“Harsh.”
“But true.”
A loud grumble from the background distracted the conversation, and for once it wasn’t any of Kaia’s roommates, who had been working overtime on the same case at MEC, leaving her alone in the house. She continued to thank her lucky shells that she’d gotten her dream job at the repository. Dealing with books beat dealing with bad guys any day of the week.
From her mother’s end came a low moan, then swearing, something sucking, a gurgling, then more swearing before some rabid barking and snarling.
Kaia had a bad feeling. “What was that?”
Her mother gave a tinkle of a laugh. “Oh, just a few new men in my life. They’re divine.” That caused her to laugh harder. “I’m kidding. They’re not godly at all. Far from it. But I’ve one in particular who’s quite handsome.” A pause. “These three are a little long in the tooth. Almost... wolfish, you might say.” She giggled.
Sabine Belyaev never giggled unless she had someone splayed out and bound on an altar, typically on the throes of death.
Kaia hadn’t planned on visiting her mother for another few weeks at least, as long as she could manage to put off the trip. But now she’d have to make the time. The last time she’d felt uneasy about her mother, Sabine had nearly sacrificed Kaia’s ex-boyfriend to Pazuzu, a Babylonian demon.
Fortunately, her mother had seemed more interested in flirting with Pazuzu than slitting Sean’s throat. So she hadn’t been overly annoyed to find Kaia had “accidentally” sent her ex home in one piece. Just a small misunderstanding. Sure.
Still, the lecture Kaia had received about not visiting unless expressly invited hadn’t been pleasant. She’d left in tears, but at least the White Sea Witch had been appeased.
Kaia said nothing about her mother’s wolfish playthings, determined to keep the peace. The daughter of divorced parents, Kaia did her best to remain neutral. Her father made it easy. Her mother, not so much. Sabine had no problem getting nasty, so Kaia tried to remain pleasant and funny and not too confrontational.
Unless she could get away with it.
“Hey, Mom, aren’t we due for tea this week? I haven’t been to the castle in a while.” Her mother kept moving it, hiding the pocket dimension somewhere in the Sound ever since Kaia had rescued Sean.
“No, I don’t think so. In any case, I’ll be out of town until next Friday. Hold on.” Her mother muttered to herself. “I leave tomorrow, so... How about next weekend?”
“Oh, Sunday the sixteenth? That would work for me. We’re cataloguing for the book sale next Saturday.”
“Perfect. I’ll jot it down.”
Kaia waited. “Where’s the conference? I don’t remember you mentioning it.”
“I didn’t? Must have slipped my mind. It’s a national potions and elixirs conference.”
“Aren’t they the same thing?” Kaia knew better and only said that the bug her mom. The newer generations mixed the terms all the time, but old school witches and mages clung to tradition.
“Haven’t we had this talk before?” Her mother let out an exasperated sigh, which caused Kaia to chuckle. “Oh, you.” She could hear her mother’s smile. “You know very well potions are ingredients mixed to perform a function and can be—but aren’t always—infused with magic. Whereas elixirs are mixed magical liquids, thus based in magic at their foundation. I know it’s a fine line, but it’s there for a reason. The conference promises to delve into some rare recipes from a few fae and hell demesnes. I can’t wait.”
Her mother had a fixation with hells, devils, and demons. Dark magic could give much bang for the magical buck, yet it was too dangerous to handle. Kaia knew that, but her mother remained deliberately obtuse about dabbling in darker arts. Then again, her mother wasn’t just any sea witch, buttheWhite Sea Witch. As the preeminent sea witch in all of the Pacific Northwest, she had a reputation to uphold.
“Well, I hope it’s fun. Where are you going?”
“The conference is in Vancouver, so not too far. I’m excited. It’s been a while since I mingled.”
You mean since you terrorized more than Seattle and its waters.“I’m sure you’ll have a blast.”
“Oh, I intend to.”
And didn’t that sound ominous.
They made small talk for a while longer before Kaia yawned and said good night.
But once disconnected from her mother, she felt less like sleeping and more like panic-calling for advice. She immediately dialed her sister. Technically her stepsister, but they never let genetics define their relationship.
“Hello?” Macy answered, sounding perky.
“Macy, I need some advice.”
