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Talk about being a little trigger-happy there.
“Ow.” She shakes out her hand. “Well, I should have known better, given the aura. You, sir, have grabbed someone’s attention enough that they found you a threat.” Her eyes look over Lynx’s body in a calculating assessment before swinging towards my spitfire. “Or maybe it wasn’t you they were worried about. Either way, we can restore your memory easily enough once I have the ingredients. It will just take some time to get them.”
“Are you serious?” Rez jumps from her seat and looks at Lilith like she’s an angel coming to deliver us from Hell.
Fire shoots up from in the fireplace and I groan, throwing my arm up in the air. “It was me… sorry.” Talk about a bad habit.
“I’ll help,” Rez says as she walks up to Lilith and grabs ahold of her hand, bringing it up to her chest. “Please, let me help. He’s my best friend, and it’s my fault he’s this way,” she pleads. “I’ll help in any way that I can. Washing bowls, getting ingredients, grinding leaves, whatever you need. Just please tell me you’re not joking with me. I don’t think I can take it.”
I knew Rez cared for Lynx, but it’s painfully obvious that she loves him more than life itself. If I didn’t know any better, I would say she didn’t have any more room in her heart to love all of us. But I’ve seen how she pushes back against Ryker, calms down Knox, gives Levi the firm hand he craves, and goes along with JP’s flirtatious yet caring ways. Us, though, well… We are still working on us. I just want to have more one-on-one time with her.
Lilith cradles Rez’s jaw with her other hand as her eyes search her face for a moment until she finds what she’s looking for. A sad smile appears on her face as tears gather in her eyes. “You remind me so much of her,” she says, and Rez visibly jerks back as if Lilith slapped her.
She lets go of Lilith’s hand and steps back, studying her with furrowed brows. “Talk about déjà vu. A friend of mine told me the exact same thing once but didn’t say who.”
“Oh? Who was that?” Lilith asks, taking another seat in her chair.
“Anwen,” Rez says, bringing her chin up, daring Lilith to question her.
Maybe Murmur had a point about this being like a soap opera. I kind of wish I had popcorn too.
JP comes over and sits down in Rez’s seat, handing me a small cup of popcorn. Where the fuck did he get that from? I didn’t even see him move. I look over to where Murmur is, and he lifts the bowl in a salute. Oh. That makes sense. I raise my cup with a small smile and throw a warm, buttery piece into my mouth.
This is much better with popcorn.
Lilith’s smile widens hearing the Fates name. I’m still in awe that we’ve met her. It’s considered an honor to meet a Fate, let alone see their face. “She’s a wonderful friend, and of course she would say that to you. She was the closest to your mother.”
“My… mom?” Rez asks, her shoulders dropping as she takes a step back. “What do you mean?”
“Liliwen. Isn’t that your mother? Anwen and Liliwen were best friends until she was taken from us. Didn’t you know that?” Lilith cocks her head as she analyzes Rez’s reaction.
Rez’s mouth parts slightly as her eyebrows shoot up to her hairline. “Um… noooo! I think you might have some wires crossed.” She drops her voice. “No offense,” she says, backing up.
Lilith waves away Rez’s comment. “No offense taken, Nerezza. I know new information is hard to take in like this, so I understand you must need to digest it all.”
Oh shit. I know I’m not a mind reader, and I don’t have a connection with Rez like Knox does, but even I can read her.
“Excuse me!” Rez says, taking a wider stance and putting her hands on her waist.
“Um, does anyone else feel like we need to take shelter?” Moni whispers, flying over to land on JP’s shoulder in her small form, her coffee absent.
“You have a point, Tweedle Dee,” JP replies, keeping his voice down.
“I’m sorry. I know you’re going through a lot right now with the new adjustment of the mate mark, your familiar losing his memories, and now, the news of your real mother, but the fact is—”
“You’re wrong!” Rez says matter-of-factly. “My mother is Jillian Hunter; she’s human… or she was.” She chokes up on the words as they get caught in her throat and starts pacing before Lilith. “I don’t know who this Liliwen person was, but obviously she meant a great deal to you and Anwen, and for that, I’m sorry. I’m truly sorry that looking at me reminds you of someone that you lost who was dear to you, but she was not my mother. I have pictures at home and birth certificates that prove Jillian is—was—my mother,” Rez says, stopping to face Lilith.
“Yes, but as my story just proved, they can be falsified also,” Lilith says, before calmly sipping her drink.
Tears begin to build in Rez’s eyes, and I set down my drink to reach out to her, but JP stills my hand before leaning over.
“She wants to be alone to process. She would just shrug off your touch,” he advises, and I look at him in question, to which he just points to his head and shakes it. Ahh. She must be screaming her thoughts and not shielding. Nodding that I understand, I slump back against the couch, defeated and hopeless. But there’s not much to do besides watch as Rez gets heated and clenches her fists.
I don’t blame her. If I had a mother that I grew up with my entire life and someone accused her of not being mine, how would I feel? I would probably tear their throat out for even suggesting it.
“Just because you got your body back and you’re free to say and do what you please, doesn’t give you the right to actually do it,” Rez says, pointing her finger in Lilith’s direction. “You have no idea what I or your boys have gone through while you’ve been preoccupied.” She points to herself and back at us before continuing. “So maybe, while you have the freedom to speak, you should follow the golden rule, and if you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at fucking all. Think of what it will do to others and their happy family. So, I take great pleasure in saying that you’re fucking wrong, Lilith,” Rez spits out, and flips her the bird. Not looking at anyone, she starts walking out of the room. “I’m going to the bathroom,” she says over her shoulder as she leaves the room.
“Well, that went better than I expected,” Lilith states, clenching her jaw.
