When we got to the cafe we saw mom was already there. "Mom," I said.
Her eyes widened and she hugged us all. "Oh, my babies," she said crying. When she calmed we all sat down. "Morgan, you have your Aunt Leetha's eyes."
"So I've heard," Morgan said grinning.
"But we all have your fiery red hair," I said.
"I, personally, think it suits Sapphire better than the rest of us since she has one fiery temper," Scott said. I kicked him under the table and he grinned.
Mom smiled. "Does she now?"
"Um, she's sitting right here," I said.
Mom laughed. "We know." Her eyes landed on Slash. "Is that…?"
"Yes, this is Slash." I ran my fingers through his fur.
Mom followed my lead and ran her fingers through his fur. "Oh, he's amazing."
"And a good protector," Morgan added.
And as if to prove his point, Slash started growling. I looked at him. "Shush, Slash," I admonished even though I knew who he was growling at. I lifted my eyes and looked at the door. My eyes met my Father's and I glared.
Mom, Morgan, and Scott all looked. "Is that…?" Morgan started.
"Dad? Yes," Scott said.
Dad came over. "Look, the whole family is here," he said cheerfully.
Slash moved so he was in front of me and continued to growl. "Go away," I said acidly. I knew he wouldn't which would allow my plan to happen.
He looked at me. "What?"
"I said, go away. None of us want you here." What? I had to play my part.
He sat. "Give me my Slasher back and I will."
"He's mine," I snapped. Slash snarled in agreement. He knew the plan too. "I'm not giving him up. I'm not you."
He stiffened. "Sapphire…"
"Shut up and listen. You made mom give up Scott, you hurt her, you left Morgan on Scott's doorstep, and you leave me to rot in a damn orphanage. You don't care about your family at all. Slash is mine. He came to me. He's part of my family and I'm not going to give him to you so you can hurt him again." I paused to give my speech a little time to sink in. "You need to stop creating monsters."
"No."
I shrugged and bit into my burger that the waitress had put down while I was in the middle of my speech. I chewed slowly then swallowed. "Then I guess I'll have to tell Grandma about what you're doing." I wasn't sure this would do anything but I had a part to play.
To my surprise, he blanched. "What?"
I smirked. "I did a little research while I was waiting for two to roll around. I found out Grandma, who you said was dead, is alive and lives happily in New York. I wouldn't mind giving her a call and telling her you are creating the monsters that are killing people. I doubt she'll be very happy."
"You wouldn't."
"I would."
"Do you want to be grounded?"
I sat back in my chair. "You could say I'm grounded but it won't mean anything. The only people who can ground me are those people over there," I said nodding to Mr and Mrs. Lockwood. They came over and sat. So far so good.
"So you're Sapphire's parents," Mrs. Lockwood said brightly. "It's very nice to meet you."
"It's nice to meet you too," Mom said politely. Looks like she's come out of her shock.
Mrs. Lockwood smiled warmly at her. "I see where these three got their beautiful red hair."
Mom returned her smile. "Yes."
Then Mrs. Lockwood turned to Dad and her eyes lost their warmth. "And you're the person responsible for so many people's deaths."
"The monsters need to eat," Dad said coldly.
"I believe there are plenty of animals out there," she replied in a voice that matched his coldness.
"They eat what they want."
Bullshit, I thought. Mr. Lockwood must have thought so too because he said, "Yet they are programmed to only eat people. I see no reason why they can't be programmed to eat animals instead." He paused. "I mean you've already programmed them not to kill anyone younger than twenty." He was looking at the door and I followed his gaze. Then I grinned. Cue the Dark Savers.
I motioned them over. "Hey," I said as if I didn't plan this whole thing. Vin kissed me quickly then sat beside me. I turned to Mom. "This is why I asked you to get us the party room."
She was looking around the room. "You know a lot of people."
I nodded. "May I introduce Everest Lockwood and her twin Elizabeth? Everest is the leader of Dark Savers."
"Who are the others?" She asked.
"Bennet Lockwood, Vincent Oak, Theodore Oak, Brooklyn Dune. Jordan Zole, Darla Jewel, and Martin Zoom." Mary cleared her throat and I smirked at her. "Oops. This is Mary Lockwood, Jordan's girlfriend."
"Sapphire!" Mary yelped.
"What?" I said innocently.
"You promised!"
"Well, everyone knows about me and Vin so everyone should know about you two." I did plan this reveal to be now to give Mom time to adjust. I just didn't tell anyone else about it.
She looked at Jordon, who had a look of relief on his face. "You're okay with this?" Mary asked him.
He nodded. "Martin keeps trying to set me up on a date. So I'm glad everyone knows now."
"Oh." She sat beside him. "Okay."
I turned to my Dad. "This is the team that hunts down those creations of yours. So Dad, meet the Dark Savers."
"Are we still trying to convince him to stop creating monsters?" Lizzy asked.
I nodded. "Yeah."
Dad's eyes landed on me. "You knew I was going to show up."
I bit into a fry. "Mm-hmm."
"How?"
"Simple. When I came to my room after hanging out with Vin, Slash started growling and wouldn't come into the room. Once I got him inside, he refused to go to sleep. This morning, after the phone call with Mom, I found a bug on my lampshade. So I knew you had heard the whole conversation with Mom. Which I decided to use to my advantage." I spread my arms out. "I called everyone and told them after I did a little research on our family. Luckily, Mr and Mrs. Lockwood were already in town." I ran my fingers through Slash's fur. "Slash did his bit by calling all Slashers. They're outside and waiting for a signal from Slash. Once he gives the signal they will come in here." I paused. "Since I already know you didn't come alone."
"Um, what about the owner, the employees, and the customers?" Bennet asked. "They're going to freak out when all hell breaks loose."
I shook my head. "I warned the owner and he told everyone else. Every time someone comes in they're being warned about what might happen."
"Damn, Sapphire. You planned this out perfectly," Eve said. Mr and Mrs. Lockwood had pride in their eyes. Mom, Morgan, and Scott were looking at me with surprise. No one knew that I was a good strategist.
"Thank you." I turned to my father. "So now that we're all here, let's begin this meeting."