Little Red (Twisted Dark, #4)

Chapter Three: Mama Sorceress

I swiveled on my stool and turned to meet my maker. My mother was never really one to come to my bar. It wasn't that she didn't love me or was disappointed but I believed she had always felt I could've done more with my life than what I was doing. She would never interfere with any of our lives as she believed that we were on the paths we needed to take but I knew, deep down, she had wished I would have applied myself more while I lived in the covens, would have gotten my witch levels officially ranked but I hadn't cared for the bureaucratic bullshit that it brought being such a high level. So I simply had stuck with the level I last ranked at.

"Lovely to see you, Red." She gave me a soft smile and I gave her a slightly strained one in return. I didn't know why dealing with my mother always left me flustered and nervous but it did. I knew she meant well but I always felt like I needed to gain her approval. Perhaps that was one of the reasons why I had rebelled as hard as I did. A subconscious need to take back some type of control from growing up with such a larger than life sorceress. I honestly didn't know how Lacey had been able to live with her as long as she did.

My eyes darted the figure who stepped closer to my mother and my mouth dropped open before I threw my mother a glare. "Mama!" I got off my stool and hastily moved over to where Tiannia was looking like she wanted to do nothing more than to disappear into thin air. "Do you have to drag her out like this? And to the bar?" I hissed it out as I grasped Tia's arms and she gave me a rather shaky smile, her green eyes warm but wary behind her large round glasses.

"I went to visit her and mentioned I was coming to see you. She offered to come." At the words I threw her a look. I knew how our mother worked. Tia was... she was different and I knew that mama must have pestered her about coming to see me and getting out of her house. I didn't like that, at all. Probably another reason I acted out like I did. If our mother was focussed on me and my rebellion then she would leave Tia alone.

"I wanted to come see you, Lilli." Tia gave me a soft smile and I shook my head as I carefully brushed her hair back from her face and kissed her forehead. There was no one I loved more than my twin and I knew that would never change. She was the other half of my soul, she held my heart in her hands and always would.

"You should've let me know you wanted to visit. I could have come to see you." I said it softly and she nodded before wrapping her arms around me and giving me a surprisingly tight hug that I returned, feeling a bunch of tension I didn't realize I was carrying, slide off my form.

"Believe it or not, Tiannia does like to leave her house every so often." Our mother crossed her arms over her chest and looked at me, a wry smirk tugging up her mouth.

"I know that!" It came out snapped but I couldn't help it. I had always been over protective of Tia and I didn't like anyone pushing her too hard to move outside her comfort zone. I was just glad I had actually cleaned the bar before they had come in. Although I knew she was going to stress out when she counted my bar stools and realized I was at an odd number. I winced at that, "I just would like a heads up before you guys drop in so I can make sure the bar is appropriate for her." I would have fixed that damn bar stool so she wouldn't fixate on it.

"She can't get used to things being disordered if she isn't exposed to it." My mother tsked slightly and Tia's grip on me loosened slightly.

I gently let Tia go and kissed her cheek again when she gave me a happy smile. "She doesn't need to get used to anything she doesn't want to get used too." I was happy with Tia like she was and I knew she had some issues with things, that she was particular about how things should be, and that she was particular about how things were supposed to be ordered. She was fine the way she was and didn't need to get used to something if she didn't want to.