Awakened (Unbound, Book 3)

Chapter Twenty-One

The café was beyond capacity when I arrived after school after dropping Calin and Maible off. While Luna was busy, I made myself a coffee and headed to the back room to relax and pulled my mother's Book of Shadows from my bag as soon as I was comfortable in a corner piled high with pillows. Closing my eyes, I visualized the lock I placed on it releasing and then started flipping through the pages.

Luna didn't join me until after supper. By then, my coffee was gone. I'd sprawled on my stomach with the book under my nose. The page had a hidden passage, but it wasn't one I remembered reading before or since the accident. That wasn't saying much, but still. What were the chances that I'd find something to help me at such an appropriate time?

"Good book?"

Luna walked across the room and stood above me. After a minute, she sat down, crossing her legs beneath her so she could lean forward, and I pulled the book closer to my chest. Slowly, I closed the cover and looked up.

Luna raised her eyebrow. "Watcha reading?"

Pulling myself up from my belly to sit facing Luna in an identical pose, I shrugged and then pulled my bag over to store my mother's Book of Shadows in its large pocket. As I zipped it closed, I said, "It's my mom's. I guess I'm just trying to get reacquainted now that I have my memory back."

"With a book?"

I rolled my eyes. "With my mom."

"Didn't you recover your memories of everything but the accident?"

Don't remind me. "Yeah, but..." I sighed. "It's like..." Looking back up, I clenched my fists in my lap to keep from fidgeting and met Luna's gaze. "Do you ever feel like something is slipping away? Like, all my life, my mom was here. Alive. Full-on HD color. And now?" I shrugged and looked back down. "If I don't do something to keep our connection strong, the memories of her will fade."

"She's your mother, Nora," Luna said and reached out to pat my knee. "That can't fade."

"I just don't want to forget her."

"You won't."

"Well, if you have a memory-lasting spell, I'm all ears. Until then, I am going to read that book a million times and keep it to myself—if it's secret, something only my mother and I have touched—it'll remain special and tighten our bond."

"Aw, Nora, it doesn't work that way."

I glanced up and held her gaze, pursing my lips. "We're supposed to be talking about empathy."

Luna smiled and gestured to my bag. "You're the one reading."

And? I'd also found out amazing information. Or, at least it seemed that way, but only if I really was as special as my mom. Spells didn't work on things we could visualize, but we could draw energy from other sources. Everything else? Things that we couldn't imagine? That's when we used spells. It made so much more sense.

My mother's book called it tangible vs. intangible.

"So, where do you want to start?" Luna asked, setting her coffee cup beside her and rubbing her palms together.

"The beginning?" I smiled and shrugged, tilting my head to the side to bat my eyelashes. "Pretend I'm a little girl and you're trying to make me understand empathy. Where does it come from? How do I use or block it?"

"Okay, slow down." Luna raised her hand palm-out. "You expect me to believe you don't understand the gift of empathy? Come on now."

I smiled and replied as she had moments before. "You're the one who said what I'm feeling is weird, not to mention impossible. So, let's break it down to basics and then build from there."