Brynn's POV
TW: mention of dark elements
The woman I learned was my grandmother, stared at me and Jade, puffing on her cigarette. She turned her head to the side and blew the smoke away from Jade. At least she had that much decency.

"Before we get started, when are you due?" Eva asked Jade.
"Next month." Jade cradled her baby bump. I felt a stab of jealousy at seeing that and felt horrible about it.
"Is the father in the picture?" I looked at Arlen, who looked as perplexed as I felt.
"He is." Jade answered respectfully. Eva then turned and looked at me.
"Brynn, you look so much like your Mama it hurts. I really miss her." Tears fell down Eva's cheeks.
"When did you find out my mother passed away?" Eva had to have known, judging from her reactions. I want to know why she never came looking for Mom or me.

"About three years ago. I tried to find you, but it was like you disappeared off the face of the earth." Eva whispered. I looked at Aiden who narrowed his eyes, indicating Eva may be lying. But I decided to let it go. I need my grandfather's name and what he can help me do more. I don't want to waste time figuring out who this woman is.
"What about my mother?" Eva whipped her head at Jade.
"I won't lie to you, young lady. Mindi and I did not have a good relationship at all. Last I heard Mindi got herself in a heap of trouble and got locked up!!" Eva huffed.
"With all due respect madam, that woman has made some serious claims against you. We need to talk about them." Anthony said through gritted teeth.

Eva looked right in his face and laughed. "It's no secret I made my living on my back! I was damned good at it too! Who do you think is paying for me to live here? One of my dear old sugar daddies!!"
"Your choice of profession isn't the issue. You using your daughters to procure clientele is." Anthony fired back coldly. Eva jumped up too fast.
"I'll thank you to take your gutter mind and get the hell out of my room! NURSE!" Oh God!
"We'll leave, but Brynn and Jade really need to ask you some questions. Can they stay? The other two can leave." Arlen tried to placate Eva.
"Fine by me! I can't stay another minute in here anyway. Eva Deveaux, you already know what I am and what my powers are! You knew the moment we opened that door! Cut the s**t and do the decent thing for once in your life, and tell the f*****g truth!!" Aiden glared hard at Eva, who glared right back.
"GET OUT!!!" Eva took her ashtray and launched it at the Starrs', who made a quick exit. I looked at Arlen, begging him with my eyes to use his powers of discernment. I only hope his ability to discern deception is as strong as Aiden's.
"I'll tell you something young ladies, I will NOT be talked to like that again! I NEVER EVER did what they accused me of! And if Mindi is out there spreading something different, by hell I will be talking to a lawyer!!!"
"My mother and I aren't on speaking terms. In fact, I never want to see her again! I have another child at home as well as one on the way to protect from Mama! Now I don't care what happened in the past, who did what to whom! But we have traveled a long way, and I will not leave empty-handed! You need to tell us who our grandfather is!!" Jade commanded.
"And just why the hell should I?"
"You know what werewolves are, Grandma?" Jade snapped at her.
"UGH! Don't call me that!" Eva visibly recoiled back.
"You didn't answer her question. Which tells me you have some knowledge of the supernatural world." I watched Eva carefully.
"Of course I do. Your grandfather was a special one." Just as soon as she put out one cigarette, Eva lit another one.
"You do know those things are deadly." Arlen told her.
"I'm as good as dead anyway. Which is why I'm going to tell my granddaughters here every last thing." Eva looked at us.
"How long do you have?" Jade asked.
"Doctor says could be a month, maybe more or less. My kind of cancer is aggressive." Eva's voice held no emotion at all.
"Hell, I'm ready to be done with this life! It's been nothing but absolute s**t. Half of it I spent on my back in brothels, in hotels, cars, all at the mercy of men! And what to show for it? A broken down body, one dead daughter and another degenerate daughter!!" Eva looked at us with determination.
"Your grandfather is Marshall Sherman. We were never married and never even lived together. He was a p**p I hooked up with, and we fell in love. For a few years, things were good. Easily the happiest time of my life. He still had me on my back, but that paid the rent, paid the bills, and my girls were taken care of. But Marshall changed. Well, he didn't change. He just showed me who he really was all along." Eva bitterly puffed away on her cigarette.
"Marshall started running an escort service for supernaturals and it was good money. He had me with demons, werewolves, fairies, warlocks, you name it. One night, one of them went too far and brought his friends in for some fun....you get the picture. They almost killed me that night." One tear escaped Eva's eyes. Jade and I listened on in horror.
"I told Marshall I wanted out and not only did he assault me himself, he told me I was his property, and I'd better just keep my mouth shut and do as I'm told. It took some time, but I eventually saved up enough and ran away, hiding out in some ghetto in New Orleans. But hiding had an even worse price. My clientele pool was much lower paying. My bills were piling up, and I had two mouths to feed. And a teenage daughter who was not easy to deal with at all."
"So it's true then, isn't it? About my mother?" Eva stared hard at Jade.
"It was the only way we survived. It could have been much, much worse if her father had taken her! God only knows what would have happened to her then. And it wasn't like Mindi was doing something she hadn't long been sneaking around doing behind my back! She's not some perfect little lamb, Mindi liked the attention all of it got her and it sure as hell cost me plenty! It's not what I chose, but that life chose her!! Let me tell you something, the best thing Mindi ever did was run off! In the end, it got her out of that life and even if she doesn't realize it, it saved her sister!!" Disgust rose in my throat and I had to keep my voice controlled for my next questions.
The dam finally broke in Eva's eyes. "Marshall wanted my Beth. He knew Beth had a gift, and she would have brought a high price with the supernatural clientele. After Mindi ran away, I knew it was just a matter of time before Marshall came after Beth and saw an opportunity. So I made a deal with Phil and Julie Henneman, my neighbors upstairs, and gave them every cent I had to take Beth and leave New Orleans immediately and never let me know where they were. I knew she would be safe with them, they really cared for her and were wonderful people. So they took her, and three days later Marshall came for Beth. And I told him she ran away with Mindi. In a big city like New Orleans, looking for two young girls is like looking for a needle in a haystack. Marshall beat the living hell out of me that night, but I bore the beating. Because my girls escaped his evil grasp!" I looked at Arlen, who nodded his head. Eva was telling us the truth.
"Is Marshall still alive?" Jade asked her.
"Y'all better hope he isn't!! I'm warning you girls. Whatever gift you two ladies have, don't ask Marshall for help. Don't ever let him find you two, whatever you do!" Eva lit her third cigarette.
"What gift did he have exactly?" I asked Eva.
"He could stop time. I don't know if there is a name for someone like him. Marshall used it to his advantage often, which is what made him so popular at procuring for the supernatural world. You see why I sent Beth away now." Eva stared at us with trepidation.
But I have no pity for this woman, only disgust and resentment. And I have spent quite enough time with her.
"Thank you for telling us about our grandfather." I got up and went towards the door, but Eva called my name.
"Not even a hug for your grandmother?" I ignored her and walked out, closing the door behind me. Arlen and Jade were right behind me.
"No wonder Mindi turned out how she did!" I whispered to everyone as we walked back out to our rental car.
"Do you think she's really dying? Or do you think she was just saying that to get us to feel sorry for her?"
"It was true. Everything she told you was the truth." Arlen assured me.
"Except for not trying to find me sooner. Aiden picked up on that quickly. I'm not worried about it. I have no intention of ever seeing Eva Deveaux again!" We were almost to the door when we heard an alarm go off.
"CODE BLUE, ROOM 305! CODE BLUE, ROOM 305!"
"Christ that's Eva's room!" Aiden yelled and we all went running back there. As the staff rushed in, I observed Eva face down on the ground, clutching a bottle.
A doctor pushed past us and made his way into the room. "Stop everything! Eva signed Do Not Resuscitate papers yesterday!" He turned her over and confirmed to the staff that Eva had no pulse or respirations.
"Doctor Meyers, what is in this bottle?" An orderly bent down to pick it up.
"Don't touch that!! Don't touch anything, call the police!! Everyone, now we all know that Eva was dying of metastatic bowel cancer. I think she may have done this to herself, but we need to follow the protocol and involve the authorities!" He and the staff came out of the room.
"Bloody hell, I did not see this coming!" Anthony ran his hands through his dark hair.
"Do you think I made her do it! Because I rejected her?!" I immediately started to sob and Arlen grabbed me.
"No, my love. You heard the doctor. She was dying anyway. Eva was ready to go, she told us so!"
"But why do it this way? To make us feel bad? This isn't adding up!" Jade was beside herself.
I walked into Eva's room and looked around, my eyes locking on her top dresser drawer. I had no idea how I knew to look in there, just like I had no idea how I knew about Emma's pregnancy before she even did. Maybe it's the gypsy in me.
I opened up the drawer and found a framed picture of Eva holding two smiling little girls. A piece of paper poked out from the bottom of the frame. I turned it over and opened the frame, and gingerly pulled out the paper, feeling tears stream down my cheeks.
"To the granddaughter I don't know. If you're reading this, Marshall can't find you if I'm not around to speak. Give this picture to Mindi. Tell her I'm so sorry and Mama truly loved her."