"So, you don't mind if I go out with Brant tonight?" Maible asked, looking down as she stirred her coffee that Luna had just refilled. "I bailed on lunch and haven't explained anything yet. I think he's getting frustrated with my excuses. Plus, eventually people are going to find out, and he should hear it from me first."
It had been a couple of weeks since Maible's heritage had been revealed. I'd ignored Devland—mostly—and spent my time with Maible, bonding as sisters rather than friends. While I held nothing back, explaining every painstaking story I could think of—good, bad, embarrassing, funny—Maible shared her childhood sparingly, all the while with a shadow overwhelming the spark in her eyes. I couldn't bring myself to ask how things had been at home between her parents, though I could see that she was tired, forcing herself to try to match the effort I was putting in. We spent most of our time at Calin's or Celestial Java, both points of neutral ground. I didn't even ask if she'd spoken with Devland.
I, for one, hadn't, but I knew it was coming.
Unfortunately, that didn't keep Devland from trying to speak to me whenever I came back to the Manor for clothes, though I hadn't spoken to him at all when I'd returned after visiting Luna to get my car. When Devland's attempts to talk didn't work, he'd started to leave presents for me in my sitting room, all of which remained unopened on a side table beside the door. I didn't need his guilt gifts, nor did I trust them. Not after what he'd done when my memory had been so elusive in order for me not to remember.
"Nora?"
"I'm sorry?" I narrowed my gaze and forced myself to concentrate on what Maible was saying. "You want my permission to hang out with your boyfriend?"
"I don't have to," she said quickly, finally looking back at me. "I just feel like I should try, you know?"
"Maible, you don't need my consent." I laughed loudly, then looked over my shoulder to see a few customers at the table beside us look over and blushed. Glancing back, I lowered my voice. "Go. Hang out with your boyfriend. We're blood. You know that means that you aren't going to make me not want to hang out with you because you wanted to spend a night apart. Heck, in a few weeks I'm sure we'll beg each other for time away from one another. Isn't that what sisters are like? A love-hate relationship?"
"It's still so weird that we're related," Maible whispered.
"Hmm, I know." I took a sip of my coffee and then nodded. "But I'm happy we are even if the way it came to be isn't fantastic."
"Me too."
I gestured to her cup and smiled. "Well, drink up. I'll drop you off and then you can get gussied up for Brant."
"Are you sure?"
"Jeez! Yes! I didn't face Devland to get my car back so I wouldn't use it," I said. "Besides, if he feels as guilty about abandoning you as he did me, maybe we can get him to buy you a car too. For now, think of it as sharing, which is nothing less than you deserve."
"I couldn't accept a car and face my father," Maible said. "He's hurt enough."
I pressed my lips together and stood. "Okay. Up. You need some quality time with Brant to cheer you up. Let's go."
Maible's laugh was forced, but she complied.
I put ten dollars on the table—the novelty of being served at a table was that Luna couldn't wave my money away—and raised my hand in goodbye to Luna as we left. I bit my tongue the whole trip to Maible's, forcing myself not to ask the questions I was dying to learn the answers to.
Had she spoken to Devland?
How was her dad?
Would she accept the gifts Devland was giving to me?
Since I had inherited everything from my mother, I didn't need what Devland offered, but I knew that Maible's family struggled. Had he been paying child support? As far as I was concerned, it wasn't enough if he had, and Maible deserved everything he'd lavished on me.
"Thanks for the ride," Maible said as I pulled up to the curb outside her house. "I'll see you tomorrow?"
"If you want. It's okay if you want to spend more time with Brant."
"Okay, how about I call you tomorrow and we'll go from there?"
Maible flashed me a forced smile and then got out of the car. I watched as her pace slowed while she ascended the path to her front door and, if I wasn't mistaken, sighed before drawing in a deep breath and opening it. Whatever was going on, she wasn't looking forward to being at home any more than I was going back to the Manor, which was on the agenda tonight.
First, I would stop to see Calin and gain some much-needed composure.
I pulled away from Maible's and backtracked through town, smiling.
Maible wasn't the only one who could use some boyfriend time. Even though we spent time at Calin's, I hadn't had any with him alone, and I was starting to feel on edge without his special kind of comfort. To make it worse, spending so much time with Maible meant that I couldn't release my energy or lower my shield. I didn't want to practice in front of her when she obviously hadn't figured out how to use her own even after I'd stopped cloaking her, and I couldn't open myself up to feel her conflicting emotions. Not only would that be overwhelming, it would be wrong to use my gift to discover how she was dealing with everything without her consent. If Maible wanted to share, she would.
I pulled into the driveway at the Malloy's and parked behind Calin's car before jumping out and rushing inside the front door without bothering to knock, which Islene had told me to discontinue after a week of daily visits. Going through the empty kitchen, I glanced into the sitting room to find it was vacant as well. Calin usually only went to his room when he was close to going to bed, so I went to the library and found the door half open.
Calin looked up from the table as I entered and smiled. "Hey. I thought you were going for coffee with Maible?"
"We went." I nodded and returned his smile when he rounded the table to stand beside me, greeting me with a kiss on my cheek that I felt down to my toes. "She wanted to see Brant tonight, so I thought I'd stop here on my way to the Manor."
Calin's brow furrowed. "Why are you going there? Didn't you get clothes yesterday?"
"Yeah, but I can't avoid going back there indefinitely and live here," I said, rolling my eyes. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't mooch off Islene and Nolyn, taking advantage of the close relationship Islene had had with my mother. It felt wrong.
"Sure you can." Calin grinned. "I bet you could offer to pay rent, though my mom would probably say no. I swear, she loves having you around. It's like the baby girl she never got to have."
"I'm not a baby!" I snorted and slapped his stomach.
Calin caught my hand and pulled me into a hug, wrapping his arms around my waist. He lowered his head until our foreheads touched. "I don't like you having to see Devland."
"Well, for better or worse, he is my father."
"And Maible's."
"Well, yeah." I nodded. "That too."
"Stay here with me. You can sleep in the guest room again. Your stuff is there."
I shook my head. "No. I have to go back, Calin."
"Why? Onyx is here."
Instead of responding—I didn't know how to voice what I didn't know I had to discover based on a feeling—I nodded to the table where books were opened and cluttered across its top. "What's this? Studying for an exam I don't know is coming?"
Calin laughed and shook his head, stepping back and then rounding back to the other side to take a seat. He gestured for me to take the chair across from him. "No, I am researching."
"Researching what, exactly?" I read a few of the spines of the books, though the only thing I could deduce was that it had to do with the Craft because the topics were so widely varied.
"Well, for starters I am trying to find out how you can do the things that you can," he said. "I haven't read anything that is applicable so far."
"For starters?" I felt my stomach hollow, remembering the conversation I overheard between Calin and Islene about my abilities. My capabilities seemed like a big endeavour and it made me apprehensive to learn what he might consider more daunting.
"I don't know, really. I feel like trouble is coming."
"Uh, I believe that came when I arrived in Wickenton, Calin."
"No, I think... I feel like something even worse is coming, if it hasn't already." Calin swept his hand above the books. "I want to know as much as I can about all of this so that we can try to figure it out beforehand. I don't want to be as unprepared as we have been for everything else."
"Like my memory and Maible?" And my mother, Duvessa, the corrupted Council Zach told me about.
"Yes." Calin paused and looked up, meeting my gaze. "Do you think it's stupid?"
"Really? I am the one who ran through two rooms and locked herself in her dressing room to hide behind clothes because of what I sensed. You'll receive no judgment here." I pulled a book closer to me, shutting it to read the cover. "Besides, I trust my instincts and think you should trust yours. Can I help?"
"You want to?"
"Why not? I used to study the Craft all the time with my mother."
"What about Maible?"
"What do you mean?"
"Aren't you two attached at the hip now?"
I shrugged. "How many times have you told me she is one of the smartest people you know about this stuff? If she wants, she can help."
"I don't want to share why I am doing this, Nora," he said. "You said she used to be pretty devoted to Devland."
"That's true. I'm actually worried that Maible is taking everything too easily and it's all a front. Sooner or later, she's bound to come apart."
"My mom said Maible's parents have separated," Calin said.
"Really?" I blinked. "She never said."
"Yeah, her dad has rented a motel room or something."
"Wow. That's... a lot." No wonder she looked more exhausted each time I saw her. How many fights had her parents had before her father left? Who was helping with her mother's other children?
"Yeah, I know. So, we'll do this alone?"
"For now, I guess, but I won't lie about where I am." I flipped open the book and hunched forward, grinning as I looked down. "Besides, she wants to spend time with Brant, and I want to spend time with you. Everyone wins."
A/N: Sorry for the delay :) It's crazy in the world right now and even (mostly) working from home is a stressful time. I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy while staying far away from COVID 19!