MOM AND Dad had a small house at the end of a row of hastily built ramshackle buildings. They’d been constructed when the Port had been taken back from the Darks, shortly after the fall of the City of Lockes. It was one of the first things done after Ryan and Justin had taken control, my parents told me.
And somehow Lady Tina had fit into those plans, and I was giving very serious consideration to investigating whether she had somehow cast a spell over them to do her bidding, much like she’d once accused me of. After all, Caleb had a level of magic that he shouldn’t have been capable of. Who was to say that Lady Tina hadn’t been given the same? I was somewhat lost in a fantasy of revealing her betrayal to the people of Camp HaveHeart and having them chant my name and throw me a party that Ryan and Justin and Tiggy and Gary would come back in the middle of. They would throw themselves at me and sob that I was never allowed to leave them again, and then I would braid Justin’s hair, squish Tiggy’s face, allow Gary to yell at me and then wail into my chest, and then fuck Ryan in the butt.
It was a good fantasy. Even if I doubted it would work out that way.
Mom pointed to a structure that looked almost like a barn to the right of her house. “That’s Gary and Tiggy’s. There are… a lot of bright colors. It looks like a going-out-of-business sale of a store that caters to drag queens. And about forty brooms.”
And my heart ached sweetly at the thought.
She pointed to a house to the left. “And that’s where Ryan and Justin stay.”
My heart didn’t ache so sweetly at that. “Excuse me?”
Dad blinked at the tone of my voice. “Ryan and the Prince live there.”
“Oh,” I said. “Thanks for clearing that up for me. Really. I appreciate it.”
Mom rolled her eyes. “In separate rooms, Sam. It helps to save space.”
“I’m sure. I bet they’re just the best roommates. Having late nights where they stay up talking about everything and nothing all at the same time. And maybe their gazes start to collide a little more, and the conversation peters out, but it’s not an uncomfortable silence, no. It’s tense and crackling, fraught with an unnamed desire, and they’ll cough awkwardly, both of them blushing because they’re virgins, and then Justin will stretch his lion face toward Ryan—”
“His lion what now?” Mom asked, squinting at me.
“Sam’s read The Butler and the Manticore one too many times,” Kevin said. “For some reason it was the only novel he brought with him on our little excursion to the woods.”
“I didn’t think that was actually a real book,” Dad said.
Kevin shrugged. “Who even knows anymore. Just roll with it.”
“There’s nothing going on between them,” Mom said firmly. “They’re friends and nothing more, so you get that thought out of your head right now. Justin doesn’t see Ryan like that. And even if he did, Ryan would never because his heart belongs to you. It always has.”
“He’s angry, though.”
“Who told you that?” Dad asked.
“Katya and Brant implied it.”
Dad groaned. “They shouldn’t have said anything to you about that. It’s not for them to say. It’s… complicated. He’s—”
The door to their house opened.
An older woman appeared in the doorway. Her dark hair was pulled back, more gray than black now. She had a shawl wrapped around her thin shoulders and bangles clinking together on her wrists. She didn’t look surprised to see me, eyes narrowed slightly.
I had to stop myself from reaching over and popping her right in the mouth. I didn’t, because a man was never to hit a lady, unless it was Lady Tina, because she deserved it more than anyone in the world.
It was close, though.
“Chava,” she said. “It’s about time you showed. Foolish boy. Taking forever in the woods. You a big wizard now? You don’t look like it. I have seen your homecoming because of the sight. I knew you would walk through the gates this day. For first time, I thought the sight failed me. Surely a coward wouldn’t return after this long.”
“Vadoma,” I breathed.
“SHE LIVES here?” I hissed in the kitchen, Dad having pulled me past Vadoma before I could do anything, like emotionally devastate her with a well-placed barb. “Have you all lost your godsdamn minds? I go away for eleven months to learn how to be even more badass than I already am, only to come back and find that you’re all hobnobbing with most of my enemies!”
Hobnobbing, Dad mouthed to Mom, rolling his eyes.
“Only two of your enemies,” Mom said, patting my shoulder. “I’m sure you have many more than that. There’s something about your face that people don’t seem to like, sometimes. I can’t fathom what that could be. It’s a good face.”
“Maybe even the best face,” Dad said. “We should know. We made it.”
“Aside from scarring me with that mental image, can someone please explain? Vadoma lives here. In this house. With you. In case you can’t remember, here’s a refresher. She is a terrible person who should fall off a cliff and die when she lands on really sharp rocks!”
Mom hugged me.
“What the hell,” I muttered but hugged her back, because she was my mother, and I’d missed her so.
“It’s good to know you’re still oddly specific about the ways people should die,” Mom said, sniffling in my ear.
“I’m not that bad.”
She laughed wetly and kissed my cheek before pulling away. “I missed you. More than anything.”
I swallowed past the lump in my throat. “Me too.”
“If you ever do that again, I will push you into an active volcano and watch as the molten magma melts away your skin and bones. Do we understand each other?”
“So specific,” I whispered. “That was amazing.” I cleared my throat. Then, “We understand each other.”
She nodded slowly. “Good. You’re still grounded.”
“I’m a man now. You can’t just—did you just lick that napkin? Why are you putting it on my face? That’s disgusting!”
“You’re covered in dirt,” she said, holding my jaw and frowning in concentration as she scrubbed my face.
“Didn’t you hear what I just said? I’m a man—Mom, seriously, stop rubbing me with your spit napkin!”
“You’re still loud as always,” a voice said from the entrance to the kitchen. “Loud and foolish. That should be your name now. Sam the Loud and Foolish.”
“Hi, Vadoma,” I grumbled as I gave in and let my mom rub her saliva on my cheeks. “Nice to see you, Vadoma. Glad you’re here, Vadoma.”
She sniffed dismissively as she walked into the kitchen, moving as she always had, head held high, feet sliding along the wooden floor as if she were almost dancing. Her bangles clinked together, sounding like wind chimes in a soft summer breeze. “I predicted your return. It is good to know that I am right.”
I snorted. “Yeah, I bet you did.”
She narrowed her eyes at me. “You doubt me.”
“Yeah, see, I don’t know if that fully encapsulates the thoughts going through my head. It’s not that I just doubt what you said. It’s more that I doubt everything about your entire existence. In the too-long, didn’t-read scope of things, I think you’re full of shit.”
“Sam,” Mom chided, squeezing my chin a little tighter before letting me go. The white napkin was now black like the darkest part of night. Which, you know. Ghastly.
“What? It’s true!”
“He’s not wrong,” Dad said mildly.
“Joshua!”
I high-fived my father because he was wonderful and I adored him.