Page 2 of Forever Frenzy
“Seth, get him some water.” Seth burst into action, running into the kitchen to the water pot and ladling water into a cup. I held tight to Saul.
“What’s wrong? How do you feel?” I asked him.
He rubbed his forehead. “Dizzy, but okay. I guess it’s been a while since I ate anything.”
I packed his lunch the same way I did every day. Brian Yankee’s habits were steady as the sun, so I knew lunch was always at noon. Maybe I didn’t pack enough. It was winter and supplies were a little thin, but I always packed more for him and Seth, keeping less for myself. I didn’t need as much just to walk or wait in the woods as they did to lift and hammer all day.
Seth helped Saul stand and then guided him to the couch while I took the pot from the hearth and ladled out stew in a bowl for him. Steam curled up from the rich, brown liquid. “You need to eat,” I admonished, handing the bowl to Saul, whose trembling hands threatened to spill it all over him.
Seth took one look at his father and then me before taking the bowl and raking a spoon full into the air. Saul sighed. “I’m sorry.”
“There’s nothing to apologize for, Dad.”
I hid my trembling hands in the kitchen, making myself busy by pretending I gave a shit about mine and Seth’s dinner.
After he ate the first bowl, I gave Saul a second and tried to get him to take a third, but he refused. “I’m stuffed. It was delicious, by the way,” he said with a wink that was more forced than playful. “I’m also beat. I think I’ll go lay down.”
Seth tried to help him up and would’ve helped him to the bedroom, but with palms out, Saul assured both of us that he was fine.
When the door closed behind him, I let out a pent-up breath. Boots clawed at the door to get outside, his white fur blending in with the flurrying snow. Only the ruddy color of his paws stood out until he faded into the flakes.
Seth stared into the falling snow. “He’ll be fine,” I reassured him.
“Dad or Boots?”
I smiled. “Both of them.”
He smiled back, reminding me in that moment of how much he looked like Tage. The piercing ache that had once filled my chest was only a tiny pinprick at times like these.
“Do you care if I go out for a little while?” Seth asked. I knew where he was going and why, and I knew he needed relief.
I nodded. “Take your lantern.”
He wrapped a scarf around his neck, pulled his coat and hat on, and grabbed the lantern only because I was concerned. He didn’t need it. Seth’s powers were more than I could wrap my head around, and I saw them at work all the time.
If anyone in Blackwater were ever to see him use his abilities, he would be hunted down. They would form a posse to bring him in; treating him as a threat simply because they didn’t understand, not because he would ever hurt anyone. Seth was innately good.
Through the window, I watched him disappear into the snow, following Boots’ now-covered trail.
The lantern’s wick was still warm from when I went in search of Dad. I didn’t need the light, but he saw it and called out to me. Striding over snow and dead leaves, I blazed the path to the center of the forest, to the clearing.
Calling on the ever-present thrum of energy flowing beneath my skin, I opened the air and stepped through the portal to The Sand. Instantly warmed by the steady breeze, I waited for him, calling out to him in my mind.
He always came. I just had to wait...
“Seth?” Tage questioned from across the dune. He walked quickly down the slope toward me. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s Dad,” I choked. Tage never corrected me. I knew Tage was my true father, but Saul would always be my Dad. Because of my lineage, my gift was both a blessing and a curse, which meant I could see what ailed my Dad. I knew he was sick.
“It’s growing?”
“It has roots, or tentacles. It’s growing fast.”
“Where?”
“In his brain.” I squeezed my eyes shut, tears leaking out the corners. Tage pulled me into him and let me cry.
“I’m sorry.”
