Page 117 of The Seven Miracles of Beatrix Holland
Reno clambered up on her knees. “That kid runs twice as fast as any of us. She’s gone.”
“Oh, Cordelia—” Beatrice broke off at the look on her twin’s face.
Cordelia’s eyes flamed. “What did my daughter mean, the spellyougave her?”
Confusion twisted in her chest. “I didn’t!”
“She said you gave her something.”
“No! It wasn’t a spell. I only remembered what I imagine when I do the auto-writing. I told her because she was so frantic to hear from her dad again.”
The last word dropped into the space between them with the force of a ten-ton calving iceberg plunging into a frozen sea.
“Again,” said Cordelia.
“I was going to tell you.”
“She’s achild. Who needs protecting.”
Beatrice raised her hands. “Wait, why? Why is it so bad for her to talk her own father? I know he’s a close one, but I get it, about wanting to know your parent. He’s her father. Surely that counts for something. What do you mean that he’ll hurt her?”
“This is the worst thing you could have possibly done.”
“How would I know that, if you keep refusing to tell me anything? What’s goingon?”
“When she comes back—” Cordelia shot a look at their mother. “Oh, god, Mom, she’ll come back, right? She has to come back.”
Astrid rubbed her eyes and didn’t respond.
Touching her chest, Reno said, “It’s gone now.”
Astrid nodded. “Okay. Okay, then. We’ll go home, we’ll reset the wards on the house, and we’ll do a recall spell.” She jerked her chin in Beatrice’s direction. “Unfortunately, it’ll be stronger if she helps. We need the twinship energy.”
“Of course I’ll help!”
“Absolutely not.” Cordelia’s eyes clouded. “Mom, what if Minna gets too close to him?”
Reno said, “She’s never run away before. She’ll be back by dawn.”
Hold on. Beatrice didn’t exactly want to remind them aboutit—she didn’t want to be that dick—but she said it anyway. “You can’t just conveniently forget about Portland, though.”
Cordelia stared at her. “Portland?”
“Oh, come on. Minna’s not a baby, and she’s obviously good at taking care of herself on the streets.”
“Excuseme?”
“When she came out as trans? And ran away?”
Unbelievably, Cordelia laughed. “You’re kidding me, right?”
“You rejected her. You found her living in a squat in Portland?” A sick feeling rose in her gut as a realization rose. “Oh, my god. That didn’t happen.”
Cordelia’s voice crackled with fury. “The night my daughter came out, she was hysterical, thinking I was going to kick her out of the house, or worse. I got in her bed and spent the next three hours holding her, telling her how loved she was and how grateful I was that she felt safe enough to share her real self with us. We threw her a coming-out party twice as big as the one we threw tonight, and I didn’t complain once that the party was Disney princess themed. For fuck’s sake, Beatrice. A squat? She was twelve. How could you just believe her? How could you be that gullible?”
Andthiswas why you couldn’t believe things until you had proof. How could she have gotten this so wrong?
An owl called in the distance, and the darkness felt heavy and cold on Beatrice’s skin. “I’m so sorry. She just wanted to talk to him, and I didn’t know if he’d come through, and then he did. His words to her were so lovely and she seemed thrilled. I was just glad I knew enough to help. Tonight she was going to try it herself, and I was supposed to be with her. I was going to tell you and bring you with me.” She shot a glance at Reno, who didn’t meet her eyes. “But I got sidetracked.”
