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It seemed we both had. But I wasn’t about to tell her that and rub it in.
Imogen shrugged. “I guess I missed it. Probably from the fear of getting my face ripped off by the buru.”
“That checks,” I said. “I’m glad you’re here. Thank you for going to the library for me. It was a big favor, and I shouldn’t have asked you to do all of this. It was too much.”
I would work to be a better friend to Imogen, as she was to me. I’d work to be a better daughter, too. I had a lot of work to do, apparently, because I was lucky to have such loving support.
“No biggie. That’s what friends do. Also,shouldn’t have?It was awesome. I loved it. Oh!” Imogen rifled through her pockets. “I know who Cornelius Kurnbottomreallyis.”
CHAPTER 26
Imogen pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket and slowly unfolded it. “His real name is Reuben Maize.”
Mom squared her shoulders and the color drained from her face.
“Seriously,Maize.” Imogen snorted. “He went from his real name Sandwich Corn to pretending to be Corn Cornbutt. You can’t make this stuff up. Well, I guess he did. What an unimaginative idiot.”
Mom’s eyes went distant, like she was lost in memory. She leaned against a tree and muttered something to herself I couldn’t quite catch.
“Apparently he’s a super old human, like over one hundred years old,” Imogen said. “He’s been keeping himself alive using supernatural means.”
Supernatural means—like my mother’s life magic.
“He’s been here before, hasn’t he?” I asked Mom. “You know who he is now.”
She licked her lips. “Yes.”
“This is good, right?” Imogen looked back and forth between us and frowned. “How is this not good?”
Mom shook her head. This was verynot good.
“The magic shop…my home…grows the way it does because of my magic. The roots are not sustained by sunlight and soil, but by my presence,” Mom said.
“Is that why the branches on top of the fat trunk are so puny?” Imogen asked.
“Yes,” Mom said. “Years ago, Reuben Maize came here because of this tree. He insisted I must have a magical object containing life magic. He was relentless about his desire to procure the object, and offered to pay any price.”
“But there was no object,” Imogen said. “Right?”
“Correct,” Mom said.
Mom was the source of the magic Maize sought, which meant no matter the circumstances, I couldn’t let her go near him.
“Lucky he didn’t realize the magical life source was you,” Imogen said. “Tell me he didn’t.”
“He made threats.” Mom glanced at me.
Did that mean he’d threatened to harm me if she didn’t hand over what he wanted?
“I ensured he left empty handed, and would not return,” Mom said.
“What did you do to him?” Imogen asked, her most unsettling smile plastered to her face. It was the uncomfortable one she wore before she freaked out and ran away. Her voice cracked as she asked, “Did you maim him?”
“I did what I had to,” Mom said.
Her smile still in place, Imogen inched herself away from my mother and behind me.
I ignored her as memories flooded my brain. Maizehadthreatened to kill me. But Mom had acted before he’d laid a hand on me.
