Mom’s body arches and then drops to the bed. She moans and whimpers. I swear I see a tiny tear rolling down her cheek. A darkness appears to lift from my mom’s features, the mist fades, and Bastian jumps off the bed, meows, and heads for the door. His steps are practically a strut, and if I didn’t know better, I’d swear he’s smiling.
“Belle?” Mom murmurs.
I drop beside the bed. Hold her hand. “Mom?”
Her eyes crack a mere fraction open. “What happened? Where am I?”
“You’re here with me, at the family home.” A meek smile curves across my lips. “You’re okay now. Everything is going to be okay.” I throw my arms around her and hug her tight. She hugs me back, and I glance over at Luna. “Get Grandma and my sister.” She rushes from the room, ignited by a mission.
“I feel so fuzzy about my time,” Mom says. “How did I get here?”
“I was so worried. I thought I’d lost you.” My voice cracks and sobs start to rock my body.
“No, no, no, baby. Don’t cry.” Mom squeezes. “I’m right here and I’m alright.”
Within minutes, the room is filled with bodies, and a lot of Q and A. Mom is given the full workup. Temperature taken, eyes examined, questions asked to which only she should know the answer. She passes each and every test and is given the go-ahead by Grandma to take a shower and clean up. Grandma finds some old clothing Mom left here a few years back, Miri calls Michael, and Luna and I wait outside the bathroom, listening for any signs of trouble from my Mom. None come.
“Now that your Mom is better, I’m guessing you’ll return to your home across the river?” Luna asks.
“I haven’t thought that far ahead, but yeah, you’re probably right.” I scratch my neck. “I won’t be as close to help you with your mom and dad. She’s getting released this Monday?” I ask about her mom.
“You have enough to worry about with your own mom,” she says. “Don’t worry about me. I think I’m going to call my mom’s brother and sister for a little help. I don’t want to get my grandparents involved. And as for dad, I have Uncle Andy helping. So, there is that.”
I step closer and meld my hand to the side of her face. “I think it’s my right to worry about you.” She smiles and the room buzzes, warms. A magnetic pull drags me closer to her, to her lips.
A banging on the front door thumps, thumps, followed by a triple punch of the doorbell. The urgency implied can only come from Michael. The moment broken, Luna and I step back. Miri gets the door, and he rushes into the house with quick thundering steps that bring him straight toward me. Miri and Grandma follow in his wake at a slower pace.
“Where is she?” he asks, coming to a pause beside me and Luna in the hallway.
“She’s in there.” I nod by head toward the bathroom. “She hasn’t…”
The bathroom door flies open, and Mom steps into the hallway wrapped in a robe. “Mike.” She pulls him into an embrace.
The house phone begins to ring, and Miri steps into Grandma’s room to grab the call.
Michael and Mom silently embrace, and the rest of us shift in our spaces, scratch at our skin. A moment or two passes by the time they finally separate.
“I’m so glad to see you better, but I don’t understand,” Michael says. “Tell me how this happened.”
“Bastian,” I blurt.
“That’s crazy,” Michael interjects.
“It was the cat. I witnessed the whole thing.” Luna grabs my hand and twines her fingers through mine.”
Michael’s lips purse and he tilts his head. “Well, then. Guess the fur bag finally earned his keep.”
Miri dashes into the hallway. “That was Phillip on the phone,” she says, her voice sharp and tight. “He says he just got word that Caleb has lapsed into a coma.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
I’m still reeling from the news about Caleb when Mom and I settle into the car with Michael for a ride home to Algiers. Mom sits in the front passenger seat, and I take the back, along with my big travel bag. My bike is shoved in the trunk with the lid tied down.
Did Caleb lapse into a coma because Bastian inhaled his dark essence?
After an hour of family catch up time at Grandma’s, Luna had to excuse herself to check on her own parents. Grandma and Miri reluctantly let Mom win the argument for her to return home, but few people are able to stand up to my mom when she makes up her mind. Her nature is stubborn and unwavering.
At the Algiers’ house, when mom unlocks the front door and steps inside, and Michael and I are unloading my bike, I finally get a moment to talk to him alone.
“That girl from your school told me you borrowed her power the night Caleb burned down the house and that’s how you got your scar. Is that true?” I ask.
“It’s a watered-down explanation,” he says, works on the knotted ropes holding the trunk closed. “But, yes.”
“Why borrow. Don’t you have your own magick?” I cross my arms.
“Of course, I have my own power. You’ve witnessed as much when I worked with you, your coven, your friend.” He yanks the rope free, and the trunk lid pops open. “When I borrow, I am able to increase my strength beyond measure. And the ability to borrow, appears to be a part of my unique talent.”
“Could you have borrowed from the bokor, used his own power against him?” I place my palm against the back fender and lean into the car.
“Interesting thought. I may have to investigate being able to do something like that.” He rubs his neck and stares into a void.
“Did you borrow power the other night?” I ask.
