I jumped up. “Oh, fuck!” I cried out, forgetting about minding my language around the kids. “My mom! They have beavers in their river!”
“Grandma?” Lesya asked, her eyes gone wide.
“And the cats!” I shrieked.
My mom, stepdad, and brother had moved to Oregon a few years back and bought a wonderful property that had a river running through it. They loved the wildlife there, especially the deer. But there were also beavers in their river. The animals had built a dam right in the middle of my mom's river. My mom thought that was wonderful. They all loved watching the beavers.
It wouldn't be so wonderful now. The only bit of good news was that the property was on a steep incline with the river at the bottom. Her house would hopefully be fine, but she had a catio near the river with several cats living in it. Why not keep them in the house? Because she had a sick cat in the house that couldn't be around the others. I know, I know. Crazy cat lady. And I had inherited the gene.
I yanked out my phone and called my mother. She didn't pick up. “Son of a bitch!” I ran for the door as my children began to cry. I couldn't comfort them. Their daddies would do that. I had to save my mommy.
I ran into the tracing chamber and barreled into the wall, my mind firmly set on my mother's house. I came out of the Aether and into a torrential downpour. Blinking, I tried to see past it. My body responded to the cold instinctively, turning up the heat to the point that I steamed.
“Mom!” I shouted. “Mom!”
“Vervain?” I heard her call from somewhere ahead.
The driveway down to the river was gravel, and I nearlytook a tumble in it that would have torn up my face. But a strong hand steadied me.
“I've got you, La-la,” Re said. Then he waved his hand above us.
The gray day turned bright, clouds parting above my mother's property and peeling back like curtains. Re pushed out with both arms and closed his eyes as his entire body began to glow.
“Re,” I whispered in awe.
“Go!” he said. “I'll clear what I can.”
I hurried down the driveway. “Mom?”
“Oh, thank God,” my mother cried. “It's stopping.” She turned and saw me. “Vervain! The river started rising. The catio is starting to flood!”
“I know, Mom. You need to get the cats up to the house. Can you put them in the garage?”
“Yeah, that's what we were trying to do. But they're terrified.” She waved at her husband, Richard, who was chasing cats through an inch of water.
“I can help.” I went into the catio and gestured Richard back as I turned up the heat.
I didn't summon flames, but the heat that blasted out of me was akin to what Re could generate. Water evaporated around my feet and a ring of it grew. A meow came, and I turned it down until it was just a comfortable warmth. More kitty cries. Cats love warmth, especially when they're wet. The kitties flocked to me, and I bent down to stroke them, using my Fire Magic with precision to dry their fur. They started purring.
“That's a good kitty,” I cooed as I picked one up and put it in a carrier. I kept going until they were all safe, and then mymom, Richard, my brother Danny, and I carried the kitties up the road.
I kept looking back at the river, and I saw a few brown heads break the surface of the water, but I didn't want to panic my mom. I had to get them inside first.
“Re?” my mom said as he came into sight. “What are you . . . oh, my.”
“Yeah, he's the one who cleared the storm,” I said.
“It's nice to have gods on your side,” Richard said. “You got here in the nick of time.”
“I'm sorry,” I said. “We would have been here sooner, but I only just found out about the storms.”
“Storms? There are multiple storms?” my mom asked.
“You haven't seen the news?” I countered.
My mom was a news junkie. She's only happy when it rains. Okay, bad choice of adage.
“No, it started to flood, and we had to get the cats to safety,” Mom said.
