Southern Charms

Abuela

"This is a really terrible idea. Worse than any you've had before," Ash muttered.

    I cut my eyes at him. "It's not my idea."

    We stood outside a smaller version of Ash's home. Abuela lived in a guesthouse on the Goodwin Estate, and I used the term guesthouse only because Ash called it that. The place was bigger than my house, house. It was a mansion in its own right. The Goodwins probably called our place a shack.

    "Why would your mom think Abuela is going to be helpful. I love her, but let's not forget that my dad came from her. His scary is a watered down version of hers."

    I imagined Luis's cold eyes and shuddered. Then, I reminded myself that if I could survive a confrontation with Clemmy, I could survive one with Abuela. How mean could she be if she allowed her grandchildren to actually call her grandmother? Clemmy would curse us on the spot if the g-word so much as passed our lips.

    "Earth to Rose."

    "Sorry," I said, grabbing the strands of my rambling thoughts. Focus was paramount right now, but every time I returned to the real problems we faced, my mind drifted to Charlie. How we had failed him.

    "Did she say anything else?"

    "No, just that your Abuela would know where your dad was keeping the Vampire Stone."

    He scrubbed the back of his head with one hand and rocked back on his heels. His dark eyes were thoughtful.

    "If Abuela does know, then she's sanctioned my father's plans."

    Why hadn't I considered that possibility? My heart thrummed in my chest, faster than a hummingbird's wings. "Awesome, everyone in your family is a criminal mastermind."

    As soon as I spoke the words, I wished for them to return. Ash flinched and looked away. I knew what it was to be a disappointment, but what was it like to be disappointed by everyone around you? Harmony was bad enough, but to be betrayed by everyone in your family? And there was the tricky bit of what would happen if we stopped Luis. People in this town already believed Ash was a bad seed. What would stop them from blaming him?

    "I'm sorry. They're still your family. I shouldn't have said that."

    "You're just telling the truth."

    "Yeah, but-"

    "It's fine, Rose. Look, if my Abuela is on my father's side, then we can't just go barreling in and asking where the Vampire Stone is. We're going to have to be sneakier than that."

    Twenty minutes later, we walked into the house. My stomach looped around itself, tying knots in the knots. Ash grabbed my arm and dragged me down the hall, but he was careful not to grip me too hard despite my struggles to get rid away.

    Abuela sat at a long dining room table, a deck of tarot cards in front of her. She had a long, skinny face that reminded me of her granddaughter's, and her long white hair was bound in a braid that hung over her shoulder while she dealt the cards.

    "Mi nieto," she said, her voice whisper-soft, "I was starting to think you weren't going to come inside."

    The knots twisted tighter. I'd forgotten that Abuela was gifted with foresight. What else had she seen?

    "Scrying for me, Abuela?" he asked, jerking me forward.

    "No, watching you on the cameras," she replied, pointing to a set of flat screens. "Very cooperative of you to stand outside and chat with mi nieto instead of trying to escape. That is what you're trying to make me think, correct? That you are his captive."