Awakened (Unbound, Book 3)

Chapter Thirty-Five

Calin, as usual, drove us back to the Manor after dropping Maible off. It was good that we'd fallen into this pattern. I wouldn't have aimed for pedestrians or anything, but I was too exhausted to drive, so much so that he had to wake me when we arrived. The nap was short but provided me the energy to make it to the supper table.

Mrs. Renaldi was obviously unsettled about the fact that her baking had been sabotaged. She was happy to see Calin, though, and even more excited that he was staying for dinner. At first, she fussed over me to make sure I had a healthy portion to eat, but there was no need. I was ravenous after a couple of days of soda and crackers.

"This is really good, Mrs. R." Calin smiled through mouthfuls. "Thank you for having me over again."

"Well," she huffed. "How anyone could imagine that my food could be anything but is just ridiculous."

"Are you still upset about the bake sale?" I asked, bringing one leg up so that I could wrap my arm around my knee. I darted my eyes between Mrs. Renaldi hovering and Calin, who was still eating with no signs of slowing down. "You know that that isn't your fault. Somebody must've done that to your items after they were dropped off."

"Nobody thinks you did anything," Calin concurred, nodding as he swallowed the last of hi meal. It was only his second helping, and I watched to see if he would accept a third. Instead, he leaned back and patted his stomach, looking almost uncomfortable. "I love your baking and had some before handing them over. I'm fine."

Mrs. Renaldi smiled. "That's good since I have banana cream pie for desert."

Calin groaned but leaned forward with his elbows on the table as though he was ready to dig in, causing us both to laugh.

"I haven't even had supper yet," Devland said, walking in. He stopped to look around and then unbuttoned his jacket as he sat at the other end of the table. He nodded to Calin as he lowered himself into the chair and ignored me, then picked up his utensils and started to eat.

"You know what time dinner is, and I served it promptly as per your instructions," Mrs. Renaldi said kindly after a moment of silence, breaking the tension. "If you can't make it at the time you set, you can watch them eat desert until you're ready for your share."

Devland smiled and set his fork down, though his expression turned hard when he looked at me. "I was delayed by a call from Mr. Corbin. He would like to see us in his office tomorrow morning to discuss today's events."

"You've got to be kidding." The anger I'd felt earlier surged back to life even though I'd been expecting some variance of this. "I didn't do anything! You saw how sick I was."

"She wasn't any better this morning," Mrs. Renaldi said, and Calin nodded. "Plus, she didn't help with the baking, and I had Calin take the items this morning."

"Nonetheless, I'll have to take the morning off to deal with this." He sighed as though someone had just told him it was going to rain when he'd planned a picnic.

"What about the assembly?" I asked.

"Cancelled." Devland shrugged. "I told Mr. Corbin that I didn't have all day. Whatever he wants to speak to us about was more important than whatever speech he planned to give, apparently."

"I didn't do anything!" I exploded again, though the second time around didn't make Devland listen any more than the first as his expression remained unchanged. "Would it kill you to believe me? Check with Pederson—I have never done anything like this. I wouldn't."

"Noreena, your mother died, and you lost your memory. You refuse to practice the Craft, though you have no problem regurgitating everything you've learned about it in class to get under Mrs. Hendre's skin. Am I supposed to believe nothing is going with you?"