Page 44 of Lila

“Ann, I’m so sorry,” I say.

“No, it’s fine. Thank you for saying something. I can’t believe we didn’t know,” she grumbles.

“What’s important, now, is breaking the curse and working to undo the damage,” Luca says.

“Right. Here.” I raise my hand with the vial in it. “Get him to drink all of it and we can listen to him talk for the rest of the day,” I say with a smile. Most parents crave a moment of silence from their incessantly talking children, but when you’ve never heard your child say a single word, you would give anything for the unrelenting chitter-chatter. And I’m elated I get to be the one to give that to these amazing parents.

“This is really happening,” Ann mumbles. “He’s really going to be able to talk?” Her eyes shimmer as she looks at me and I can’t hold myself back. I throw my arms around her and hold her tight as I murmur in her ear.

“He’s going to talk, Ann,” I insist, crying almost as much as she is.

“Are you sure? I can’t… I don’t think I could take it if I got my hopes up and it doesn’t work.”

“It’ll work,” I promise, pulling away and looking into her eyes. “It’s the strongest potion I’ve ever made. I may have altered it a little to add some healing and protection. I won’t let anyone hurt that boy again, Ann.”

She cups my cheek as she gives me a watery smile. “I know, Lila. Thank you. I’m so glad you’re Luca’s mate.”

My eyes widen and I snap my head around to look at Luca. “You told her?”

“Not everything.” He smirks and I glare at him knowing that means he told her I washismate but not that I was anyone else’s.Coward.

Chapter 31

Jett

Ihearthefrontdoor open and two sets of footsteps before Luca suddenly stands, saying Ann’s name and both of them leave the living room. I try not to listen to their conversation but it can’t be helped. I hate that my mate feels guilty for not mentioning the curse sooner. It’s not her fault. She couldn’t have known no one knew about the curse. With how long it’s been there, it was a fair assumption.

They finally come back and I see the fourth person is Ann’s friend Lavender.What’s she doing here?

“Gray? Can we pause the game?” Ann asks as she stands beside the couch.

His head snaps to his mom at the question before he pauses the game. I jump out of my seat and motion for her to sit next to him. She smiles gratefully as she takes my seat.

“Lila made you a special drink. If you drink it, you’ll be able to talk to us. Do you wanna talk, baby?”

His eyes widen and flick around the room like someone’s going to tell himjust kidding. We all just smile softly as he looks at us and he focuses back on his mom, shaking his head hesitantly.

“It’s okay, sweetie. It’s not a trick. Mommy wouldn’t do that to you. I know how frustrated you get that we don’t always know what you’re trying to say to us. This drink will help that. But only if you want to. You’ve lived your whole life without talking. If you want to continue like that, we’ll respect your wishes. The option will always be there, though, so if you ever change your mind you can.”

Most parents wouldn’t care about what the kid wants. They’d force the potion down their throat without even telling them what it is. Ann is an amazing mom. Gray reaches out and grabs the vial, taking it from her hand and looking at it. We all wait on pins and needles as he finally takes a swig, swallowing it all in one gulp.

I don’t know what I expect. Some kind of big magic display, I guess. But nothing happens. NothingIcan see at least. But Lila has tears in her eyes as she smiles at Grayson. She must see the curse break. I wonder what it looks like. It would be cool to be a witch and have magic powers. All I get is a tiny salamander and heat resistance.

“Did it work?” Luca asks as we collectively hold our breath.

“Yeah. It worked. It’s gone.” She looks at him with so much love I can feel it radiating off her like heat to a fire.

“Can you say something, Grayson? Say Mama,” she pleads.

He licks his lips and takes a deep breath. “Ma-ma.” He stammers just a little but he does it! He talks!

Ann breaks. She wraps him in her arms and rocks him back and forth saying, “Oh baby,” over and over.

“Mom. Can’t breathe,” he rasps.

Ann pulls away from him and frantically checks him over to make sure he’s getting enough air. But I see the twinkle in his that he gets when he teases people.

“He’s giving you shit, Ann.” I laugh. “He’s still the same Grayson, he just doesn’t have a mechanical voice anymore.”

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