I looked down. My fingers were curled, and my claws were partially extended. I forced my hands to relax. Slowly, the nails receded. “Satisfied? I’m fine.”
She didn’t argue or raise her voice. But she didn’t move out of my way, either. She just tilted her head and watched me with those sad brown eyes. “Are you?”
I didn’t answer. Which was answer enough.
She took my hand and squeezed. “We’re here. Morgan is our family, too. Just like you.”
“You are so fucking cheesy.” I swallowed and returned the squeeze.
I waited for Temple to join us, and for Ronnie to get into position in the side yard. Then the rest of us walked up to the front door together.
I knocked hard. After a minute, I knocked again.
“They’re waking up,” Jenny assured me. “I hear Morgan and Blake stirring.” Her brow furrowed slightly. “Ava’s snores are pretty ragged. Blake should probably get her checked for apnea.”
A light came on inside. My son opened the door, wearing nothing but loose pajama pants. I was happy to see he’d regained most of the weight he’d lost after the divorce. He stared at us, and the weariness vanished, replaced by fear. “What is it? Did you find Sage?”
“I take it you didn’t see my texts,” I said. “Can we come in?”
For once, there was no argument. He stepped back and waved us into the living room. “What’s going on?”
“We haven’t found Sage yet,” said Jenny.
I paced the length of the room. “We have to talk to Morgan.”
“Why?” he asked.
I didn’t want to tell him. I wanted to protect him from this, like I’d tried to protect him as a child. We’d both seen how well that had worked out. “We learned more about the pills Sage took. The police are calling the drugs black magic.” I was stalling. “We found one in Morgan’s locker.”
Blake stood there for so long, I started to question whether I’d spoken out loud. Finally, he raked a hand through his hair and said, “You’re supposed to be finding Sage. Why were you poking around in my son’s locker? Mom, did you break into the school?”
“We all did,” said Temple.
“Blake, please.” I reached out, but he pulled away.
“Maybe you made a mistake,” said Blake. “How do you know it was Morgan’s locker?”
I reminded myself that I’d reacted the same way. “Jenny recognized his scent. And Morgan left his jacket in his locker again.”
His lips were tight, his fists clenched, and if I knew my son at all, he was about three seconds from trying to throw us out of his house.
Please don’t make me do this the hard way,I pleaded silently.
“The drugs are coming from Morgan’s chemistry teacher,” said Jenny. “Alex Barclay. He’s...someone I used to know.”
Blake wavered slightly. It hurt that Jenny could get through to him in a way I couldn’t.
“How dangerous is he?” he asked.
Jenny hesitated. “We don’t know yet.”
“Dangerous enough,” I said firmly. “Morgan’s in trouble. Please let us help him.”
He looked past me to Jenny and Temple, then bowed his head. When he spoke, he sounded broken. “I’ll get him.”
“There’s no need.” Jenny turned toward the stairs. “I know you’re there. You can come down now, Morgan.”
“You thought I wouldn’t see you snooping around my classroom, Jenny? Did you forget about the mirror witch we fought at the fun house down by Alameda? I was the one who figured out how she was watching us, remember? Not you or Kayla or Raj or any of them. Me.
