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Miti
“You really didn’t come!” I said.
Standing in Bubbie’s kitchen while she cooked was not the greatest idea. My stomach grumbled every time I took a whiff of the soup she was making. Of course, she’d known I was coming and had likely started cooking right before I showed up, knowing full well I was upset at her for not coming to the coven meeting. “I needed you there, Bubbie.”
“No, you didn’t. You said it yourself—you got commitments from some of the covens to work with you. You had no need of me.”
“Not enough, though.” I slammed my hand on the table. “Not nearly enough.”
Bubbie stopped stirring the pot and picked up two white porcelain bowls, filling them with soup. Bringing them to the table, she set one in front of me, and I immediately dug in.
“It’s pork ribs with yam roots. I’m not sure what it’s called in English,” she explained.
“It’s delicious. Warms me to my core.”
“It’s good for you.”
“Bubbie, would you just tell us where the flower is that you used to help your husband’s pack become so powerful, then I’ll leave you alone.”
“No.” Her lips formed in a line, and if her eyes could burn me, I would have a hole going straight through my head right now.
“You know I wouldn’t push you unless it was dire. The pack is in danger, Bubbie. Your own family.”
“You don’t have to tell me,” she snapped. “They’re my own daughter and grandkids. And my best friend,” she said, pointing at me. “Miti, I understand the situation, but the flower is too powerful to control. Dillan was always a bad egg. I didn’t realize it until I married him, but he became three hundred times worse after he got access to the flower. It amplifies your powers significantly, that is true; but it can also bring out the worst in you. It is not something you want to mess with. Trust me.”
I took in a deep breath, honored she thought of me as her best friend. “You’ve told me this.”
“Multiple times.”
“I know, Bubbie.” I let out a long sigh. “I’m old, Bubbie.”
“So am I.”
“Not even close to as old as I am.” I laughed. “I have families that don’t even remember me anymore. Great-great-grandkids who think I died generations ago. If I have a way to save my family, I will use it because life is too precious.”
“I agree, Miti. But not the flower. Never the flower.”
I knew there was no way Bubbie would change her mind right now, which meant I would have to think of a different way to persuade her. We needed the flower to have a chance against Pac and his machinations. The potion he’d given us had dire consequences. The pack thought I’d found a cure, but it was really just a temporary solution. Many agreed with Bruno that it felt like sandpaper rubbing through their organs. They were in pain for days. And it was just a Band-Aid; it wasn’t even a full cure.
“Do you want more soup?” Bubbie asked, lifting a ladle full of soup and looking ready to pour it into my bowl.
“Yes, of course,” I said, knowing this was a peace offering and an end to the conversation.
Bubbie ladled the soup into my bowl. “Tell me more about Bruno and Lira. How are they doing?”
I started telling her about my meeting with Lira. How I thought Lira showed so much promise, but my mind kept returning to the flower. How was I going to get ahold of it? And when was Pac going to attack?
Lira
“You’re a what?” Millie asked through the phone.
“A witch, Millie.” She’d called me this morning, demanding I tell her what was going on. At first, I didn’t pick up, but after the fifth ring, I knew she wasn’t going to give up.
“And Mom never thought this was important enough to tell us? And you never thought to confide in me?”
I could hear how hurt she was and felt guilty for holding out on this secret for so long. Millie had always been there for me, no matter what.
“You remember at Luigi’s party that I had to leave early?” I said.
