Wraithsong

by E. J. Squires

  Chapter 18

  Anthony returns a few hours later carrying bags of clothes. He sets six bags onto the floor in the foyer, heads out again and brings in five more. I notice that the bags are all from my favorite stores. “Here’s the rest,” he says, closing the front door behind him with his foot. It slams shut. “I even got you some toiletries. They should all be the brands you like.”

  “Okay, so this might be a stupid question, but do you really know what brands I like in toiletries?” I ask, my hands resting on my hips.

  “Of course, I was sent to spy on you, remember?” He throws his car keys on the round glass table in the center of the foyer.

  “Yeah, but did you break into my house or something to find out what soap I use?” I’m trying to be sarcastic because I don’t want to think he has actually done it.

  “Well—” he says sheepishly.

  “You know what, never mind, I don’t want to know,” I say, grabbing half of the bags, and then I climb the stairs up to Anthony’s room. He comes behind me with the rest of the bags and puts them on his bed. While seated on the sectional, I pull the tags off of my new clothes. They’re all my size; it’s a little worrying how much he knows about me.

  Anthony comes over, holding his phone. “I just got a text from Maureen for me to call her as soon as I can. Are you ready to make that phone call with me?” He takes a seat right next to me.

  “Yes,” I say and set the bags with the clothes aside. I can’t help but feel nervous about the call, even though I know I’ll only be listening. Anthony smiles at me as if to comfort me. Then he dials the number and presses the speaker button. It rings four times before Maureen picks up.

  “Hello, Anthony, how are you?” Maureen says. I envision her cold-hearted face clearly when I hear her voice.

  “I’m doing well. How are you, Mother?” Anthony says.

  “How do you think I am? I’m tired of incompetent people who cannot take orders, and I would like for nothing more than to just be done with this.”

  Anthony blinks slowly and is face goes limp. “How are the plans coming along?”

  “Everything has gone as planned so far, I suppose, though far too slowly. Please tell me you have good news,” Maureen says.

  “Everything has gone according to plan. I brought the Huldra here with me.”

  “Good, good. At least you didn’t completely turn out like your father. He could never take an order. How is the Huldra?”

  “She complains about missing her mother,” Anthony says, looking at me.

  Tears well up in my eyes so I close them and hold my breath to not make a noise. He squeezes my hand apologetically.

  “Tell her to quit complaining or things will just get worse from here on out,” Maureen says. “Besides, I don’t know why you’re bringing this up; I’ve already told you to tell her that she’ll have her mother back once we have her gift. Do I always have to repeat myself?”

  “What’s the next step?” Anthony asks. I pull my hand away.

  “I will need a couple more days to solidify that, and then I will call you back. Keep my Huldra strong so that she can release her gift when the time is right.”

  “Of course,” Anthony says. “How is the mother doing?”

  “The Huldra girl probably gets her toughness from her mother. Hedda is well, but we have had to keep her sedated. She has a lot of fight in her.”

  “Sure, sure,” Anthony says. “The Huldra wanted to know if she could talk to her mother, to make sure she’s still alive.”

  “Lesson number one in negotiations, Anthony, is to always stay in control. If you let your opponent set the rules, you have lost. If you were smarter, you would have figured that one out.”

  If I didn’t know Anthony, I would have thought that the comment didn’t have any effect on him, but I’ve noticed that when he’s hurt, his eyes blink faster. Maureen’s cruelty toward him clearly has a strong effect.

  “Well, I’m in a hurry to go get my hair done on the mainland. I’ll call back soon, I promise,” Maureen says.

  “Good-bye,” Anthony says and hangs up the phone. He takes a moment to gather his thoughts. “Are you mad at me?”

  “No,” I say, tears streaming down my face. “You did what you had to do to make it sound believable.” I’m surprised by how calm I am. “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine.”

  I have started to believe Anthony now and think that he actually wants to help save my mom, but I still don’t know if it’s the right thing to trust him or if my trusting him is misdirected.

  He wipes the tears off my cheeks with his hand and gazes into my eyes. I feel that sudden attraction between us, but try to ignore it because anything else would be unwise.

  “I’m really sorry for all of this,” he says. “I feel like it’s all my fault.”

  I’m afraid to rely on him completely, but something in my gut tells me that I can. I lean my head on his strong shoulder. “Well, you can’t take credit for all of it.” Am I actually being kind to him?

  “No, but I could have warned you about Maureen and Olaf earlier.”

  “Can’t we just go to Wraithsong Island now and rescue them?” I say, sitting up.

  “We could, but we’d never find the island. I’ve never been there, and I have no idea where it is, and one can’t see it until one is on it. Maureen is going to have to come pick us up in her yacht and take us there. It’s best if you stay and graduate this weekend and then she’ll probably be ready for us. And your eighteenth birthday’s coming up soon, isn’t it?”

  “Yes, Sunday.” I don’t feel like celebrating and think it would be almost blaspheming to celebrate anything until my mom has been found safe and sound and I absolutely don’t want to go to prom anymore either. I wish I had just listened to my mom about prom in the first place, instead of trying to force her hand into letting me go.

  “So we’ll both graduate on Saturday,” Anthony says.

  “Yeah.” Even graduation seems so unimportant now, compared to trying to save my mom’s life.