“You claim to hate Madam Lyrie,” he says. “I’m giving you the chance to prove it.”
9
STAY FAR AWAY
ELLIOT
Idon’t tell Mama about the vampire blood. I know it’s wrong, but so was hiding her illness. This is my way of buying time, and as soon as I figure out the cure, I won’t ever do it again. For now, I’ve mixed the blood with enough herbs and Lake Astoria water to dilute the taste. Mama drinks it with a crinkled nose, but she doesn’t put it down until the vial is clear.
“You’re good at this,” she says, wiping delicately at her mouth. She pulls her sleeve up, displaying her grey, diseased flesh. It hasn’t spread, but it’s certainly not disappearing.
“I wish I were better,” I admit. Still, her praise warms something in my chest. Mama has always been stern and demanding of the people around her. Council members, friends, the townspeople she’s sworn to protect. Never me though. She has only ever been warm and welcoming.
“This is the first thing to slow the progression,” she says.
“You should have come to me,” I say. I can’t help myself, but as soon as the words are out, I feel a pang of guilt. I glance sheepishly at her. “Sorry.”
“No, you’re right,” she says. She gives me a thin smile, eyes watering. “I didn’t…I didn’t want to worry you.”
She blinks the tears away before straightening. She doesn’t look at me, even as I stare at her, searching uselessly for words. Mama tugs her sleeve back into place, hiding the grey skin. She focuses on the grimoire before her, fingers shaking as they trail over her scrawled writing. She’s added annotations in every blank space on the page.
I can only see the headings, but it’s clearly information on dark magic and its consequences.
“We’ll figure it out,” I say. “I’ll look into some options at work, and if you can come in?—”
“No,” she says. She closes her book with a sharp snap. “No one can know.”
“We wouldn’t announce it,” I say gently. “We could come up with an excuse so no one knows. It will?—”
“I said no, Elliot.” Her eyes, a lighter version of my own, flash with all too familiar determination. Once Mama’s made up her mind, there’s little point in trying to change it.
“Fine,” I say. I lift my hands in surrender. “I’ll find another option.”
“I have a meeting soon,” she says. Her eyes are back on her grimoire, hands tapping the well-worn cover. It’s been passed down for generations, and it’s strange to imagine that someday it will be mine.
I’d like to put that day off for as long as possible.
“I’ll see you later,” I say. I collect my jacket and messenger bag from the chair. Though I don’t tell Mama, it contains my last batch of medicine. After the next treatment, I’ll be out of vampire blood—and out of ways to keep her disease from spreading.
“Goodbye, Elliot,” she says. She smiles at me, lips pressed together. “I love you.”
“I love you too,” I say. I start for the door, only to pause.
I’ve considered asking Mama about Secora Reed since I made it back to the Day Realm. I don’t know what stops me. There’s an uneasy clench in my gut though, an undeniable urge to keep that interaction to myself. Mama warned me to stay away from Secora, and even though I didn’t seek her out on purpose, it feels wrong to hide the interaction.
Telling her feels even worse.
“Say it,” Mama commands, startling me.
“How do you do that?” I ask as I turn from the door. I can’t keep the guilty smile from my face. “There’s no way?—”
“I’m your mother, Elliot,” she says. She returns the smile, and her previously cold eyes spark with mischief. “Just ask. If it’s about my disease or its curability, I can tell you I don’t know. But if it’s about?—”
“Secora Reed,” I blurt.
Mama’s smile evaporates, and her lips twist into something unrecognizable. I’ve rarely seen Mama angry. She’s always been too controlled, too calculating to lose her temper. Even when Sebastian Vulce attacked her onstage, she didn’t let her fear or fury show. She kept it all close to her chest.
I wait for Mama to speak, but she doesn’t. She only stares at me, and any plan to tell her the truth withers on my tongue.
