Ink & Dagger (Sins of Eden #1)

37. Chapter XXXVII

Chapter XXXVII

Jaxon

“ W hat did your brother mean, “you’ve been talking about me for a year?” ” She asked, her voice, shaking as she watched me carefully.

“I never meant to drag you into all of this. When I saw you, I couldn’t stay away and from the research I’d done on you and the Witches in this area, I knew that if anyone could find Kill after all this time, it was you.”

“Research? You - researched me? Jaxon, I knew you’d been following me for a year, but why the Hell were you researching me?” She dropped her arms to her sides and took a step back.

“Wait,” I paused. “You knew I was following you?”

Adrian whistled with admiration from the kitchen and I cut a hard glare in his direction. Hell’s Fire, I was impressed, too. It could have been the bond between us, alerting her to my presence, but to have felt me near her all this time… shit. I knew she was smart and cunning, but I had to admit, even I underestimated her power.

“Really, Brimstone? That’s not the fucking point. What aren’t you telling me?” She asked.

Satan, there were so many times that I could have told her about the mission my father gave me, but I had just wanted to protect her. That and while I’d come to her for help, I didn’t actually want her to feel like I was using her.

I sighed deeply, took a step towards her, and watched as she backed up another step. The suspicion in her eyes and the protective way she wrapped her arms around her stomach felt like a knife to my gut.

“Emily -,” I started.

“The truth, Jaxon,” she cut me off, her nostrils flaring in anger.

“The truth is - complicated. My father -,”

“Lucifer,” she interrupted.

“Yes, Lucifer. He tasked my brothers and I with researching the larger covens on Earth. I didn’t know what he was looking for at the time or why. I was in Europe doing research, but after Killian went missing, Adrian and I came here. I could feel Killian so I knew we were close, but I didn’t know where and no one else had been able to locate him. Since coming to Asheville, father instructed us to look into the Dark Hearts and find out all we could about the Witches here. Then, I saw you, and you became the only thing I could think about.”

She huffed. “And here I thought you were only following me because you thought I was cute. I’m not involved in the Dark Hearts ,” she said, furrowing her brows.

My Sweet Witch was more than just cute, she was my Maritus. My everything.

“Emily, why aren’t you in the Dark Hearts ? Your mother was -,” I paused. “You know something, don’t you?”

She swallowed hard and looked away. “I - I don’t have any proof, but I don’t trust them and I don’t believe my mother’s death was an accident. There’s something more going on but I don’t know what.”

Fuck . She was right about her mother, but there was more that she wasn’t saying.

“Help me find Kill and I’ll help you get the answers you seek. You don’t have to go it alone. If something more is happening then I can help.”

Please let me help, baby.

Her shoulders relaxed for a moment as if she were going to accept my offer, but then she tensed up again.

“What was it that your father was looking for?” She asked.

Double fuck.

“He’d heard a prophecy that could change the war between Heaven and Hell and he wanted to secure the assets himself so that Heaven didn’t get their hands on them,” I told her delicately. “In order to keep balance in the world, he can’t leave Hell, so he sent my brothers and I to find them in his stead. I didn’t know what he was looking for at the time, but he thinks the answers lie within the Dark Hearts .”

Her mouth pursed as she absorbed everything I’d said. I thought she was going to ask me more about my mission, but she stunned me when she opened her mouth again.

“Is this connection I feel to you real, Jaxon? Do you feel this?”

“Yes, Sweet Witch. I feel it, too,” I told her, taking a tentative step closer to bridge the distance between us.

This was the realest fucking thing I’d ever felt.

“What is it?” She whispered softly.

“Alright, kids. We’ve wasted enough time. Lux, we have a Demon to find,” Adrian announced with a clap of his hands as he re-entered the living room.

“So, what’s the plan?” He asked, waiting for me to speak up.

Emily stared at me a moment longer before turning to Adrian, “I’m coming with you guys,” she announced.

Adrian clapped his hands again and smiled, but I stepped between them.

“The fuck you are. You’re going to stay here, where I know you’ll be safe,” I told her, my tail thrashing behind me angrily.

“Just try to stop me, Brimstone. I know the area, I’ve seen where he is, and I can handle my own,” she stated, listing them out on her fingers before gesturing to the dried blood that still clung to her clothes with a cocky smirk.

“Well, that’s settled then. She’s coming with us,” Adrian laughed.

I scowled at him in response. While she wasn’t wrong, I hated the idea of her being in harm's way. Again .

“I’m gonna call Charlie and see if she can join us. We need all the Witch power we can get and we’re stronger together,” she said, pulling out her phone before walking to the kitchen.

“What the fuck was that?” I growled, turning to look at Adrian.

“Oh, come on, Lux. We need her and you know it. This is the closest we’ve gotten to finding him in over two years. If she can find him, then we can get him home. You do wanna go home, right?” He asked, raising a brow at me.

My nostrils flared in response. “Of course, I want to fucking go home. I just don’t want to put her in danger to do it,” I whisper shouted back.

“Alright, then. She’s coming with us and we’ll keep her safe,” he shrugged.

Emily walked back into the living room, her eyebrows furrowed in concern as she stared down at her phone.

“Straight to voicemail. I think something is wrong,” she told us. “Can we go back to my house and check on her before we go after your brother?”

I took her hand, giving her a nod and looked back at Adrian.

“You know I’m coming too. I’m tired of being left out in this,” he said, placing his hand on my shoulder.

We blinked to Emily’s empty house, landing in the dark sitting room. The stillness and the silence setting us all on edge as we each looked around.

“Charlie? Cerys, you here?” Emily called out as she raced up the stairs. “Ghost?”

Adrian stood watch at the front door as I followed closely behind her. She checked a bedroom, which I figured was where Charlie usually slept, and found it empty aside from a few piles of clothes scattered across the bed and a duffle bag in the corner. She backed out of the room and walked across the hall to her own room.

“Ghost?” She called out again, opening her bedroom door.

We were met with only silence as she stepped into her room and an ominous feeling washed over us both. Something was off, we could both feel it.

Picking up the half moon pendant from her dresser, she clasped it around her neck and went rigid before letting out a chilling shriek of pain and collapsing to her knees. Squatting to the floor, I gathered her into my lap and watched helplessly as tears streamed silently down her cheeks. Whatever she was experiencing looked like it was destroying her.

“Charlie,” she choked, rocking back and forth in my arms as she clawed at the necklace.

I unclasped it as quickly as I could, pulling it off of her and pushing her hair from her face.

“Jax, she’s in trouble,” she hiccupped. “She’s hurt. We need to go, now.”

She swiped at her cheeks and took the necklace from me as more tears trailed down her cheeks.

“Adrian,” I shouted, not taking my eyes off of Emily.

He blinked up the stairs, coming to stand behind me as I pulled Emily up from the floor. I could feel his gaze hot on my back as he waited for us to speak, but I didn’t address him. Right now, my Witch was my main focus.

“Where do we go?” I asked softly, bracing my hands on her shoulders.

Fuck, we needed to find Killian, but Charlie was important to Emily and my father had ordered me to keep the Gemini Twins safe. I’d take her wherever she desired, but with us being so close to finally finding Kill, I didn’t want to miss this opportunity.

She closed her eyes, her face etched in pain as she thought through our options. The only noise in the room was Adrian shifting his stance impatiently as he waited for Emily to make a decision.

“We stick to the plan,” she whispered softly with a quivering breath.

Lifting my hands to her cheeks, I cupped her face delicately in my palms until her eyes reopened. “Are you sure, Sweet Witch?”

Another tear leaked from the corner of her eye as she gently shook her head. “No, I - we know where he is. Let’s get him out and then we’ll find her.”

“Alright, let’s do this,” I told her before placing a kiss on her forehead and entwining our fingers.