Family Magic, Chloe Price [christmas read aloud .txt] 📗

Mom leaned toward me, intense.

“Whatever you do,” she said, “in the next few days, keep your sister safe and don’t trust anyone, Syd. Anyone.”

She sat back as Meira ran through the door and into her arms. I wanted to ask more questions but the look she gave me over Meira’s curls told me she said all she was willing to say.

Fine. I was on my own, then.

Mom sent me upstairs with Meira to put her to bed. I didn’t argue. I tucked in my worn out sister and kissed her goodnight, not surprised she was asleep by the time I turned off the light. Spending a day playing can do that to a kid.

Wish I had the same excuse.

I almost went to my room, but I was lured by the sound of voices in the kitchen. I snuck downstairs, stopping in the hallway so I could sort them out. I eavesdropped, knowing it was the only way I was going to get any information from my mother. Not like they left me much of a choice or anything.

I heard Uncle Frank. “Miriam, are you sure?” His voice was quiet, tense. I had to strain to hear.

“Positive,” Mom said. “I know what it feels like to be taken, Frank. The fuzzy wall, the distortion, dizziness, the missing time.”

I frowned hard. Mom thought I was taken by someone? My very being suppressed, taken over by another witch and used for some horrible, hideous purpose? No way! Until I remembered the night Sassy went missing. I felt a cold thrill of fear. Someone took me over, someone who wanted to use me to hurt the family. Mom was totally right not to trust me. I couldn’t even trust me at that point, could I? And after I’d been taken once, it was way easier for the witch who did it to do it again. In fact, I had no way of knowing how many times it happened. Maybe I was responsible for Gram’s escapes after all… I shook my head in the quiet dark of the hallway, wracking my brain for proof that I hadn’t. I came up with nothing.

Oh, crap.

“But if you don’t know who…” Sunny’s voice trailed off. “Can we help?”

“You’re the only ones I can trust right now,” Mom answered with gratitude in her voice. “Thank you, Sunny.”

“Don’t thank me,” the blonde vampire answered. “I owe you so much. It’s the least I can do. Tell us what you need.”

“Not here,” Mom said. “I want the coven left out of this and the house is too connected to them. There could be ears here.”

I shuddered. Mom was talking about a traitor. I assumed whoever attacked us was an outsider, a stranger. The thought it could be a family member terrified me. Someone I knew my whole life rifled around inside me, using me against the people I cared about. There were no secrets here. The traitor knew everything about everyone and could be anyone.

My mind flashed to the Moromonds, but I knew I was being uncharitable. It could have been Erica or Celeste or the Vegas. I thought about Louisa and Martin. They were the first to be attacked. Could it be a set up? A way to make them appear innocent? I shook my head. Stupid Dominic Moromond made me doubt people I’d known since childhood.

“What about Harry?” Frank was saying. I held my breath. I heard Mom’s voice catch and knew she struggled with tears.

“I can’t reach him,” she admitted. “Whatever happens will have to be without him. Hopefully once this is all over we can not only free the twins but reconnect with Harry at the same time.”

And if we couldn’t? The very thought I might never see my dad again made me want to cry right along with her.

I heard the scraping of a chair on the floor and a soft creak as someone sat.

“Frank,” Mom said and I guessed it was her, “the girls…”

“We’ll take care of them,” Frank said. “In fact, if you want them out of this, we have friends who will take them for a little while.”

No way! There was no way I was leaving! I think Mom knew what my reaction would be because she laughed.

“You can be the one to tell Syd she can’t stay,” she said.

Sunny laughed too.

“Then what?” Uncle Frank wanted to know.

“Just… keep an eye on them, please. You two are immune to all this. If something happens maybe you can keep them safe for that very fact.” She sounded so worn out. I knew how tired she must be. “I only wish…”

“Miriam, don’t you dare blame yourself,” Sunny said.

“I’ve let this happen,” Mom answered. Her voice hushed with failure. “I allowed this evil into our coven, invited it in, no less. I am supposed to shield my people from harm. Instead I have welcomed it with open arms. What kind of leader does that, Sunny? What kind of witch fails her family?”

“An honest one,” Sunny said. “Who trusts and loves unconditionally. But no matter what, Miriam, you are the stronger. You’ve gotten this far, figured this much out, more than the evil ones hoped or expected. Don’t judge yourself until it’s all over and they are defeated because you beat them.”

I wanted to hug Sunny so much for saying exactly what I wanted to say to my mother I wrapped my arms around myself and squeezed.

I heard the sound of movement and the brush of cloth and guessed Mom hugged her for me. Perfect.

“We’ll see what we can find out,” Uncle Frank said. “Where do you want to meet?”

“The site,” my mother answered, referring to the formal meeting place set up for ceremonies. “It's been warded already for Samhain so it should be safe.”

“We’ll meet you there. Let’s go, Sunshine.”

I heard the door open and close. I hesitated in the hallway, still hugging myself. I thought about sneaking back upstairs, but Mom had other ideas.

“Please come in, Syd.”

Don’t ever try to sneak up on a witch. I walked into the kitchen and saw her sitting at the table. She held out her hands. I went to her.

“You heard,” she said, knowing I had.

“Most of it,” I answered.

“So you understand why we can’t do this here,” she said.

“Mom…” I trailed off, wanting so much to talk to her, to talk to Dad, to try to make sense of what was happening to our family, wanted to convince her she could trust me even though I knew we had gone way past that. She already understood what I was trying to say, though. She kissed me gently on the cheek.

“I know, honey. We’ll be okay.”

I begged for it to be true, wanting to believe her. She radiated confidence and strength and despite the fact I knew she was as scared as me I believed her as I always believed her. Once again I was grateful she was in charge instead of me.

As we sat there holding hands, a stray thought crossed my mind. I was amazed my whole Sunday was gone yet again, wasted, but this time not because of anything I did, whatever the coven chose to think. I made a face.

“Syd?” She squeezed my hands. “What’s wrong?”

I hung my head, kicking myself but knowing there was nothing at all I could do about it now. “I missed soccer practice,” I said.

“I’m sorry, honey,” she said.

I realized how stupid that was considering the day we had. Screw soccer.

“I’m not,” I answered.

We went to bed and I didn’t argue when Mom offered to tuck me in. She kissed me goodnight and touched my hair before turning off the light and closing the door.

Despite my paranoia I would be taken against my will in my sleep, I was so tired I passed out pretty much right away. I’m not sure what woke me, but the clock said I was out a couple of hours. I tried to turn over, but there was a familiar presence tucked in behind me. I managed to catch a glimpse of my sleeping mother over my shoulder. She held me as she slept, something she hadn’t done since I was very small. Despite the fact I was uncomfortable and wanted to shift around, I stayed still and managed to go back to sleep with the steady presence of Mom to lull me to slumber.

When I woke the next morning, she was gone.

I missed her. Chapter Twenty Nine

I tried talking to Mom that morning, but she seemed very preoccupied with Meira so I let it go. I left her with some reluctance, carrying unfinished homework and a whole load of anxiety about the coven. But as much as I wanted to play hooky, Mom insisted I go to school, so to school I went.

I was bummed about soccer but brushed it off. After the disaster the week before the coach would have benched me for the last game anyway. The way things were going in this town the chances of us being around for the spring season were slim to none.

In that confused and worried state of mind, trying not to jump at shadows and keep my cool as well as my shields, I entered my high school and headed to my locker. I glanced up before I made it there and spotted Brad coming toward me. I flashed him a smile, remembering the warm, fuzzy feelings from the day before.

He glared at me like I did him some horrible injury and kept walking.

I felt like I’d been slapped. I almost turned around and went after him, but I was in too fragile a state as things stood to even deal with the fact Brad was mad at me. Besides, did I do something to him while not myself? Did the traitor who took me over screw up my budding social life too?

It took me until I reached my locker to have the ah ha moment. I cursed under my breath, banging my locker door against its neighbor over and over as I admitted soccer wasn’t the only thing that slipped my mind.

I missed our date. No phone call to apologize, no note to say I wouldn’t make it, nothing, nada, zippo. My fault and mine alone. I would have preferred it if the traitor did it so I wouldn’t have to feel so guilty.

Despite the fact I had a really good excuse, it didn’t help me feel anything less like a total and complete idiot.

I hunted for him during first period break. He hung out on the front steps with a pack of football boys. I was surprised to see it. Wasn’t he cutting his ties to them? He laughed with them so I guessed he changed his mind. When I approached, his face turned cold, beautiful eyes shutting down completely.

“What?” It came out so harsh I felt breathless. His friends all laughed at my expression.

“Brad, I…”

He made a rude sound. The boys all laughed again.

“Brad, I,” he mocked. “Spit it out, Hayle. What do you want?”

By this point we collected quite a crowd, including Suzanne. I watched in disbelief and horror as she went to his side and slid herself under his arm. She grinned her evil little grin at me.

“Maybe there’s something wrong with her,” Suzanne said. “Like