Page 5

He clears his throat. “Mikael, turn him on. Show her what he can do.”

Oh god. Do I have to pretend to be astonished when he makes his little toy say hi to me, or can I just leave? “Really, Uncle Henrik, I appreciate the offer, but despite recent events, I’m perfectly safe in Mapleto–”

“Greetings, Emma Crane,” the robot says as his reptilian eyes blink open to reveal a gold color with a purple pupil. The purple in his eyes is the same shade that radiates from lines that run along his sharp cheekbones and outline his jaw. “I’m called A-B-E-3-9. I was designed to keep you safe. It’s my supreme honor to guard you.”

I hold up a hand before he can continue. “Yeah, nice to meet you, bud, but I’m set in the guard department, so your,” I pause to look at Henrik, “dad, I guess, will have to assign you to someone else.” I begin walking backward, hoping if I treat my uncle like a baby holding a grenade, I can slip out of here without him trying to pull any other crazy shit on me. “It was great to see you again, Uncle Henrik, but you’ll have to excuse me. I need to get back to Mapletown.”

“Emma,” he calls out as I reach the doorway. “You must reconsider.”

“No thanks. I’ll be safe. Don’t worry about me.” I spin on my heel and race out into the hallway. I don’t get far before one of his private security guards turns toward the squeak of my sneakers on the marble floor. Putting on the brakes, I stop and try to force my breaths back into a natural cadence instead of the deep halting pants that want to puff out of me. “Hi there. Meeting went great,” I tell him, smiling and brushing an errant curl off my face. “He’s the best, isn’t he?” Speak their language. Praise the overlord. “Right. Anyway, I’m ready to leave now, so if you could escort me to the car, I’d appreciate it.”

He lifts a finger to his earpiece, and a moment later, says, “Certainly, Ms. Crane. Right this way.”

“It’s actually Madam Mayor.”

Is Uncle Henrik just letting me leave? Without a fight? Without trying to manipulate me into agreeing to this?

It isn’t until I get back to my moms’ house that I understand why my escape was so painless. Mom and Morsa greet me in the living room with crossed arms and matching grimaces.

I hold up my hands the moment I kick my shoes off by the door. “I listened to his offer. I was there for ten whole minutes, so I held up my end of the deal.”

“Emma, the robot is coming with you back to Mapletown,” Mom says.

A choked sound escapes me at her tone. “Excuse me? Absolutely not.” I’m not walking the streets of my hometown with that tall computer following me around. No fucking way. The only thing more embarrassing would be doing it naked.

“We didn’t send you to Henrik to get your permission,” she continues. “It was more of a courtesy to make you aware of how your life as mayor would proceed.”

I’m flabbergasted. Fury is pumping hot through my blood. She can’t do this. “I’m not a child. You can’t order me to allow this. It’s my town.” I point at my chest, my gaze boring deep into hers. “I’m the mayor now. This is my call, and I say no.”

“Be as mad at me as you want,” she says with a shrug. “This is happening.”

I let out a cackle. “Or what?”

Morsa shoots me a pleading look, then shakes her head as if begging me to back down.

Mom clicks her tongue and delivers the final blow. The one she knows I can’t fight. “Or I’ll take your powers away.”

I want to call her bluff. I want to laugh in her face. The reason I do neither is because I know she’s not bluffing, and it’s something she can easily do. It would take one call to the Paranormal Oversight Committee, and they’d jump at the chance to help her bind me from using my powers. They’re still devastated she refused to join them all those years ago.

My nose tingles like I’m about to start crying, but I push the tears down. I’m so insulted she’d threaten me like this, I refuse to let her see me vulnerable. She’s treating me like a child, but that doesn’t mean I have to act like one in front of her. “You’d really do that, wouldn’t you?”

“You think I want to do this?” she asks with a shaky breath that catches me off guard. “You could’ve been killed, Emma. You almost were!”

She becomes a blur in front of me as I let the tears come. I hear Morsa sniffle and am grateful I’m not alone in this.

“That person…that evil creature is still out there,” Mom shouts. “The committee is investigating, but who knows how long it’ll take to catch the guy? I know you’re too proud to accept help like this, but you need it, baby girl. Until that person is caught, you need someone looking out for you. I ne––” she sucks in a breath. “I need to know someone is looking out for you.”

I throw up my hands, defeated. Exhausted. Homesick more than ever. “And that someone needs to be a robot?”

Morsa pulls me into a hug, and I don’t fight it. Her hugs are like a balm for the soul. She’s not a witch, but I swear there’s some kind of healing power in her arms. “A robot can’t die, älskling. It’s just a machine. We don’t want to risk anyone else’s safety.”

“It’s my hometown too, you know,” I hear Mom say through tears. “They’re still my people, my family, even if I no longer live there.”

My heart shatters, and if I had any fight left in me, I’d let it die after hearing that. She’s right. They both are. It’s not just me at risk, but also anyone I work with, anyone I care about. I’m not entirely sure I was the intended target, but it would make more sense than Ezra. No one has any reason to possibly hold a grudge against Ezra. I, on the other hand, am a public political figure. That’s enough of a reason right there.

“Fine,” I say with a resigned sigh. “I’ll take the robot.”

Chapter 3