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I snapped the door closed and slid the chain out before opening it wide and stepping back to let her in. When Carli was over the threshold, I shut the door and leaned against it, folding my hands behind my back. She glanced at my duffel bag and slowly turned to face me, eyebrows raised.
“You aren’t leaving tonight?” she accused, a hint of fear in her voice.
I shrugged, pressing my lips together to keep from saying anything. If I waited long enough, she’d spill the reason she was here.
“My grandma is clairvoyant, you know.” She gave me a shaky smile, looking down at her hands and picking at her cuticles.
I did know. I didn’t say that, though. I had to let her get it out, or she was going to clam up. I knew Carli way too well.
“She knew before I even got home,” she breathed out slowly, closing her eyes as she took a moment before looking up at me. “She encouraged me to leave with you.”
I cocked an eyebrow. Now that was a surprise. Carli’s grandmother was usually so protective, not wanting to let her go into the city without her by her side. Hearing she actually wanted Carli to go off and be an Army forester surprised me.
“She doesn’t want me wasting away here. She wants me to be able to do something with my life and, like you, do something with my talents instead of meager little things that aren’t get me anywhere or even advance my powers.”
I knew how Carli’s grandmother felt about the army. Her parents had met serving our country together. A warlock and a faerie. It wasn’t rare, but it was pretty uncommon. It was why when her mother had fallen pregnant, they’d come here to be with her paternal grandmother and back off to the army they went when Carli was only two years of age. Missing in action was what the report said, never to be seen again. Her grandmother hated the army for losing her son and taking a child’s parents away. But she respected them at the same time, and I knew how difficult that was for a woman. She was strong, though, especially for being able to step up and be the parent Carli needed. She was even stronger now for encouraging Carli to follow in their footsteps. She wouldn’t be able to fight though; she had more witch in her than faerie, which alone put her in the same line as I was. But because of the faerie bloodline she was so freaking good with plants.
She was going to make an amazing forester.
“Do you want to go?” I asked her, tilting my head, my heart skipping a beat as I waited for an answer.
She hesitated but then nodded in agreement. “I do, I really do.”
ChapterThirteen
My eyes lifted to a single photo that was on the wall. It was a man and a woman. The woman wore a flower-printed dress with a band of flowers wrapped around her head to match. He wore his army uniform, chest puffed out in pride. Both wore giant smiles, their eyes sparkling with genuine happiness.
* * *
The scream howledfrom the confinements of the house. I jumped, my eyes swiveling in the direction, my heart pounding furiously at the sound. The four of us watched as the door to the bigger cabin flew open, and two men in army uniforms, chests blazed with medals, stepped out. They glanced in our direction for just a moment before turning away and disappearing. She screamed again, and my heart tore, my feet pushing me towards the wide-open door.
Meredith was on her knees in the kitchen when we entered, bent over, clutching her wedding photo for dear life. I didn’t need to know. I’d seen it before. Timothy pushed me out of the way and rushed to his mother’s side, dropping to his knees to pull her into his arms. She rocked back and forth, screaming, inconsolable. Jasper’s hand on my shoulder pulled my eyes to him, and he gave me a wobbly smile, sadness glittering in his smoky grey eyes.
* * *
“You’re goingto take care of my daughter, right Azula?” Meredith asked, a little skeptical as she eyed Mallory’s thick duffel bag.
I turned to her, my heart leaping and skipping a few beats as my eyes rose to meet her. Her eyes were green, like the boy and girl behind her. Mallory and Timothy had gotten their father’s eyes.
“Wh-what?” I stammered.
Meredith gave a small, sad, and knowing smile. She didn’t say it aloud, though, not in front of the kids. I knew she wouldn’t.
“Take care of her and yourself. Please.”
I shared a look with Carli, who shrugged and nodded. Meredith hesitated for a moment and held up a finger before disappearing inside. I felt weird just standing there with her knowing what we were about to do. Did she really know, though? Or did she suspect what we were up to and just wanted us to spill so she could chain us up for the next fortnight? When Meredith returned, she held three boxes. They were each navy blue colored and square in shape. She handed me one, followed by both Mallory and Carli.
“Don’t open those here,” she told us sternly and stepped out of her door, opening her arms for all of us, which we immediately obeyed. “I’m proud of all three of you. I know you’re going to make me proud too.” She whispered, only loud enough for our ears to hear.
“Mom,” Mallory croaked, and I jabbed her with my elbow to quiet her before she was the one who lost it and begged to stay home.
When we pulled out of Meredith’s grip, Mallory rubbing her side, we waited as she and the two youngest returned inside the cabin and shut the door behind them. The click of the lock echoed behind them.
“What the hell was that?” Carli demanded.
I shook my head, my mouth feeling like I’d just eaten an entire bowl of cotton.
“When I was fourteen, I tried smoking. I didn’t like it, but I smelled really bad. I walked into the river to get the smell off me, and she still knew. She said it’s mom's intuition, whatever that is. Guess we won’t really know until we become moms ourselves.”
