Page 97 of Amethyst Flame
I sighed. “Sorry to be such a mess. Everyone needs you.” And to delay the unavoidable doom talk just a bit longer, I asked, “Speaking of, how’s your brother?”
She splayed her hands out wide, abdicating all responsibility. “On the plus side, lil sis sent me some interesting videos she and her friends like.” She shook her head. “OMG, Mojimo, we are so old. But it gave me some ideas for a trunk show for rebellious teens.”
I snickered dutifully, but considering this might be the oldest I’d ever be, the idea of Swann and me getting crone-like together, watching over Brianna, felt bittersweet.
“So…you’re still thinking about fashion?” I ventured tentatively. Because I had to press the issue of her showcase now. There might not be a later.
Swann blinked, startled. “If you’re calling me out, then what’s happening with you must be really,reallybad.”
Yup. “Promise me you’ll do your showcase. No big decisions until after.”
“Promise me you’ll be there for it.”
“I promise…to try.” It was all I had.
“Then I guess I’ll have to do the same—try.” Swann narrowed those blue-mascaraed eyes at me. “I heard from your mom,” she said after a moment. “Have you considered communicating with the people you love directly instead of through me?”
I winced. “Sorry again.”
“You know I love your family like my own. And trust me, I understand how sometimes it’s easier for someone else to run interference. But what’s going on? I need to know.”
I gave her a highly abridged recap of recent events. By the end, she too was slumped against the wall. “Oh wow… And I thought tulle chrysanthemums were bad.”
I lolled my head to stare at her. “If Jacob ever tells you to run away from me, you run.”
“Never.”
“Swann—”
Her jaw jutted. “You said you haven’t experienced any symptoms of this avalanche thing.”
“Just please promise me that you’ll listen to Jacob.” My voice was so broken it didn’t even sound like me. “Promise me, Swann.”
She scowled. “So we’re trusting him now?” When I grabbed her hand and squeezed, she squeezed back. “Fine, I promise.”
Where was Dane? It felt like time was spinning out with my anxiety. I swallowed hard. If I did end up having to do something desperate and dangerous—again—I’d have to trust them all to be okay. “So, what did my mom have to say?”
“Remember that time you got in that big fight with her and didn’t talk to her for weeks?”
I wrinkled my nose. “No?”
“Exactly. Because it’s never happened before. You need to call her, especially after everything you’ve told me.” Swann yanked my hand. “And everything I know you’re not telling me.”
“What she doesn’t know—”
“Is only making her more angry and sad.”
“I’ll think about it.” Narrator voice: I was not going to think about it.
When we returned to the living room, Jacob had abandoned his computer, replacing it with a smaller laptop I hadn’t seen before. But he closed it and set it aside when we appeared.
He glanced at Swann then back at me. “All up to speed?”
I opened my mouth to lie, but Swann got ahead of me. “I’m doing about sixty-seven in a fifty-five zone, but I get the feeling the rest of you are breaking Mach 1.” She shook her head. “Mo tells me to trust you.”
Instead of being snarky like I half expected, he nodded. “I told Mo I’m going to be there for whatever she needs, and that includes you too.”
Swann pinned him with a sharp look. “If Mo trusts you, I’ll trust you too.”
