Violetta looked a little pale. “And you’re just… living with that?”
“More like coping,” I said. “It’s not every day you find out your cousin’s doppelgänger used to work for the people trying to unravel the world. But I keep telling myself—it’s the Hollow. Weird is our normal.”
“Amen,” Smith muttered.
Chapter Four
Freaky alchemist powers coming online? Check. A dragon in need of a miracle? Also check. It was enough to drive a woman to drink.
That was exactly why I’d called an emergency session of the Black Cat Cocktail Club to be held at half-past nine. Which was in a couple hours’ time. Finn glanced up from his homework occasionally as I bustled around the kitchen, getting appetizers ready, but for the most part, he kept his head over his math homework. His brows were scrunched so tightly, I could have grated cheese over the craggy planes.
“Why the hell do I need to know how to calculate the vertex of a parabola?”
“Finn,” I started.
“Seriously, Mom,” he started with a yawn, discreetly rubbing one eye. “Hell isn’t a bad word. And I’m sixteen, so I should pretty much be able to say whatever words I want.”
“Hell isn’t a nice word,” I corrected. “And sixteen isn’t an adult, so you can’t say whatever you want. Even to your math homework.”
He eyed me with extreme skepticism for a moment before dropping his eyes back to the hell that was algebra.
“Is that your last problem?”
He nodded. “Andre helped me with the rest before he left for his magic show.”
My heart beat a little faster at the mention of Andre. My boyfriend. Ahem, my very hot, very British, very magical boyfriend, with whom I was now sharing a bed and a bathroom. Andre hadn’t officially moved in, but he had a drawer of his things here. It was more serious than I’d been with anyone in a long time.
It felt so right with Andre, which had made me instantly distrust the feeling at first. I’d always attracted a sub-optimal kind of man before. So much so that I wondered if someone had cursed me, making me a loser magnet. Then a string of good men had come into my life. Roy was first. And though our relationship had been brief, it had been intense and now he’d turned into my friendly ex. Then there had been Marty, my very close friend turned boyfriend turned back to friends. And now Andre. The three of them had convinced me that whatever had been going on in my love life couldn’t have been due to any flaw of mine. That, or whoever had hexed me had died.
Anyway, it turned out that Andre and I were soulmates. Not in the cheesy Hallmark movie kind of way. No, it was more tangible than that, more magical. We were bound together, fated to meet and fall in love. It would have been romantic if it weren’t so anxiety inducing at times. Still, I was beyond happy with him in my life, even if our relationship came with its own flavor of crazy. Yes, I had a ton to be grateful for: an amazing boyfriend and an amazing son, both of whom I loved very much.
Though I knew the hugs and I love yous from Finn were numbered, if not already extinct. Finn was sixteen now, which meant his independence was taking precedence. And that was just as it was supposed to be. But it didn’t make it any easier.
Sounds from the open window drew Finn’s attention to the backyard for a brief instant. I followed his gaze to find the small dots that were Smith and Violetta milling around at the far end of my backyard, searching for a ley line on which to establish my laboratory. Apparently the defensive spells would be nigh impregnable if they could find a ley line strong enough to passively fuel them.
“Who are they?” Finn asked, tapping his pencil on the page as he chewed his lip. He didn’t look anxious per se, but he didn’t look happy either.
“Contractors from Misty Hollow. Wanda says I should build a lab to commemorate my new abilities, and I thought it was a good idea.”
Though ‘lab’ made me sound like Doctor Frankenstein, complete with my own cemetery close by, in case I wanted to go shopping for choice parts. The thought made me smile, just a little. Only a few years ago, some of my friends in the Hollow would have tried to build me a boyfriendSix Million Dollar Man-style. They’d found my woeful lack of prospects in the relationship area a crime. It was a good thing I’d absolutely refused any magical help.
Because then there’d been Andre.
Heat rose up the back of my neck as I remembered just how much I enjoyed having Andre sharing not only my house, but my bed. I wasn’t sure if it was the fact he was my soulmate or if we reallywerethat compatible, but I’d been yet to be disappointed. Every time felt... well...magical.
“Mom?”
Finn’s voice yanked me back to mortifying reality and I ducked my chin, discreetly checking to see if I’d been drooling. Just the thought of my boyfriend was enough to make me dream blissful little daydreams of all the naughty things we did when we had time to ourselves.
“What was that, Finn?” I asked.
“Why do you need a lab? Can’t you just do your brewing in here like you usually do?”
My jaw snapped shut, and my stomach performed a nervous roll. This was the part that I hadn’t been looking forward to explaining. Finn was a smart kid. A brave, kind, sweet kid who’d already gone through enough in his life. I wanted to be the source of comfort and safety when he needed me, not a source of potential worry.
I wanted to tell him that it wasn’t a big deal.
But it was. Lying to him about the reasons I wanted a lab would only guarantee me the cold shoulder. Finn could sense lies, even if he didn’t always know what the underlying truth might be. The point was: he would know I was lying to him. It had meant difficult conversations with him when he was a little boy. White lies didn’t phase him anymore, but a whopper like ‘there’s nothing to worry about’ would register on the Richter Scale. Therewerethings to worry about, and I was a big part of the reason why.
