Page 14 of Slayer Mom
“I just don’t want to waste it. No sense in that. Maybe I’ll just reheat it when we’re at the hotel.”
“Gross,” Wat said and then darted ahead of us, dragging his large suitcase on rollers behind him.
“He’s having a difficult transition,” Hazen said, watching Wat, thoughtfully.
“Aren’t we all? No, I suppose some of us are just fine.” I walked faster to catch up to Wat, well, not catch up, but get closer to him and further from Hazen. We should talk it out. After I no longer smelled like nutmeg.
The school was like Harry Potter, only more of a fortress, less pretty. I appreciated that. I liked themoat, and the spiked pickets just outside the walls, jutting outward so nothing could get up the stones without getting skewered. I stayed at the gate with the security people while Hazen took the boys to the office to check in. They were telling me all about motion sensors on the fields to minimize night excursions when they all came back.
“We’re ready to take them to their rooms. Do you want to come?” Hazen asked, almost like he didn’t know what my answer would be. He’d expected me to go to the office with him, but the office was not nearly as important as safety.
“Of course. Thank you for your time,” I said, smiling warmly at the man and woman who had been so helpful. We walked from the central area located in the front wall of the structure and into a wide field, the one with motion sensors, probably. It was like a small village, some areas fenced off for horse riding, and other fields where they were playing soccer.
“You can’t see the spikes from here. It looks quite safe, and it would take a lot of effort to climb to the top of those exterior walls. It’s not bad at all.”
Hazen gave me a slight smile. “It is a very safe and secure place. You know how I like my family to be protected.”
I nodded and took a small sip of the cold chai. It wasn’t terrible. We went to the boys’ dorms, which were on the opposite side of the field from the girl’s. They were quite boring, everything built solid, simple, to withstand the wear and tear of teen boys, but clean, and the couple who ran the dorms were solid, kind yet strict people who I could see giving a homesick kid a hug and a cookie.
I was in one of the boy’s adjoining rooms helping Lock put away his laundry. “You’ll call me every day,” I said, whirling around to face him.
He jumped a little then nodded and gave me hisbeatific smile. “Of course. We’ll both miss you, even if Wat won’t admit it.” He moved in to give me a hug. For a second, I hugged him back, but then I panicked and stepped away. Zombies.
“Don’t start that now, or I’ll burst into tears. I promised Wat I wouldn’t be embarrassing.”
“Okay,” Lock said, but his smile had faded as he studied me. “Are you okay? If you’re scared, dad can take care of you. He’ll keep you safe.”
“Your father can’t protect me from everything, although I know he tries. Will you be okay here? If you need anything, just tell me and I’ll figure out how to get it to you.”
“Sure.” He was holding a lot of emotions in behind that cheerful face.
He was a lot like me sometimes. I smiled brightly. “Looks like you’re all ready to go. We’re going to go back to the hotel for a little while and then have dinner here. I don’t know if you’ll be there or not. Lock, I love you. I love you with all of my heart and soul. I would die a million times to save you. You are the best thing that came out of my marriage, followed shortly by your brother. Please remember that you’re loved, that you aren’t alone, that you are strong and brilliant and good just as you are.” It killed me not to give him a hug, but there was no sense in telling someone you loved them if you promptly put them in danger.
I held my mostly empty pumpkin spice chai close to me and headed into the hall, narrowly missing a lanky boy that looked fifteen or sixteen.
“Excuse me,” I said with a slight smile.
His eyes were almost golden honey. “Not at all, sweetheart. If you’re looking for a pen pal, I’m available.” He winked at me, very, very badly.
“That’s so kind of you to say, but I’m sure I wouldn’t have much in common with a child of youryears. Perhaps you could send me your mother’s name and I could have some satisfying conversations with her about removing laundry stains, or favorite knitting stitches. I’m on the cusp of being a great knitter.” I shook my head and walked past him then stopped as Hazen came out of Wat’s room.
He slipped his arm around my waist and glanced back at the teen, who stared at my husband like he’d seen a ghost. “Lucy, darling, are you ready to go?”
“Hazen, darling, I am. I’m about to start using my terrible English accent, so we should probably hurry. You know that after my accent comes the singing.”
“Which is always a delight.”
“Always, but we really should hurry so that we can be back by dinner time.”
I stepped quickly, turning slightly so I was out of his grasp. I was starting to really and truly miss touching people. I still ached to hold Lock and Wat. The natural thing would be to turn to my husband and let his tight hug squeeze some of the stress out of me. Instead, I squeezed my cup. At least I hadn’t liked pumpkin spice drinks to begin with, so zombies weren’t ruining something I loved, other than my children. And my husband. Of course I loved him, but I was still angry at him and feeling hopeless about us.
The hotel was ancient, creepy, but no sign of zombies in the large lobby with green flocked wallpaper.
“What do you mean, two rooms?” my husband asked, pulling my attention from a suspicious potted palm in the adjoining sitting room.
I snagged one of the keys the ancient woman was holding up. “You know what a restless sleeper I am. I wouldn’t want to keep you up all night tonight before our early flight in the morning.”
“Why not? That’s exactly what I want you to do with me. All. Night.” His eyes gleamed, and his smile was positively scandalous.
