Daughters of Creation

Chapter Fifteen: Meraki (Part Two)

  It'd taken her less than ten minutes to set everything up, align all of her crystals, and watch Hari bring out different bundles of dried herbs. The dragon placed a bundle between every set of crystals—and although she could name a few of the herbs she saw, Emerson didn't ask what he was planning. During the set up Mr. Menyr remained silent, watching from a corner in the living room, hands folded underneath his chin and resting on his knees. She had only been able to tell the man was an incubus by the lingering hypnotic magic in the air wherever he walked. It had been so subtle Emerson had almost missed when he had first opened the door, but now, after being in the apartment it washed over her the same way his grief did.

"Mr. Menyr —"

"Please, call me Mekhl. Hearing 'Mr. Menyr' just reminds me of Leander ... It was his name you know, that I took, a part of him I'll never have to say goodbye to."

Emerson nodded her head, smiling sadly. "Okay, Mekhl, no problem."

He dropped his hands and adjusted himself in the chair. His blue eyes were less glassy and she could see swirls of gold weaving throughout his dark irises. "You've got a soft energy about you, little lady who's not a Guard, makes talking a little easier. Leander was the same way before he passed; always kind to everyone with a heart too big."

A warmth spread through her chest. "Ems, you can call me Ems, Mekhl. And thank you."

He nodded.

"How long were you and Leander married?"

A fond smile drifted over Mekhl's face and he self consciously ran a hand through his dark wavy hair. "Six years. We would've been celebrating our seventh anniversary this month—it's a miracle we even lasted this long considering his family didn't like the idea of a shapeshifter marrying an incubus."

Emerson ignored the movements of Rena and the boys as they looked over the apartment and focused on Mekhl, who sat a little ways away from her in the chair. "Love shouldn't be limited to the concepts of what is right and wrong so long as it isn't harming someone. Whose right is it to say one love is more correct than another? I'm sorry you had to experience the disapproval from people who meant a lot to your husband. Ironically, I know exactly what it's like to love someone who isn't 'meant' for me in the eyes of those around me." She couldn't help herself from looking at Rena, her eyes straying to the siren.

Mekhl followed her gaze. "Ah, I see." He looked down at his hands, thinking about her words. "They might have frowned upon it, but in the end they showed up to the wedding and gave Leander and I their blessings. Human, divine, angel, god, no one likes anything remotely related to change so I couldn't really blame them at first to Leander and I's love, as it's still not very common for different species to marry, but they came around and proved me wrong that people couldn't accept what was different from them."

She shifted and ran her hand along her red amethyst, looking for inner strength. Mekhl's words frustrated her as it shouldn't matter whether two divine were of different species, if they loved one another it shouldn't matter what species they were, but she understood his words nonetheless and pushed down the frustration that derived from her irritation with society more than the actual man sitting in front of her.

"You have a heart just as large as your husband's." She said, hesitantly leaning over and patting the incubus' hand. "I truly am sorry for what's happened to you two, no one should go through losing someone—especially in such a way as you have, Mekhl."

"Thank you, Miss Ems, for saying that. I might not have the answers your Guards are looking for, but I do know Leander and he did nothing wrong to be murdered like he was."

Anger swept over his grief and Emerson had to clench her jaw to keep from flinching. It was so sudden and fierce that it took her breath for a second before she could control the energy. "As you've said before, I'm not a Guard, all I want to do is help—help you. I'm good with emotions, with energy—that's why I've brought all these crystals—if you'll let me, I'd like to help sooth you, to take some of the burden away."