Chapter 257: Adjustments
Once family time was over and she'd deemed Dad sufficiently recovered, Mom spent the rest of the evening trying to restore his power. Which meant Sassafras endured it right along with them.
I waited, watched, saw the pain in Sassy's face, his endless squirming, waffling between empathy for what was clearly an uncomfortable process for him and annoyance he was making such a big deal out of it.
It was as if Mom was trying to use the family magic to wrestle the power out of Sassy, but every time the column of power dove inside him, the amber magic reacted, at first fighting her, then dissipating so her energy simply slid through him like a sieve over water.
When Dad finally cried out while Mom's magic wove a lattice between the pair, hurting him too, she finally relented.
"We'll try again in the morning." She patted Dad's hands without a glance for the rest of us, including Meira who clung to me like I could save her from what was happening.
Mom ushered us all out, Sassy and Galleytrot included, closing the door behind her. I stood there for a long time, feeling her seal herself off from us. I hadn't felt this alone since she left last fall to go after Gram.
Honestly, I was happy to get out of there, as much as I felt guilty admitting it. Being around Dad was creeping me out, the way he felt so vacant. I shuddered, realizing it was the way I felt to everyone when my demon left me and understood then why the family avoided me like I had a plague.
It was just too heartbreaking to stand.
I tucked Meira in, snuggling her pink comforter around her neck.
"Can you leave the night light on?" She hadn't used her cute little frog light in a long time. She was ten now, and growing up faster than I wanted. I almost felt better knowing she wasn't afraid to ask for help and could hardly blame her for wanting some comfort.
"Sure, Meems." I dug it out of the drawer and plugged it in. The soft green illumination cast a strange pall over her red tinted skin.
"Syd," she whispered. "I don't want him in here, okay?"
I glanced over my shoulder at Sassy who hovered in her doorway.
"It's just Sass," I whispered back.
"I know." She squirmed under the covers. "But it's not."
I left her there, her smiling frog watching over her, closing the door behind me.
Sassafras met my gaze, his almost black eyes empty of expression. Before I could make an excuse for my sister, he turned and walked away.
Heading right for my room, Galleytrot trailing along behind him.
Um, right. The pair normally slept with me, the big dog at the foot of the bed, the silver Persian curled up wherever he deemed the most comfortable.
Awkward. I had to say something about our sleeping arrangements. But what?
I went downstairs to avoid the conversation for a bit, pacing the kitchen, snacking on some junk food from time to time, settling in front of the TV for a few moments only to get up and start circling the bottom floor of the house again. I couldn't get comfortable, like something crawled under my skin and I wondered if part of the blood magic still lingered. I knew that was silly, there was no way the family magic would allow even a scrap of it to remain, but I found myself in the shower shortly after the idea struck me, scrubbing my skin raw under the hottest hot water I could stand until I almost passed out from the heat.
Down again I went, wet hair hanging over my shoulders, soaking my fresh T-shirt, pacing all over again. I spotted Galleytrot and Sassy in the kitchen, talking, but I couldn't join them, couldn't stop and hold a conversation. Not now. Not this way.
Not with him.
I could tell Sassafras was in pain, and not from what Mom attempted. He had this sullen, bitter look about him, the feeling of resentment barely hiding his emotional hurt.
Why couldn't I feel sorry for him?
When Mom finally emerged, I raced upstairs and practically pounced on her. She looked so tired, her skin as pale as Dad's. It made me wonder what she'd been up to behind those wards.
"Mom," I grabbed her by the upper arms, forcing her to look at me, "what are we going to do?"
I wanted a firm answer, a Mom answer, wrapped in power and assurance. But instead she sagged in my grip, face crumpling in sorrow.
"I don't know," she whispered. "I just don't know."
I let her go, the pair of us standing there in the semi-dark of the upstairs landing, a long and excruciating silence stretching out between us. Should I comfort her? Lie to her? I didn't have it in me.
Mom sighed deeply, as if expelling her grief in one breath. "We'll figure something out."
She was trying at least. I could do the same. A thought struck me, a distraction. We both needed one.
"I talked to Beth." I leaned forward and hugged my mother. "She told me about her father's new job. The scholarship."
Mom managed to smile as I pulled away. "She's a dear girl," Mom said. "And her father is very talented. He'll do a wonderful job managing the new fund."
"Who is Katherine Brindle?" I felt like I should know the name.
Mom's smile deepened, but she looked so tired I knew she wasn't in the mood for even this little game of forget I was playing. "Ask me again sometime," she said. Mom turned away from me, hand going to the door handle of her room. "Take care of things for me, would you, Syd? Just for a little while?"
I wanted to shout at her to stop looking at me like that, with so much weakness and pleading in her face. "Mom," I said, "would you really have kept it from the coven? What Dad did?"
Her pain was replaced with a fierceness that drove me back a step. "Yes," she said. "For him. For you. I would."
The door closed behind her, shield closing her off from me again.
"The Brindles are old friends." Sassafras hadn't lost his ability to approach in silence. That part of his cattiness remained. He joined me from where he'd waited on the top step. "I knew Kate. She was a wonderful person, big hearted. She would have loved the idea of helping Beth."
I shuddered, hugging myself, leaning away from Sassafras and his subtle scent of smoke and honey. Dad wasn't the only one creeping me out. "I guess we should get you settled." It felt suddenly very late and I needed to sleep. Though I was pretty sure I'd toss and turn most of the night, for now, my bed called me.
The hall closet disgorged a quilt and sheets, a spare pillow. Sassafras followed me down to the living room and watched as I made up the sofa. I turned to him, Galleytrot sitting at the foot of the stairs, watching, and gestured at the couch.
"We'll try to figure out a bedroom for you," I said. "But this will have to do you tonight."
Sassafras grinned, lopsided, his handsome face twisting in amusement. I realized I liked the look of him, the snarky lift of his lips, the way his eyes crinkled at the corners, how he stood there with a funny smile on his face. It was a relief I knew then I could get used to him this way.
Until he opened his smart-ass mouth.
"I thought I'd just sleep on your bed tonight," he said. "You know, like always."
So not funny. Did he have any idea how many kinds of wrong and inappropriate that was? I think he must have, his face falling back into the sullen and distant stare he'd worn since emerging from the basement.
"Good night," I snapped, stomping past him on the way to my room, leaving Galleytrot to keep him company.
"Night," he said, voice carrying softly to me as I slammed my door behind me.
***
