“Kara…”
It was rare for my dad—or anyone in the family—to call me anything other than my childhood nickname, Kitty. My name whispered from his lips, sounded remorseful.
“I don’t need a mark to find love,” I said, reassuring him with a smile. “If the Devil truly is my marked mate, I refuse to accept it.”
The lamp in the corner toppled over. Shadows on the walls stretched as the light bulb shattered. I narrowed my eyes. I couldn’t see Shadow, but I knew it was there lingering in the darkest part of the room.
Dad sat up to inspect the falling lamp.
“I’ll take care of it,” I told him, waving my hand. As my power flowed through my fingertips, the lamp rose from the floor. The bulb reassembled itself, and light returned to the room.
Suddenly, a grinning Prudence materialized.
“So, you guys captured Harvest?” Dad guessed, noting her cheeky smile.
“You should visit the boys in the cellar,” Prudence said. “That’s where we took Harvest.”
She met my gaze. “And you need a good meal. Come on.”
“Go on, Kitty,” Dad urged. “Tell your mother I’m down in the cellar.”
???
I was on my third plate of soup when the shadows in the back corner of the kitchen, near the pantry doors, undulated. Mom, Prudence, and Maureen stood around the kitchen island, never once noticing Shadow’s presence. It didn’t seem to have one. Reapers could detect anything, could see straight through someone to decide whether they deserved a spot in Heaven. But even Dad couldn’t sense the thing living within our walls.
I didn’t know what Shadow was. My parents might have been right insisting it really was just something that existed in my head. But I didn’t want to believe it was only my imagination.
Maureen placed a pack of Oreos in front of me. My mouth watered.
“I didn’t think I’d see these again.”
With the human world collapsing, our ability to materialize from their world had been affected.
“Enjoy them. They might be the last ones you ever find,” Maureen said.
“Don’t take from the humans,” Mom scolded. “They need things more than we do.”
“Has anyone peeked into the human world?” Prudence asked. “How much of civilization is going to recover once we end this?”
“Humans are very adaptable,” Maureen replied. “We just have to save something for them to hold onto.”
At least they were talking with certainty. We’d been showing so much vulnerability lately, and I was tired of the depression.
As I opened the pack of Oreos, Mom placed a glass of milk in front of me.
I smiled and said, “Thank you.”
“Spoiled,” Maureen muttered, as if she weren’t the one who stole the cookies for me.
“I’m the only one who can’t materialize food. I need all the help I can get,” I argued halfheartedly as I dunked a cookie, enjoying the normalcy. It wouldn’t last, but thankfully, I knew how to enjoy the good when it came.
“No more fast food or human goods for any of us,” Prudence announced with a sigh.
“I’m going back upstairs,” Mom said, kissing Prudence’s forehead before repeating the gesture with Maureen. “Your father should be back soon, and I want to spend all the time—”
She cut off abruptly, her eyes glistening.
“Well, you know where I’ll be if you need me. Hopefully, the others are taking time to eat and rest while watching Harvest.”
