Link tried to explain. Big mistake. “Amma, we weren't tryin’ to battle any Dark forces. Honest. We were just —”
Amma advanced, that finger barely an inch from Link's eyes. “Don't you tell me. When I get through with you, you're gonna wish I'd told your mamma about what you were doin’ in my basement when you were nine years old.” He backed up until he hit the wall behind him, next to the Doorwell. Amma matched him step for step. “That story's as sad as the day is long.”
Amma turned to Liv. “And you're studyin’ to be a Keeper. But you don't have any more sense than they do. Knowin’ what you do and still lettin’ these boys drag you into this dangerous business. You're in a world a trouble with Marian.” Liv slunk down a few inches.
Amma whipped around to face me. “And you.” She was so angry she was talking with her jaw clenched. “You think I don't know what you're up to? You think because I'm an old woman, you can fool me? It'll take you three lifetimes before you can sell me a raft that doesn't float. Soon as Marian told me you were down here, I found you straightaway.” I didn't ask her how she'd found us. Whether it was chicken bones or tarot cards or the Greats, she had her ways. Amma was the closest thing I'd ever seen to a Supernatural without actually being one.
I didn't look her in the eye. It was like avoiding a dog attack. Don't make eye contact. Keep your head down and your mouth shut. Instead, I kept walking, with Link looking back at Amma every few steps. Liv wandered behind us, confused. I knew she hadn't counted on a run-in with a Vex, but Amma was more than she could handle.
Amma shuffled along behind us, muttering to herself or the Greats. Who knew? “Think you're the only one who can find somethin’? Don't need to be a Caster to see what you fools are up to.” I could hear the bones rattling against the beads. “Why do you think they call me a Seer? Because I can see the mess you're into just as soon as you're into it.”
She was still shaking her head as she disappeared up the Doorwell, not a speck of mud on her sleeves or a rumple in her dress. What had felt like a rabbit hole on the way down was a broad stairwell on the way up, as if it had expanded out of respect for Miss Amma herself.
“Takin’ on a Vex, as if a day with this child wasn't trouble enough …” She sniffed with every step. It went on like that the whole way back. We dropped Liv off on our way through the Tunnels, but Link and I kept walking. We didn't want to be too close to that finger, or those beads.
6.16
Revelations
By the time I crawled into my bed, it was nearly sunrise. There would be even more hell to pay in the morning when Amma saw me, but I had a feeling Marian wasn't expecting me to be on time for work. She was as scared of Amma as anyone. I kicked off my shoes and fell asleep before I hit the pillow.
Blinding light.
I was overwhelmed by the light. Or was it the dark?
I felt my eyes ache, as if I had been staring at the sun too long, creating spots of darkness. All I could make out was a silhouette, blocking out the light. I wasn't scared. I knew this particular shadow intimately, the slight waist, the delicate hands and fingers. Every strand of hair, twisting in the Casting Breeze.
Lena stepped forward, reaching out for me. I watched, frozen, as her hands moved out of the darkness and into the light where I was standing. The light crept up her arms, until it hit her waist, her shoulders, her chest.
Ethan.
Her face was still shrouded in shadow, but now her fingers were touching me, moving along my shoulders, my neck, and finally my face. I held her hand against my cheek, and it burned me, though not with heat but cold.
I'm here, L.
I loved you, Ethan. But I have to go.
I know.
In the darkness, I could see her eyelids lift and the golden glow — the eyes of the curse. The eyes of a Dark Caster.
I loved you, too, L.
I reached out my hand and gently closed her eyes. The chill of her hand disappeared from my face. I looked away and forced myself to wake up.
I was prepared to face Amma's wrath when I got downstairs. My dad had gone to the Stop & Steal to get a newspaper, and it was just the two of us. The three of us if you counted Lucille, who was staring at the dry cat food in her bowl, something she'd probably never seen before. I guess Amma was mad at her, too.
Amma was at the stove, pulling out a pie. The table was set, but breakfast wasn't cooking. There were no grits or eggs, not even a piece of toast. It was worse than I thought. The last time she baked in the morning instead of making breakfast was the day after Lena's birthday, and before that, the day after my mom died. Amma kneaded dough like a prizefighter. Her fury could generate enough cookies to feed the Baptists and the Methodists combined. I hoped the dough had taken the brunt of it this morning.