Devotion

'When we came here in July,' Mom said, 'I told Char about how different I felt after leaving the island, but we'd forgotten about it when we returned. We'd been back a few weeks when I started feeling … off again.'

'She was saying and doing things completely unlike her,' Char said. 'Martin had often talked about how the Daemoni found ways to mess with people's minds, and it seems that someone on the island is doing the same. Martin hasn't left there in weeks, working with Solomon to try to figure it out. It took some doing, but I convinced Sophia to get off the island. She's finally starting to get back to herself.'

I hugged Mom. 'Are you okay now?'

'Yes, I think so. I'm not so sure about Rina, though ….'

'You think someone's messing with everyone's minds? Is that why they're all crazy?'

Mom shrugged. Char shook her head. 'There aren't any mages powerful enough to affect everyone at once. But someone does seem to be messing with a few of the key people–Sophia, Rina, Julia ….'

I snorted. 'Julia's in on it. If she's acting crazy, she's just acting.'

Mom opened her mouth to say something, but then she stopped and sniffed the air. 'What is that smell?'

My face heated. 'Sorry. It smells horrible. It's an herbal tea I thought I'd–'

'No, I mean it's familiar.' She sniffed again. Then she noticed the pool of greenish liquid on the floor with shards of my coffee mug in it. She swirled her fingers in the tea and lifted her fingertips to her nose. 'I've had this before. A long time ago.' She paused, trying to remember, but I knew she was wrong. Mistaking it for something else. If she knew what it really was … 'Yes. London. I'd visited a witch … we'd had tea. This tea. It's when … when I was with Tristan and Lucas, actually.'

If I'd had the tea in my mouth, I would have sprayed it out all over again. 'Seriously?'

'Yes. It tasted like gasoline but the witch said it would strengthen me, which I needed, to be able to handle Lucas.'

'Mom …' I hesitated, knowing she'd probably freak out that I'd even considered taking a concoction on purpose. But I didn't have to make a decision.

Char blurted it out for me. 'That's a pregnancy potion, Sophia. No doubt, by the smell of it.'

The realization hit Mom and me at the same time, and we both sprang to our feet.

'Mom, it worked for you. That's what did it!' My hope soared beyond the ceiling, beyond the trees, all the way to the sky. 'If it worked for you … maybe …'

Mom looked at Charlotte. 'Is it safe?'

'You're still alive, aren't you?'

Mom turned to me again and her face reminded me of Dorian's on Christmas morning–full of excitement and hope. 'Did you drink it? All of it?'

'No, none of it. I spit out the first gulp and dropped the rest, remember?'

She grabbed the teapot, filled it with water and set it on the stove. 'I can't believe I didn't remember this … that I didn't realize …'

I noticed what Char must have on the island–a difference in Mom. I'd never seen her so hesitant, almost unsure of herself, as if she doubted her own memories or thoughts.

'It doesn't sound like you knew exactly what you'd been drinking at the time,' Charlotte said.

'No, but … we never even thought about it. Alexis could have tried this months ago.'

'Actually, Minh and Galina had brought it up one time, but no one thought it would work on an Amadis daughter, and Rina didn't want to take the chance,' Charlotte said. 'No one knew it had been done before. Makes me wonder who this witch was who gave it to you. Why she hasn't piped up about it, with everything going on.'

'Actually …' Mom paused again, and her face screwed up in a way I'd never seen before, as if she had to physically concentrate on making her brain work. 'I think …'

She stopped, and Char and I both waited to hear what she thought. The teapot started whistling, steam rising from its spout. Mom picked it up and began fixing my tea and seemed as though she forgot what she'd been thinking. I looked at Charlotte who gave me a see-what-I-mean look. I hated seeing Mom like this. What had they done to her? Who? Why?

'Uh … Mom? The witch?'

She looked at me as if confused.

'The witch who gave you the tea?' I prompted.

'Oh. Right.' Her brows pushed together with deep concentration. 'There was something about her … it bothered me at the time. I couldn't feel the full truth in her intentions. I felt she intended to do more for me … or for the Amadis … than I asked of her, which she had. Because of her, we have you. There was something else, though … I felt she wasn't really a witch.' She paused for another long moment and cocked her head. 'I think … I think she was really a faerie.'

'Well, that explains a lot,' Char muttered. 'But not everything. The faeries had an interest in you and Lucas having a child. Why?'

'Maybe they thought it would be fun to see what happened with a crossbreed,' I said. 'It's definitely created all kinds of chaos.'

'Maybe,' Char said, but she didn't sound convinced.

Mom shook her head. 'I don't think so. I don't think she was really part of the Otherworld anymore.'

'What do you mean you don't think? Don't you know the truth?' I demanded.

'That's part of my problem. I haven't felt the real truth in things for a while. It's so … disorienting. And my memories aren't quite as clear as they usually are. Yes … I think she had lost some of her Otherworldliness.'

'You think she was ousted?' Char asked.

'Not exactly. I felt then she was helping the Amadis, and faeries, as a group, don't get involved in our affairs. Not to this extent. She'd gone through such lengths to disguise herself and make sure I drank that potion. I thought her intent was about converting Lucas, so I didn't think much of it at the time.'

Mom stopped again, and her expression bothered me. She looked so lost, not like herself at all. I was about to ask if she really was okay, but both the front and back doors burst open at the same time. Owen dropped Mom and Char's luggage in the foyer and rushed into the kitchen just as Tristan pulled Dorian through the rear door.

'Mimi,' Dorian squealed, and he ran into Mom's arms. 'I missed you!'

'Did you get my text?' Owen asked Tristan.

'Sure did,' Tristan said, holding his phone up. 'Let's move.'

'What's going on?' I asked.

'I finally got word about the Okeechobee wolf pack,' Owen said. 'They're gathering tonight, and I know exactly where.'

'We're going for a bike ride,' Tristan said. 'Get dressed.'

I moved for the doorway but Char grabbed my wrist. She held the mug out to me. 'Drink up. Then Sophia and I have something for you.'

I pinched my nose and swallowed the foul tea in three large gulps. A shudder ran up my spine, and I fought my stomach's desire to expel the liquid back the way it came.

'A little early to be drinking hard stuff, don't you think?' Owen asked.

'Come on,' Char said, ignoring her son. She took my wrist again and pulled me toward their luggage in the foyer.

'Can't this wait?' Tristan asked. 'It's not exactly a short ride.'

'I don't like this idea one bit, Tristan,' Mom said, sounding like my mother again, at least for a moment, 'but … you will at least have as much protection as possible. Especially Alexis.'

Tristan threw me a questioning look. He saw the changes in Mom, too. Before, she would have been adamant about trying to stop us, saying it was an absurd idea. I returned his gaze with one that said, 'I'll tell you later.'

Char opened one of the suitcases, grabbed something black, examined it and tossed it to Owen. She picked up something else and tossed it to Tristan. She continued throwing things at them and finally started tossing stuff to me. First, a black leather jacket. It wasn't heavy; in fact, the leather was thin and supple, and it reminded me of the one Char herself wore. Second, a bustier made of black leather and adorned with purple-dyed suede and