“She needs you, not me,” my mother mumbles. She hits her head really hard then on the wall. The blood gushing from her head more steadily now. “We’ll just have to call her.”
Collecting her blood, she begins to draw a symbol against the white wall.
“Fuck, you need to stop her,” Stevie shouts and I’m moving. My hand wrapping around her forearm, pulling her hand away from the wall.
My mom thrusts her head backward, hitting me in the face, making me wince and groan. She continues to draw on the wall.
Stevie tries to stop her from writing and she grabs Stevie by the throat and hauls her across the room. I hear a crack and look over and see that she isn’t moving. Her arms limp around her sides as her body lies precariously against the dresser.
The words escape my lips before I can even think about how I feel about saying them. “Mortem a suffocatio.” I watch as my mother’s hand lifts from the wall, no longer creating the symbol that I’m pretty sure was created to summon Mara. Her hands wrap around her throat as her body restricts the airflow from her body. She falls to her knees, as her lungs can’t take in any air. The veins in her neck and face turn blue and her eyes bulge from her head. Until there’s nothing but silence in the cabin, the last noise I hear before I run over to Stevie is my mother’s dead body hitting the hard wooden floor.
I should feel more, there’s a price to pay for death magic, my soul should be fractured. I should feel cracked in half. My magic should be revolting against the evil I just used, but it doesn’t; it sits calm and content within me. It shouldn’t be possible, witches have died casting death magic before. It’s probably a part of why they are so docile now. I look down at my hands which are shaking heavily. Though I know I didn’t use my bare hands to kill my mother, I might as well have with how this feels. My magic isn’t revolting against me, but my mind is spiraling.
My eyes are watery, but I hold back the tears. I’m on my knees in front of Stevie, cupping her pretty face in my hands. I can tell she’s breathing. Thank Hecate. “Stevie, sweetie, you need to wake up. We need to get out of here.”
I’m not sure how much of the design needed to be completed. If what she has now was enough to alert Mara. I just know I need to get my cousin the fuck out of here now.
Stevie groans and shifts her weight slightly. Her eyes still haven’t opened, and I’m panicking. The adrenaline is wearing off. I just killed my own mother. Her body is right over there. I’m not sure how much was left of her inside of that shell, but it was still her to some degree. While I might not have loved her, she tried to kill me. How does someone conceptualize killing the person who brought them into this world?
“Stevie, please, we need to go.” She doesn’t move, and I’m just lost. I don’t know what to do.
With shaky hands, I take my phone from my pocket and dial Dax. He picks up on the first ring.
“Hey, babe, what—” he starts.
“Dax,” I say, knowing it comes out as a croak.
“Babe, where are you? What’s wrong?”
“Can you portal to me? I need help, Stevie, she’s—” I can hear the tears in my voice, but they still haven’t leaked from my eyes.
There’s shuffling. “Dax can’t come, but I will.” It’s Kas’ voice, and I lamely nod my head, thinking she can hear me. She hangs up the phone, and I wonder how she’s going to know where we are. So I text the address to Dax’s phone.
I have to retype the numbers of the house twice before I get it right and shoot off the text. It’s not even two seconds later that I hear a large pop and the front door banging open.
Kas storms in the room, looking at my dead mother on the floor and Stevie’s crumpled body against the dresser. She doesn’t speak, she just picks Stevie up like she weighs nothing. Apparently demon strength is a universal thing.
I follow her outside where we stand in front of the Jeep. “Your keys,” she says.
“What?”
“Your keys, little witch. Sit in the backseat with her, and I’ll drive your car home.”
I nod my head and place the keys into her perfectly manicured palm. Getting into the backseat, she slides Stevie in next to me. I pet her long red hair between my fingertips as Kas gets in the front seat and drives like a bat out of Hell back to Hallowsdeep.
She doesn’t say a word until we’re on the highway. “Is she okay?”
“Yes, I’ll give her some potions when we get home. I think she just hit her head pretty hard.”
“Who was that back there?”
I look out the window and sigh. “My mother.”
“Oh, fuck,” Kas says.
“Yeah, it’s been a pretty shitty week.”
“Listen, as soon as we get back, I need to leave. Dax needs me.”
