“Ricky’s sister, remember, Mom? She’s staying at Ricky and Christina’s house.”
Her furrowed brows smoothed, and she breathed a sigh of relief. That was the one area we were still concerned about with Mom. Her short-term memory seemed to have been affected. She was constantly forgetting things we’d told her. She didn’t even remember the car wreck. The doctors believed it was a temporary ailment and would fix itself over the next few weeks or months. We weren’t willing to wait that long, but again, we weren’t exactly sure how to focus our healing energy on a specific problem. Whatever we were doing, it couldn’t do anything but help.
“I feel so bad for him.”
“Hmm?” Mom’s words brought me back from my worries. “Feel bad for who?”
“For Ricky. I know he does a good job not feeling bad about not having the same level of power as you kids, but I can tell it’s driving him crazy seeing his wife wear herself out and him unable to help very much. He’s completely wiped out after fifteen or twenty minutes. Maybe he can get some rest while he’s at our place. Without the kids there, he’ll have some quiet.”
“Yeah, that’s true.” I hadn’t even thought about how any of this was affecting Ricky. I loved him, but I couldn’t find it in myself to worry about him right now. There were too many other things that superseded insecurities. “He’ll be fine, Mom. Don’t stress about Ricky. He’s tough enough.”
Mom’s gaze was unfocused and floating over the room. I wasn’t sure if she was still listening or not. She looked like she might fall back asleep soon. I hoped she would. I wanted to focus on trying to healing her memory. “That boy of yours has been here the whole time too, hasn’t he?”
“Schwint?”
“Yes, Schwint. That’s his name.” She turned to me, her eyes taking a moment to find mine and focus. “He seems very sweet, and funny.”
“He is, Mom.”
She was quiet. I thought she’d drifted to a different thought again. “He’s not who I would have picked out for you, dear, but I think you chose well.”
I wasn’t sure how to respond to her. I’d been grateful for Schwint’s presence the past three days, but I hadn’t taken time to think about our relationship or where we were headed. Now that she mentioned it, though, the fact that Schwint hadn’t left my side since the accident spoke volumes. More than any words he would have been able to say.
“Do my pointed ears deceive me, or doth they detect a burning sensation?”
I turned and saw Schwint nudge open the door with his foot and slip inside, his hands holding a tray full of food.
He grinned at me. “I couldn’t decide what you’d want, so I brought a variety.”
I grinned at him. “How’d you pay for that, anyway?”
He directed a wink in Mom’s direction. “Your children may have healing magic, but we fairies can be very persuasive to human minds.”
Mom let out a chuckle and offered him a soft smile. I wasn’t sure if I should be concerned about her not correcting his use of the word magic—she hated our powers being referred to as magic. Not to mention that she didn’t balk at his insinuation that he basically stole the food. Either it was another sign that she wasn’t thinking like she normally did, or she genuinely liked Schwint enough for his missteps not to bother her.
“If you see something you like, Ms. de Morisco, dig in before that uptight nurse returns.”
“No thank you, dear, and remember, it’s Paulette to you.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He winked at her again, and I was certain a flush crept into her cheeks.
Within a moment, her smile faded and her eyes clouded over, an expression I was already way too familiar with over the past few days. “It will be okay, Mom. Really.”
She looked at me, face grim and jaw set in a determined fashion. “I still think we need to address the problem. It’s not going to go away, and you aren’t safe until it’s taken care of.”
“What are we going to do, Mom? We’ve already been through this. There’s no one to complain to. There’s not anyone who can take on the Vampire Cathedral. The Royals can do what they want.” I motioned toward the flower card on the bedside table. It had been handled so much over the past few days that it already looked worn and tattered. “I still say the only option is for me to go. There’s no way to know what they will do next.”
Mom punched the mattress with her fist, and the cardiac machine began to beat more rapidly as her heartbeat increased. “Absolutely not! We may not know what they will try next, but we know what will happen if you go to them. You won’t come back! Maybe they’ll leave us alone! They’ve punished us enough!”
“Okay, Mom. Okay. Calm down. I’m not going anywhere.” I stroked her hair and whispered reassurances as soothingly as I could, making promises I knew I couldn’t keep. In the few moments I’d been able to spare thoughts about things other than trying to heal Mom and Dad, I’d reached the conclusion there was no other option than going to the Vampire Cathedral. No matter what Mom said or wanted to believe, I knew they weren’t done with me. I couldn’t imagine what they wanted or why they were determined to have me come to them, but I knew they hadn’t spent those months having the voice torment me, “protecting” me at the Square, and then warning me by nearly killing my parents only to forget about me now. I just hoped by some miracle they would give me enough time to be sure that my parents were okay before I left them.
I looked up from Mom to see Schwint watching me, a sad expression on his face. He knew already, either by figuring out what I would do or knowing there was no other option. He tried to smile at me, then looked away.
Overthe next five hours, I took two more shifts with Dad, letting Caitlin join Mom and Schwint get some rest.
During the last stint by his side, Dad’s eyes opened and found me. “Finn?” His voice was parched and cracked.
I grinned broadly at him. This was the first time he’d woken up with me here. “Hi, Dad! It’s good to see you awake.”
