“That’s a relief.” My mom pushed a strand of hair out of her eyes. “It’s not always… easy for Atlanteans to integrate, especially when they’re the only ones. Hector will be pleased. He’s so happy you’re there with her, and so am I. As long as you’ve got each other, I know you’re not alone, and sometimes that’s all a mom needs to know.”
I chuckled stiffly. “You know me. I can only put one toe out of my comfort zone at a time.”
“You’ll get there. It’s always difficult when you strike out on your own.” She lifted her hand, as though she was about to touch it to the camera. Evidently thinking better of it, she put her hand back down. “I had Ryann and the Smiths to lean on when I got my first apartment, but when the front door closes, it’s just you, you know? That takes some getting used to, but one day, you’ll wonder how you ever coped any other way. Change is good, in the end.”
I realized if I dithered any longer, we’d have a whole conversation without me mentioning the dream and the panic at all. “I’m not sleeping very well,” I blurted out. The instantly concerned expression on her face made me wish I’d worked up to it a bit more. My mom was still getting used to this new situation, too. In a way, I thought it might be harder for the one who let go, as opposed to the one who went away.
“Why not? Is it—” Before my mom could finish, I heard a door opening and my dad’s voice cut through the feed.
“Hey, I just got back from Astrid’s,” he said, sounding out of breath. He clearly hadn’t realized my mom was on a video call. “Marius and Azar found a handful of witnesses who’ve been able to piece together the last 24 hours of the missing magicals’ whereabouts. This is big—”
“Wade!” my mom interrupted him, panic on her face. “Persie’s on the phone.”
He appeared a second later, looking sheepish. “Persie?”
You were busy. They clearly had major fish to fry with the missing magicals, but my mom hadn’t mentioned it at all.
“Hi, Dad.” I waved awkwardly.
His face broke into a broad smile. “About time, stranger. We thought you’d dropped off the Giant’s Causeway.”
I played up to his cheer. “How long have you been waiting to say that? You sound like Uncle Finch.”
“Hey, your dad can be funny, too. Finch doesn’t have a monopoly on jokes.” He gave a full-belly laugh. “But, truth be told, I’ve been holding onto that one since you last called.”
“I got kind of caught up with recovering and stuff. Sorry about that.” I drew some swirls with the tip of my pencil, soothed by the quiet scratching sounds.
My dad frowned. “And how are the… Purges?”
“I haven’t had one since I came here. Five days and counting.” I forced a hopeful smile and hoped it didn’t look as fake as it felt.
Now that my dad had pulled back the curtain on the strain my parents were under, it no longer seemed right to bother them with my dream and anxiety attack. Would I go running to them every time I had a nightmare or crumbled under pressure? No, not if I wanted to stand on my own two feet like I’d promised myself I would. Besides, I had Genie as my sounding board.
My mom made a bizarre half-squeal, half-gasp. “That’s really promising, Persie. Maybe the Purges are slowing down? And it’s becoming more manageable? Not that I’m minimizing what you’re going through,” she added quickly. I had an inkling she’d been hitting the “How to Speak to Your Offspring” section of the library. A week ago, she would never have said anything like that. “In fact, your dad had to hide my phone last night to stop me from checking in on you and your Purges.”
My dad squished his head against my mom’s, even though they had plenty of room on the screen. “I did. I said, ‘She’ll call us when she wants to, and if she has a Purge, she’ll let us know in her own time.’ I thought she’d smother me in my sleep after that.” He kissed Mom’s cheek and she smiled up at him.
“When you said you were having trouble sleeping, I thought it might be Purge-related.” My mom segued back into our previous conversation, and I braced to gloss over it. They needed to hear the Hollywood version of how I was doing, not the grainy, indie version. Sitting there in my room, a continent and an ocean away, the distance between us had never felt bigger.
I widened my smile until my cheeks hurt. “No, no, nothing like that. I’m just getting used to all the noise. There are women down the hall who have their music blasting all hours, so I’m not sleeping until late, and then I have to get up early. Sure, that makes me sound like a granny, but a girl’s got to have her eight hours, right?”
My mom’s expression relaxed immediately. “Oh, thank Chaos.” She turned slightly to face my dad. “She was just telling me she’d been having some sleeping issues when you came in. My heart’s been pounding for the last five minutes, thinking it was something awful. I’ll send you some earbuds to help. If that doesn’t work, you should bang on their door and, when they answer, act all shocked and say you thought someone was strangling cats.”
I smirked. “I’ll think about it.” Now, it was my turn to do a bit of segueing. “What about the two of you? It sounds like there’s been a breakthrough with the missing magicals cases?”
My parents exchanged a solemn look before my dad answered. “You know that’s sensitive information, Persie. We can’t disclose details of the investigation yet, since it’s in such fragile stages. You shouldn’t have even heard
