“Hello, Maddelyn, my darling daughter.”

“Mum? What’s going on? Why are you calling so late? What’s wrong?”

“It’s not late. It’s fine. I just wanted to talk to you. Can’t a mother talk to her own daughter?”

Her speech was slow and slurred and I realized she was drunk. I sank down onto the bed.

“So, is there anything wrong, Mum?”

“Yes. Very wrong. I miss my baby girl.”

It was sweet that she missed me, but…

“Mum, it’s almost midnight. You nearly gave me a heart attack calling so late.”

“I miss my baby. You don’t know what it’s like for me here, living all alone. They took you away from me and now I can’t get you back. You’re lost to me. I’m destined to be alone for the rest of my days.”

“No, you’re not. I’m coming back when I finish my training. We’ve talked about—”

“No! They’ll never let you go. That’s how it works. They’ll train you, they’ll find a use for you, then there’ll be some other reason you have to stay.”

How could she possibly know anything about it? She was a Normal and didn’t know anything about the Descendants and how things worked.

She started to cry and I didn’t know what to do with that. “Come on, Mum. It’s not forever. I’ll be back. I promise.”

“We’ve never been apart. You don’t know what that’s like.”

I ran a hand through my hair. “Yeah. I do. I’ve been apart from you too. At least you’re still in your own home.”

She sniffed. “I’ll be alone forever.”

I was getting nowhere. She wasn’t going to change her mind. “Mum, it’s late. Why don’t you get some rest? You’ll feel better in the morning.”

There was no way I was going to tell her to sober up. I’d only made that mistake once. The silence stretched on and I waited to see if I’d made a mistake this time.

Then she sighed. “I guess you’re right. I’ll go to bed. In my empty house. By myself. Goodnight, Maddelyn.”

I cringed. “Goodnight, Mum. I’ll talk to you soon.”

After we’d hung up, I looked at the time. It was well after midnight, but I was worried about her. I called her friend, Alice, and asked her to check on her for me.

Alice didn’t seem to mind me calling her in the middle of the night. “I’ll take care of it, don’t you worry.”

I breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you so much. You’re a lifesaver.”

We said goodnight and I let myself fall back onto my bed. Guilt swirled in my gut and made me feel sick.

I just wanted to go home.

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───

Blake wandered into the shop with a smile on his face the next day. It was quiet, so I was free to talk to him, but I was well aware of Jackson sitting in the corner behind the counter. Awkward much?

Blake lifted his chin. “Hey.”

I could feel heat in my cheeks. “Hi.”

“How’s business?”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“A little quiet today, but it’s okay.”

He looked around as if he thought that a customer or two would pop out of the shelving and I was happy he couldn’t see the ghost in the room. “Ruby has so much stuff in here. It’s amazing.”

“Yes, she seems to have everything you could ever need.”

He stuck his hands in the front pockets of his jeans. “So, how many days a week do you work?”

“It’s not set in stone yet, but I think it was gonna be three shifts a week. I’ve just been doing extra while I’m learning everything.”

He nodded. “Have you been out to see the Falls yet?”

I frowned. The Falls again? “No.”

“Oh, we’ll have to fix that. You just have to see them up close. It’s spectacular.”

“I’m sure they are.” What could I say without actually telling him that I would find it terrifying? “Maybe one day.”

Maybe that would keep him happy and I wouldn’t have to go.

He stepped closer. “I had a nice time when we went to lunch.”

My cheeks flushed and I wished Jackson would disappear. “Me too. It was good. And the food was great.”

I didn’t really know what else to say.

“I’d like to get to know you better. What about dinner tonight?”

I swallowed. “Tonight?” I squeaked. “I’m busy tonight.”

“Doing what?”

I tried not to squirm. “I have, um, lessons with Ruby.”

How much did he know? How much was I allowed to tell him? Surely he took magic lessons too.

“Oh, yes. I know all about them. It’s cool.”

My shoulders relaxed a little and I let out a breath.

“So I can’t go out…”

“You’re a beginner, right? So you have an early lesson?”

“Yes.”

“We can go out after that. I can pick you up. What do you say?”

“Uh, I don’t know.”

“Come on. It’ll be fun. Think about it.”

I just nodded. I honestly didn’t know if I should. I was acutely aware of Jackson staring at me and it took all of my willpower not to look at him.

Blake changed the subject and talked about the church meeting on Sunday and I finally looked in the corner. He was still there.

I made a shooing motion with my hand when Blake was looking out the front window of the shop and Jackson just smirked. So I glared at him till he disappeared.

“What are you looking at?”

Damn. “Nothing.”

Blake’s frown deepened, then his smile slid back into place. “So. I really like you. A lot.”

“Oh. Okay. I… like you too.”

Well, that was super-awkward. Way to go.

“I want you to be my girlfriend.”

What? Where did this come from? “I… um… we only just met the other day.”

“So? I really like you.”

“Yeah, but it’s too soon. We hardly know each other.”

“So we can go to dinner tonight and get to know each other. Come on. What do you say?”

My mind was reeling. This was too much, too soon.

He stepped closer. “You’re beautiful.”

I looked into his eyes and my worries melted away. “Okay, I’ll go. We can get to know each other better.”

He smiled and it almost looked smug. “Okay, I’ll see you then. I’ll pick you up after your lesson.”

He said goodbye and left the shop before I had a chance to catch my breath.

Jackson must have been waiting nearby, because he appeared about thirty seconds after the door had closed.

I jumped. “Oh, you scared me. You gotta stop doing that.”

“Sorry.” He stepped closer. “So, what did you tell him?”

“None of your business.”

“That means you said yes.”

I crossed my arms. “It’s none of your business.”

“I guess it isn’t, but I’m just worried about you.”

“Well, don’t be. I’m eighteen and I can make my own decisions.”

“Well, this is a dumb decision.”

“No. It isn’t. And why do you care, anyway? I’m just someone you’re stuck with till you can remember stuff and work out what you need to do to cross over.”

That was exactly the wrong thing to say. I could see it in his eyes. I felt a stab of guilt, but it was too late now, and I wasn’t going to say I was sorry.

I clenched my fists. Why did he have to be so annoying? Why did he get me riled up like this? Why did I care what he thought?

He moved closer to me. “He dumped his girlfriend and now he’s chasing after you. It doesn’t feel right. I just want you to be careful, okay.”

“Don’t tell me what to do!”

The sound of glass breaking made me jerk back and when I looked to the front of the shop, broken glass was splayed out across the floor.