Page 72 of Spell Ya Later

Mom, in all her messy glory, sits across from me. She refuses to look at me, only looking at Grandma—with a glare I bet she wishes could kill.

Grandma sits and claps her hands. “We all know why we’re here. Our family is at risk.”

Laura snorts. Fully indoctrinated by Mom, then. Awesome.

“I’m handling it.” Even Mom’s voice is broken. It’s as if she hasn’t slept in weeks.

“While I appreciate your strength, Sarah, you and I both know you can’t do this on your own,” Grandma says. While her voice is kind, her eyes are firm.

I’m lucky that Grandma has never had a problem calling Mom out on her shit.

“We wouldn’t even be in this situation if Hazel didn’t have a savior complex!” Laura spits from across the circle.

When did I become the center of all her vitriol?

I snap my head to her. “So has Mom just been poisoning you against me all this time? Or are you really so stupid that you don’t understand what the actual situation is?”

The words escape me before I can stop them. Laura rears back, shock stopping her response.

Grandma raises her hands. “Girls, please.”

“We’d be in this situation no matter what.” I say. “Draven sent Botis as a message. He wants all of us dead. Whether I had been in that forest or not, Botis would’ve come. And Draven will, too.”

“Draven will be handled. The girls won’t be put in harm’s way again, and neither will you, Mother.” Mom stands. “That is the end of this discussion.”

Grandma stands as well. Smaller, but formidable. “Sarah, don’t do this.”

Mom turns on her heel and exits the shop, leaving Laura behind. Good job, Mom.

“Laura...” I reach for her and she snatches her hand back as if she’s been burned.

“Don’t. Just don’t.”

And Laura is gone, too.

Great family meeting. Family bonding at its best.

A cold chill turns the room into a freezer, causing goosebumps to raise on my skin. It takes a second for me to realize it’s from me, from my fear at the look in Grandma’s eyes.

“Grandma?”

Her eyes are like pure blue liquid wrath, like blue fire. The earth trembles beneath my feet, threatening to send me toppling over.

Against my better judgment, I take a step closer. “Grandma?”

“Never. Never in all my days have I seen a group of more stubborn, bull-headed women. And to see it is my own kin acting in this shameful way.” The ground settles beneath our feet as the fire leaves her. She deflates, shoulders sagging. “I have failed. I’ve failed all of you. You’ve failed me, and the price will be our lives.”

Shit. I’ve seen a lot of things in my life, but I’ve never seen Grandma give up. She’s supposed to be the most stubborn of us all.

And we broke her.

The guilt is like a slap in the face. I can’t let her feel like this.

“I’ll call them back.”

She shakes her head. “I believe it may be far too late for that. And it wasn’t all you, Hazel. Rest, dear. Talk to me when my heart isn’t so far into my throat.”

The shaking in my bones isn’t because of the cold anymore. It’s an overwhelming helplessness that not even Grandma can overcome. Where do I go from here? Where do any of us go from here?