My Cheating Mate (Emma and Jeremy) novel Chapter 154

Chapter 154

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The room went very quiet. Mama and Daddy looked at each other with that particular expression that meant I’d just said something that changed their plans.

Uncle Cas moved away from the window, coming to kneel beside Daddy so he was at my level too. His dark eyes-the ones I’d been trying to draw with purple crayon even though they weren’t really purple- looked at me with something I didn’t have words for yet.

“You’re right,” he said quietly. “The Council doesn’t believe vampires and wolves should be family. They think we should stay separate. That I shouldn’t be Uncle Cas. That you shouldn’t grow up thinking cooperation between species is normal.”

“But that’s stupid.” The word slipped out before I could stop it. Mama usually corrected me for saying stupid but this time she didn’t. “You ARE my Uncle Cas. You come to my birthday parties and help with my homework and read me stories about old vampires. That’s family stuff.”

“It is,” he agreed. “But Grace, the Council is very old. Very powerful. And they’re very serious about making us stop being family.”

“So tell them no.” I looked at the paper on Daddy’s desk. “That’s what the letter says, right? That we won’t stop being family?”

“Yes,” Daddy said. “But sweetie, if we send this letter, the Council might try to make us stop anyway. They might-” He paused, choosing words carefully. “They might try to take you away from us. To make Uncle Cas leave.*

“Then we fight them.” It seemed obvious to me. When bad people tried to hurt your family, you fought them. That’s what happened in all the stories. “Like how you fought the bad people before I was born. Mama told me about that.”

“Grace, this is different-” Mama started.

“Why? Because I’m five now and they want me instead of just wanting to hurt me?” I crossed my arms. Uncle Cas says I’m smart for my age. Smart enough to understand stuff. So tell me why this is different.”

They all looked at each other again. Then Uncle Cas did something he rarely did-he smiled. Really smiled, the kind that made his eyes crinkle. 1

“She has a point,” he said. “Grace, you are smart for your age. Smart enough to understand this: the Council wants to separate us because they’re afraid. Afraid that if you grow up thinking vampires and wolves can be family, other children will think that too. And eventually, their old rules won’t matter anymore.”

“So they’re scared of me?” That seemed strange. I was five. What was scary about a five-year-old?

“They’re scared of what you represent. A future they can’t control.” He touched my cheek gently: “Grace/ need you to understand something. If we send this letter-if we tell the Council no-things might get dangerous. There might be fighting. People might get hurt. You might have to be very brave.”

M

Chapter 54

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“I can be brave.” I stood up straighter. “I’m not scared of the Council.”

“You should be a little scared,” Daddy said seriously. “They’re powerful, Grace. They might try to take you to make us stop fighting. We’re going to protect you-we have lots of plans to keep you safe-but you need to listen to us. If we tell you to hide or run or stay quiet, you do it immediately. No questions you promise that?”

I thought about it. I didn’t like being told what to do without explanations. But I also didn’t want to m things worse for Mama and Daddy and Uncle Cas.

“I promise,” I said. “But only if you promise something too.”

“What’s that?” Mama asked.

“Promise you won’t send Uncle Cas away. Even if it gets really scary. Even if the Council says you have to.” I looked at him. “He’s family. You don’t give up on family.” 1

Uncle Cas made a sound that wasn’t quite a laugh. “Grace, I’m not going anywhere. The Council would have to kill me to separate us. And I’m significantly harder to kill than they think.”

“Good.” I walked over to Daddy’s desk and picked up the letter. Looked at the words I could read-my name, Uncle Cas’s name, the word “family.” “Then send it. Tell them we said no. Tell them we’re keeping our family.”

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