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Sage came out of the kitchen holding a piece of bacon. She saw the bear, flinched hard, and backed slowly away. “I was going to say that the waffles are done. I like our new waffle makers. They’re very nice. So that’s the thing that bit Donny. Terrifying.”

I turned to look at her. “You guys are speaking?”

“Of course. It’s not his fault my dad’s entire family is messed up.” She glared at him while I shook my head and went towards the stairs, trying not to notice the bear. It wasn’t easy, because his eyes tracked me in the most creepy and unnatural way.

“Don’t speak that way about your father. He’s not responsible for what other people do, just like you aren’t responsible for anything I do. And he’s here to protect you. You should be glad that he’s terrifying, because there are so many other terrifying things out there.”

“You should come and eat,” Clark said, a frown between his brows.

“I’m fine.”

“You need to regain your strength after the poor, innocent dark arts user sucked the life and magic out of you.”

“I need to sleep without a bear trying to make out with me.”

“He’ll probably stay in the hall if you ask him to. And yes, you do need more rest, but first you need fuel for your body. If you don’t come into the kitchen, I’ll bring up a plate, and I won’t leave until you eat all of it.” Why did that sound like a threat?

I put my hands on my hips and glared at him. “You’re not my mother.”

“Because my family murdered her.” He said it so casually, like it didn’t bother him at all. Didn’t it?

“No, even if your family didn’t murder my family, you still wouldn’t be my mother.” I rolled my eyes and stalked past him, very aware of the bear coming after me. I stopped and grabbed Clark’s arm, the one with the spatula. “Will he hurt the kids?”

He covered my hand with his, so warm, so perfect. “No. He’s an extension of your will.”

“I will him to stay in the hall.”

He shrugged. “You can ask him.”

I squinched up my eyes then turned and took a deep breath as I faced off with the magical construct. “Hello! I’m the heir of Hoar House, as I’m sure you know because you were so helpful in the cottage with that whole awkward chair situation. Right now, I’d like you to guard the front door. Do you mind standing in the hall, right here under the stairs would be perfect, or you could sit, whichever is more comfortable, and then if someone attacks us, you’ll be ready to…” I swiped with my hand. “You know?”

The bear stared at me and then frowned at the door. He turned in a slow circle then backed into a small space carved out under the stairs where he fit perfectly. He raised his paws then went completely still, like a sculpture.

“Oh, good. He’s already been trained for that,” Clark said then turned and walked with me to the kitchen, my hand still beneath his. He felt so good. I wanted to rest my head on his shoulder and breathe for the first time since I’d woken up this morning. Also yesterday. Also who knew how long. But he hadn’t wanted to make the deal to stay with me. I wasn’t what he wanted, at least not to live with.

I tugged my hand away from him and walked into the kitchen on my own. There in that sunny room, because it only rained when Clark was outside, the boys were wearing as many waffles as they were trying to eat.

“Look what I can do!” Jerome cried, and then, pointing his fork like it was a wand, he started chanting in Latin, and I don’t know what the words were, but his waffle started to rise, floating higher and higher and higher, until he lost his focus and the words, and it came down on his brother’s head. They both broke out in loud laughter, giggling at the wonder and hilarity of it.

For a long moment, I just stood there, feeling like my whole existence was a lie, or I’d entered some kind of twilight zone. My kids were officially not normal. “You’ll have to take a bath before school,” I finally said.

“I don’t think school is a good idea for security reasons,” Clark said calmly. “The best way to defeat you is to take them.”

I glared at him. “Don’t you dare try to scare me like that. Anyone who tries to touch my child is dead.”

“Oooh, Mom, so rawr,” Sage said, giving me a small smirk.

And then I noticed Donny standing near the back door, arm bandaged, looking nervous, like I might hurt him. Why would I do that? It’s not like he tried to kill me or anything.

“So, are you two a thing, or what?” I asked, sitting down at the table.

Clark put a gloriously crispy waffle on my plate then scooped bananas, strawberries, and blueberries over everything.

“A thing? What’s that supposed to mean?” Sage grumbled.

I stared at her. “That was an evasion. Fine. Here are the rules. No kissing. No trying to kill each other. No working together to kill anyone else, and absolutely no sneaking into anyone’s bedrooms. Why is everyone here so late in the morning? Shouldn’t you both be at school?”

Sage thumbed toward Clark with an eyeroll. “Daaaaaad thought that it would be best if we all hunkered down here. Ray’s in the woods, which is apparently mostly safe because the woods are connected to the house or something completely irrational like that. Otherwise, they’re staying here, like all of us, until we run out of groceries.”