“Wouldn’t that have been better?” she asks, grabbing hold of my hands. Her eyes plead with me, begging me to understand.
Shaking my head, I drop my gaze to our hands. “No, it wouldn’t.”
“How can you say that?” she asks as tears slide down her cheeks. “This life—it killed your father and so many others. Now, it’s trying to claim you, too.”
“And dying in ignorance would be a waste,” I whisper, fighting back my own tears. “I need to stop them, Mom.”
“You can’t stop them. Your dad tried,” she sobs, clutching my hands tighter. “He spent his life trying to protect you.”
“I know that now,” I say, shooting my blurry gaze to Wade.
His chin tips upward as he tilts his head to the side and rubs my shoulder.
“But now it’s my time to protect myself,” I say, dropping her hands and wrapping my arms around her neck. “I just need your love and support.”
“Sweet girl, you’ve always had that,” she says, brushing her hand over the back of my head.
Closing my eyes, I lean into her body, wishing I could stay in that protective cocoon forever. But deep down, I know the world isn’t so kind. Bad things are still coming for us.
The question is, how soon?
Chapter 3
Phone Calls & Exploration
Being around Mom turned out to be just the thing I needed to feel more centered, but unfortunately, the feeling didn’t last long. By the time we were on the way back to Windhaven, all the anxiety that was pressing on us before we left welcomed me back with open arms.
In fact, the pressure was almost worse. Before we left, things were at least calm. There were no signs, no strings…
But now?
Our education is on hiatus and we’ve officially been put on notice by the Moirai.
Terrific.
“I think we should check out more of the books in your dad’s study. I was researching the other day and it turns out, he really had quite the collection of obscure texts. Maybe there’s something useful in there on helping us stop the Moirai?” Wade says, pulling out a large knife to dice the onion in front of him.
I close the refrigerator and toss him the tomato in my hand. He catches it with ease and smirks.
“I guess I’m not overly surprised after reading my dad’s journal. He was working hard to stop the Moirai. If anyone has the intel we need, it would have been him.” I pause, my forehead creasing as I think about all the time lost. There is so much I should have asked him.
“Hey, hey…” he says, setting down the knife and walking over to me. “I know that look.”
Before I think of anything else to say, his arms wrap around me. I set my cheek against his shoulder, leaning into him. Sandalwood and soap are the smells of home now, and I inhale them deeply, letting them wash away my worry.
Suddenly, the phone on the kitchen counter rings, echoing through the room like an alarm. We jump apart, but I shake off the surprise to walk over to the cordless.
I don’t even look at the caller ID.
“Hello?”
“Is Mrs. Blackwood available?” a woman on the other end asks.
“This is Ms. Blackwood,” I say, not feeling the need to correct her any more than that.
There’s silence for a moment, then shuffling of some papers. I scrunch my face and shoot Wade a sideways glance.
“Who is it?” he mouths.
I shrug in response.
Finally, the woman clears her throat. “Ah, yes. Ms. Blackwood. Is your mother there?”
“No, my mother doesn’t live here. What can I do for you?” I say, rolling my eyes.
“This is the law office of Harper, Lance, and Scott. We’re finalizing the last will and testament of Lyle James Blackwood and wish to schedule a reading of the will next Monday,” the woman on the other end declares.
“Oh, I see,” I say, clearing my throat.
“We would like to come out to Blackwood Manor, if this works for your family. Should I call Mrs. Blackwood to make arrangements?” she asks.
I clutch the phone to my ear but swap it to the other side. “That won’t be necessary. I’m the one who lives at Blackwood Manor.”
“It’s imperative Mrs. Andrea Blackwood be in attendance,” the woman says.
“Okay, I’ll see what I can do,” I say, narrowing my gaze as I try to figure out why she’s so adamant about my mother.
There’s another pause. “Excellent. What time shall we put you down?”
“How about one p.m.? My mom lives in Mistwood Point, so it will take her some time to get here,” I say.
“That’ll do. We have you down. Someone from our firm will be out there at one p.m. on Monday, Ms. Blackwood. Have a nice evening.”
The woman hangs up before I can say anything. I pull the phone back, staring at the keys.
“Who was that?” Wade asks, standing beside the diced vegetables with a look of concern.
I screw up my face, setting the phone back on the cradle. “It was the law firm handling my dad’s estate. They want to do the reading of the will next Monday.”
Wade takes a step toward me. “That’s good, isn’t it? I mean, it’s taken a while to prove his death and get things in order.”
“Yeah, it’s good, I guess,” I nod. “At least, it will be when it’s over.”
Wade’s eyebrows knit together. “What’s wrong then?”
I pause, thinking back to the conversation. “She was really pushy about my mom. She wants me to make sure she’s here.”
“Why is that so weird?”
“Because they’ve been divorced for more than a decade?” I say, leaning against the counter. “I mean, is it normal to want your ex at the reading of your will?”
“Well, he did share something pretty important with her,” Wade says, raising his eyebrows knowingly and pointing at me.
“Yeah, I know. I guess I didn’t expect to have to bring her here. She’s not going to like it,” I say.
“Do you think he left something in the will for her?” Wade asks.
I shrug. “Probably? Why else would
