telling Midian stories around my children? What else had he said to them?
I flopped beside Bethy on the floor and scooted my foot next to her. “Me next.”
Instead of answering, she finished her own nails and passed the polish to me.
“Where’s Ann? She loves Buffy.” I unscrewed the lid and started on my big toe.
“ She went for a walk.”
A tiny thread of fear wound its way through me. I hated the thought of her out there with the Theleoni running loose, though surely they wouldn’t harm my family again, would they? Hadn’t they gotten their revenge? I capped the polish and pulled out my phone again, texting Ann and hoping she would answer right back. She didn’t often carry it because she worried the electronic radiation messed with her psychic abilities.
After one episode ended and another began, I called her. From somewhere upstairs, I heard music and cursed.
“ Language,” Liam said and I rose from the floor.
“ Sorry kid.” I left them to their marathon and crossed to the door, slipping my feet into my snow boots, sans socks. I pulled on my jacket and stepped outside. No sign of Ann in either direction, of course. That would be too easy. Then I caught the faint scent of patchouli in the air. “Neutria, are you messing with my nose again? Why don’t you give me something really useful like Spidey-sense or something?”
Not a cartoon spider. I would kill your Spiderman and drink his insides.
“Thanks for the image.” I sniffed again, stepped off the porch, sniffed. Turned. “You’ve turned me into a damned bloodhound. I didn’t know spiders had noses.” I followed the smell, cursing Neutria and Ann in the same breath.
Neutria didn’t answer, though she chittered at me in amusement.
I hunched my shoulders and trudged down the block, sucking in deep lungfuls of air as I followed the scent, trying not to let the fear overwhelm me. My fingers curled into tight knots in my pockets as I scanned my neighborhood, looking for Ann or for someone who didn’t belong. The afternoon sun tried its best to melt the snow, but already the clouds were piling up, gathering for tomorrow’s snowfall.
I had to stop this. I couldn’t live with myself if anyone else in my family got hurt because of me, because of what I’d done or what I knew. But the idea of leaving Bethy and Liam in the midst of their grief killed me.
A spot of yellow a few blocks down sped my heart up. Ann? Was her coat yellow? Damned if I could remember. Please let it be her. Please.
My eyes stayed on the yellow as I walked, my mind going back to my dilemma. Stay with the kids or go stop a personal apocalypse. If I didn’t keep my spawn from finding their souls, I would be dead. If I left, who knew how long I would be gone? Who would take care of my kids? What would they think of me for leaving them? Wouldn’t they hate me?
Squinting, I realized it was Ann walking toward me and the sudden release of the fear made my thighs watery. I stopped, panting, though I hadn’t been running or even walking that fast.
Ann could stay with them. Their grandparents. My brother, when he got here.
The fear rushed back, a different kind, the kind that reminded a person of all they had to lose and how tenuous a grasp on life a human really had. “Shit.”
“ Devany? Is everything okay?”
I bent double, suddenly lightheaded. I was going to have to leave my kids. When they most needed me. To save them, I would have to leave them.
Her arms went around me, leading me home, keeping her voice soft and light as she told me everything would be okay.
I didn’t have the words to tell her she was wrong.
I managed to pull myself together before we hit the front stoop. Ann didn’t push or pry, though her eyes stayed glued to my face as if she were worried I might snap. “When Travis gets here, I need to talk to you both.”
She nodded. “All right.” The questions were in her eyes but they would have to stay unanswered for a while.
“I’m not
I flopped beside Bethy on the floor and scooted my foot next to her. “Me next.”
Instead of answering, she finished her own nails and passed the polish to me.
“Where’s Ann? She loves Buffy.” I unscrewed the lid and started on my big toe.
“ She went for a walk.”
A tiny thread of fear wound its way through me. I hated the thought of her out there with the Theleoni running loose, though surely they wouldn’t harm my family again, would they? Hadn’t they gotten their revenge? I capped the polish and pulled out my phone again, texting Ann and hoping she would answer right back. She didn’t often carry it because she worried the electronic radiation messed with her psychic abilities.
After one episode ended and another began, I called her. From somewhere upstairs, I heard music and cursed.
“ Language,” Liam said and I rose from the floor.
“ Sorry kid.” I left them to their marathon and crossed to the door, slipping my feet into my snow boots, sans socks. I pulled on my jacket and stepped outside. No sign of Ann in either direction, of course. That would be too easy. Then I caught the faint scent of patchouli in the air. “Neutria, are you messing with my nose again? Why don’t you give me something really useful like Spidey-sense or something?”
Not a cartoon spider. I would kill your Spiderman and drink his insides.
“Thanks for the image.” I sniffed again, stepped off the porch, sniffed. Turned. “You’ve turned me into a damned bloodhound. I didn’t know spiders had noses.” I followed the smell, cursing Neutria and Ann in the same breath.
Neutria didn’t answer, though she chittered at me in amusement.
I hunched my shoulders and trudged down the block, sucking in deep lungfuls of air as I followed the scent, trying not to let the fear overwhelm me. My fingers curled into tight knots in my pockets as I scanned my neighborhood, looking for Ann or for someone who didn’t belong. The afternoon sun tried its best to melt the snow, but already the clouds were piling up, gathering for tomorrow’s snowfall.
I had to stop this. I couldn’t live with myself if anyone else in my family got hurt because of me, because of what I’d done or what I knew. But the idea of leaving Bethy and Liam in the midst of their grief killed me.
A spot of yellow a few blocks down sped my heart up. Ann? Was her coat yellow? Damned if I could remember. Please let it be her. Please.
My eyes stayed on the yellow as I walked, my mind going back to my dilemma. Stay with the kids or go stop a personal apocalypse. If I didn’t keep my spawn from finding their souls, I would be dead. If I left, who knew how long I would be gone? Who would take care of my kids? What would they think of me for leaving them? Wouldn’t they hate me?
Squinting, I realized it was Ann walking toward me and the sudden release of the fear made my thighs watery. I stopped, panting, though I hadn’t been running or even walking that fast.
Ann could stay with them. Their grandparents. My brother, when he got here.
The fear rushed back, a different kind, the kind that reminded a person of all they had to lose and how tenuous a grasp on life a human really had. “Shit.”
“ Devany? Is everything okay?”
I bent double, suddenly lightheaded. I was going to have to leave my kids. When they most needed me. To save them, I would have to leave them.
Her arms went around me, leading me home, keeping her voice soft and light as she told me everything would be okay.
I didn’t have the words to tell her she was wrong.
I managed to pull myself together before we hit the front stoop. Ann didn’t push or pry, though her eyes stayed glued to my face as if she were worried I might snap. “When Travis gets here, I need to talk to you both.”
She nodded. “All right.” The questions were in her eyes but they would have to stay unanswered for a while.
“I’m not
Similar Books
