Hazel hustles to the phone, and I pinch the bridge of my nose even harder, like that’s going to stop the chaos from happening. It never has before, but maybe it will today.
“All right. A book on runes,” I repeat, sounding like an overworked kindergarten teacher. “And wards. That’s fabulous. There is a picture of the rune we saw in the scrapbook next to the bread recipe. Do you think you could look at?—”
“Of course I can,” Hazel interrupts me. “I have the book right here. I just got it from my backpack and I’m coming back downstairs to do it with the scrapbook.”
“You’re gonna hurt yourself,” I hear, and this time it’s Rose yelling at her, Fig chittering in the background, and I get the distinct impression that Posey’s ferret is also angry from the squeaking noises that are coming and barely audible.
Gunner covers his eyes with his paws and I let out a slow breath, trying very hard not to sound as frustrated as I am with Hazel.
“OK, that is so helpful, Hazel, and I missed you so much. I’m so sorry that I ended up stuck at the lighthouse.”
“Don’t apologize. I’m glad that you’re with Caleb. We’re all sick of tiptoeing around the fact that you’ve been in love with him your entire life and never did anything about it.”
“Oh God,” I murmur. “You’re on speakerphone, Hazel.”
The phone goes quiet, save for the sounds of Fig and Oatmeal bickering in the background.
“Oh,” says Hazel. “Hi, Caleb. Uh, forget I said any of that. I was just teasing her, you know. Just sister stuff.”
“Hi again, Hazel,” Caleb says, and I can’t decide if I’m going to laugh or scream, but maybe both. Maybe both would be good in this instance. I’m not really sure.
“Hazel, does your book say anything about resetting runes and wards?” I interrupt.
“I think it does, but I didn’t get that far in it. I was really just trying to learn about how to do some cool things with my car. Um, and then, you know, I was going to come home and talk to you guys about it because I think maybe this is something that I could be really good at.”
“That is honestly fantastic news, and I could hug you for the rest of my life.”
“I might have a problem with that,” Caleb interrupts.
I purse my lips and I cannot deny that there is heat rising all the way up my chest to my face. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if the roots of my hair were smoking slightly at this point.
“OK, well it sounds like we have a plan,” I say, steering the conversation back on track. “I’m gonna finish baking the bread. I have a slight idea of what to do with it now and then I think maybe we need to get that rune back up. Shit, what time is it? I don’t even know.”
“It’s just after 1:00 AM,” Posey shouts, the phone’s speaker crackling at her volume. I wince. “But that’s fine. We’re all awake. We love this. We’re night owls.”
“No,wedon’t,” Rose says. “I’m tired. You worked me to the bone today, Ivy.”
“I did not,” I say, and then I swallow another exasperated sigh. At this point I’m not sure how I’m even breathing anymore because all I seem to be doing with my sisters on the phone is sighing.
“Fine. Make more bread. Research the ward. We will try to keep the kraken from tearing the lighthouse off the rock.”
“It’s not going to tear the lighthouse off the rock,” Caleb interrupts again. “That’s physically impossible.”
I hold up a hand before he can start a TEDTalk on turn of the century lighthouse construction. Which, while interesting, and maybe even sexy under different circumstances, is decidedly unhelpful.
“Right. Call me back when you’re done,” I say, and then I close the call before anyone can say anything else. I throw my phone into my purse then toss it back onto the floor. I kick it once for good measure.
“Did that help?” Caleb asks, sounding genuinely amused.
“No. And now I’m annoyed.”
I stomp over to where my purse landed, pick up the tube of lip gloss that had the audacity to roll across the floor when I kicked it, and grab my phone.
“I need to charge this,” I say, “and I’m sorry it’s so late.”
“Are you seriously apologizing for a freak storm and a freak magical kraken?”
“Yeah, I sure am,” I say, rubbing the back of my neck. “I have a feeling that I have something to do with this and that I probably could have prevented it from happening. I don’t know how. And I have no idea how I could have prevented it, but I have a feeling this has something to do with me and my family. In fact I’m sure it does.”
