Page 35 of Locked
My stomach started turning somersaults in my belly as I followed her out.
She glanced around the plants, thankfully skimming over the Rapunzel (and perisage) and moving on to my newer seedlings. Mostly a few cucumber vines and some beans.
She waved her hand over them, turning them into dried up husks in a second's time.
"Mother…?" I began, but she shushed me with a look.
She did the same over the watermelons I'd started and the tomatoes, killing all my new seedlings before turning back to me and coming over to sit in the chair in the center of the room.
I wanted to ask why she'd done it. But I didn't want to give her any reason to doubt me at all. Or a reason to strike me as she'd done in the past. Not since I'd become an adult, but I wouldn't put it past her and her awfulness.
I merely sat down in the chair opposite hers and tried not to cry for the plants she'd murdered. I could save them after she left, but it was still a horrific fate for them.
"I brought a new kind of cat food for the cat," she said, waving a hand over at Basil. I almost thoughthewas going to wither and die, but all he did was leap up onto a high shelf where she couldn't physically reach him.
I wished at once that he'd go hide somewhere when she came around, and I thought I might have a talk with him in the future to ensure he did just that. He didn't like leaving me alone with her, though.
"He's getting old. He needs better food with more nutrients."
I nodded. "Thank you, Mother."
She sneered at the words. "I don'thaveto do it, you know. I don't have to take care of that animal for you. Just because I got him for you. I got him for you, I can take him away, you know. Just like that." She snapped her fingers and I flinched.
I nodded, so she'd know I was listening, but I didn't let my fear show on my face. She peered into my eyes, I could feel the magic swirling behind hers. And I wondered if she was going to strike me anyway. With no cause.
She acted as if she knew something.
But she couldn't know something. Shecouldn't.
But maybe she thought sheshouldknow something and that was what had her in a tizzy? I didn't know.
Maybe?
I squared my shoulders and resolved to check again to see if there wasn't somethingmoreI could be doing to hone my powers. Refine my skills. Now that I'd secured a way to speak directly with Sorrel, Rifyr, and Kinden, I could devote large swatches of time to honing up on my spells.
It was clear that Mother wasn't all right in the head any longer. And that my existence brought her pain of some kind. I didn't want to end up an incinerated blob on the floor just because I was too lazy to figure out a way to protect myself.
True to her word, she didn't stay for tea. She left an hour later, one of her shortest visits ever, and besides killing all my new seedlings, she didn't do much of anything else.
I was able to save them. My life bringing skills were sharper than her life-ending ones, surprisingly. Likely due to my age.
And once I had brought them back, I went into the kitchen to inspect Basil's new food. He still had a few days' worth of his older stuff left, but I figured if this wasn't too different, I could mix it up.
I opened the bag, sniffing at the strange, almost floral aroma. "Whatisthat…" I wondered aloud. I knew the scent. And it wasn't something one would expect to be in a cat food.
Basil leapt up on the counter and ducked his head into the bag, only to pull it back out again and leap down from the counter. He coughed twice before speaking. "It's night lilies…" he said before sneezing. "I told you, she's trying to kill me."
I closed my eyes and sniffed once more. He was right! Itwasnight lilies! My blood ran cold and I quickly closed over the top of the bag, folding it down as far as it would go.
That woman! She must really and truly hate me.
I tried to catch my breath, tried to calm down. But all I could muster was holding it as I stood, pointing my finger menacingly at the bag of food. It burst into flames, incinerating into ashes before our eyes.
Basil blinked twice, gazing up at me. "Overkill, much?"
I swallowed the lump in my throat and took a deep breath. Maybe I wasn't so bad at fire spells after all, if I had the right motivation. "Not enough," I replied. "I haven't doneenough."
I was going to have to do a ton of work on my powers.
