Otherkin by Nina Berry

said my mother. “I can’t let her go, not now. Not when she needs me most.”
    My chest felt tight. It had all been my fault. If I hadn’t been here, Mom and Richard would never have had to go through this. If I’d stayed in that orphanage in Russia, everyone would be a lot safer.
    “You can’t go with us to the school, Mrs. Grey,” Caleb said. “If they sense anyone who isn’t otherkin approaching, they’ll vanish. You and your husband will need to go somewhere for a while. Otherwise the Tribunal will try to kidnap you again so they’ll have a hold over Dez.”
    Mom exhaled forcefully. I was staring again at the man I’d killed. “Okay, now listen to me, Desdemona. I know you. You’re blaming yourself for all this, but it’s not your fault. Blame the people who attacked us—the Tribunal—and then move on. Do you hear me?”
    “Yes, Mom,” I said. Her strength and support only made me want to cry more, but I swallowed my tears. There wasn’t time for me to be self-indulgent now. Caleb was right. I was the source of danger. The only way Mom would ever let me go was if she thought it was best for me.
    “You have to let me go, Mom,” I said. “I need to learn about myself, how it all works, and more about these men, and about others in the world like me. And it sounds like this school Caleb heard about might be able to give me the tools I need.”
    “The leader of the school is Morfael,” Caleb said. “He’s a very old, very powerful caller of shadow. My mother spoke of him with respect. She told me that if anything happened to her, I should seek him out. Dez and I should be safe with him, and we could both learn a lot.”
    Mom looked back and forth between us. “You’re very clever, appealing to my maternal instincts.” She got up and paced, then clapped her hands together. “Sounds like Richard and I will be going on a long, much deserved vacation.”
    “When will I see you again?” I said, hating how wet and sticky my voice sounded.
    “It won’t be long. I’ll create a new e-mail address before you leave and give it to you. Once you get to Marfy . . . Morfael’s school”—she stumbled over the odd name—“you can e-mail me the phone number there, or give me a new e-mail address that you’ve created. And Caleb will tell me all about the location of this place. If we can’t get in touch somehow, in a month, Richard and I will come and find you.”
    “Do you think we’ll ever be able to come back here?” I asked. The house was old and a bit of a mess, but it was home.
    Mom shook her head. “I’ll have to talk to Richard about it, but we’ll figure out a way to be together.”
    This was the right thing, but I hated it.
    “Okay,” I said. “What do we do now?”
    “We clean up, pack, and leave. Then your mom wakes up Richard.” Caleb held up a vial of yellow liquid, very different from the clear doses of the tranquilizer we’d found along with the syringes. “We found this in the other guy’s backpack. It’s labeled as an antidote to the sedative Richard’s been given. They must’ve brought it along in case one of them accidentally got shot with tranquilizer.”
    “Oh, thank goodness.” I hugged Mom. “But what about them?” I pointed to Lazar and the body of the other man. “And the one in my bedroom?”
    “We leave them,” said Caleb. “Ximon will send a clean-up party, probably very soon. He’ll take them away, leaving as little trace as he can.”
    “I guess it’s best if my daughter goes with you,” Mom said, her voice firm. “But don’t you get her into any more trouble than she’s already in, young man.”
    He gave her a regretful smile. “I don’t make promises I can’t keep, Mrs. Grey.”
    “Call me Caroline,” she said, then leaned in to me and added, so that only I could hear, “I know you’ll be strong and smart about what you do and who you do it with. I’m trusting you.”
    “I hear you, Mom,” I said.
    “Okay.” She patted me and