Unbound (Unbound, Book 1) ~Formerly Casting Power~

Chapter 24

I ran up to my room a half-hour later to change into pajamas and then headed downstairs to grab a snack before my mom came home with Zachariah in tow. Onyx and Opal weren't home, either. Weird. Where would mom and Zach have gone, and why would they have brought the dogs?

The evening had turned out so great that I'd forgotten how crummy I'd been feeling, but once the presence of Trevor wore off, the cramping and bloating came back even stronger than before. How long until I should see a doctor? This couldn't be normal. Even my appetite was gone.

In the kitchen, I squatted down to dig through the counter beside the stove for some of the natural anti-nausea tablets my mother made. I bumped my head when my mother and Zachariah's voices shattered the silence I'd been enjoying. Damn. If only I'd been able to tear myself away from the door five minutes earlier, I would've been able to avoid contact and be locked in my bedroom.

"Maybe you're right, Zach." My mother's voice drifted into the kitchen through the back door's open screen window. "Maybe she needs to know before graduation."

"Is that what you want?"

"Yes—no." She sighed and the dogs barked as though sensing her frustration. "Oh, I don't know."

"Vav—"

"I know that it isn't what she wants."

The back door opened, but they didn't spot me. It was the most open conversation that they'd had in front of me. I should've stood up, I knew, but I couldn't. I wanted to know what they were talking about.

"Sometimes giving someone what they don't want is the best thing for them," Zach tried rationalizing. "You said that she seemed more accepting after you talked with her in the woods, right? Maybe whatever happened there—or didn't happen—helped to change her mind. Have you asked her if she would be willing to unbind her abilities since then?"

"Not really. We talked about it a bit, but nothing had changed," she said, and though I couldn't see her face, I knew that she looked underwhelmed at the prospect by the sound of her voice. "She's wanted this for so long, Zach, and she isn't about to let one conversation change her mind."

"You don't know that."

"I know my daughter."

Silence settled through the room. I wanted to hear more to know what was going on, and I knew I couldn't if they didn't start talking again. Soon. I couldn't stay squatting down all night—my ankles were already tingling with the pinpricks of falling asleep. In a few minutes, no matter if they were finished their discussion, the conversation would be over because I was going to fall in a clumsy heap on the floor.

"I don't know what you want me to say, Vavila," Zachariah said, almost too low for me to hear, "but I think you need to talk with her. Even if you don't discuss this, find out where she stands. She's had more time to think and maybe things have changed."

Not on your life.

I stood up, taking pleasure in the surprise and guilt written on their faces.

"Nora. Honey." My mother coughed. "I didn't realize you were home."

"Obviously." I crossed my arms and glared, trying my best to imitate the look she gave me whenever I disappointed her expectations. Hypocrite.

"Nora—"

"You don't get to talk to me right now, Zach," I said without looking away from my mother. "What the hell aren't you telling me, Mom?"

"Language, Noreena."

I shifted my weight from left to right and snorted. Was she chastising me right now? For language? "What aren't you telling me?"

She looked down. Her white tennis shoes were soaked, saturated with mud, and left dirty wet footprints on the polished linoleum, proof of their backyard excursion. They had gone to the gazebo, though she would never admit it.

"It's complicated, Noreena."

"No, Mom, it isn't. All you need to do is open your mouth and let the words come. You guys have been slinking around in secrecy for months. It's about time you tell me why. I mean, I already know it's about me and some secret you don't want to tell me. Something about my abilities, right? And no, I didn't just figure that out, but I've been trying to ignore it."

"Noreena—"

"Every time I come into a room, you guys change the subject or stop talking. I've heard you talk about me like I'm not good enough to know whatever it is you are hiding." I spread out my arms, exasperated. "Don't you think I get enough secrets and lies at school? Home should be my safe place, free of the insecurity of people talking about me behind my back."

"You are safe."

"I said I wasn't talking to you, Zach, so butt out."

"Nora."

"I'm not finished, Mom." I ground my teeth together. "You are liars. Until you decide to tell me what you're hiding, I don't want to talk to either of you. Whatever you're hiding..." I shook my head. "Well, from what I've overheard—not just from tonight—it's my choice, and you've no right to keep me in the dark."

Nobody uttered a word. My mother and Zachariah stared at me while I stood ramrod straight with my arms crossed, glaring between them. Every limb felt energized as if my body was filled with surging electricity. Tapping my foot was the only way I could reign in the desire to reach deep inside of myself and succumb to the power that was so close to exploding. So long as I concentrated on the beat of my foot, I could avoid the desire to lash out.

They were both just as stubborn as I was.

It was futile to try to glare one another into submission. In the end, nobody would win, and we all knew it. They weren't going to tell me what they'd been hiding, and I wasn't going to talk to them until they did. Turning on my heel, I exited the kitchen and walked out the front door, each step pulling the veil of numbness further over my anger until all I felt was betrayed. How could I trust them now? My mother, the oh-so-perfect pillar of goodness for the magical community in Briarville, was a liar. I couldn't stand the thought of being in the same house, let alone the same room, with them.

So, I walked away.