Page 64 of Unbound

“I hated my life when I first came here. I hated that I had babies I was forced to give up. I still hate that I have children who are immortal and don’t speak to me.” Her gaze drops to the floor. “And I hate that some of my memories of them are gone because I asked for them to be taken away.” She blinks back tears. Then suddenly lifts her head and smiles. “But look. We’re friends now.”

I smile despite myself. “And I’m really grateful for that.”

“Let’s get to work,” Antonio says. Typical man. Emotional women make him uncomfortable, so naturally he changes the subject.

“I’ll start with Ryder,” Leo says. “Then I’ll call around to different police departments while I run whatever facial-recognition searches I can.” He pulls the laptop closer. “If Claire has run away multiple times, there’s probably a pattern somewhere.”

“She doesn’t have money, right?” he asks. “But you said she had a job?”

“Yeah. She worked at a coffee shop two days a week after school. That’s all I know. It was within walking distance of the group home.”

“I’ll find it.” Leo picks up the computer. Devon, who has apparently developed a sudden passion for demon hunting and locating missing teenagers, follows him out of the room.

“Do you want me to order food?” Mabel asks.

“I’m not particularly hungry.”

“But your brothers always are,” she says.

“Pizza doesn’t sound bad,” Antonio admits.

“I love ordering pizza!” Mabel claps her hands. “What toppings do you want? There are so many options.”

“This loser doesn’t eat meat,” Antonio says, pointing his thumb at me. “So cheese and olives for her.” Then he looks at Mabel. “I’ll take one with as much meat as humanly possible.”

“Gross.” I make a face, and we all laugh. I head into the kitchen to see if there’s any coffee left. There isn’t. So I start another pot and lean against the counter while I wait. Someone enters the room so silently I don’t hear him.

But I feel his energy. I look up. Theo seems almost disappointed that he didn’t manage to startle me.

“Don’t even think about bringing a teenager into this house,” he says.

“Trust me, if Claire comes here, it’ll only be temporary. She’d probably be better off with Marie or maybe with a relative willing to take her in.” I run my fingers through my hair. “I don’t know how to raise a kid. She’s not even that much younger than me.”

Theo arches an eyebrow. “You have a decade on her.”

“Yeah. Hardly anything.”

He stares at me. “You’ve brought a lot of trouble into this house since you arrived.”

I open my mouth. I genuinely do not have the emotional bandwidth for this conversation today.

But Theo steps closer. “And you’ve dealt with more trouble than any human I’ve ever met.”\I stop. “You’ve handled it surprisingly well.”

I narrow my eyes. “Was that a compliment from Grumpy Bear?”

“Don’t push it.” His mouth twitches. “But yes.”

I grin.

“I still don’t like the way my brother acts like a dog in heat around you,” he continues. “And I still think you’re more trouble than you’re worth.”

“Wow. You really know how to ruin a compliment.”

“But,” he says, “you’re growing on me.”

“Like a fungus.” I give him my cheesiest smile.

Theo wrinkles his nose and walks away. He’s growing on me too. I pour myself a cup of coffee and go back into the family room. Mabel unpauses the Disney movie, and I sit beside her, sipping my coffee. She starts braiding my hair. The feeling of her fingers slowly raking over my scalp nearly puts me to sleep. I’ve never been one of those lucky people who gets sleepy when they’re anxious or depressed. Usually my brain just runs faster. But right now, I think I’ve reached my limit. I just want to sleep. I’m almost dozing off when Xavier comes into the room.