“How long until your first symptom appeared?” she asked with all the emotion of a medical doctor. My mom spent so much time in the Netherworld around demons, maybe she could help us figure out what to do about Gage.
“Within hours,” Gage admitted.
My mom whistled low. “Have you fully shifted yet?”
Wow, she was totally taking the my-daughter-is-dating-a-hellhound thing in stride.
Gage shook his head. “Not fully. My friend Dash says it might not happen, and then things will be better for me. Only if you fully shift do you have to go to the Netherworld for the full moon.”
My mom nodded. “That’s true, but you haven’t had a full moon here yet, right?”
Why was she saying it like she fully expected him to shift when the moon went full? I didn’t like this. I didn’t want to be talking about this anymore.
“Tomorrow,” Gage croaked, and my mom nodded solemnly.
Tomorrow?There was a full moon tomorrow? We’d find out then if Gage was going to fully shift?
I hated that. I hated everything about that.
My gaze caught on a gold bangle around my mom’s wrist. It looked like there was angelic script etched into the metal. “What’s that?” I asked, sure she hadn’t been wearing it in the Netherworld.
“Oh, this?” my mom asked as she gently shook her hand, jiggling the bracelet. “The wards went crazy when you threw me through the portal, shocking me, until they slapped this on my wrist.”
I winced. That sounded painful, and I immediately felt bad that I’d been the cause of it, but I couldn’t regret my actions because at least she was alive. If I hadn’t tossed her in the portal and gotten her out of there, Apollyon definitely would have killed her.
“This bracelet conceals my Shade magic so I can be here within the Lumen Compound,” she continued. “I think your friend, Indigo, has been given one as well.”
For a minute there I’d forgotten my mom was a Shade, but the truth of it hit me like a tidal wave, reminding me I had no less than five hundred questions for her.
Reaching out, I rubbed Gage’s arm. “Can you give us some alone time now?” I asked, partially to stop talking about this hellhound stuff, but also because some of the questions I had for my mom were really personal, and I felt like she wouldn’t want to talk about it in front of Gage.
He leaned in and kissed my cheek. “Nice to meet you both.” He dipped his head to my mom and Gran and then left, shutting the door behind him.
My mom smiled. “I actually like him.” She sounded surprised, which made me chuckle.
“Me too,” Gran chimed in.
That was good, but I needed some answers and I’d waited long enough.
Turning, I faced my mother, and by the look on her face she knew what was coming.
“Mom, how? How could you marry and have a kid with him? He’s a fallen angel and the ruler of the Netherworld. The worst, darkest soul there is. He betrayed Avalon. He’s evil.How?”
I hadn’t meant to say it so passionately, so judgmental, it just came out that way.
“I’d like to know that too.” Gran pulled up a seat and my mother nodded. Her face was devoid of all emotion as she inspected the thread count of the sheets.
“How did you fall for Gage? The son of a Shade leader?” my mom asked me, and my mouth popped open in surprise. She knew exactly who Gage was the entire time. “I imagine you found a spark of light in him that drew you to him.”
I just nodded. It was only a spark when we first met, now it was a roaring fire. Gage was a good man, an even better one now that he was in the right environment.
My mom sighed deeply and lay back on the pillow, staring up at the ceiling. “It was like that with Apollyon, except that the spark of light I saw in him was fake.”
That caught my attention, and both Gran and I leaned closer.
My mom reached up and ran her fingers through her damp, blonde hair. Looking at her now I got a glimpse of what I might look like in my late thirties. She was beautiful despite the bruises and being underweight.
“That entire first year with him was a blur.” She met my gaze and years swam in her eyes. “He put a spell on me, similar to a love spell you see in the movies.”
