jrzgrl02: I love that I'm keeping you on the edge of your seat. Oh, now you know Emily isn't going to let any of the warlords take her back without a struggle. I am mostly back to health now (just a small pain in my leg that comes and goes). Been bowling up a storm in my free time after work.

Vampire Ronin: I've decided. Definitely going to share original ideas for this sequel at the end of the story. OOPS. Only a few OOPSies this time. Sorry for the extended wait. Been a bit busy doing this, that and the other.

Enjoy the new chapter of "Trouble Follows Little Sister"!

Regular Speech

Sign and Speech

Sign only

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

If anyone were to look in the apartment and check on Emily, they would find her in a deep meditation. With her bedroom closed and locked, Emily was focused intently on contacting her Godfather. Underneath her bangs the kanji for Spirit was glowing a light green.

/…/

"…and then he disappeared. I guess he broke the connection or something," Emily said.

The two of them sat across from each other in a space where a few candles lit up the dark space around them.

"Your power is starting to grow. Shifting through the shadows in your dreams means you'll soon be able to do it while awake," the Ancient One told her.

Emily nodded. She had figured it had had something to do with her half-Shadow heritage.

"I'm worried, Godfather. I think they suspect I'm really here and they're going to stick around until they find me," Emily said.

The man reached forward to lay a hand over one of Emily's which was leaning on her knee.

"This will be a very trying battle for you, but with the combined power of the ronins and the Shadows? It will make it all the much harder for them," he replied.

Emily smiled. She turned her hand over so she could squeeze the older man's hand.

"Thank you, Godfather. You make me feel a little better." Emily sighed. "Do you think they'll attack me in the open? At the college? If I'm discovered?"

The Ancient One shook his head.

"That has never been their style. They tend to wait until the field is to their advantage. Try not to find yourself alone with any of them," he cautioned.

As if remembering something, Emily made a face. If he had to take a guess, he would have to say it probably had something to do with a certain scarred warlord. It seemed her brother's rivalry with the other warrior extended to her as well.

"I will do everything I can to prevent that from happening, Godfather. I've been in their company before." Emily grimaced. "I'd rather kiss a porcupine."

The Ancient One chuckled and patted Emily on the arm. Then he lifted his hand to touch her lightly on the cheek.

"Be well, child."

/…/

The kanji stopped glowing and disappeared just as Emily opened her eyes. She groaned as she checked the time.

"Have to finish that stupid Math homework," she mumbled.

She stood up from the floor and snatched up her backpack. She retrieved all her math stuff and brought it out to the dinner table. Emily found the page she had to work on and let out another, more agonizing groan.

"When am I ever going to use any of this?" she grumbled [1].

Poor Rowen had heard many of her math complaints over the years. She knew it made him happy he wasn't tutoring her in math anymore.

/…/

"Here's your change," the cashier said.

"Thanks."

Emily stuffed the change in her jacket pocket and snatched up her water bottle and apple. She dashed around the corner, only to nearly collide with another person. The other person threw up their hands to catch her by the upper part of her arms to prevent her from falling down backwards or colliding with them. Emily looked up into a familiar pair of blue eyes.

"Sorry about that," Emily automatically apologized.

Anubis chuckled as he brought his hands down.

"It's okay, Sky. Actually, I've been looking for you," he told her.

Several colorful words came to mind when he had uttered that sentence. A glance at the clock over his shoulder caused her to actually let one out. He narrowed his eyes in confusion.

"Whatever it is, you'll have to catch me later. I have less than two minutes to get clear across campus and up three flights of stairs. Excuse. Me."

Emily jerked around the brunette and dashed out the door a poor unsuspecting freshmen had just started opening. Running around a column, with no one around in sight, Emily disappeared like sand in the wind. She suddenly reappeared in the stairwell on the third floor of the main academic building. Emily came to an abrupt halt on the top of the stairwell of the third floor.

I think I just shifted through the Shadows, Emily said to herself.

She took a moment to remind herself to breathe as she took in a staggering breath. This was going to require further investigation. Later. Without looking at her watch, she dashed down the third floor hall to her classroom. They had several guest speakers visiting today and she couldn't miss that.

Meanwhile, back in the student union, Anubis sat down at a table with a man with dirty blonde hair and dark green eyes. He looked up from a book he was reading when his friend sat down.

"Where's your mortal?" he asked.

"I'll catch her later. She ran off to a class," Anubis answered.

The other man snorted. "You're getting soft in your old age, Anubis."

He glared at the disguised Dais. The other warlord knew good and well that he, Anubis, was the youngest of the four of them.

"She was with our last victim when I met her [Elizabeth Ann]. I am ensuring she doesn't suspect anything."

Having gone back to reading, Dais' only response was a quiet snort which earned him another glare. Had they not been in such a public place, the warlord would not have hesitated to give him a piece of his mind.

/…/

Anubis was able to catch up with "Sky" later that day. He had inserted himself into a group of prospective students she was giving a tour of the school to. He didn't worry about Dais needing to cast an illusion over him. Sky had no reason to suspect him and he had lured Elizabeth Ann out of the theater by means of a child crying out for help. If Sky had a problem with him being with the group, she didn't let it show.

When they reached the school theater, Sky had them standing in the lobby and was talking about their spring musical. Out of nowhere, Elizabeth Ann rushed over to her side, quickly whispering something into her ear. Sky's eyes went wide as she snapped her head to the side. Elizabeth Ann meekly nodded her head at her. Sky then turned her attention back to her group.

"I apologize, but it seems there's some technical issues the crew needs help with. Please feel free to take a look around the lobby. We have some wonderful paintings hanging up around here. This should only take me a few minutes."

Sky quickly followed her friend through a pair of open double doors. The small group separated quietly and walked around to take a look at the paintings. Anubis shrugged, but decided to take a look at the art anyway. He had only looked at two paintings when he came to a stop in front of the third.

It was a small 12x12 painting of a snake. However, this wasn't just any ordinary snake. This was a painting of an albino Burmese Python. He stepped closer to it and looked carefully over the painting. With the appearance of a small white scar just under the snake's right eye, he recognized this particular snake.

/This painting is of one of Sekhmet's snakes./

Hunter stepped up beside him with a small smile on his face.

"It's a wonderful painting, isn't it?" Hunter asked.

Anubis made an hmm sound. "It is. Obviously painted by a very talented artist."

"It's one of Sky's best pieces. Her last painting was of a sunset," Hunt said.

On the outside, he didn't let his rage show. However, on the inside, he was seething. Anubis made sure to keep his gaze on the painting while speaking to Hunter.

"Sky? Do you mean the student giving the tour?" he questioned.

The warlord hated to admit he was a bit surprised when Hunter nodded his head. He quietly thanked the man and rejoined the group as Sky reappeared. The rest of the tour passed quickly with it finishing back off at the Admissions Office. When Emily stepped outside, she was a little surprised to see the familiar brunette.

"I couldn't help but notice you tagged along with my tour group today," Emily commented.

Anubis' smirk did nothing to soothe her nerves. She knew it had been dangerous to leave him alone with the group and having seen him with Hunter had been a big clue how wrong that decision had been.

"I enjoyed the tour but I believe my favorite part was seeing your painting in the theater. An albino Burmese Python, if I'm not mistaken," he said.

Emily knew instantly that he knew. He knew who she was or, at the very least, suspected who she was.

There's no sense in lying to him, then. It might anger any one of them and put others in danger, she thought.

"You're not mistaken. At least not about that."

Anubis raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Mm-hmm. See, you asked me a lot of questions about my friend, but you didn't ask anything about me. That was your first mistake," Emily told him, walking down a few outside steps to the office.

This time, he frowned. She made it sound as though he had made more than one "mistake."

"What was my second mistake, Sky?"

Emily chuckled as she walked slowly down two more steps.

"That was." She smirked. "You never asked me for my name."

"You told me your name was Sky," he stated in a clear voice.

Emily shook her finger as she clucked her tongue. Now she held his complete attention.

"You weren't listening very carefully, then. I said everyone calls me Sky. It's only a nickname," Emily told.

She crossed down the rest of the steps and passed the momentarily stunned warlord. He turned around to face her the same time she turned around so her side was to him. His gaze was narrowed and she swore she saw his eyes glow with the power of his armor.

"What is your name? Your real name?" he growled.

"Emily."

With that said, Emily walked away from one of the four most dangerous men in the mortal realm.

/…/

Dear Annalise,

I loved the photographs of your farm! I will definitely take the time this summer to visit you and your husband. It really sounds like you're having fun with your new volunteering job. Little Mikayla sounds like a little angel.

School is going well. The second semester isn't much different from the first. My classes are still mostly Introduction to… and 100 level courses. My favorite is my English Composition 102. The teacher has been published for her poetry and she's an amazing woman!

My family is good. I just spoke with Sage the other day. My sister Yayoi got a new job last month so she's only just begun to get into the swing of things.

Emily finished composing her letter then read it back over. She nodded her head when she was satisfied with the two-page letter she had written to Annalise. She hadn't told the older woman about the whole issue that was about to snowball into trouble with the warlords.

/There's no need for her to know./

Emily sealed the envelope and put a stamp on it before setting it aside. Just then her roommate came into the apartment with a small bag of groceries. Emily winced before catching Tom's attention.

"I need to talk to you. It's important," Emily told him.

Tom frowned in confusion before nodding his head. He asked her to let him put the groceries away first. Emily nodded to him as she picked up two pictures she had printed out. Now that Anubis knew who she was Emily felt she needed to warn those closest to her. She would start with Tom while she tried to figure out to give a shortened, less complicated version to Elizabeth Ann.

END OF CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

And the plot has thickened now. Please feed me the reviews, readers! I do so enjoy your feedback, thoughts, compliments, etc. Much thanks!

[1] - Does this sound familiar? I'm sure I said this a few times about different math problems myself.