Page 176 of Home to the Hollow

“Well, isn’t this sweet! The Catastrophe has a stable of men she services. It doesn’t surprise me to find out you’ve become the town whore, Jolene. You were always running after men like you had an itch to scratch when we were younger.” The idiot continues to taunt her, and I’m half tempted to jump in and smash my fist into her mouth—female or not.

Jolene glares at her, sucking in a deep breath before she steps forward and gets in her face. “I asked who thefuckyou think you are, Antigone. Have you gone deaf, or is the empty space between your ears echoing?”

Lucy tugs on Boone’s sleeve, whispering softly, “Uh, Teddy Do you see…?”

“You’ve never been anything but trash, Whitley, and I haven’t regretted ratting you out once in thirteen years. Youdeservedyour punishment.”

This bitch wants to die. She has zero sense of self-preservation—does she not see what’s happening here?

Magpie raises her hands and I push the rest of the crew back a little as her tears run down her face. “Den eísai áxios tou chrónou mou, adýnami. Tha érthei i óra sas kai tha eínai éndoxi. Xekiniménos kléftis!?1”

Before any of us can get to her, Jolene and the two morons from her past are engulfed in a huge burst of energy, followed by a thunder clap, and everything starts to go black.

Holy fuck, did she just knock out… the entire… room?

You are not worthy of my time, weakling. Your time will come and it will be glorious. Be gone thief!

Epilogue

“Idon’t agree. She may have warmed up to me, but I don’t think mine is the first face she should see. We don’t have that kind of connection,” I argue as my girlfriend’s circle of men glare at me.

“That’sexactlywhy it should be you, Jules,” my former charge says softly. “If she remembers when she wakes up, she’s going to be angry with all of us for not telling her the truth. She has no such expectation with you.”

Tharin rumbles low, giving me an imperceptible nod. “The fairy is correct. Her mind will scramble for connections and if she can attach her emergence to the feelings of betrayal, it will make everything harder.”

I roll my eyes, but I can see the wisdom in his words. Newly emerged supes with knowledge of our world can struggle with the change. A lost one of this age who has lived a lie amongst people she cares about is going to be very difficult to manage. I fear Saoirse is not sufficiently ready for this undertaking—and neither are her mates.

“Have you considered what we will do if the unknown spell has not completely lost its grasp on her mind? Has anyone asked the Society what we arepermittedto do?”

The silence tells me they hadn’t even considered the possibility. They all want so badly to be able to share their lives fully with their friend or mate that it’s clouding their judgment. I look over at my cunning merman, hoping he has a suggestion that might benefit the situation.

Zasha strokes his chin, looking pensive as he leans against the hospital wall. “I believe that even if she remembers some of tonight, she will not make the connections on her own. This woman seems to have multiple sides, and you admitted that this could have been the one that has previously presented.”

“Her hound fully shifted, but in the morning, she was clueless about the previous night,” Boone says as he runs his fingers through his hair.

Tapping my fingers against my lips, I consider the options again. Whether Jolene remembers what happens or not isn’t the only concern; what powers she’s unleashed and what’s to come are important variables that tie directly to the secret of her heritage. If she awakens with a partially broken spell but no memory, she will have access to at least one shifter side and all the abilities that come along with it—with zero knowledge that it exists or how to control herself.

That’s a recipe for disaster.

“Okay. We need several plans. They need to account for the most predictable possibilities and the results of those paths being correct. Seer, you need to contact the Society and give a brief verbal report of the incident. Get their take on what we’re permitted to reveal to your charge based on what she remembers when she wakes up.” Zasha tilts his head at her and I nod, agreeing that he can go with her to help her remain diplomatic.

The winged doctor squints at me. “I’ll be expected to examine her fully as soon as possible, so whatever plans we make have to take into account procedures for newly emerged lost ones. I can hold off as long as I can, but there will only be so much leeway I can give you to help her understand.”

“As hard as it would be to continue the charade, it might be easier if shedidn'tremember,” Wolfgang says softly. “Until Sugarplum has everything come out, we’ll have to keep her under constant watch and that will really piss her off.”

Boone snorts. “Fuck yes, it will. Tilly is barely accustomed to having us all around, much lessfollowing her.”

Frowning, I glance at Tharin. A decade ago, our team was sent to help a Guardian named St. James track down her errant lost one. We spent months sniffing trails across the country, both online and live. If a charge is both smart and angry enough to decide to disappear, they can. We never found St. James’ lost one, but it seems the missing supe came back to findherrecently.

Seer and these idiots would lose the fucking plot if Jolene went walkabout for a week, much less a decade. I have to handle her carefully or I’m going to ruin all of their lives.

I’m not known for coddling people, so this is going to be interesting.

“Boone, I need you to consult with the Mayor. If our fearless leaders put the kibosh on telling Jolene before she’s gone through the entire emergence, she’ll need to issue a Council decree with provisions for possible ‘accidents’ so you don’t have to go through another one of those ridiculous trials.” I pause for a moment, considering what else we will need. “Haggerty, if you could visit Hazel and MacAuley to see if you can charmanythingout of them, it would be extremely helpful.”

They both look irritated, but their big dick energy isnotgoing to help the situation. In fact, they probably should be the last two people to see their girl so she’s calm by the time they come in. Tharin tilts his head at Foster, waiting for me to decide how someone with his particular issues can be of help.

“Benjy? I’m putting you in charge of the companions for the moment. Take them out for a stretch every once in a while, but keep your phone on so we can call you back if Jolene wants them close by. We weren’t able to pry the python loose, and that may end up working in our favor. Seer says it’s like an emotional support blanket; hopefully, she’s right.”

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