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Authors: Phaedra Weldon
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and I was getting hungry. I was also feeling like the entire world had taken up residence on my shoulders. "Polly, I understand. But there's no way I can get there this week. You think he'll hold out till maybe next Wednesday?" That gave me about four days to clear all this bullshit up, and hopefully clear Arden's name.
She didn't answer at first and I could feel her disappointment through the phone. "Yeah. If he asks again I'll tell him you're getting here as fast as you can."
"Thanks Polly. I'm sorry. It's just crazy here."
"It's New Orleans, Sammie…" Polly said as she laughed. It sounded hollow. "It's always crazy."
We hung up and I pulled Ivan's stool from the creepy corner and sat on it. I really did feel the weight of everything at that moment. Mine and Robin's increasing arguments, the stress of worrying if my use of Arcane was going to manifest somehow into something horrible, the truth about Arwen's death I hid from everyone, Arden's request for help to find who was framing her, the warlock threat which now depended on me finding their damn Hammer, and now my dad.
Was his dementia getting that bad? I didn't know. I was ashamed I hadn't kept up with him, or Polly. I had been too involved in my own drama to take a peek outside of my own world.
What really sucked about it all was that usually when I started feeling like this, I went to Ina.
But Ina didn't exist. She'd never been real. To me.
And now she was gone, somewhere in the world. I hated to think Dionysus would abandon that body somewhere and leave it to rot alone. Inamorata had been my mom's closest friend. She didn't deserve to have her life taken like that. The only comfort I had was knowing Medbh took her soul and returned it to the well before Dionysus could abuse it.
I wiped at my cheek and looked down at the beautiful face looking up at me. Grey whined a few times and I leaned forward to kiss the top of her head. "Just having a little pity party, girl. Not sure where to turn. I need to talk to someone, but it can't be Ina."
Grey woofed.
"Yeah, and I just can't talk to Crwys."
Grey's ears twitched back then forward, almost in a question.
"Because he confuses me. It's bad enough he's part owner of this place now. Not to mention every time I see him I want to take my clothes off."
Grey growled low in her throat.
I laughed at her. "I'm not falling into that trap again. Not till I know exactly what it is I'm sleeping with ." I cringed after I said that. It was just wrong.
Maybe it was time to start confiding in Kyle and Ivan. They were a large part of my life now, and though they we were both around the same age as me; I always saw them as much younger and in need of mothering. Eh…had to be that Elemental nature of mine.
I retrieved my phone and pressed the button.
But instead of my usual locked screen of a full moon, a shadow looked back at me. I was so startled I dropped the phone and jumped back. The stool fell backward and Grey took off across the room, startled.
It wasn't often I was frightened like that. I'd seen a lot of crap in my life, sometimes to a point where what scared the average person barely made a blip on my radar. But that…
I tried recalling exactly what I'd seen from my memory—and that's where it got hard. There weren't any real distinguishing features to it. Just the impression of a face, with sunken holes for eyes and tiny red dots. I couldn't remember a mouth or even a nose.
Grey returned, looking a little embarrassed that she ran away. She bent her nose at the phone. It landed with the face on the floor, which of course, just made the idea of picking it up and turning it over to see the face again a bit more scary.
I watched her sniff it, and then she wagged her tail. I took that as a sign and retrieved it.
When I turned it over, I gasped.
A crack moved from the lower left corner all the way up to the upper right corner. I stared at the
She didn't answer at first and I could feel her disappointment through the phone. "Yeah. If he asks again I'll tell him you're getting here as fast as you can."
"Thanks Polly. I'm sorry. It's just crazy here."
"It's New Orleans, Sammie…" Polly said as she laughed. It sounded hollow. "It's always crazy."
We hung up and I pulled Ivan's stool from the creepy corner and sat on it. I really did feel the weight of everything at that moment. Mine and Robin's increasing arguments, the stress of worrying if my use of Arcane was going to manifest somehow into something horrible, the truth about Arwen's death I hid from everyone, Arden's request for help to find who was framing her, the warlock threat which now depended on me finding their damn Hammer, and now my dad.
Was his dementia getting that bad? I didn't know. I was ashamed I hadn't kept up with him, or Polly. I had been too involved in my own drama to take a peek outside of my own world.
What really sucked about it all was that usually when I started feeling like this, I went to Ina.
But Ina didn't exist. She'd never been real. To me.
And now she was gone, somewhere in the world. I hated to think Dionysus would abandon that body somewhere and leave it to rot alone. Inamorata had been my mom's closest friend. She didn't deserve to have her life taken like that. The only comfort I had was knowing Medbh took her soul and returned it to the well before Dionysus could abuse it.
I wiped at my cheek and looked down at the beautiful face looking up at me. Grey whined a few times and I leaned forward to kiss the top of her head. "Just having a little pity party, girl. Not sure where to turn. I need to talk to someone, but it can't be Ina."
Grey woofed.
"Yeah, and I just can't talk to Crwys."
Grey's ears twitched back then forward, almost in a question.
"Because he confuses me. It's bad enough he's part owner of this place now. Not to mention every time I see him I want to take my clothes off."
Grey growled low in her throat.
I laughed at her. "I'm not falling into that trap again. Not till I know exactly what it is I'm sleeping with ." I cringed after I said that. It was just wrong.
Maybe it was time to start confiding in Kyle and Ivan. They were a large part of my life now, and though they we were both around the same age as me; I always saw them as much younger and in need of mothering. Eh…had to be that Elemental nature of mine.
I retrieved my phone and pressed the button.
But instead of my usual locked screen of a full moon, a shadow looked back at me. I was so startled I dropped the phone and jumped back. The stool fell backward and Grey took off across the room, startled.
It wasn't often I was frightened like that. I'd seen a lot of crap in my life, sometimes to a point where what scared the average person barely made a blip on my radar. But that…
I tried recalling exactly what I'd seen from my memory—and that's where it got hard. There weren't any real distinguishing features to it. Just the impression of a face, with sunken holes for eyes and tiny red dots. I couldn't remember a mouth or even a nose.
Grey returned, looking a little embarrassed that she ran away. She bent her nose at the phone. It landed with the face on the floor, which of course, just made the idea of picking it up and turning it over to see the face again a bit more scary.
I watched her sniff it, and then she wagged her tail. I took that as a sign and retrieved it.
When I turned it over, I gasped.
A crack moved from the lower left corner all the way up to the upper right corner. I stared at the
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