“Chloe, you’re scaring the kids. Mother, get rid ofher.”
Chloe claws at my leg as if begging formercy.
Skyla, help me.Her eyes bulge as though they were about to burst from herskull.
I glare at Chloe, doing my best to use my mental abilities to ship her back to the hell she came from, but it’s no use. Either my new powers have evaporated to nothing or my mother has a binding hedge over the girl who’s quickly turning green in mybed.
“Dear God! She’s going to puke!” I curl up in a ball toward Sage, trying my best to protect little Barron from the inevitablesplatter.
“No puking on my watch.” My mother waves a finger over to Chloe. “Lips be sewn, nostrils for breathing.” She glares at Chloe as she writhes andgags.
Thankfully, she’s been incapacitated from streaming her bile all over my tiny room, but just watching her muscles jump, her limbs pop in the air every other second is a thing of holy terror that I’m not interested in witnessing—nor am I interested in scarring Sage for alleternity.
“Be gone, Chloe,” I growl while landing my hand over hers in an effort to will her the hell away from me. Chloe latches on with a death grip while I harden my gaze upon her, doing my best to send her back to theTransfer.
Holden and his pale plus one show up at the window. His paper white bride, Serena Kragger nee Taylor, a mid-century Deorsum who got on my mother’s bad side once upon a century ago, pecks her wayover.
Chloe detaches from me with a violent jolt. Her entire body defies gravity as it rises into the air, levitating a moment before it flattens against the wall, spread eagle with her face wild withsurprise.
“Good show, Your Grace!” Sage giggles and claps. And dear God, I now have every right to be alarmed at how much interaction my celestial mother has with my child. Sage may be formally deceased, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have her best interests at heart. “Make herspin!”
Chloe shakes her head wildly, moaning something inaudible and yet clearly aprotest.
“No,” I’m quick to object to my daughter’s twisted wishes. “She’s hurting,” I say softly to Sage while getting lost in those epic blue eyes and I’m mesmerized. God, I miss her father just as much as I miss her. “We shouldn’t want to see peoplehurt.”
Gage is hurting. I’m hurting,too.
“Mother—I’ve put in a request.” Sage’s tiny features squint with confusion. “Your Grace”—she spits it out curt, her features hardening to a staunch look of irritation—“I said make herspin.” Sage never takes her eyes off me, and there’s something in them that lets me know I’ve disappointed her on some level—and pissed her the hell off,too.
My mother scoffs as she steps in close and pets Sage as if she were her favorite kitten. “My dear, I can’t deny you anything, now can I?” She solidifies a vengeful look to Chloe. “Spin, my little darling plaything. Spin like a top and fly far, faraway.”
Chloe moves clockwise, slow at first then building with speed, ratcheting up with velocity until her hair, her elongated limbs are nothing but a blur. Chloe Bishop emits a horrible howl, the groaning of an injured animal, as she turns into a dark rainbow that looks almost hollow as if you can stick your hand right through her. Then slowly, painfully slowly, Chloe and the wheel of misfortune she’s become evaporates to nothing. As soon as the last molecule blinks out of the room, I hear the sound of her violent puking all the way from theTransfer.
“Nice show!” Sage jumps up while showering my mother with praise andjoy.
“Not a nice show.” I’m careful to reprimand as I pull Sage over with my free hand. Her flesh is so butter soft I want to kiss it. “Come sit with me.” I hoist her up until she’s nestled on the bed. I’m half-tempted to text Gage and tell him to get the hell over here, but I’m all out of hands at the moment and a bit flustered from theshowI’ve just witnessed. “It’s never a nice thing to make someone else feel bad.” I try to say it as lovingly as possible. The last thing on earth I want is for my mother to turn my sweet baby girl into anasshole.
“But, Mommy”—Sage’s eyes pull down as if she might cry—“Chloe is wicked. Your Grace says you must never trust the wicked. They don’t have pure intentions toward you. As soon as you turn around, they’ll have your head on the choppingblock!”
“God, that’s so Chloe.” I close my eyes amoment.
“Your Grace?” Sage looks to my mother as if she were her universe. “What is anasshole?” Oh shit. Sage saysassholeso slowly and purely it makes even that putrid word soundwholesome.
“Skyla!” my mother roars so loud both Holden and his bride enter into a flapping spree that sends black and white feathers floating to the ceiling. “You realize she can hear you when you’re touching. You do remember the rules of the game, don’tyou?”
“I do now.” I shrink in horror at the thought. Of course, she can hear me. She’s my daughter. “She’s one of us. She’s a Celestra.” Tears come, and I can hardly blink them away. “My people are so heavily outnumbered, and she could have been here. Why did you take her,Mother?”
“Because she’s not theone.”
“Theone?” It doesn’t take long for me to do the Logan Oliver math. “Then take away her powers. Give her back to me, fullyhuman.”
“No!” Sage’s little face contours with horror as she leaps from the bed. “Oh, please, Your Grace, don’t listen to her. She’s demented! Her mind is all twisted up in knots because my bratty little brothers won’t give her a wink of sleep. Can’t you see? That’s why she’s cavorting with the wicked one! Oh, please, Your Grace, I’ll be anything but human. Make me a cat or arat! But I can’t live without my powers!” She scowls over at me with venom in her beautiful little eyes, and I’m more than slightlyalarmed.
My eyes widen with a slight horror of my own. “But, Sage, if you give them up, you’ll be able to live with yourbrothers.”Who are not even remotely close to bratty, unlike some people, I want to add but don’t. “You’ll grow up together. And think of all the fun you’ll have with Mommy—we can paint our nails and bake cookies! I’ll teach you the ins and outs of the Factions, and you can even head up the meetings one day.” I’m pleading through tears, both my voice and lipsquivering.
“Your Grace,” her tone is tight and angry, “I bid you to take me away from this woman right this minute. She wants to steal my powers, and I’mfrightened!”
“Not true.” I shake my head manically, trying to calm herdown.
