Page 226 of Seer Prophet

They’ll be leaving soon,he sent, not to be deterred.

Yeah, with our fucking daughter,I sent back, my anger growing.She’ll get plenty of “grandma” time with her then. Or did you forget?

Revik didn’t answer.

I gave Kali an openly hostile look as she walked past us on her way out of the tank, presumably so Revik and I could be alone with Lily. She smiled at me, and I fought to make my expression polite. I failed though. I couldn’t even make myself care.

Kali scarcely missed a beat, smiling at Revik instead. She put out a hand, as if to touch his arm in passing, but I pushed her light roughly off his.

“I wouldn’t advise that… sister,” I warned.

Revik flinched. He looked at me, a faint shock in his eyes. Then, as if feeling something more off my light, he inserted his body deliberately between me and my biological mother.

That time, I definitely got the impression it wasn’t me he was protecting.

Kali looked only at me, her green eyes wide.

I saw the hurt there, but the frown scarcely touched her full mouth before she shook her head, pulling her light back in the same set of seconds. She opened heraleimideliberately then, making it submissive.

“I am sorry, daughter,” she murmured, bowing politely. “My profound apologies.”

I heard the hurt in her words, too.

I pulled away from her light anyway, not wanting to feel it. The fact that she got anywhere near Revik right then, given everything, was enough that I had to bite my lip to remain silent. A part of me wanted to tell her to fuck off, but I didn’t do that, either.

In any case, Kali gave Revik a wide berth.

Bowing to me a last time, she aimed her feet deliberately for the oval door. I watched her go, still having to fight back the colder fury that coiled around my light.

Turning to Revik after the door closed behind her, I used my mind to speak to him, even as Lily came up and grabbed hold of my fingers.

She’s not allowed in here again,I sent.Not without my permission.

Revik frowned, glancing backwards towards the door.

He only nodded, once.

I could tell he didn’t agree with me.

I could also tell he didn’t want to argue about it here, in front of Lily. I felt him thinking about Uye, and the fact that most of my anger seemed to be irrationally aimed at one parent and not the other.

I bit my lip at that, too.

Lily wasn’t going to tolerate my ignoring her for more than a few seconds, however.

She leaned the whole weight of her body, which now looked around five years old to me, with my human-conditioned eyes, in her attempt to drag me across the room. Gripping my one hand in both of hers, she pulled me towards the fuzzy chair in the far corner of the room. She looked up at Revik somewhat warily as she did it.

Forgetting about Kali, I frowned, following Lily’s gaze to my husband’s face.

He really did look tired.

“He should take a nap,” Lily announced, pointing him towards the couch.

I burst out in a laugh. “Really? Should he?”

“He has to be quiet,” she said, her voice bossy in that way only small children’s voices can be bossy. “…My guys are sleeping.”

She pointed to the row of stuffed animals lying on her bed, what she called her “guys” for some inexplicable reason. I nodded, fighting another smile as I glanced at Revik.

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