Page 53 of A Witch-ish Guide to Protectors and Pendulums

“Holy—” Connor started.

“That’s what I was afraid of.”

“Baby, do you still have that book you had since you were born?”

“It’s back at home. Connor, did you hear that? Simeon is my twin brother. He’s… We’re…”

“The grandchildren of Lilith and Adam. Yeah, I got that. I’m just not sure how to process it.”

“Youdon’t know how? Imagine being me.”

“So now we know what you are—wow. I can’t wrap my head around it. I’ve been sleeping with a direct descendant of Lilith.”

“She spoke of you. The universe would send me a protector when I needed it. And here you are. Your family must be special for the universe to send you to me and your sister to my brother.”

“What happened to Shoshana and Baruch?” he asked. “And to Zohor and the children he had with Lilith?”

“I don’t know. But maybe they’ve had family lore passed down that might help us with whoever is trying to kill us now.

“And maybe they’ve been in contact with Simeon.”

“But, Connor, we have to get the grimoire. With that, Simeon and I can join the amulet to the hilt of the dagger and the blade will appear.”

“Did she say that?”

“No. But Agatha’s ancestor told me and I feel it. I feel the action, the joining, coursing through my veins as if it’s already happened. Itwantsto be joined again. I don’t know how else to explain it.”

“It’s not safe to go home now. We know you were being followed.”

“I think we were both being followed,” I countered. None of whatever this was started happening without Connor. Beetle, the man I was sure was behind all this saw Connor the day he showed up to Monnie’s Bar to protect me. Or more like retrieve me, but semantics. Connor was on bad guy radar, too. Period.

“Any ideas for what to do next? I’m practically useless because my whole body has gone into protection mode. Rather than coming up with plans, I’m on edge, waiting to eliminate any threat against you. It’s annoying as hell, to tell you the truth—and before you get all bent, it’s annoying because I want to help more. Not because I don’t want to protect you.”

“Is it bad that I want to bangyouright now? That was… that was…”

“Baby, focus.”

“Focus. Right. I think we need to find out if Lilith has any living descendants aside from me and Simeon.”

“Then we’ve got more work ahead of us. We’ve got a few more scrolls and plenty of books to look through. One of them has to give us an idea of where to seek out more of Lilith’s descendants.”

We read for several more hours. In Lilith’s own hand, we read that she’d gotten back to Shoshana and Baruch too late to save them. Shoshana had been too weakened from the long birth to fight and although Baruch had tried to protect her, Adam had used a hidden knife to end them both.

My parents. Adam murdered my parents. No wonder Lilith never came back for me. It was so unfair. I never got to know them. They never got to know me. I hated Adam. He robbed me of my family. He forced me to grow up scared and alone.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Connor said. “You shouldn’t play poker.”

“He took my family.”

“He did. And I’m sorry about that, but if he hadn’t, then I wouldn’t have met you. That would’ve robbed me ofmyfamily—the one I have with you. And maybe it makes me a dick, but I can’t be sorry that I’ve got you in my life.”

I moved to straddle his lap. “Maybe there’s time for a little rub and stroke?” I asked through my tears.

He kissed me, but my clothes stayed in place. “You were right before. We’ll wait until we’re in a bed where I can get creative and not have to think about witchy spells watching us.”

The last book that we read had nothing to do with Lilith. Or at least not at first glance. It talked about a lab in England collecting DNA, like a 23andMe for supers. The book had been written just last year. The lab was in Birmingham.

“We need to go there, right?” Connor asked. “It wouldn’t have presented itself for nothing.”

---