all told you."

"Magical thinking must run in the family."

"You either get Trident on the phone," he makes a swirling motion near his temple, "or we seek out another witch. Whatever has happened to her," he points to Emmerson on the couch who is now sleeping soundly, "it's got magic written in bold across it."

"I can't owe Trident another favor," I grind out.

"You want to owe one of the others a favor?" He gives me a pointed stare.

No, I don't want that either, obviously. Witches can't be trusted. Stuck between a fucking rock and a hard place. He's right that figuring out what's been done to Emmerson will provide crucial clarity, but it could also just fuck everything up more. That's where my money lies. Someone knew what they were doing when they hid her, and that kind of power isn't something to stumble into blindly.

"Do you think she's one of us?" I ask, my voice strangled.

"No," Kaden says with certainty, and then he tilts his head, grimacing. "Fuck, I don't know. If she is... The kind of power used to stop her from shifting, to disguise her smell..."

"Yeah," I agree. His assessment has landed exactly where mine did. "Who'd want to mess with her, with us?"

"To hell if I know. Asking Mom and Dad is risky."

"It's not risky. It's writing her death warrant." I tilt my head at Emmerson.

"Mom and Dad seem to believe we have enemies everywhere—or at least that's been what they've been droning on about since you refused Clara."

I pinch my lips between my fingers and lean against the counter, trying to puzzle out things I can't possibly understand. What I need is more information, and Kaden is right that Trident is my best source. Reaching out to him doesn't work, so I'll have to wait until he slides back into my brain. The slippery fucker.

"Where do you fall in this?" I ask, glancing at him.

"I don't want to die." He laughs. "That's the side I'm on. The one where I get to live."

I raise my eyebrows and we stare at each other. Because the truth is that I can't guarantee either side leads him there. If he helps me with Emmerson, we might be dropping all of us into an even bigger shit storm. If we ignore the Emmerson thing, the outcome might be the same but different. Every single road leads to trouble—the amount is unknown.

"Your odds are better at my side than with Mom and Dad."

He eyes me with open skepticism. "We both know that's bullshit."

"We're all getting weaker. Throw your eggs in a basket and hope for the best. If you're just going to fuck me over later, I might as well know now."

"Take a peek, brother. See what I'm thinking."

I shake my head.

"Trust or weakness?" Kaden asks. "You know I can't give you unwavering loyalty. We don't know what we're walking into. But I won't sell you out to Mom and Dad unless it's a last resort."

Under the circumstances, it's probably the best I can do.

"Aidan," Emmerson murmurs from the couch.

"And she remembers you," Kaden says. "Can't decide if that makes this better or worse."

Worse, probably, but I'm not admitting anything else at the moment. He's on my side, or as on my side as he's going to get, and with Emmerson waking up, I have to figure out next steps.

"I'm going," Kaden says. "The last thing we need is her having more information than necessary. She doesn't need to remember me too. Call if you need me."

Hopefully I don't, but with the way this night is going, who the fuck knows?

Just as a reminder, if you have Radish and you like my writing, I have a story publishing there called The Billionaire Baby Daddy (by wmillion). Updates are Tues/Thurs there on it.

Leaning towards Wednesday for update day... Stay tuned!

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