My heart slammed on its breaks. Memories of the previous night came rushing back to Adonis mentioning this sentiment, along with Valerian placing blame for their deaths on me. I took in a shaky breath. I didn’t want to know how they died. It wasn’t the right time, and that’s if I ever
change my mind. I held Adonis’ gaze, squeezing his shoulder a little tighter than normal. “That won’t happen to your mom.”
“How do you know?”
“Because your mother is fighting to keep herself alive as we speak. She loves you, your sister. and your dad more than life itself. She wants to wake up as much as you do. You must keep believing in her, Donny. It will give her the strength she needs to get up off of that bed and hug you again.
And I believed that. One hundred percent.
My nephew searched my face, reaching for my hands with his own to hold them. “I believe you, Auntie. She will wake up.”
**You hear that, Raina*?’ I thought to myself when I looked over at her slumbering form. **You better wake up for your little boy and little girl.’
I moved forward and pressed my lips to the soft skin on his forehead, pouring all the love I had for him through the kiss. This precious child doesn’t know his own strength. I hope one day he does.Visit Jobnib.com to read the complete chapters for free. Some sentences are incomplete if you are not reading this novel on J o b n i_ b. com. I replaced my lips with my forehead, bringing a hand up to cup the back of his head. ” Donny, I need to tell you something. Your uncle and I will be leaving for some time.”
Adonis pulled back, dropping his jaw in shock. “Leaving? Where will you be going?”
“Your uncle, Aunt Nuria, and I will be traveling with a few others to find an important tool that we’ll use to stop the people who hurt your mom. We will be flying out of Oregon, and eventually, out of the country.”
“I wanna help!” He cried, jumping on his feet. “We can work together and—!”
“No.” I shook my head. “It’s too dangerous. I need you to stay here, where you’re safest. Your father will never forgive me if I even considered taking you with me.”
“But…” His bottom lip quivered. “I want to do something…”
“What I need you to do is to make sure Orchid is alright. She’s just as scared as you are. Your baby sister needs her big brother around.”
“We need our auntie too.”
Why doesn’t Adonis just shoot me in the heart and get it over with? It hurt to hear that because I knew it was true. Sighing to myself, I tried to think of an alternative, and that was when my eyes were pulled to a maroon cell phone resting on the overbed table. “That’s your mom’s phone.
Adonis nodded.
“Do you know how to use it?”
He scoffed. “Auntie, *everyone knows how to use a cell phone.”
“Oh, excuse me, Mr. Tech Genius.” Swiping Raina’s cell phone, I realized that I didn’t know her passcode. Adonis didn’t know it either. I wasn’t expecting to play the guessing game with the four unknown digits, but I tried Orchid, Adonis, and Valerian’s birthdates. None of them worked. I tried Raina’s, which was on November 11th. Nothing. As a last-ditch effort, I tried mine.
It worked.
Swallowing the lump lodged in my throat, I scrolled through her contacts and saw my name was listed in the favorites category. I handed the phone back to Adonis. “I want you to keep your mother’s phone and text me at any time, even if you just want to talk for a minute. There will be moments where I won’t respond right away, but I want you to keep texting or calling anyway. I’ll do my best to get back to you when I can. Will you do that for me, Donny?”
His small fingers tightened around the device, pulling it toward his chest, directly over his heart. “I will.” He blinked back his tears, but a few betrayed his efforts and slid down his face. “Don’t get hurt, okay Auntie?”
I cupped his cheek, wiping a tear away with my thumb. “I’ll do my best, I promise.”
All of a sudden, Adonis vaulted forward and enveloped his smaller body around me in a fierce hug. His head went to the crook of my neck, hiding his entire face behind the curtain of my hair. Sniffle. Sniffle. I returned his hug with my own, squeezing him in hopes of soaking up all of his pain.
My heart wouldn’t stop hurting.
Something tugged at the hem of my shirt. My eyes lowered to see little Orchid with the same tears in her deep browns. She reached toward me and flapped her hands. With no hesitation, I brought down an arm and drew my niece into me. The sweet little girl tucked herself in between her brother and me, her face hidden in my torso.
My heart was now at war. I didn’t want to leave them, but I had to. I couldn’t allow the enemy to take any more from them than what they already had.
Eyes burned into the back of my head. My back was taut when the aroma of apples and patchouli floated into my nose. I didn’t have to turn to see who was lingering by the door. All I could do was hope that one day, we’d sort out our differences and get along like family.
This family needed Raina. She was the glue that kept them together. I stared long and hard at her face again.
*Raina, you need to wake up*. *Your kids need you*. *Your husband needs you*.
*I need my sister back*.
*”Never fear quarrels, but seek hazardous adventures.” Alexandre Dumas*
****
**Kiya*
****
The next two days passed by faster than I could blink. Between packing for the trip and understanding our plans with the team, I rarely got a chance to sit down and breath. I had stress on top of stress. Neron went as far as to demand that I relax, even if it meant trapping me in bed, but I couldn’t help it. I was too tense.
I called my family yesterday to tell them about my plans. As expected, they vehemently objected because of the dangers. Their concerns weren’t unfounded. Anything could happen on this expedition, even more so once I leave the country. I’ll be farther from home than I ever was before, and that puts everyone, not just me, at a disadvantage. However, one of the few advantages I had was that Neron and I would be close to each other. No more surprises or crazy undead zombies trying to tear us apart.