Spirit of Shadows

| Chapter Twenty Two |

It had been three days since Em and Kachina had went into the brothel to fetch Adabelle and escape. It had been three days since Em had kissed Matthias and he had, surprisingly, kissed her back. Finally, it had been three days before Em had gotten to work, planning a new way to find Adabelle.

The girls knew for a fact that Adabelle had gotten out and away from Betty's Brothel, though, they weren't sure where to look next. Matthias had ultimately banned both of them from going to any other brothel and searching around there, and Em was happy to oblige his wish.

Though, there was something strange about it all.

Why would Adabelle just...leave? Especially after rescuing Em...

It didn't add up.

"I say we check just one more brothel, Matthias. It could be possible that she was transferred around town to a new one. Maybe she ended up going back to Betty's and–"

Kachina was cut off by Matthias' demanding tone. "Absolutely not! No way! I'm not going to just sit here and let you two wander back into a brothel with my permission. I don't think she'd go back anyway, it's so unlike her."

Kachina scoffed, leaning across the table so she could speak directly to Matthias. "Unlike her? Matthias, no offense but what do you even know about her anymore? It's been years since you've seen her."

Matthias held back a growl as he narrowed his eyes at Kachina. Em wanted to reach over and grasp his hand in her own, wanted to tell him that everything would be okay. But she didn't. She didn't want to embarrass him right now and she hadn't told anyone about their shared kiss. She didn't think he had either.

"I know because we're siblings."

Kachina scoffed again and before she could spit out another insult, Jonah spoke up to save the day.

"Hey, now. You guys, we're all friends here. Let's just calm down, yeah?"

Matthias and Kachina both scowled at the boy and told him to "stay out of it!" Em rolled her eyes and decided it was time for her to intervene.

"I think we should look elsewhere. I agree with Matthias. I don't think Adabelle would go back to a brothel...its just not possible."

Matthias and Kachina had stopped bickering to look at Em and acknowledge her words. Kachina was still pretty delicate around Em when it came to talking things out. The girl would always bring her fresh tea in the morning and ask her if she'd like to be the first to bathe in the tub at night. Em had begun to tell her that she was going to be fine but Kachina insisted.

"Seems fair." Jonah replied.

No one argued further and Em mentally ticked the "victory box" inside her head.

"Em I need to talk to you." Matthias said suddenly. He stood from the table so fast that Em startled a bit. Immediately he walked into Kachina's living room and waited for her to follow after him.

"Yes?" She asked once she closed the door behind her.

Matthias looked absolutely exhausted to say the least. His blonde hair was always disheveled but today it looked downright messy. His blue eyes were dimmer as well.

"I don't want you to do this anymore."

"Do what?" Em asked.