“You practically starved me for a full year so you could pass me off as some Bangladeshi refugee kid you adopted! Totally racist, by the way, andI was nine years old! You expect me to believe you didthatfor my benefit?”
A shrug and a sniff. “The sympathy opened important doors for us, I am not responsible for human ignorance, and it looks to me like you’ve recovered just fine.” She gestures at my not-insignificant waistline. “All on meals paid for withmymoney, I might add.”
It’s been less than fifteen seconds since she’s started in on me, and already my cheeks are burning. There’s taut cable tension in my chest and arms, and my hands are clenched into fists. All the while she just smirks at me as if this were some game. I just want to let loose on her andsay—I don’t even know what! To use my newfound confidence to speak up at last! To somehow,finallyget through to her that I needed a real mom growing up, not a monster!
But then I feel Collin’s hand on my shoulder, and it’s like cool water pouring onto a fire. He’s not using any powers on me. He’s just there, his expression meeting my anger with tenderness.
“She’s not worth it, Alvin. You’re miles better than her, and some part of her knows that.That’swhy she’s winding you up.”
That literally seems like theleastlikely explanation for my mom’s behavior. But I’m sure he’s right that she’s doing this deliberately. And for whatever reason, his compliment still feels good. (Maybe it’s just knowing that, if nothing else,someone’sgot my back here.)
Mom notices my cooldown immediately. But instead of being disappointed, she cocks her head, curious. “So, how’s that Obligation feelingnow?”
Oh. Right. Lovely.
This was all just some kind of “teachable moment” for her. Too bad for me, it was pointless.
“Better, Mom. But I already knew how to use rage to hold it off. I can’t do that forever. What else you got?”
She takes me in, thoughtfully. “I think you underestimate how incredible it is that you are able to resist the Obligation at all. But you always were an ungrateful child.” She crosses her arms. “If it were simply a matter of you not wanting to give the watch to the elf for whatever pittance he offered, then I’d say we should arrange to have it presented to the Dragon King. We’d need to go throughintermediates, of course. We’d want to avoid his direct scrutiny. But he’s been looking for the Avatar for a very long time, and even filtered through middlemen, the spoils of his gratitude would be immense.”
The Dragon King! I don’t know much about supernatural politics, but it’s common knowledge he’s the top of the food chain when it comes to the paranormal world. (Or really,allthe paranormal worlds. Earth is supposedly just a backwater.) It’s why I hoped dropping his name would get the elf to back off when he had me pinned to the wall. Mom’s just given me a surprisingly useful tidbit.
I hear Collin suck in a breath beside me. Tension radiates down his arm to his grip on my shoulder. But I don’t need to be an all-knowing spirit to realize how terrible a plan it is that Mom is suggesting.
“The Dragon King is supposedly even more evil than the elf, Mom. Hard pass.”
“He’s not evil. He’s just powerful. So powerful, in fact, that even the lowliest of his functionaries could free you of the Obligation, and ensure the elf never bothers you again. And that would be the least his court could do for us!”
I scoff. “Not evil? He literallydevouredall his kids. Like at a dinner party. Before dessert.”
“Ay, Alvin! You never listen! He didn’t ‘devour’ them. He had them killed. There’s a difference.”
“No.”
She sighs, heavy. “It doesn’t matter what I say. I’m not going to be able to convince you to keep that spirit where it belongs, am I? Even if it gets useverythingwe could ever want?”
I don’t dare trust it, but it’s beginning to feel like maybe she’s going to let me have the win on this.
I fold my arms. “You’re not, Mom. Because it’s the right thing to do.”
She snorts with derision, then her perfectly pink jailbait lips curl into a smile, amused at some private joke in her head. “Very well. I can still help you. But since I am notquiteas noble as my darling son, you’ll forgive me if I demand a little something in return.”
And that right there would be the sound of the other shoe dropping.
“What do you want?”
“Nothing huge. Just an answer to a single question. You ask the Avatar, and then tell me what he says.”
I glance up at Collin, who looks wary, but isn’t shaking his head this time.
“And if I decide not to give you that answer?” I ask.
“Then I’ll decide not to give you mine.” There’s a glimmer in her eye. “But I promise you that I actually do know how to get you what you want here. And, if you have any doubts about what I’m asking for, I’m sure the Avatar will be able to assure you that you’d be getting the better part of the exchange.”
She’s guaranteed up to something. But that doesn’t mean she won’t help. History shows that she does seem to want me to stay alive, if only so she can keep torturing me over breakfast food. And I’m pretty sure I know her tics well enough to tell if she’s lying.
Collin shrugs. It’s up to me, apparently.
