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“I do.” Mommy nods simply. “But you can’t take her. She’s just a baby.”
“She won’t be forever, and then we’ll be back for her,” he states, and when I look back at him, he’s staring right at me. I shrink into mommy some more. “She’ll be old enough to know the truth soon enough.”
“Not now! You promised me—”
“Sometimes, for good reasons, promises have to be broken,” he snarls and dips forward, reaching out his hand toward me.
I scream and jerk back. Mommy wrenches me out of the way, behind her, and lifts her hands, creating a barrier in front of the two of us. “I’ll go with you, but you will not touch my daughter!” she booms, her voice deeper with a strength I’ve never experienced from Mommy before.
My eyes widen as I look up at her, my head tilting back to see her better. But the shadows swarm over her, and the wind whisks her white strands around her face. From the tips of her fingers erupts purple electricity, her powers. I’ve only ever seen Mommy use her powers with patients, never outside of work. The purple electricity sweeps down her and to the side, crackling in the air, sending the hair on the back of my neck up.
I shiver from the sudden chill that dips in the air, and clouds cover the sun. Thunder booms and lightning flashes.
“You won’t touch her, Alduin.”
“Fine,” the man bites out. “You can’t protect her forever, though, Helen. Once she’s of age, I’ll be back for her. Her rightful place is not here in this mangy little village you call home. Neither is yours, and you damn well know that. You both belong to a greater force.” He steps forward and reaches through the haze that Mommy has wrapped around us, grabbing hold of her. “You will come with me.”
I scream and lurch forward, hitting his leg with my tiny fists. “Let her go! Let my mommy go!” I wail, kicking at him.
He laughs, the sound booming like thunder. As the spell is broken, the storm evaporates into nothing and leaves behind sunshine again, but I no longer feel the warmth of the rays on my skin. Instead, iciness is left behind. I don’t stop pounding because I have to help Mommy. The man twists and jerks his leg, hitting me in the stomach. I fly backward and hit the ground, my head slamming against something sharp. Mommy screams, crying out my name.
I blink, but the edges of my vision are already curling in blackness. I can’t feel my legs, my arms, or anything else. Everything is numb. Somewhere in the distance, Mommy is yelling, using words that she chastises Jasper for saying. I blink again, but my eyelids are starting to feel heavy.
Again, only cold wraps around me. Where is the sun, the warmth? My body feels as if I’ve just been submerged in an icy bath. Where are Daddy and Jasper? They need to save Mommy. I want to help Mommy, but I can’t. Tears snake down my cold cheeks, hot against my flesh.
“I’m sorry, Mommy,” I whisper, unsure if she hears me, but all I can do is hope as the icy hands tug me downward into the depths of darkness.
I hope she can hear me. Mommy has good hearing, so she has to, right?
I sat straight up, gasping for air, cold sweat clinging to my forehead. My heart was still thundering in my chest, and a lump had formed in my throat, the telltale sign that I had to stop myself from crying out in my sleep – again. Blinking rapidly to push back the unwanted tears, I twisted, and felt the arm around my waist. It took a moment to remember where I was, the fog of sleep beginning to life from my mind. Turning my head, a wisp of breath filtered over me. Timothy was holding me protectively, not that being smushed up against the wall didn’t help or anything. Reaching down, I pulled his arm from around my waist and sat up to catch my breath.
My heart was still erratically beating, pounding in my ears. Shifting my eyes to the window, I took in the periwinkle sliver of sky I could make out through the shades. Dawn was just beginning. This also meant that Timothy’s mother was awake, scuffling around the kitchen and making breakfast. I realized then that the only reason I’d even know her schedule like that was because of how much time I spent here. That was no surprise. If I wasn’t home or working, I was with Timothy, including sleeping.
I guess this was why people pestered us about marriage. We’d been together for so long now that it had to be a matter of time, right?
Shaking my head, I looked down at him again. My chest hurt, and I knew it was from the sobs I refused to let out. This wouldn’t last forever. I knew that. Did he, though? Or was he so foolishly adamant about not believing such a thing would happen he couldn’t see past the relationship and what the future would bring? I wouldn’t doubt if it was the latter. That was something he and Jasper had in common and helped their friendship stay in place – the fact that it didn’t exist for them until reality truly hit.
Then here I was, shattering their desperation to dwell in fragments of fantasy and hope. I saw the real deal about what was to come, and neither liked it.
Rubbing my eyes, I pulled to stand on the bed, pressing my fingers against the low ceiling and stepping over Timothy. I was careful not to accidentally land on him, which was easier said than done as the bed dipped beneath me before I dropped to the ground with a thud. Straightening, I grabbed my shawl. Dawn always brought a slight chill with it. As the day progressed, it would dissipate as if it never existed, only to return the following day.
Timothy stirred, mumbling under his breath, and I stilled, waiting for the moment his eyes would flutter open and he noticed my departure taking place. He’d only pull me back, begging for more cuddles, more time together. But I needed to take a breath of air before beginning my day, starting my rounds. Timothy meant the world to me, but that didn’t mean I had to stay put and adhere to his every need. I had my own needs, which included taking time for myself, away from everyone else.
Especially after a dream like that. No, not a dream –a memory.
I shuddered as the tendrils of cold flicked up and down my skin. Wrapping my arms around myself, I closed my eyes, trying to push it off. Now and again, it presented itself, reminding me of that one fateful day – the one day I wasn’t strong enough to do anything. I’d gotten in the way and paid the consequences for that. It wouldn’t ever happen again. One of these days, I wasn’t sure how, but I’d find that man and make him pay for taking my mom.
But – just as he’d said in my memory – he’d be back for me. Eventually, we’d cross paths, it was destiny, and I knew that. I wasn’t sure why. Dad never could answer that question. Or maybe he just didn’t want to. Either way, I knew it was a path I’d have to take sooner or later.
The only question was when.
I was far over the prime age of being an adult now. I’d had my powers for years. Maybe he was playing games with me. What would be it, wouldn’t it? Games that made me squirm, sweat in anticipation. I wouldn’t put it past the enemy to do such a thing.
Glancing down at my wrists, I could just make out the faint sign of the vines from the night before. The binding drew fresh in my mind. I hadn’t thought ahead then, my mind and heart wrapped in the right now sort of deal. Now that I was thinking straighter, panic flared in my chest. What if I’d officially set Timothy up for danger by agreeing to the binding spell? What if my destiny meant I was marked for death, and now I had inadvertently handed him the same fate?
My stomach twisted, but I pushed down any attempt at bile upload. Now wasn’t the time to lose things I’d eaten the night before. That would only warrant unwanted questions, with answers I didn’t quite have, even for myself.
Shaking myself off, I slipped out of the room and tiptoed across the house, dipping to the front door, careful not to draw attention to myself. Timothy’s mother would only draw me in. The sweet scent of her breakfast was already hard to ignore. But her pleasant voice and laying it on thick, knowing I was a sucker for her motherly affection, would just trap me in the end as it always did.
