Dateless and Deadly

Chapter 17

I stayed up extra late writing this because I'm so happy that so many people are reading my story. Thank you all so much. Special thanks to TshirtsRin for being so enthusiastic Dateless and Deadly!

Chapter 17:

“Why are you here?” James asked. I tore my eyes away from Lily so I could give him a disapproving look.

“Jeez James, be nice to your mother,” I said, nudging him in the side.

“This has nothing to do with you, Cass. Just leave it alone.” His voice was hard and cold. The James I knew was businesslike and grouchy but rarely cold. The James standing in front of me looked like a big block of ice. I was surprised his words didn’t frost over on the way out.

“Of course it does, Lily helped raise me, didn’t she?” I said feeling hurt on Lily’s behalf. From my half minute memory clip I could tell that she’d been a kind and caring woman back in the day. Of course, this didn’t make me an expert on all things Lily but I felt like I was entitled to an opinion.

James’ head whipped around and suddenly his gaze was boring into mine. “What did you just say?” His voice was quiet and steady but I knew that he was deeply and genuinely unsettled.

I sent Lily a questioning look and realized that I wasn’t supposed to remember a damn thing about her. Her eyes, so much like James’ were completely shocked as she stared back at me.

“What’s going on?” I asked, directing my question at Lily. James’ head swung from me to her and back again and I wanted to rub my neck in sympathy. If he kept doing that, he was going to get a kink.

“Well,” Lily hedged, “I think it’s a simple case of mistaken identity. I mean, what are the odds that we would have ever met before?” She shrugged her shoulders delicately, oozing innocence.

“You mean, what are the odds that my parents wanted my sister and me well protected and entrusted us to a powerful telepath who was more than capable of teaching us how control our own burgeoning powers and who also happened to have a son named James with similar telepathic abilities? What are the odds of that?” I said sarcastically. “Pretty good, I’m thinking.”

She looked shocked again for a second before her shoulders drooped and she sighed. “You’re not supposed to know any of that. Dorothy removed all of your memories of me and my son. She was an expert at what she did yet you seem to retain some of your memories of that time. How is this possible?” She questioned, her eyes glazing over as she contemplated the possibilities.

“So how come I don’t remember Cass and Sam, Mom,” James asked, his voice shaking with tension as he clenched his jaw causing a muscle in his cheek to jump.

“It’s really not worth grinding your teeth over, James. I’m thinking the benefits package in the magic business don’t cover dental work,” I said, trying to lighten the tension in the kitchen.

I was ignored completely.

“James,” Lily said, shifting from foot to foot, looking uncomfortable. “You couldn’t know about them. You have to understand that Dorothy and I took an oath to protect them and you were so young…” She shrugged, avoiding eye contact.

“So you erased my memory?” he shouted.

“I had no choice!” she shouted back, finally meeting his eyes.

“Yes you did!”

“I didn’t want you more involved than you already were!”

“Is that why you left me as soon as you could?”