Chapter 355: Meeting With Mom
I couldn't make myself move. "There's nothing wrong with that," I said at last. "We're associated with a clan. Hell, my uncle is one of them."
Sassy just glared at the house. "There's a treaty here, remember? No vampires allowed. And yes, it's only meant to protect the Yard, but all of the clans are to stay away from this entire school."
Charlotte's nostrils flared as she snuffled the air. "I admit, I've been feeling uneasy," she finally said, "but there's been nothing concrete. I haven't felt any vampires, not blatantly. Perhaps the wards are old, left over from a former association."
It was pretty clear from their strength how fresh the shields were, so she was wrong.
"We have to inform Miriam." Sassy finally turned away from his observation, meeting my eyes with his, the deep glow of his power shining in the darkness.
I wasn't about to argue with him because I agreed one hundred percent. A quick slip through the veil put us back in the Yard. Surprisingly, there was no reaction from my mother. Maybe she was accepting she couldn't box me in with her stupid rules. Either that or she'd had an aneurysm from my disobedience. Still, she'd left it wide open, so it was her own fault. By allowing my power to pass through the wards surrounding the school, she'd basically told the old magic protecting Harvard riding the veil was A-okay.
The elevator dinged and we were off it within moments of leaving the boys behind at the club house. Charlotte snarled at the entry to the sitting room and slammed to a halt.
"Still can't enter," she said.
Nice. "Sorry," I said. "I'll deal with it, I promise."
She shrugged, but not because she wanted me to forget it. "Just tell her what you need to."
I hated leaving her behind like a servant, but had little choice in the matter. Sassafras leaped down from my arms and bounded off toward the dining room so I followed him, though I caught sight of him sliding between Maurice's legs even as the unhappy little man glared at me from behind his glasses and blocked my way with his pudgy body and one upraised hand.
"Can I help you?" He sniffed the air as if I'd brought some horrible odor with me. "Miss Hayle?"
"I need to see Mom." I was still furious with her, but even I knew something was up and had to take the higher road in order to have something done about it. But Maurice blocking me from reaching her? Yeah, that wasn't going to happen.
I tried to push past him, but his power was tied to the shields on the house. He might have been no match for me alone, but with the magic of the entire Council behind him I was out of luck.
"The Council Leader is in meetings at the moment and cannot be disturbed." He gave me a look telling me there was no way I was as important as a Council meeting and that he would do everything in his power to keep me from reaching my mother.
We'd see how that worked out for him.
Mom. I grasped for her mind even as I slid into the veil and used it to slip past Maurice. Would it piss her off further? Likely. Only a flicker of movement, but it was enough to stir the shields in the building. Mom must have been trying to differentiate between who I was and what I could do, but clearly wasn't getting it quite right. It felt like she'd gone too far the other way, choosing the safety of the school over mine.
And what exactly did that say about her?
Before the wards could boot my ass out of the building, Mom swept into the sitting room with a very angry look on her face. Sassafras stood at her side, eyes glowing, a low snarl coming from him. For a brief moment I thought perhaps it was her secretary she was angry with. How dare he keep me from my mother? Until her snapping blue eyes settled on me and the same old, same old judgments came pouring out of her, fed by her new fury at my lack of obedience.
"Sydlynn," Mom snapped like I was ten and broke her favorite vase. "What is the meaning of all this?"
One glance at Sassafras told me he hadn't the chance to fill her in, or cool her off after my little veil riding argument. I skimmed over that, telling her everything I'd learned about Darin and the Star Club, how my two friends were involved as quickly as I could, trying to rein in my temper even as my demon cat added his own concerns to mine.
When we were done, Mom's anger had dimmed, though she still looked irritated. The secretary huffed beside me as he pushed past me and joined Mom, almost like they were closing ranks. Well, I had my own ranks, thank you. So what if he was a fluffy ball of silver fur?
"I understand your concern for your friends," Mom said. "And the fact there are vampires in the vicinity. But," she held up one index finger, the most annoying gesture I'd ever seen her make, "since the wards you speak of and the club house itself are off Yard property, they aren't breaking any laws."
"Miriam," Sassafras started, but Mom cut him off.
"It's troublesome," she said. "Not only the vampire presence, but the fact witches are luring normals into their clubs. Still, it's possible there aren't dark motives involved and they are simply seeking to expand their membership. That isn't illegal either, as long as they don't reveal who they are." It was my turn to try to talk, but Mom pushed on. "I'll look into it. Thank you for bringing this to my attention." Mom's eyes fixed on me. "Now, why don't you go back to your dorm room and focus on school and having fun? This is a very important year for you, sweetheart, a time when you make allies and friends among other witches you would never normally have time to meet. And you've been through enough trouble already. No more riding the veil, no more magical displays. Just leave this to me."
Oh no, she did not just practically repeat what Quaid said to me. I was not looking for trouble.
Damn it. She was just humoring me.
Mom turned and left, Maurice already moving toward me, herding me out. I didn't resist. Why bother? Not like Mom was willing to listen to me anyway.
Besides, I'd done what I could, Sassy and I both had. If this turned into a giant mess, let Mom clean it up. She couldn't say I didn't tell her so.
We were back on the elevator, Charlotte's anger matching mine, when Sassafras kyboshed the thoughts going through my head.
"We can't break the wards on another witch's domain and you know it." He growled softly. "Not without cause." When he sighed, his tail thrashed in time with the sound. "I don't know what's gotten into your mother, but she's so tied to the big picture she's started to ignore the details."
"Oh, so that's what you call it." I was a detail. Two normals and maybe more being sucked into who knew what by a witch I didn't trust was a detail.
Lovely.
"I'll watch the place myself," Sass said as we left the building and headed for my dorm. "I don't trust this one bit."
That at least made me feel better, though after he scampered off into the darkness I missed him immediately.
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