Page 134 of The Howl
“I forgave you once; I won’t forgive you again. Let him go.”
“How can you be so selfish, Eliana?” Dad said, his hurt tone demanding my attention.
I met his watery gaze.
“I’ve waited years for all of us to be together again as a family. Years of fear, wondering if you were both safe. Wondering if you were fed and happy. Years of loneliness. And you want to return me to that?”
“Jason, calm yourself,” Mom said. “You know why Eliana said what she did. And you’re proving her right.”
Dad took a deep, calming breath and set the plates on the table.
“Sit, Eliana,” he said, taking his seat. “We can say grace and enjoy the first of many meals together.”
I didn’t sit; I got angry. Clutching the back of my chair, I faced Mom again.
“Look at him, Mom. Is that how he looked when you met him? Emaciated? Exhausted? Always on the verge of tears? If you want to lie to me, fine. But don’t lie to yourself. You did that to him.”
“He said he’s been deeply involved in a project that caused him to forget meals and work long hours,” Mom said.
“Just another reason I belong here,” Dad said. “Recuperation. I hear you need the same, Eliana. We’ll get well again together, baby girl.”
Hearing the endearment broke my heart.
“I can’t,” I said. “I can’t watch you break him again.”
Mom gave me a sad look. “That’s why he’s here. To prove to you that he’s not broken. He missed you, Eliana. And I know you missed him, too. Don’t make me send him away yet.”
I looked at Dad. His head was bowed, and his shoulders were shaking, but he wasn’t pleading with me to let him stay. How could Mom not see how wrong this was?
“I gotta go to school.”
I hurried from the room. I didn’t even stop to consider my car might not be in the garage until I saw it sitting there. At least, Mom had done that one thing right.
I started the car, hit my steering wheel, then took a calming breath. It hurt deeply that she’d brought Dad here. More so that she’d contacted him, a hard boundary I’d set four years ago. She wouldn’t have broken my trust lightly when it came to Dad. Doing so showed her level of concern for me, and it also made me realize I’d never be able to talk Mom into leaving, now.
Lost in my own thoughts, I didn’t stop to look for the druids when I arrived at the Academy. I went straight to the first session and sat there, wondering what I was going to do.
If I asked Mom to send Dad home again, I knew she would. She’d made that clear. I also knew my dad might not survive it. No matter what his faith said about giving up on life, having to say goodbye to Mom again would push him over the edge.
What was I supposed to do, then? Pretend everything was okay?
The bell rang, and I went to second session. Instead of Ashlyn, Eugene was there.
“Hey, Eliana,” he said.
“Hi.”
“Do you know what’s going on with Ashlyn? No one is telling us anything other than she’s not well. Is she in a human hospital?”
Very aware that everyone in the room was listening, I shrugged as if I was as clueless as they were.
“I wish I knew.”
He accepted my answer without question and started walking around to help the students with their homework. Eugene was crazy smart. In math and science, anyway. If he were world smart, he would have asked to leave Uttira the moment he arrived.
When the bell rang again, I hurried to third session, needing Fenris’s advice about my dad, but he wasn’t there. The class was once again back to normal. I wanted to flip one of the desks in my anger. Instead, I walked out and went to the pool.
A mermaid hissed at me, and I hissed back. She dived under in a splash and stayed at the bottom of the pool. The other fish-folk swam to the far side of the pool and gave me the peace I craved.
