Page 133 of The Howl
“Are you afraid of being around us?” she asked.
“Yes and no. I’d be fine with one of you at a time. But, wanting you to stay away has more to do with my mom. New couples are too tempting. You give off too much energy.”
“You mean sexual energy.”
“Yes. That. And with Mom being pregnant, I just don’t want to worry about you.”
“How long do we need to stay away?” she asked.
“Mom’s due in five months, but I don’t think it’ll take that long for your new, um…attraction to wear off.”
The phone changed hands, and Oanen spoke.
"Eliana, Megan needs to see you as much as you need to see her. We’ll stay away for two weeks. Then we’re coming home.”
The phone was passed back to Megan, but I barely registered the rest of the conversation. All I could think of was that I had two weeks. Two weeks to get rid of Mom to protect Megan and Oanen from Mom feeding on them when they came home. Two weeks to find Ashlyn to ensure my best friend wouldn’t send me to hell the moment she saw me.
While Megan’s return would be dangerous for Megan and bad for me, the imminent threat of her arrival was the best thing that could happen for Ashlyn. Finding Ashlyn, with no help from the missing druids, would be impossible. I didn’t have the nose to hunt her scent down or the magic to locate her. However, Adira would do everything within her power to find the missing girl quickly. Even hire a druid.
With Adira working on Ashlyn, I could focus on removing Mom. But how? My first attempt to banish her from Uttira had been a complete botch job, so much so that I wasn’t about to try magic again. I saw only two possible remaining options. Well, only one really, because forcing her to leave through physical means would be as pointless an endeavor as using magic. That left appealing to her.
Lost in thought, I got out of bed, closed the window that was somehow open again, and quickly got ready for the day.
Even though talking to Mom had failed miserably yesterday, I needed to try again. Only this time, I would approach her from a different angle. She didn’t want me to feel controlled, so perhaps proposing weekly check-ins would work.
Optimistic, I left my room to speak with her. However, her room was empty. As was the entertainment room.
Hoping she hadn’t made good on her threat to walk around Uttira to find my car, I went downstairs. The clink of silverware drew me to the dining room.
Despite Mom’s earlier assertion that we should drop the pretext of needing human food, she had a plate before her piled with pastries. She noticed me and smiled.
“You’re just in time,” she said. “Breakfast is almost ready.”
I glanced at her plate.
“That’s okay,” I said. “I’m not really hungry for sweets.” They were never as good as my dream sweets.
“Then it’s a good thing I made you your favorite,” my father said, emerging from the kitchen, carrying two plates laden with French toast.
I couldn’t breathe for a moment.
He looked so different from the last time I saw him. Thinner. Dark circles under his eyes. Mostly he looked cleaned up, though. His brown hair was neatly combed, and his white button-up shirt was pressed and stain-free.
The shock of seeing my very human father in Uttira robbed me of any filter.
“Dad? What are you doing here?”
“He’s here because I invited him,” Mom said.
I turned on her.
“When?”
“Last night. Adira helped me bring him here once he agreed. I wanted you to see that I didn’t ruin your father. That he’s still who he was before I met him.”
“Ruin me?” Dad said with a laugh. “Hardly. You gave me the world when you entered my life.”
I didn’t look at him. I stayed focused on my mom.
