Heartless?

Chapter 16

"The weather forecast for today will be cloudy with a chance of rain," the weather person says on the television. The kids watch in awe as the screen changes from weather to sports to other news.
Cocoa sits in the corner watching them. She arranges clothes in the kids' bags and makes it more orderly. She grabs her purse and looks through her wallet before sighing and setting it down.
"If you need a place to stay, you can stay with us," I tell her. She looks over at me shocked. She smiles and shakes her head no. She plays with one of the straps on her purse.
"I couldn't do that. You probably don't have enough room for three more people, " she tells me. I smirk and laugh. I felt like I had lived in a hotel when I was there.
"I live in a place that takes in good demons. We have more rooms than we could ever possibly fill. So I insist," I tell her. She gets up and hugs me softly, whispering thank you. I wince slightly as one of her hands touches a whip wound but I quickly recover and plaster a smile on my face to hide the pain.
A knock comes from the door and the kids look around scared. I walk over and look through the peephole before throwing the door open. Kaiser, Will, Caramel and Arsenic stand there waiting.
I jump into Will's arms. He grabs my legs and holds me up. I snuggle into his chest and hide my wince from him. I watch as Caramel walks over to Ray and talks to him. Then she talks to Cali and smiles.
She goes over to Cocoa and grabs her arm. She looks it over and gasps. Cocoa looks at me concerned and I smile uncertainly. Will lets me go and I walk over to Caramel.
"What is it?" I ask her softly bending down to her height. She smiles and grabs my hands. She jumps up and down and I pull my hand out of hers, patting her on the head softly. I missed this so much.
"She and Kaiser are mates!" She exclaims pointing at Cocoa. Cocoa freezes and looks over at Kaiser worriedly. Kaiser stands there in shock before regaining her senses. She walks over to Caramel and picks her up.
"My mate died Caramel. I don't get another," she tells her. Caramel shakes her head and points at Cocoa once again. Will walks over to me and grabs my hand.
"It's her. She has the same mark," Caramel insists. Kaiser sighs and walks over to the defeated looking Cocoa. She stands in front of her. Cali and Ray stand beside Caramel and watch excitedly.
"I know my mate is dead. The bond broke five years ago," Kaiser says. Cocoa shakes her head and smiles softly. I squeeze Will's hand tighter and watch them talk. Caramel looks at Cocoa shocked before her face turns sober.
"My mom broke mine. She made me have kids with a male and it broke the bond. It's slowly coming back for me," she tells Kaiser. I hold onto Will's hand like a lifeline. He smiles and kisses the top of my head.
Arsenic walks over to Kaiser and Cocoa. They stop in front of Kaiser and smile up at her. They play with the sleeves of their sweater nervously and run a hand through their hair.
"I can check if you want me to. I can probably fix the bond too," they say. Kaiser looks at them in awe. They go over to Cocoa and grab her hands. They concentrate and Kaiser gasps.
Cocoa looks back up at her and smiles. Arsenic runs back over to me and Will. They stand beside Will and watch as Kaiser looks over Cocoa. Caramel plays with toys with Ray and Cali on the floor next to the television.
Me and Will grab the bags off the floor and let Kaiser and Cocoa have some privacy. The kids all follow us out, each carrying something. I open the back of the truck and throw our stuff inside. I wince as one of my whip wounds breaks open. The kids hand me theirs and I gently put the bags down so I don't open any more of my wounds.
We get the kids buckled up in the backseats and walk back into the hotel. Cocoa and Kaiser stand in the lobby holding hands. They follow us out to the car and get in. Kaiser gets in the front and Cocoa in the passenger seat. I sit next to Will in the middle row of seats. seats
I lean against him as Kaiser starts the car and drives off. I hand the kids my phone and plug it in to the charger. Cali and Ray share my phone while Arsenic and Caramel go on their own phones.
I gently smack Will on the shoulder when Arsenic pulls out their phone. He looks over at me confused and I fake glare at him. He frowns and then brings his hands up.
"You're spoiling them," I groan as I watch his hand warily. He moves to my sides and starts tickling me. I start laughing and then wince in pain. Will stops and looks at me worriedly. I wave him off and turn back to my book.
I feel something poke my back and I wince before regaining my composure and turning around. Arsenic looks over at me and winces. I sigh as I realize that they probably know what's going on with my back.
"Kaiser, can you stop the car please," they ask. Kaiser looks at them confused but pulls over nonetheless. Arsenic gets out, climbing over Cali and Ray, whose eyes are still glued to my phone.
They come over to my door and open it before pulling me out. They take me behind a tree and cross their arms over the chest, silently glaring at me. They lean back against the tree and sigh as they realize that I'm not going to say anything about it.
"William, Kaiser! Ash is hurt!" They tell as loudly as they can. I go to glare at them but a pain stabs my side and I fall onto my knees. They look at me worried and tell louder for the others to get over here.
I feel the warm liquid trickle down my back and stick to my wings. I scream in pain and curl up tighter into a ball, only managing to open more of the wounds.
Kaiser, Will, and Cocoa round the corner and stop abruptly at the sight of me.