“Anyone else feeling like they don’t belong in society after being stuck in a cell for so long?” Zasked.
“Have you ever felt like a member of this society?” Anna asked. “As in the humans. And yes, I feel like I don’t belong, to answer yourquestion.”
“I’ve never had a problem blending in with humans,” he answered. “And I’ve always liked coming into the human realm. So I guess, yeah, I’ve felt a part of yoursociety.”
“Glad to know that somebody has,” Jewel muttered. She was human, and yet she’d never felt as though she belonged. But then she’d met Peri, the other healers, and Dalton, and that all changed. Now she did feel like she belonged, and she wanted to hold onto it with both hands. But every second that Volcan’s magic flowed in her veins, it drew her further from the people she’d growntolove.
“We need to charge our phones,” Anna said, pulling Jewel from her thoughts and reminding her that she’d be able to contact Daltonagain.
Anna headed toward the back of the store. Jewel and the males followed. “Then I can call my mom and find out if she’s in town, or maybe she’s hired someone to watch the place while she’s off being agypsy.”
As soon as they entered the back room, theyfroze.
“Anna?” The woman who spoke jumped up from the table and hurried over. She wrapped Anna in her arms and closed her eyes as shesqueezedher.
“Hi, Mom,” Anna said a littlehesitantly.
Jewel could tell that Anna was not used to her mom being so affectionate. That made her worried. The presence of unusually affectionate mothers almost always meant something bad was going tohappen.
When her mom finally released her, Anna stepped back and then motioned to us. “These are my friends. Jewel, Sly, and Z. Guys, this is my mom,Jezebel.”
Jewel tried very hard to keep her mouth shut, but once again her need to spout off facts when nervous got the better of her. “The meaning of the name Jezebel is chaste, free from carnal connection, which is ironic considering the woman Jezebel from the Bible and history was one of the most licentious women.” Jewel’s eyes darted from person to person as she watched their eyes widen and several mouths open and close as if they weren’t sure what to say. It was Anna who rescued her from her incredibly awkwardcomment.
“Sorry, but you’re going to have to dumb it down for us laymen. What doeslicentiousmean?”
“It means wicked, immoral, shameless,” Jezebel answered before Jewelcould.
Jewel felt her cheeks get warm. “It is very nice to meet you, and please ignore any random or tactless thing I say from this pointforward.”
Anna’s mom smiled and then pulled Jewel in for a hug. “Jewel Stone, you are a rare gem, and I don’t just say that because of your name. And those random, tactless facts just might save your life and the lives of othersoneday.”
Anna was tryingto absorb the fact that her mom was there, right in front of her. It had been so long since she’d seen her that it was hard for her mind to grasp that they were together. And the fact that she seemed so much less flighty than she had for all those years as Anna grew up was even moredisorienting.
“Mom, we have some things we need to talk with you about,” Anna said as her mom releasedJewel.
Jezebel turned to look at her, and the smile she gave Anna was one of sadness. “Yes, daughter mine, we do. But I’d rather we do it upstairs where prying earswon’thear.”
“How exactly will going up stairs help prying ears not hear?” Jewelasked.
“Because I’ve warded it. No one can hear anything that goes on in the apartment upstairs,” she called out over her shoulder as theyfollowedher.
Anna was trying not to trip over her jaw that had dropped open. Warded? Her mother usedmagic?
“How were you able to ward it?” Jewel asked the words Anna was unable to get her own mouthtosay.
As they reached the top of the stairs, Jezebel placed her hand on the door and turned back to the group with a sly smile. “I was able, because I’m awitch.”
“I’m sorry, what?” Anna’s mouth finally decidedtowork.
“Inside,” her mom said as she stepped aside so they couldfilein.
When Anna started to pass her mom, Jezebel grabbed her arm. “I wasn’t trying to hide things from you while you were growing up. I was trying to protect you. I hope you will come toseethat.”
Anna looked into her mother’s eyes, the same eyes she’d missed seeing many lonely nights when she’d climbed into bed. “I’m not upset. And I do understand. This world, the supernatural one, it’sdangerous.”
“You are correct, Anna. It is very dangerous and only going to becomemoreso.”
Once the apartment door was closed and they were seated in the small living room, Anna looked around and saw that nothing had changed. Everything was exactly as how she left it when Peri and her crew had come and whisked her away into the fantastical adventure in which she now foundherself.
