“Mother, I was in Tysseland,” Sasha said. “I met Queen Vania. We broke the curse.”
Stunned, Willow Bean stumbled and the glass slipped from her fingers and landed on the floor with a thunk. Water seeped into the carpet and Willow Bean didn’t seem to notice.
“Who sent you there?” Willow Bean said trying to recover her composure.
“Mother, please,” Sasha said pulling herself off the couch and scooping up the glass from the floor. She went into the kitchen, filled it and turned back to her mother. “Who do you think sent me?”
“Dominic,” she said quietly. “Why would he? I was taking care of this.”
“Really? I want to believe you mother but I’m barely alive. My lovely grandmother has tried to kill me every way she knows how while you have stood by and what, sold houses?”
Willow Bean stiffened. “That is not true. I was… I was preparing.”
Sasha was surprised. “How?” she said slamming her glass on the counter. Willow Bean didn’t flinch.
“I’m not like her,” Willow Bean said. “I would never hurt you.”
Sasha shook her head. “I’m having a hard time believing that mother because it seemed you stood by while your mother tried to kill me many times.
“I can see why you wouldn’t tell me about this horrid woman. I mean, who would be proud of being related to that? But you didn’t prepare me mother. I didn’t know what I was doing. If Evan hadn’t been there-,” she collapsed sobbing.
Willow Bean approached her daughter apprehensively. She rested a light hand on her shoulder and rubbed in gentle circles.
“It was super scary mom,” Sasha cried. “She actually killed me and Evan brought me back. If it weren’t for Evan, I’d be dead.”
Sasha slumped on the tiled floor. Willow Bean held her as she fell. The two sat in a heap rocking together while Sasha cried.
Once she calmed she told her mother what happened, clinging to her like she did when she was small and scraped her knee. Willow Bean put her hand on Sasha’s head and brushed her hair away from her forehead.
“I don’t know how you could stand that woman,” Sasha said pulling away. “She’s pure evil. “
Willow Bean pulled her daughter back in for a hug, tighter this time.
“You don’t have to tell me,” Willow Bean said. “I lived with her for 17 years. She made my life miserable but thought she was making it better. I didn’t have any freedom.”
She gently held Sasha away and gazed into her eyes.
“That’s why I give you space, so you can learn and fix your own mistakes. There’s nothing worse than someone always trying to control you.”
Sasha was skeptical. That’s not how she’d characterize how her mother treated her but she kept silent. She didn’t want to fight anymore.
“I hope Glenbury is ok,” Sasha said wiping away her tears. She explained how the queen showed up just as they were leaving.
Willow Bean rubbed Sasha’s arm. “Don’t worry about Glenbury. He has great survival skills.”
“Still,” Sasha said still bothered by the way she’d left the old man. “It was the queen. He told us she’s more powerful than he is.”
Willow Bean nodded and leaned away from Sasha. “True but don’t worry. Dominic will find out. They don’t have to open a portal to communicate.”
Sasha glared at her mother and found her nonchalance about Glenbury’s fate disturbing. Maybe Willow Bean was more like the queen than she wanted to admit.
“What now?” Sasha asked.
Willow Bean got to her feet and took a roll of paper towels over to the water she’d spilled. She mopped it up not looking at Sasha.
“We found Nefar,” she said not providing too many details. “He won’t be bothering you anymore.”
Sasha wasn’t sure if she believed her. “Did you kill him?”
Willow Bean stared into her daughter’s face. “Do you really want to know?”
Sasha paused. Did she want to know if her mother had killed someone? “No,” she said realizing she didn’t want to know all the gory details.
“Ok then,” Willow Bean said taking the soaking paper towels to the garbage bin. She dropped them inside and dried her hands on a cloth.
“Do you think the queen still wants me dead?” Sasha asked.
Willow Bean was slow to respond. “It’s hard to say,” she said. “It will be harder for her to do it because you’ve got your full magical abilities now.”
“Yeah about that,” Sasha said. “What was wrong with the pendant?”
“Do you have it?” Willow Bean stretched out her hand.
Sasha put a hand to her throat and remembered it was gone. Cady had destroyed it before she died.
“No.”
Willow Bean grabbed her purse and started rifling through it. “Here is my theory,” she said taking out a lipstick and compact. “I think Cady was in on this from the beginning.”
“What?” Sasha screeched.
“Hold up,” Willow Bean said putting up a hand. “I think she was giving you something to make you leak magic. I think the point was to nullify the effect of the amulet but it didn’t work entirely because magic couldn’t hurt you.”
Sasha nodded her agreement. “She gave me milkshakes but would never give me the recipe,” she murmured. “The blue sparks haven’t appeared since she was kidnapped.”
“About that,” Willow Bean said blotting her lips. “I think the kidnapping was staged. It looked like the same two guys who we caught with Nefar.”
“So you think she became my friend as part of the plot?”
Willow Bean came over and put her arm around Sasha. “Listen, you are a wonderful person,” she said. “This isn’t your fault. I didn’t even know who Cady was and I should have been able to tell. If she has magic she was masking it because I can sense anyone who has abilities.”
All the pieces of the puzzle started to fall together. She only began leaking magic after she’d met Cady even though she’d been wearing the necklace for at least a year. It never made sense to Sasha as to why Cady was in the queen’s secret room; a room that no one knew its location. She could only have gotten there if she was deliberately put there.
Sasha didn’t want to think about Cady anymore. She hoped she never saw her again.
“How is Evan coping?” Her mother asked.
Evan drove Sasha home from Dominic’s house. He seemed tired and a bit withdrawn.
“He’s brave,” she said. “Let’s hope he’s not totally turned off by my crazy family.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Evan called that night. He wanted to see her but needed sleep. They arranged to see each other Saturday night.
Sasha couldn’t decide what to wear. He’d seen her at her worst and at her best too considering how she was dressed at her birthday dinner. Sasha couldn’t believe that was a short time ago. It felt like a lifetime had passed over the past couple of weeks.
When Evan picked her up he was wearing a blue golf shirt that matched his eyes and pressed jeans. His grandmother must be old school and ironed them.
Sasha had also decided on jeans and a new black top she’d bought earlier that day. She’d straightened her hair while blow drying it and even put on makeup. She finished the outfit with her skateboard sneakers. She didn’t want to go overboard in the fancy attire.
Sasha reintroduced Evan to her dad, who was sitting in the living room as if he was standing guard and protecting the house.
“Nice seeing you son,” Sasha’s dads said. “Have her home by… Sasha what is your curfew?”
“I don’t have one dad,” she said smiling broadly. She wasn’t sure if he was joking or genuinely didn’t know.
“Oh,” he said. “Ok then. Don’t be too late.”
Her dad winked at her as he shut the door.
“Did you talk to your mom?”
“Yeah,” she said.
“What should we expect now?” Evan asked as he turned onto South Congre
ss.
“Not sure,” Sasha said watching the funky storefronts zip by. “My mother said she got Nefar but that doesn’t mean my grandmother will give up.”
“You worried?”
“A little,” she said. Evan picked up her hand and squeezed. He turned into the restaurant parking lot and stopped the car.
“I’ll help.”
“Thanks,” she said. They walked into the Magnolia Café and lined up at the hostess desk. “Have you changed your mind?”
“About what?”
“Magic,” she said quietly making sure no one overheard her.
“I’m still not convinced,” he said, a grin pulling at the corners of his mouth.
“I can understand your reluctance,” she said with a fake business-like demeanor. “I mean, there is no evidence.”
“Exactly,” he said. “It’s all just mumbo jumbo.”
Sasha laughed from her belly.
Once they got their table Evan ordered a Spanish omelet, while Sasha asked for a waffle. Sasha loved having breakfast for dinner.
“I’ve had some time to think,” Evan said holding her hand while sitting across the table. Evan’s tone was serious, the earlier joking forgotten. Sasha’s insecurities started picking away at her confidence.
If their situations were reversed she’d probably run away from the life-threatening drama. Her stomach roiled with anxiety afraid of what Evan was going to say.
“This isn’t quite how I thought it would all go,” he said not meeting her eyes. She felt a cold lump form in her stomach. She took a sip of hot tea to counteract the feeling. If he was going to break up with her she wished he’d just do it fast like tearing off a band-aid.
“I’m not sure -,” she couldn’t take it anymore.
“If you are going to breakup with me just do it ok,” she said pulling her hand from his. “I can’t handle all this hemming and hawing. Just spit it out.”
Evan was startled. His mouth gaped in shock. She wasn’t sure if it was because of what she said or how she said it.
“I’m not breaking up with you,” he said tearing his napkin into little pieces. “I was trying to tell you how I felt about you.”
Embarrassed Sasha flushed pink. “Oh,” was all she could manage.
“I was trying to tell you how I have these crazy intense feelings for you but I didn’t know how to say it,” he said not meeting her eyes. “There. That’s it. That’s what I wanted to say.”
Sasha smiled with glee. He liked her. He really liked her. She felt such relief that her feelings were reciprocated.
“Evan,” she said. “I have crazy intense feelings for you too.”
He smiled, relief etched on his face. He leaned halfway across the table; his lips were inches away from hers. Sasha couldn’t suppress the gigantic smile on her face. She felt goofy and didn’t care.
He pressed his lips to hers and she didn’t hold back. She leaned forward and melted into the kiss. He smelled woodsy like pine trees and leaves and tasted minty. She lost herself in his soft lips. She could stay like this all day.
A man cleared his throat startling them. Evan pulled away reluctantly and sat down. The waiter put their food on the table.
Sasha couldn’t wait to finish eating so they could get to dessert.
Table of Contents
Title Page
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
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