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“That is a useless piece of metal,” he said. “The door has been opened. The goddess is dead. You failed and someone else will be assigned to clean up your mess.”
“But…You don’t understand. I….” My words died in my throat.
“You will hand over all library property before being escorted from the premises.”
This wasn’t happening. It was all some terrible nightmare. This wasn’t possible.
“You will no longer identify yourself as an associate of the library. You will not return to this place, nor look upon its books. After one year of following these terms, you may reapply for a library membership card to borrow books.”
Ringing filled my ears. I couldn’t breathe.
“I don’t understand,” I whispered.
“You’re fired.”
A soft hand touched my elbow. Madison led me from the boss’s office. We headed down the hall. I was numb.
She was talking, but I couldn’t hear her. All I could hear was those two terrible words over and over again.
You’re fired.
We stopped moving in a dark closet. It took me a moment to realize there was a desk in the tiny space. This couldn’t be Madison’s office, could it?
She reached for my magical bag, and pulled it from my shoulder.
“That’s mine,” I said.
“I’m so sorry,” she said.
“It doesn’t belong to the library, Madison. It belongs to me.”
She rifled through my things, took out my phone and wallet and offered them to me.
“I truly am sorry,” she said.
I took my phone and wallet. “You can’t do this. He can’t do this.”
She used my chain, wrapped it around her hand and opened a portal. She offered me a sad smile. “Go through. Start a new life. Please don’t make me call security.”
Lost and hollow, I stepped through the portal. Instead of returning to the middle of nowhere town of Inorog, I was delivered to the middle of nowhere forest of Marshmallow, North Carolina.
CHAPTER 25
Ever since I first left home to work for the library, I had returned to Marshmallow the minimum number of times. I’d felt like I had to prove myself to be as fierce as my mom before I would be worthy. Yet here I stood on her doorstep, having proved the exact opposite. I’d failed.
The door opened on its own. Inside the shop, two women stood talking together at the counter in a friendly manner. One was my mom. When her eyes met mine, her smile dropped.
“Time to go, Jennifer,” Mom said, and ushered the other woman past me and out onto the porch.
The other woman appeared quite confused by the sudden turn. “Oh…wait…um…okay?”
The door shut in her face, leaving my mom and me staring at each other. She looked my own age, exactly how she had when I’d grown up, with blond hair instead of white. The swell of arthritis in her joints had faded, as had the crook of her spine, and the pain that she’d tried to conceal behind her once-cloudy blue eyes. This was one of the many perks of being a life witch—she was able to choose the age she wanted her body to be. It was weird to see her like this, and nice, and so many things all at the same time.
“Come,” she said, and took my hand. “You need some tea.”
Her grip was firm but gentle, the same as her personality.
“Blackberry green,” I whispered, my throat tight.
