She stood there for what seemed like an eternity, and for a hot second I thought she might actually portal to LA and take her freedom, but I think the chance to see what happened to her mother finally broke her tough girl persona. With a sigh, she reached out and touched the page at the same time I did.
We were sucked into the first memory I’d gone to, the one where my mom was playing Suzie Homemaker and Apollyon was playing doting husband.
“That’s my mom,” I said. Obvious as Harley had just met her, and even though my mom was younger, you could still tell it was her.
Harley nodded, looking intrigued at the memory as Apollyon kissed my mom and went into the bedroom. Harley followed him, which I hadn’t thought of to do the first time, and we watched as he shoved stacks of money into the duffle bag. Her eyebrows knitted together.
When my mom begged him to stay and he was short with her, I felt angry all over again.
“He has her under a love spell,” I told Harley.
“Your mom told me,” she said without emotion.
Okay, so she didn’t seem to care. I was learning Harley was very much a “not my problem” kind of person.
As we followed Apollyon out the door and through the portal he created, I explained to Harley that we would be pulled with him and needed to stay close. The second we got to the door of her mother’s place, I dropped the bomb.
“This is your mother’s apartment.”
Harley visibly flinched. We walked inside after Apollyon, and I watched her face as her mother spoke so casually about the “transaction” of having Harley.
When Apollyon gave Sam the money, Harley’s jaw clenched. As Apollyon was leaving, I decided to look for a better memory. There had to be one that showed Sam’s loving feelings toward her daughter. Even in this memory she’d asked Apollyon to name her, and it was a family name, so I knew she cared. If she didn’t, she would have just given Harley up to Apollyon, but she hid her daughter from him instead.
I searched for another time Apollyon visited Sam, doing my best to concentrate on finding something loving even though I really had no idea what I was doing. We finally stopped on a specific memory. I couldn’t tell when it was, before or after the last one, but Apollyon was in the living room yelling at someone on the phone, while Harley’s mom was cooking in the kitchen. Ignoring Apollyon, Harley and I moved toward Sam, who stood in front of the stove stirring something in the pot with one hand as she sang.
“And if that mockingbird don’t sing, Mama’s gonna buy you a diamond ring.” Her free hand went to rub her belly and my heart pinched.
I glanced at Harley and her entire demeanor had changed. She stepped closer to her mother, watching her intently.
“And if that diamond ring don’t shine,” Sam sang, “Mama gonna mess up the guy who sold it to me,” she improvised, which caused both Harley and me to chuckle.
Sam looked down at her belly then. “You been kicking me all day, baby girl. You’re gonna be a fighter, aren’t you?”
Harley’s back was to me, but she reached up and wiped her eyes, and I wasn’t sure if I should try to console her. On second thought, that would probably only spook her, so I stepped back, giving her the space I thought she needed.
Sam sighed, looking down at the boiling water. “He’s a vile person. I’d be a horrible mother. I don’t want that kind of life for you.” Sam suddenly dropped the spoon into the pot and burst into sobs.
Harley spun to face me with tears running down her cheeks. “I want to go. Now!”
I nodded, frantically flipping the pages in my mind just to land us on another memory, any memory so long as it wasn’t this one. Then we could make a portal and leave without having to hear Sam’s desperate sobs.
I transported us within the book of Apollyon’s memories, and when I realized we were in the black tower in Shadow City, I froze. Apollyon was standing before a creepy-looking level ten. The man had slicked-back gray hair and wore a black suit. His eyes had no whites to them; they were solid inky black. I peered around the room for my mother, but she was nowhere to be seen.
“Holy hell, let’s go,” Harley said, and opened her hands to make a portal.
“I need a plan in place in case one of my offspring grow up to be too powerful,” Apollyon said, and I reached out and grabbed Harley’s arm to stop her, instinctually feeling as if we needed to see this.
Her head snapped in the direction of Apollyon and the level ten.
“I can weave a curse so that if one of your children ever kills you, she will die as well,” the demon said, and I stumbled back in shock.
Harley watched the scene unfold less with shock and more with hatred.
“Do it,” Apollyon said. “The last thing I need is for one of my spawn to ever plot against me.”
“Okay, he’s a big fat douchebag who needs a throat punch,” Harley growled, stepping closer to him looking like she was about to deliver that punch.
I didn’t know what would happen if we actually touched Apollyon in a memory, and I didn’t want to find out. I yanked her backward just as the level ten reached out and touched Apollyon’s forehead.
