Feeling the weight of the comforter over me and the aches in my joints dissipating, I felt the pull of sleep summon me.
I couldn’t help but think of Liam. “He saved us,” I mumbled as my eyes grew heavy. Did he get away from his father? Was he dead?
Elle nodded, and my eyes drifted closed. “He did. But I’m not sure that means we can trust him.”
It was the last thing I heard before I drifted off to sleep.
Iawoke to the smell of fresh pancakes. My mouth watered as I sat up and looked at the alarm clock.
Ten A.M.
I’d slept twelve hours. The curtains were drawn, and Elle had laid my boots by the door, which made me smile. Even though we were the same age, she always mothered me. Peeling the covers back, I slipped into the bathroom and took a quick ten-minute shower. My mom had the bathroom stocked full of disposable toothbrushes, shampoo bottles, tampons, everything you could need. This must be her main bolt hole besides Mara’s house and our home in Faerie.
Going to the closet, I felt a pang in my chest as I saw rows and rows of my mother’s clothes. Leaning forward, I inhaled sharply, smelling my mother’s unique scent. My throat tightened with emotion as the jasmine and vanilla hit my nose and overwhelmed my senses. My mom and I were the same size—a fact she bragged about in public often. Her hips were a tad bigger than mine, but nothing I couldn’t fix with a belt. Pulling out some low-slung jeans and an NYPD V-neck, I laced my boots and made my way out into the living room.
On the couch were blankets and a pillow where Elle must have slept, although now she was in the kitchen flipping pancakes.
“Where’d you get fresh eggs and stuff?” I called out.
“From me.” Mara’s voice made me jump a little, and I spun to find her leaning against the open front door of the apartment. Only it wasn’t a front door, it was a blue door that now led into her house. I would never be able to wrap my mind around these endless doors and how they could be configured to different places and realms.
She smiled. “Instacart is my friend.”
I grinned; the thought of a hundreds-years-old Fae ordering normie food from an iPhone app was hilarious. I wasn’t allowed a phone or any other electronics, other than the laptop and DVDs my mom brought me. Electronics malfunctioned around us anyway. Mara likely had to get a new phone every six months.
“My mom liked the place.” I observed her touch in everything. The paintings on the walls were all of flowers, her favorite, and the coffee maker was teal, which was her favorite color.
Mara nodded. “She did. New York is a special place for seekers. You’ll see.” She winked.
Elle handed me a plate of pancakes. “For Mara,” she told me.
I held it out to the Fae, assuming she would come inside and eat with us, but she shook her head. “I can’t enter Earth. Part of my … sentencing.”
Oh right. I was in New York and not in some weird blue door in-between place. I was having a hard time remembering that.
I handed her the pancakes and she plopped right down on the floor between the doorframe and started eating. Bashur came up behind her and she tossed him a pancake, which made me laugh. It felt good to laugh. I felt like I’d turned a corner in my grief.
Crying last night, letting it all out, was good for me. And wearing my mom’s clothes today made me feel closer to her. It brought me comfort that everything would be okay. Reaching into my shirt, I pulled out the necklace she’d given me with her healing soul energy in it and gave it a kiss. The cold silver touched my lips and I promised myself only to use it for something dire.
“Order up!” Elle called, making Mara and I both chuckle. The scent of normie syrup was so yum. It wasn’t like the pure maple syrup we had in Faerie, this was pure sugar and caramel food coloring, which somehow tasted better to me, even if it was worse for my body. Pulling my pancake plate from the kitchen counter, I grabbed a fork and bottle of syrup and plopped down to meet Mara on the floor. She looked up with tears in her eyes.
“Your mom used to do the same thing.”
It was the perfect thing to say. I felt closer to her than ever and I was starting to realize the sanity in not throwing this life on a child’s lap. I was strong; she knew I could handle this.
Elle nervously shoved a piece of pancake into her mouth as she settled down next to me and eyed the cuffs on Mara’s wrist. “Why did you get … imprisoned?—I mean … if you don’t mind my asking,” she mumbled.
Mara took a slow bite, chewing thoughtfully. “It’s not a very good breakfast story. I’ll tell you girls another time.” She gave us a small smile and my heart plummeted. I mean, I knew it probably wasn’t a great story, but now I wondered just how tragic it might be.
“So, while I was in the shower,” I quickly changed the subject, “I tried to feel out where any crystals might be, but I got nothing.” A frown pulled at my lips.
Mara nodded. “Happened to your mother often. That’s why I sent you girls here.” She gestured to the New York skyline behind us.
“What’s so great about New York? I mean as far as hunting crystals goes?” I took another bite of fluffy pancake.
Mara grinned. “Your mother only discovered it a few months ago, but Central Park has…” She lowered her voice, peering behind her as if she feared being watched. “A seeker stone.”
Elle and I shared a confused look. “What’s that?”
