Emerald Ashes

Bliss

Corvo

The email I didn't want to receive. The answer L wanted, yet the cursor hovered over the trash bin. She wanted answers – to know whether her father was still alive and this email contained the very information she wanted to hear yet as I reread it for the fifth time I contemplated deleting it, wiping it from existence.

Corvo,

We spoke on the phone last week about the person of interest, Gregory Bates, and I found a man matching the information you provided. He currently lives in Newburgh, New York, at 1043 Townsend Ave. The age of the men is the same, and according to Gregory Bates' recent driver's license, he matches the physical description you provided as well. I have that, as well as a pin on maps, linked in the email through an attachment.

I wish you luck,

Benjamin Harris

Benjamin Harris was our liaison with the local government. He knew about what we were and assisted with the Governor of New York, as well as smaller governments across the state. While he's never stepped foot on Emerald property, we seldom met for dinner when issues regarding the relationship between Emerald and the human governmental offices were rocky. Without him, our relationship with the human world would be null, and for that I thanked him.

But now, after reading the email again, I wanted to strangle the man. It wasn't his fault for finding L's presumed father, but now that I knew and had the information in front of me, I couldn't lie to her and say he was long dead, a casualty of the massacre. I opened the attachment provided and watched as a photo of Gregory Bates opened on the screen in front of me. His hair was dark like L's, but his eyes were the color of roasted coffee, and his skin was slightly darker than hers as well. He didn't look a day over forty-five, a side-effect of being a Lycan, but the crow's feet at the outer edges of his eyes were a strong indicator of what he'd been through.

"You ready?" A voice from the door called. I looked up to find L standing, her shoulder pressed to the frame and her arms across her chest. A light gray sweater was tucked into a pair of black jeans cuffed on the bottom, and a pair of black Chelsea boots on her feet. Her hair lay in its natural waves around her head, with pieces tucked behind her ears. Since her and Ethel's conversation, my sister has been assisting L in finding clothing and ways to style what she had. Their relationship was far from perfect, but it was a start.

I shut my computer and stood, looking down at myself to make sure what I was wearing was appropriate for a day away from pack grounds. A black shirt, jeans, and sneakers were a staple for me. I walked around the desk and grabbed my jacket from a hook by the door. Leaning down, I pressed a kiss to L's lips but released before she could ask for more. L smiled, and she blinked a few times to regain her composure. No matter how many times I kissed her, she always lost her senses when the heat from my lips hit hers. I took her hand in mine and left the office with her at my side. She walked confidently down the stairs now, a big improvement from where she was just over a month ago. At the bottom of the stairs, I took L's waist in my hand. Erin waved from the kitchen as we left. L returned the gesture as if she did this every day with the housekeeper. I knew Erin would take kindly to her, and I applauded the fact that L found someone in the house she could go to for things outside my realm of assistance.

We were on the road for almost an hour when L brought up our destination for the sixth time. I chuckled, squeezing her hand, but didn't answer. I wanted it to be a surprise even if she couldn't physically see where we were going. L had her legs pulled up on the seat and her elbow rested on the door frame. She looked out the window. Trees blurred past us, the sun beat down in heavy golden rays, and yet L remained the brightest thing in the world just by sitting next to me, her glossy eyes focused on the blurry picture just behind the glass. She absently chewed on the skin around her fingernail, a tick she picked up since returning to Emerald.