Chapter 25

Shay

I resist the urge to lie down on the floor right here in front of this woman. My pelvic floor is screaming at me to get into the happy baby yoga position I learned yesterday. Or this very moment could be what pushes me to find a tree to wrap my arms around.

Dr. Lanny laughed when telling me about the true origins of tree hugging. Apparently, hugging a tree with your chest pressed up against it is a genuine therapeutic method.

My body’s telling me this is too much stress right now. While my heart knows this is exactly what I need to heal.

“What are your names?” the woman who gave birth to us asks.

I grab Cill’s hand. “I’m Shay.”

“And I’m Priscilla.”

She shakes her head. Tears flow from all our eyes. “You were never supposed to find each other.”

Both our breaths hitch at the same time.

“Well, we did. The Fates knew we needed one another and fixed your mistake of separating us.” I don’t hide the bitterness.

Her lip trembles. “Your father heard both heartbeats growing inside of me. Two babies getting dropped off at a firehouse would have made national news. He’d have found you for sure.”

“We already know about the crazy man who thinks he owns one of us,” Priscilla adds.

“You were both promised to someone.”

“Figures.” Jayce’s hand rests on my shoulder. I’m torn between releasing Cill’s hand and clinging to him.

“If the women outnumber the men in that herd like this one, those men should have no problems finding another heifer,” Anjal suggests.

She looks at him, not with anger that he interjected, more like with pride that he’s protecting us.

“When I left the herd, it comprised of a dozen men with all the same mind. Including my poppa. They gathered the heifers and divided us among the twelve. We had no say. To them, we were a gift from the gods to do with as they pleased. We were never told this, but many of the ladies believed that they’d all lost their true mates—either in death or rejection—and that’s what turned them into monsters.”

“But without a true mate, they’ll never have a son,” Jayce says under his breath.

“The bull rules them instead of the man. All logic disappeared when they gave control to their animals.”

Nikolaos clears his throat. “I have a couch and a couple of chairs in my office. There’s more privacy in there if you’d prefer to use it.”

Damian thanks him while grabbing his mate’s hand and leading the way.

Cill and I sit in the center of the sofa—more like a loveseat because Jayce and Anjal each have to sit on the arm of the couch on both sides of us.

Damian rolls Nikolaos’ chair from behind his desk for “Mom.” I’m not ready to call her that.

“What do we call you?”

“I’m Emjay.”

Damian slides the other chair next to Emjay. It’s clear he’s smitten.

Me—not so much. I get why she took us from our sperm donor, but why not raise and love us on her own? “If you ran and have remained hidden all those years, why couldn’t you take us with you?”

“I had no skills. No house. No food. Even if I’d tried, humans would have taken you and put you in foster care if I failed.”

I glance at my sister. Her heart’s bigger than mine and finds compassion more easily.

“You dropped me at the firehouse. Where did you leave Shay?”

I hold my breath. Will I finally get the answers to the gnawing questions that have been plaguing me for weeks?

Emjay bows her head. Her hands twist as if what she’s about to say is more awful than anything she’s told us so far.

“The witch who helped me escape my labyrinth knew of a couple trying to have children. She’d been studying her options to give them what they wanted when my herd kidnapped her.”

Emjay pauses when the men jump up—angry at the news that these animals would dare harm someone meant to protect us and others.

“We will rescue her,” Damian promises.

She shakes her head. “She gave up her life so that we might be free.”

The tears start up again, knowing a stranger died so I wouldn’t have to suffer a life of bondage. “We will still find her body and bring her home to her family,” Jayce assures me.

“So, this witch…”

“Hallie.”

“Hallie, she told you my parents would adopt me?”

“No…”

“No, what do you mean, no?” I interrupt her.

Emjay continues. “They believe they conceived you and birthed you.”

Priscilla and I gasp at the same time.

“Hallie knew of no one else. And as your parents were adamantly against adoption, she gave them what they wanted in their hearts without them knowing the whole truth. She was convinced just dropping you on their door wouldn’t have been enough for them to take you in. They needed to believe you were their blood.”

If I tell my parents the truth, will they reject me even now? “My desperation to keep you from the fate staying would ensure I did everything she suggested.”

“Including the heart birthmarks?” Cill asks.

Emjay nods. “She put them on you while you were still in my womb. I have one too.” She slides the front of her shirt down along her collarbone to show us the matching heart.

“Hallie failed to explain the excruciating agony her protection marks would bring about. While I grabbed the nearest stick and shoved it in between my teeth, both of you kicked and flailed about inside of me. Either one or both of you broke two of my ribs through it.”

I want to understand her decisions. I want to accept it. Only I’m not ready to. I stand.

“Thank you for your honesty, but I need some time.” I turn to Jayce and Priscilla. “Can we go home?”