I sensed that she wasn’t just talking about the love between best friends. Her entire face softened, right before sorrow stole every bit of color and joy from her features. She had loved Chandra, in a romantic way, and I could tell that the loss ate away at her every day.
I understood why she had hit me now. I’d have probably killed the person who was in any way responsible for hurting Brace. And if he died – well, I wouldn’t even consider the possibility for a second. It would never happen.
Lucy hugged Chrissie. “I’m so sorry … so, so sorry.”
She continued to murmur nonsensical words of comfort, and I could see that our old friend was moments from losing her shit altogether. I had no doubt that she needed to cry and grieve and scream at the Gods for a few days or weeks. But right then we didn’t have time for that.
Thankfully she kept it together and, as Lucy pulled away, Chrissie’s features were back to calm. Pain still laced her dark eyes, though, and I knew it probably always would. But for now we were all good to deal with the current problems.
“I’m really glad that you two have found your soul mates,” Chrissie said as she wiped away a stray tear. “You were always true and good friends, and once I got past my own anger I knew that.”
Aw, that was such a feels moment. It hit me in my chest, the emotions tightening my heart-organ until I found it hard to breathe for a few seconds. This was why I saved the worlds: because there was still so much good. Despite the evil, good still prevailed.
I gave Chrissie a quick hug of my own, my arm brushing against Eva. A spark flared between us, the tethering connection wanting to bond with her. The last time on the docks, I hadn’t heard her voice in my mind, but I knew the next time we connected the tether would be solid.
I had been trying not to pay too much attention to Eva, letting the poor confused female digest the fact that she was a half-Walker. It was a huge thing to wrap your head around: re-examining every single thing which you thought was true about yourself.
I wondered if she had had any idea she was different to the average human. Her gift was spirit. Had that manifested anything on Earth or was the energy dead zone too encompassing?
As I pulled away from Chrissie I noticed the way Eva continued sneaking peaks at her arm, watching the play of light across the marks she wore. I let her have as long as possible, but it was time to close up the necklace; we had to focus on the task at hand. Though I really needed to know her thoughts about this. Was she going to fight me about leaving Earth?
As the yellow light faded away, Eva’s golden eyes lifted and locked in on me. I could sense the disappointment that her marks were gone. She had enjoyed focusing on them. Probably so she didn’t have to focus on the bigger things which were doing her head in. Like the fact that she wasn’t fully human. That the family she most probably thought of as her own were not. Unless, of course, she’d been orphaned at a young age like myself. Then she was probably just confused as heck.
“I’m sure you have a crap-ton of questions, and I’m more than willing to answer anything. But I need to know if you’re going to help me … help us. We need to save the worlds, and we have to act as a team.”
She still didn’t speak, and I wondered for a second if my revelation had struck her mute. Chrissie reached out and placed a hand on her right shoulder, slender fingers squeezing for a moment, offering comfort.
“You can trust them, Eva. I’ve known them for a long time, and they honor their words.”
Eva straightened, shaking off Chrissie’s hand. “I’ll never believe that my father was not my real father. Never.” Her voice shook, as if each word was being torn from the very depth of her soul. “I’m having a very hard time trying to figure out if you’re all freaking crazy, or if I somehow hit my head and lost my mind … because, the marks were real … and I kind of believe what you’re saying. But I can’t accept it.”
Okay, so the chick loved her pretend Earth father, which was going to make it a little difficult, because she did not want to believe in this story. If she believed, that meant her mother had had an affair. It meant the father she loved was not hers by blood.
Brace’s warm hand gently slid onto my lower back. He pulled me closer, toward his heat. “Just because the father you knew is not blood-related, it doesn’t mean he’s not your father.” Brace was wise as always. “Sometimes the bonds of love exceed anything that blood brings. Plenty of biological fathers are assholes. Be grateful that you had an amazing and caring patron. Not everyone is so lucky.”
Brace knew better than most. His father was the very definition of asshole.