AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You are right. Tonight isn’t the time. We’re all tired,” Mom said. “But soon and when you’re ready.”
“Was I really that bad to them?” I asked.
“They were weary of you. You were dealing with things most of them will never fully understand. Somehow you even kept the other spirits to yourself, hidden from me. I didn’t allow it to get as bad as I believe it could’ve. I wouldn’t do that to you, Ter.”
“What about Salta?” I asked.
“I wouldn’t let anything happen to her either, but that’s not the question you’re asking. She’s eleven. She’s my child. I understand that you love her. I know what you would do to keep her safe, but she is my child. That is a love and a pain you don’t know yet. I can’t move the whole coven here, Ter. What do you expect me to do? I can’t give you your sister. She’s not a baby doll to pass around.”
“I know that,” I said, keeping the snap out of my voice only for the sake of my sleeping sister.
“And yet you do not wish to return,” she said.
“It hurts too much being there. I don’t think I realized that until I was away.”
“I understand that. That’s why I sent you away,” she said, a smile pulling at the corners of her tired red lips. “Still, Salta is a child.”
“What happens if she just keeps running away?” Scott asked. “I’m not trying to steal your daughter, but if that happens again, we need to have a plan in place.”
“He is wise,” Mom smiled at me.
“You can stay here tonight, if you like,” Scott offered. “We have plenty of rooms.”
“I will be awake tonight.”
“Oh,” Scott said.
“Yes, we live by the night. It’s probably why the coven survived so long. We are of the sun and moon, but the moon has never guided us to our demise,” she said. “I think we shall have to compromise with Salta because I will not put my child under armed guards to keep her inside the territory. The Lost Fang Coven will never sink to that level. Perhaps, she can be home throughout the week for her tutors and such and someone can bring her back on weekends once you two have settled in. Even if you don’t settle in here in Heartville, with the gateways she could visit you anywhere and you could visit us once you feel up to it. She won’t like it, but it is what I’m willing to offer.”
“I think it sounds fair,” Scott said.
I nodded. How had I turned around to sleeping at night so quickly? I was ready for bed or maybe I was ready for the conversation to be over.
“I have others here to speak with tonight about things that may come to pass. Come morning, since she is somewhere asleep now, I will take her home. You need this time to bond and map your path forward together. This isn’t the time for me or anyone to make comments about what that path might look like. If you ever need me, come home, Ter. The coven will always be there.”
Scott and I had bloodshakes after Mom left. Scott had some little magical rune from his brother, Blithe, to keep the blender’s noise trapped inside its own atoms. It was a newer one, from what he told me, crafted just with his kittens in mind.
After our shakes, we crawled into bed and Scott kept looking at me like he wanted to say something or expected me to say something. I was out of words. Maybe needing him at fifteen was fine, but now? How selfish could I get?
“Hey,” Scott yawned. “It’s not selfish. Grief is what it is. It comes however it wants. If I only saw the slain enemies of my parents, I’d want my dad around too.”
Scott rolled onto his side and tugged at my hand until I scooted closer to him. He wiggled up and held my head to his chest. His heartbeat thrummed against my ear. Hot red tears squeezed from my eyes. Vampires didn’t always cry blood. We didn’t always have that sort of build up of pain or stress or whatever inside of us. I let my mate hold me while I accepted that come morning it was time to have a long talk with Dad about moving on. There were so many firsts in my life coming up. So many things I wanted him to see.
“He’ll just have to watch from the Other World,” Scott whispered. “We’ll just have to believe he can see it all.”
Chapter Nineteen
Scott
I was up the next morning before Terrick. High Priestess Arrakia sat with her forearms resting on the kitchen table when I walked into the room. The bags under her eyes were even larger than they were when she left last night.
“Hope you don’t mind that I showed myself back into your home,” she said and nodded in the direction of the percolating coffee pot.
“You’re always welcome in our home. I don’t know if this will be our home even if we stay,” I stopped to cover a yawn. “But wherever we end up, you’re welcome.”
“You Hemlocks have always specialized in hospitality,” she let out a sleepy yawn.
I made two cups of coffee and brought her one before I sat down on the other side of the table.
