Page 6 of Tangled Fates

Meow.

He brushed up against my legs, again stretching himself on my thighs, like a dog who wanted to be picked up.

I hate you Loki.

Picking up the furball, I stepped forward, but Loki dug his claws into me.

“Don’t push it, Caston,” Mother yelled. “I should speak to your mother about this.”

Magic sizzled in the air, making me hesitate. Mother’s temper was nasty and I had unfortunately been on the end of it a time or twenty. Loki’s claws dug into me, making me rethink staying and the possibility of being caught.

I slowly walked up the stairs hoping to hear more, but they talked about their days and I knew the juicy conversation was most likely over. Walking into my room, slowly closing the door, I tossed Loki on the bed.

“You little shit, that hurt,” I growled, checking my shoulder. “I was just curious.”

Some days it felt like my squishy-faced cat had more intelligence than I gave him credit for. He was also as old as I was and thank god, because for as old as I was getting, I don’t think I could have survived the loss of so many animals.

Meow.

Loki laid at the foot of the bed, but gave me that look that said get back in bed. I rolled my eyes, getting back into bed, thinking there was no way I was getting any more sleep. That was until Loki curled against my chest and purred.

The following morning was brutal. Mother was moody, snapping at me for everything that wasn’t done to her standards. The more I tried to create distance between us, the more she smothered me. It was grating on my nerves, that she was trying to ruin my day because of whatever she was mad about from last night.

“Before you work, we need to do my healing now,” she snapped, walking to the back of the shop and getting up on a table we used just for her.

I had just infused water, feeling exhausted, not looking forward to feeling even more worn out, but I didn’t dare complain. Dragging a stool from my work bench, I brought it over to Mother. The sooner I did this the sooner I could get back to work and she could leave me alone.

“Flos nitor et rutilans tua virtus luceat,” I whispered, my magic was slow to start, but soon it enveloped me in warmth and light.

I pushed the magic into her body, reversing time, healing what I could and I also healed the small headache she had. It was a slow process, but once I pulled away, mother was a little younger and vibrant, looking like my sister instead of my mother.

“What took so long this time?” She jumped off the table, looking at her hands, rolling her shoulders and moving her neck side to side.

“Just tired from my earlier infusion,” I said, walking back to my work table.

I felt her stare at my back, but I knew better than to engage with her. The day was almost over and hopefully tomorrow would be a better day.

“I think I’ve got it from here,” I said, trying to politely tell her to go away as I started packing up the rest of the order.

“I don’t need another one of your mistakes to cost us money we so desperately need,” she sneered, walking around the room.

She had only been here a handful of times and she was encroaching on my space.

“I don’t understand…”

“Look, I have made one mistake in a hundred and fifty years, but I have told you that I specifically double check everything,” I snapped, my anger no longer contained.

“Excuse me?” Her eyes flashed with magic as if she couldn’t contain it.

“I think I’m allowed to make mistakes,” I said, immediately thinking now wasn't the time to back off. “I've done this alone the entire time.”

She walked up to me, each step felt like I had signed my death wish.

“What if that one mistake cost us our lives?”

Mother was taller than me with long raven black hair. She didn’t look old enough to be my mother, but I knew she had been using my power to reverse time. She looked more like my older sister than anything else.

“For one shipment?” I countered. “Maybe we need to speak to one of them. We are the supplier, we have control over distribution and they would have nothing without us. I could deliver it personally, tell them this is the last freebie they get.”

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