Luna throws herself at me, wraps me in a snug embrace. “I was so scared I’d never see you again,” she mumbles.
“I’m here. Fear unfounded.” I pull back, and before my vision properly focus, her lips are locked on mine.
My muscles stiffen, body freezes, stomach knots, and my mind goes numb. Spots explode across my vision, and I close my eyes, relax into the moment. Her lips are silky soft, and her warmth, washing over me, soothes my soul, exciting my heart and mind. My hands find the side of her face and hold her to me. I never want to let go, and yet, I do.
“I think I may be falling for you, hard,” she says.
“You think?” I crack a smile.
“Know.” She smiles back. “I can’t tell you how happy I am that you are alright.”
“Come on.” I take her hand in mine and lead her out of the entryway. We huddle in the front room while Grandma cooks up the food.
“My uncle has a place he tells me is off the radar,” Luna says. “We have my dad cooped up there, and we are drying him out.” She rubs her fist against her lips. “Thankfully, he isn’t fighting us. Not at all. Probably won’t until he becomes more lucid.”
“But that’s good, right?” I say. “That means you’ll have your dad back soon.”
“I hope so.” She rubs her fingers against her thumb and stares across the room with blurry eyes. “He’s kind of drug-dumb right now.” She turns and gazes at me, smiles, then drops her forehead against my shoulder.
“Breakfast is ready,” Grandma calls.
We rise, move toward the dinette. Gather at the table and try to be social. Grandma asks about yesterday; she didn’t see us return from our fun, and I make a convenient excuse about spending time exploring spell books at the library. Staying until we were kicked out.
Miri joins us mid-meal, looking a little peaked around the edges. She pokes at her food, makes faces, covers her mouth, and then returns to bed.
When Luna and I are once more alone, I fill her in on the details of the night before. I tell her about our capture, my brother’s arrival, our clear defeat, and our bailout by the people from my brother’s school. She holds my hands so tight, she’s squeezing the blood from my fingers. Her stare is glued, with great intensity, upon me “He thinks we should let it be from here on out,” I say of my brother. “Stay out of the bokor’s business.”
“Fine by me,” Luna replies. “If my dad recovers and is left alone, allowed to be my dad once more, I have no business with that nasty bokor.” I nod. “Plus, my mom gets released on Monday. Between her and my dad, I’ll have my hands full. I’m thinking of calling either my aunt or my uncle on my mom’s side for a little support.”
“You totally should,” I tell her and then follow our conversation into all concerns and considerations involving her parents.
Around midmorning, I call Jeanna. She picks up the phone on the second ring. James is over at her place, and they have been comparing notes. “I missed a lot thanks to that irritating sleep spell, or whatever it was,” Jeanna says. “But at least I don’t have a black eye like James.”
My chest squeezes. “Is he really sore?”
“Been icing his face all morning. That and popping pain pills,” she says. I grimace but understand. I feel as if the pills I took this morning could have done a better job at taking away the bite of my throbbing headache.
“I’m so, so sorry,” Luna says into the phone. “This is all my fault. None of you would have been there if it wasn’t for me.”
“You’re our family now. Family of the heart,” James says, his voice a tad off. “And that’s what family does for one another. But I’ve gotta tell ya, I’m sorta done on the whole bokor business. My body, my face especially, wants a lengthy timeout.”
“You’re right,” I say. “We’re done with the dangerous stuff.” My gaze wanders to the ceiling, and I envision my mom in the magickally soundproofed room.
For a brief moment, the room is untethered, swimming and swirling around me. It quickly steadies, and I am my head-hammering self again. I rub my temple. I likely got a concussion yesterday. I should probably tell my grandma, go see a doctor, but I don’t want to.
After the phone call ends, I decide to check on Mom. My feet are heavy and reluctant to make the trip up the stairs. Fueled by my guilt, I assume. Her current condition is of my making. If only I hadn’t performed that last spell.
Luna walks at my side, adding her support.
“Remember, she might not be herself,” I say, before opening the door to my old bedroom. Luna nods in understanding.
I crack open the door. As if materializing out of the wall, Bastian charges forward and slips through the open space, into the room beyond. I exchange a look with Luna and sigh. Dang cat.
The bedroom explodes in a chaos of yowls, screeches, and whines. I push the door all the way open.
Bastian is on top of my mom, claws sunk into the skin on her shoulders. Her body jerks and shakes, and a fine dark mist seeps… swirl… from her lips into the mouth of the cat.
I freeze. Gasp.
What am I looking at?
Luna’s hand flies to her mouth, and she stumbles back a step.
“What in the…” I lurch forward and Bastian’s hair spikes, causing me pause. He continues to suck dark matter from my mom.
“I never before believed the old wise tale about cats sucking away one’s breath.” Luna steps to my side.
I grant her a quick
