by Alexia Purdy
***
Dinner had been more than interesting. Jade had given the fridge a shake of her head before deciding to order pizza. Since Camulus had left before their big talk earlier, only Soap remained to eat dinner with the family. Jade eyed him several times during dinner while also glancing at Shade. It was no mystery why he was staying. She just didn’t know what to say to him.
The silence became a little too much to bear for Shade. She chased a bit of pizza down with her Coke and caught her mother staring at Soap again. “Mom, can you please stop staring at us? What’s the matter? Do we have sauce all over our faces?”
Startled, Jade straightened up and frowned at Shade. “I was just trying to see what the heck is going on around here. First I start remembering things I should’ve known all along, and I desperately want to know why I couldn’t before. Then your brother becomes a pyromaniac, setting things on fire in the garage, so I have to keep fire extinguishers around….”
“Wait, you did?” Shade interrupted as she turned, giggling at Benton.
“Shut up! I was trying my powers out!” he grumbled as he stuffed another bite into his mouth.
“Don’t interrupt me, Shade! Now, I won’t have you treading in and out of Faerie like some Fairy Princess, oblivious to the dangers there and with who knows what powers you’ve inherited to keep under control. Let alone bringing one of them here! When is he leaving?”
“Mom!” Shade dropped her half-eaten slice down on her plate, glaring up at her mother. What the rampage was about, she hadn’t a clue. “Did you forget I’m one of them, too?” She stood up, letting the chair fly back onto the floor. Everyone else sat stunned, including Soap. James fidgeted in his chair but began to pick the pepperoni off his pizza and fling it at Benton.
“Stop, you little brat!” Benton gave him a light whack but pulled away as Jade’s voice boomed out.
“Both of you stop that right now!” She pushed away from the table and also stood, staring back at her daughter. “I know perfectly well what you are, Shade. That doesn’t mean I don’t love you. It’s just….” She pointed her slender hand toward Soap, his face serious now as he watched her, glancing quickly at Shade. “He is one of them, Shade. Faeries don’t care how you feel! They’re not human like us! He’ll steal your heart and won’t give it back. He’ll trick you until he gets what he wants and then leave you all alone!” The tears flowed down Jade’s face as her sobs exploded from within. She sank back into her chair with her head in her hands. Her body shook as she cried, and her lonely wailing echoed in the room as the rest of them sat stunned, not knowing what to say or do.
Shade ran around the table and embraced her mother. She knew the pain of her mother’s memory rushing back to her had taken its toll. She hadn’t expected to see Jade fall apart in front of all of them. There was nothing to do but hold onto her and let the grief pass. She realized eighteen years of living in a lie can mess with you immensely. Shade’s own tears streamed down her face and wet her mother’s shirt as she rubbed her mother’s shoulder. Shade hated seeing her cry. She didn’t often break down. She’d always been the family’s rock.
As Jade’s sobbing quieted to nothing, Shade looked up to see Benton had shuffled James and Anna out of the room to watch TV. Only Soap remained. He walked over and handed Shade two napkins. Shade nodded as he removed himself to join the others. Now alone, she pulled away from Jade to offer a napkin. Jade took it and wiped her face, sighing deeply and shaking her head.
“I’m sorry, Shade. I didn’t know when everything came rushing back to me it would get to me so badly. I shouldn’t have said those things. I do hope your friend is not too offended.” She blew her nose and sniffled. She looked at Shade with red-rimmed eyes and studied her daughter’s face. She reached out, touched Shade’s cheek and smiled weakly. “It’s not easy loving a faery. No one can ever replace them, Shade. Usually, a human will love a faery forever, but forever is but a blink of an eye in their lifetime. Don’t forget that. Never underestimate them. I lost years of my life because of it. Your real father may have loved me, but he didn’t ask me if it was okay to erase my memory and make me forget who I was—what I am—and who you are. It will never be okay.”
She sniffled again, wiping her nose and sighing as she nodded. “I’m fine now. Please tell everyone I’m going to bed. I’m pretty exhausted from the shielding spell today. Goodnight, Shade.” They stood for a moment, staring at each other when Jade broke the connection and made her way to her room.
Shade’s eyes lingered in the direction her mother had gone. The weight of the world felt like it was pushing down on her and waiting for her reaction. She cleaned the table off and wiped the crumbs away, relishing the calming effect of such a mundane task.
Chapter Nineteen
