I shook my head.
“It’s huge. It’s a creative market sprawled across a park, and you can find loads of homemade things, candles, crystals, mugs, and paintings. I was a vegan. I baked vegan and vegetarian dishes and slices, and sold them with my aunty every Saturday there. Karson bought some vegetarian pies, and we got talking.”
Why would Karson be buying vegetarian pies? Maybe Mary liked them, or someone else he knew was a vegetarian? When my mom died, someone delivered a parcel loaded with vegetarian foods. There was no note, no name, just the box left on our doorstep. People were thoughtful when the worst happened.
“We had a twilight market, and I was walking home. My aunty wanted to drive me home, but I felt like a walk, and we argued and I …” He drew in a ragged breath and closed his eyes for a second, as if shutting out the memory. “On the way home, three guys jumped me.” Josh’s tone quietened. “They stole the money we’d made, and they beat me within an inch of my life and threw me over a bridge. I didn’t hit the water though, I hit a cement pillar. I don’t know how many bones I broke. I don’t know how I survived. I can’t remember making my way to the shore, but Karson found me on the river’s edge.” The cup in his hand shook so badly he had to put it down. “He turned me.”
“I’m sorry, Josh,” I said quietly. “Do you still bake?” I tried to find something positive to say.
“No, aside from with the kids, I haven’t. I’ve lost my passion for it. I seem to crave something a little more coppery nowadays.” Josh looked up and smiled, but there was no joy in his eyes, only sadness.
Josh was here a lot; I thought maybe he didn’t have any family like me. “Do you still see your family?”
“No, my family can’t stand what I am.” Bitterness bled through his tone.
I blinked, shocked. “They know?”
He swallowed. “Yeah, I told them. It was that or disappear, and I didn’t want to do that to them and …” He shook his head sadly.
Mary stood up and placed a soft, wrinkled hand on his shoulder. “One thing life has taught me is family is not only blood. Family is carved from the strength of connection. Family are who are there for you holding out their hand to lift you up, or to hold you steady when your legs are shaking. Family are the ones who stop you from falling when you hang on by a thread. Family are the loudest cheerers in the room when you’re trying to win. Family show you they care, time and time again. That’s what a proper family is.”
A hollow emptied my chest. I wished I had that type of family.
Josh placed his hand over hers and patted. “I know. It’s been rough though, knowing the people who should love me the most don’t love me enough to want me now. I no longer fit into their mold.”
“Molds were always meant to be broken, Josh,” Mary responded gently.
Josh’s tone lightened, and a dimple indented his cheek as his lips curved up. “If you’re going to say because the cracks let the light in, I’m going to throw up.”
Mary cackled. “Are you sure mind reading isn’t one of your skills?”
“I wish, imagine the fun I could have with that.” Josh grinned at Mary’s retreating back as she moved to the sink to rinse out her cup.
I took a sip of tea and relaxed now that Josh’s mood had changed. “What skills do you have?”
He looked perplexed. “I’m still trying to work that out. I’m fast, faster than most of the others, but that seems to be about it.”
“And you have exceptional willpower, Josh,” Mary said.
“Oh yeah, I forgot about that one.” He flicked his eyes back to me. “If you bleed, I won’t attack, so yay for me. Or for you, I suppose.”
That’s why Karson allowed him around so much; he trusted him around Georgie and me. And he knew his family had disowned him, so he’d taken him in. Despite what everyone said about Karson, despite what he was capable of, he had a heart of gold, even if he hid it in the shadows.
I returned his smile. “In a world filled with humans, that’s a pretty important trait to have.”
“It wasn’t easy. It took a few years before I got it completely under control.” He dipped his head, running his fingers over the smooth lines of the bench as if he was ashamed. “But I’m glad I did,” he raised his head, releasing a breath, “because it’s even more important when Karson is in love with one of them.” I shouldn’t be surprised that he knew this; he would have seen or heard something, and he saw us in the alley. He must have seen anxiety in my expression because his hand went to his heart. “Which I will keep a secret, for as long as he needs me to.” Josh slid off the bench. “Right, Mary, what do you want me to do?”
She handed him a peeler. “You could peel some potatoes, if you like.”
“What do you want me to do?” I asked.
“Nothing, we have it under control,” Mary answered. “Go and get some sleep, Amy.”
I left them happily chatting and working together in the kitchen.
Mary was right, if blood relatives could give you away without a care in the world, then family couldn’t be defined by blood. It was defined by something much deeper. It was defined by irrevocable love.
Chapter 38
