8. Chapter 8

When I arrived in the kitchen, barefoot and wearing my thin tank top and a pair of worn sweats, the scene that greeted me made my chest hurt. Bis had left his comfy little pillow nest and scampered up onto my shoulder before I left my bedroom, and he chattered unhappily and pulled at my hair as I took it all in.

Ambrose was sitting on the kitchen floor with Hasumi"s head cradled in his lap. His dark hands rested over the silvery hair at the water weaver"s temples as the boogeyman did… something with his nightmare magic. Hasumi"s eyelids were closed, but I could see their eyes moving beneath the lids as the water weaver occasionally twitched an arm or leg.

Dyre was plastered into the corner between the fridge and the countertop while Aahil snarled threats up at the much taller man. Zhong stood slightly off to the side, but close enough that he could get between the two of them if he had to. But the weirdest thing was that the black eyes and the evil aura said that Sunny was in charge of Dyre"s body right now. I found it hard to believe that the wraith was just cowering over there, letting the jinn yell at him. Sunny usually wasn"t one to tolerate disrespect from us puny mortals or semi-mortals.

Niamh stood guard over Ambrose and Hasumi with one of her bone-handled hunting daggers in her hand, looking like she was prepared to stab anyone who got close.

When I entered the room, everyone stopped talking over the top of one another. I knelt beside Ambrose and Hasumi, but when I reached for the water weaver, the boogeyman made an impatient clucking noise at me like I was a misbehaving pet.

Eerie red eyes with black sclera met mine as Ambrose split his attention between me and the unconscious elemental in his lap. "Hands off," he bit out. "I"m siphoning. There are enough emotions flying around right now as it is." He jerked his head at the others. "Get them out of here." Then he went back to focusing solely on Hasumi.

I sighed and got to my feet. Everything in me wanted to snatch Hasumi out of Ambrose"s arms and fix whatever had just happened. But I was smart enough to trust that the man who could travel through the realm of nightmares and feast on dark energy had it covered.

I turned to the others. "Okay, I don"t know what the hell happened, but Ambrose says you all need to leave. So, with all respect… get the fuck out."

Zhong slowly moved toward the door, surprising me when he reached out and put a hand on Aahil"s shoulder, forcibly turning the smaller guy away from the necromancer. "Come on," the gargoyle said evenly. "This isn"t helping Hasumi any."

I thought for sure Aahil would rip Zhong"s arm off—or, you know, at least set him on fire or cuss him out since Zhong was the physically stronger of the two. But instead, my jinn deflated, hunching in on himself and letting the gargoyle steer him out into the hallway.

I glanced at Niamh, and she shrugged, sliding one last narrow-eyed glance at the wraith before she sheathed her knife. She pressed a glancing kiss to my temple and patted Bis on his little skunk-striped head before she ghosted out the door after Zhong and Aahil.

Elijah hovered at my shoulder, but after a few seconds, he went misty and left the room as well.

I glanced between Sunshine and the two people on the floor. "Okay, what the hell happened?"

The wraith was still in control of Dyre"s body as he pushed away from the corner he had been pinned in. "I didn"t mean to," the scary, ancient evil being insisted. "Witch, I promise you, I didn"t want to hurt your water weaver. I only meant to help."

I arched a brow at that outpouring. "Help with what? And what the hell did you do to them, Sunny?"

He stepped closer, a pained expression on his usually stoic face. "Hasumi and Dyre argued. Hasumi was trying to help, but Dyre told him to "piss off and stay out of my head."" He sighed. "My host is… struggling with his emotions about his past and his relationship with you. The water weaver was only trying to help." He shrugged his thin shoulders. "I decided I should talk to Hasumi, since I am able to be more reasonable than Dyre right now. I took over, but I didn"t realize how open the connection between the water weaver and Dyre already was. My power overwhelmed them. Dyre was angry, but I—we—didn"t mean to harm them. I swear. Hasumi is such a pure and beautiful creature. I never wished to hurt them with my darkness."

I blinked in surprise as I watched the terrifying monster have a breakdown over hurting Hasumi. Okay, that was cute. Disturbing. Definitely disturbing, but cute.

I sighed and went back to kneel by Ambrose. "Is Hasumi okay?"

Ambrose nodded, not focusing quite so intensely on whatever he was doing now. "Yes. They were simply… overloaded with centuries of darkness and heavy emotions."

Hasumi groaned softly and their long silver lashes fluttered before they opened their turquoise eyes and stared up at me. "Hello, Andy."

I let out a sigh of relief at the sound of the water weaver"s fluid, enthralling voice. A bit of calming magic settled over me, and I narrowed my eyes at them. "Nope. Stop it right now. You apparently just passed out from some kind of magical overload. You do not need to be trying to calm me down right now!"

The water weaver sighed and sat up. Ambrose let go of Hasumi"s temples with what looked like a bit of reluctance, but I wasn"t about to call him on it. "I am well now," Hasumi said evenly. As if they hadn"t just seized and went unconscious on the kitchen floor. "There is no need for concern."

I arched my brows at that nonsense, but both Ambrose and Sunny beat me to replying. "You are not well," Ambrose said, at the same time as Sunny blurted out, "I am sorry!"

Hasumi lifted a slender hand to rub their forehead. Then the water weaver unfolded themself and stood in a graceful move that was like water pouring from a pitcher. "I know you meant no harm," they said to the wraith. "I should not have insisted on trying to help when my interference was not welcome. Please apologize to your host for me. I overstepped. I, too, am new to this family dynamic."

Ambrose stood and gave me a hand up. Then I watched in fascination as Sunshine and Hasumi spoke. I hadn"t seen them interact directly very often. I glanced at Ambrose to find him smirking at the pair of them. Ancient devourer of souls, and ageless, intuitive water elemental. It was a strange friendship.

Sunshine nodded his head in acceptance, a bit more of the wraith"s usual unshakable stone-cold calm returning. "I will see that Dyre understands. Thank you for trying to help him overcome his stubbornness. He is still far too mortal, even after our time together."

Hasumi gave him a wry smile. "I don"t think there is such a thing as being too mortal. His feelings are valid. I simply wished to help relieve his distress so he can work through what is bothering him."

Sunshine nodded once more, then retreated, his eyes fading from wraith black to Dyre"s deep violet. "Son of a bitch," Dyre said as he scrubbed a hand over his face. Then he seemed to notice me and the others. His eyes darted to Hasumi and he shook his head, his gaze a little unfocused. I thought Sunshine must be filling him in on what had just happened.

The necromancer"s sharp-planed face slowly closed down, all hints of warmth and feeling leaving him as he threw his walls up. "Next time, listen when I tell you to stay out of my head," he said flatly. As if he didn"t care. I knew it was bullshit, but that was just how Dyre handled awkward situations—by pretending they didn"t exist.

Hasumi tilted their head as if considering this, maybe tasting the currents of emotion on the air. "I will try. But perhaps you should consider that your actions affect more than just yourself."

After an intense moment of staring, Dyre huffed out a breath and strode out of the room, brushing past me, but jerking aside at the last moment to avoid actually touching me.

Goddess, help meto not commit murder today. I rubbed a hand over my face, feeling exhausted, and just… done with everything. "Do I even want to know how this happened?" I asked, removing my hand from my face so I could glance between Hasumi and Ambrose.

The boogeyman shrugged. "I wasn"t in here when it happened. I just felt a massive surge of terror and pain." He gave Hasumi a wry, shark-toothed smile and added, "I said I"d help you. You don"t have to do it all on your own."

Hasumi sighed. It was rare to see the water weaver show any sort of distress or displeasure. They were always so… even. Curious and helpful, but always unconcerned.

"You"re right," Hasumi said softly. "I remember our agreement. I simply… underestimated the weight of my burdens."

I glanced between them, feeling like there was something I was missing. "Agreement?" I prompted. I didn"t like secrets. Secrets had a tendency to blow up in my face lately—especially other people"s secrets.

Ambrose put a hand on my shoulder and turned those red and black eyes on me. "No need for concern, Andy," he assured me, his smirk widening into a full-on grin. "It was when I first came out of the bestiary. Before we all knew each other so well. I was feeling a bit… lonely, I suppose. I wanted to stay, but wasn"t keen on admitting it. I saw this one was trying to get you all to form a cozy little family, but the weaver is sensitive. They"re not built to constantly process all the darker, heavier stuff."

Hasumi smiled softly in memory. "Ambrose offered to help by taking the fear and darkness from me when I need him to, so I can process the rest."

I shook my head at them. "You two. Are you saying you"ve been manipulating us all from the beginning?"

But I knew it wasn"t so malicious as all that. Even if they had some secret plan, it sounded like the only goal was to get us all to stay together. I could hardly be mad about that, since I wanted the same damned thing.

Hasumi reached out and trailed graceful fingers along my jaw, their turquoise eyes sparkling. "I simply saw that you all needed each other. And that you might need some help to move past your prior experiences. And I selfishly hoped I might have found a home for myself as well. It had been a very long time since I even thought to attempt to belong somewhere."

So sappy. But I had to admit it made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, knowing that these two had seen us all as one big, happy, dysfunctional family from the very start. Sobering, I narrowed my eyes at the beautiful water elemental before me. "Don"t think I"m going to get distracted and forget that you were just unconscious five minutes ago. I might be scattered recently, but I"m not that gullible."

Ambrose chuckled, and Hasumi gave me a soft smile. "It was worth a try." The weaver held up their graceful hands in defense. "Teasing." Those turquoise eyes met mine, and I saw the honesty there. "I sense and understand the feelings of others around me, and I can nudge and nurture emotions, and yes, transmute them, for example turning fear into calm. But the heavier emotions take a toll. Though I am generally immune to strong emotions myself." Those sparkling eyes moved to Ambrose as Hasumi spoke. "I should have asked for your help after your offer before. But I have been… prideful, I suppose."

Ambrose nodded, then reached out a hand and placed it on Hasumi"s shoulder. "You"ve been hurting since you came back from the O"Leary coven." It wasn"t a question.

The boogeyman wasn"t ever one to beat around the bush. He"d call you on your shit—usually in a practical, non-judgmental sort of way, but still, he"d call you out. Then he would encourage you to get up to whatever mischief your soul needed to cope. I had been on the receiving end of his rather effective approach to handling the bullshit life dealt out enough times myself. I could vouch for his skills.

The two people before me were so different, light and dark, night and day, not only in physical appearance, but in their energies and magic. And yet… they were so much alike. Hasumi had that same directness. They would tell you what you felt before you even knew it yourself. And they weren"t shy about it, didn"t seem to understand that some of us mortals labeled feelings as good and bad. Hasumi just accepted them all as is. Where Ambrose was a bit more sarcastic and teasing, Hasumi was more serious and sedate. But they both had this patience about them that was staggering. And they both seemed to want nothing more than to see the people around them happy and at ease.

I"d have lost my shit a million times over by now if I was as in-tune with everyone else"s emotional bullshit as they were.

"You two are sweet as hell," I said, crossing my arms over my chest. "But if I"m understanding this right, you"re saying that Hasumi came back damaged too, it"s just that they"re good at hiding it and none of us noticed. And that is not okay."

Ambrose lifted a dark brow at the water weaver and gave Hasumi a wry look, but kept quiet. The water weaver, never one to shy away from facts, simply shrugged and nodded their head. "I was made to do things that go against my nature. I was forced to hurt innocent people at the behest of my captors. And while I could do nothing to ease the pain I caused, I still felt it. Keenly. I"m afraid that experience has… burdened me."

I groaned. "And you"ve been taking on Aahil"s pain and trauma, and my stress, and probably a buttload of shit from everyone else this entire time. All on top of your own hurt."

I stepped closer and wrapped my arms around Hasumi"s slender waist. "I"m sorry. I should have noticed sooner. I should have asked you if you were okay. We"ve all been taking you for granted."

Hasumi stroked my hair with one hand, the other coming to rest on my back, and I felt their honest affection, thanks to their ability with emotions. "Please don"t be upset, Oleander. I never thought to ask for help, even though I know it would have been freely given." They glanced over my shoulder toward Ambrose. "And I appreciate all you"ve done to help me try to stay balanced."

Ambrose chuckled. "No complaints here. It saves me from having to find some other way to feed."

Shit. Ambrose was probably low-key starving. The boogeyman fed on fear, and he usually got it from creating nightmares and delivering them to mortals at night. He could feed on any unpleasant emotion, from what I"d seen. And he certainly had some sustenance available, with everything Aahil and the others had been through, coupled with my stress and anxiety. But still. He was probably stretching it pretty thin himself.

I pulled away from Hasumi to glance at the boogeyman. "We need to get you to one of the other realms again safely, so you can feed."

He just shrugged. "I"m okay for now, Andy. Trust me. Hasumi and the wraith and their little exchange have nearly filled up my reserves." He winked. "And if your pretty weaver would be so kind, I can finish topping up from them to ease some of their burden."

Hasumi chuckled, rich and melodic. "Remember, I can sense your feelings, Ambrose," the water elemental said in that alluring voice of theirs, like a siren calling to something deep inside anyone who heard. They shrugged again. "And I don"t object, as long as Andy is open to sharing."

I raised my eyebrows as I glanced between them, sensing the underlying insinuations in this conversation. I got the feeling that neither of them were talking about calmly exchanging energies while they sat around fully clothed sipping tea. "Um," I said, my voice wavering with suppressed laughter. "Andy doesn"t own you idiots. And she certainly does not object. I just didn"t know you two were interested in each other that way. But no objections. Zero objections. Less than zero, honestly. Negative objections."

I was thankful when Ambrose stopped my babbling with a kiss. Then the boogeyman stepped back and sketched a bow like the black-clad butler he resembled. "At your service, mistress witch." He looked up at me from under his thick black lashes, those red eyes flashing in a way that had me thoroughly enthralled as he spoke to the water weaver without looking away from my face. "And your service as well, lovely Hasumi."