Page 150 of Dancing for the Minotaur

The sound startled both of them and Terra looked down at the screen which read, Mom.

Terra immediately felt awful.

“Oh my God! Mom doesn’t know the kids are safe—she must be frantic.”

She answered as fast as she could.

“Mom?”

“Terra!” Lucy’s voice came through the phone already broken by tears. “Are they all right? Please tell me they’re all right!”

“They’re fine,” Terra said quickly. “Mom, they’re safe. I have them both. They’re sitting right here watching television.”

“Oh, thank God!”

Terra heard her mother begin sobbing openly.

“I thought…I thought something had happened. I thought I’d never see them again.”

“I know. I know, Mom. I thought the same thing,” Terra said.

“Please bring my grandbabies home!” Lucy cried. “Please, Terra, my heart can’t take this!”

The words sent a fresh surge of fear through Terra. God, she hadn’t even thought about what this kind of stress might be doing to Lucy, and she already had a heart condition!

“I’m bringing them right now,” she promised. “Mom, sit down. Please sit down and breathe. We’re leaving right now.”

“Hurry,” her mother begged.

“I will. I promise.”

Terra ended the call and looked at Taurex.

“I have to bring the kids home to my mom. She’s freaking out, and with her heart…”

“Of course you do,” he said immediately. “You should go.”

Terra paused for a moment. Part of her expected him to add something like,

We need to talk later. Or maybe, Call me. Or, Come back when your mother is settled.

But Taurex said none of those things. He simply rose from the table and put her now empty tea mug in the sink.

“Come. I will help you gather the younglings,” he rumbled.

Terra followed him into the living room, feeling strangely deflated. SpongeBob was winding down and both children had finished their cookies, leaving only crumbs on the plates and little milk mustaches above their lips.

“Come on, kids,” Terra said. “Nana wants to see you.”

Lisa immediately hopped down from the couch, a worried look on her face.

“Is Nana crying because she missed us?”

“A little,” Terra admitted. The question didn’t surprise her. Lisa had always been extremely empathetic.

Cody stood and looked toward Taurex.

“Can the Bull-man come too?” he asked. “I bet Nana would like to see him, too.”