The Wrong Sister

Blood Is Everything

After my conversation with Jozef, he went to address his cult. I would have gone with, but Joseph brought up the very real possibility that they would become violent after at the revelation of his deception. So I stayed at the house. 

I spent my time exploring the place. It was a large house, but not as confusing, grand or massive as the house I imagined Gabe holding me in.

Gabe. 

Was it bad that I thought of him more than my sister. My sister who was kidnapped. 

A wave of guilt washed over me. The feeling sat in the pit of my stomach. It hurt. 

I found the kitchen. It was overstocked. Every type of food spilling out of  the cupboard. I grabbed a handful of raspberries.

Jozef and I hadn't spoken about it, but I assumed that all his money was coming from his supplicants. 

Jozef said he wouldn't be able to handle another man looking at me right now, but we might have to go back to my home anyway. When Jozef tells his cult the truth and his supplicants withdraw their support that will probably include this house.

I ate another raspberry. 

We could get back. I wouldn't want Jozef and Chloe to see each other. I'm sure it would be traumatizing for her. At least she has Gabe right now.  

Jozef didn't tell me directly, but it seems like Gabe is a werewolf as well. I mean, all the talk of, "be scared of what he is." If he is a werewolf... I wonder who his mate is.

My heart tugged painfully in my chest. I rubbed it absentmindedly.

Surely it isn't Chloe. It can't be. He kissed me. He wouldn't do that if he knew she was his soulmate. 

Well, if Jozef and I were not going to be kicked out of the house, it'd be a week or so before I would be able to get home. 

The search for a cellphone began. I went though every room and found nothing. I would need to send a letter or something. I couldn't just leave them thinking I was being tortured or something. 

In the mean time, the sun was shining. 

I smiled and made my way to the front door. 

The clack the door made as I tried to open it rung in my mind. 

The door was locked. 

The door was locked.  

I rattled the door knob hoping I was wrong. The door didn't move an inch. 

I leaned forward and squinted into the slit between the door and the frame, sure enough, the shadow of the lock sat completely unaffected by my rattling. 

In my minds eye that small shadow was sinister and mocking. I should never have trusted Jozef. Who would end up dead this time? 

My knees buckled. I leaned my  head against the door. My eyes were stuck on that small shadow as I willed it to disappear. I willed it to be a hallucination. 

The locked clicked and reverberated around my head. The door swung open and I fell forward. 

"Artemis? Are you okay?" I stared up at Jozef as he knelt down, "What were you doing?"

Softly he wiped a tear from my cheek. 

"The door was locked." I tried to keep my breathing slow. 

"Yeah, I was worried someone might target you." He cupped the back of my head. 

I gripped his collar and pulled myself closer.

"I thought... I thought..." 

"You thought I trapped you again? Oh Artemis." He push my head into his shoulder and held me tight.