Page 70 of Total Eclipse of the Moon
"Shane’s not wrong," Roman mumbled. "You reek of candy, Flynn. Your sugar addiction has you consuming so much that it’s coming out your pores."
"Who’s my addiction hurting?You?" Flynn’s eyebrows flew upward. "Shane eats just as much candy as I do. Need I remind you, Roman, of the time when you drank too much and turned green after you—"
"Hush," Roman said. "We don’t speak of that."
"I’d like to hear about you turning green." Antonio folded his hands on the table and leaned forward. "Spell gone bad, perhaps?" He grinned wide enough to show the tips of his sharp canine teeth.
Shane elbowed Antonio and whispered, "Don’t needle him."
Roman’s cheeks flushed. He pointed at Madeline. "How do we know she didn’t cast a spell on all of us to make us like her or something?"
"Didn’t we already do this?" Madeline frowned and crossed her arms.
"I don’t trust you." Roman glared her way. "Because I don’t know you. And you cursed us."
Shane stood and took a step in Roman’s direction.
"Enough!" Evie hit the table. She rose imperiously. Her eyes flashed fire. "Everyone sit." In silence she waited while all sat in their designated chairs. Then she said, "Madeline is my guest. She’s under my protection."
"But, Mom—"
"Enough of this nonsense, Roman," Evie interrupted. "She brought Shane back to us."
"The angels did that last month, not her." He thrust his chin out.
"But he left again. She brought him back tomeon family night." Evie paused dramatically.
"It’s my job to keep all of you safe," Roman said. "If anything happened to any one of you, including you, Shane, I’d—"
"What about me?" Flynn interrupted.
"I’m sure the candy smell will keep you safe from her," Ky said under his breath.
"I like the smell of candy." Madeline compressed her lips against a grin but failed. "Sweet and tasty. Plus, Flynn has great hair. How could I ever hurt someone with hair like that?"
Vivi giggled next to her. Nova shot her a smile. She could feel the girl power on her side of the table shift in support. So appreciated.
Flynn held up his hands as if to say "there." He winked at her.
"Youlikethat the witch complimented your hair?" Ky asked, incredulous.
"Notlikelike, but sure. I’d want any woman to like my hair. What’s the point of highlighting it otherwise? She’s kind of cool too," Flynn said. "I mean, look at her hair."
"Sheiscool," Nova said regally beside her. "Chill, Ro. I like her."
"Tresoro,how do we know she’s not buttering us up for a zinger bigger than the curse?" Roman asked. "If anything happened to you, I’d go crazy." The way he gazed at Nova was a hot caress that almost set the table on fire.
"I’m fine. There’s enough of us here to make it hurt if she betrays us." Nova mouthed, "I love you."
Evie emitted an impatient snort. "Madeline tames that thing inside Shane. Can you do that, Roman?"
Roman dropped his gaze. "No."
"She brings with her the courage to sacrifice her life to set all of you free. Did she make a huge mistake with the curse to begin with? Hell, yes. It was stupid to cast the curse." She cast her glare at Madeline who ducked her head. "But…" Evie stood and slowly met the gaze of everyone around the table. "If someone asked me to cast a curse, or assassinate someone, or do absolutely anything in exchange for freeing one of you when you were four years old, knowing when I did so it’d cast someone else’s life into complete and utter hell for the rest of his existence, I’d do it. In a heartbeat."
"We can take care of ourselves, Mom," Roman said.
She leaned in and squeezed Roman’s shoulder in what looked like a reasonably painful grip and waited until he met her gaze to continue. "Not when you were little. In those early years, it was my job to take care of you. Even now, there’s not a soul on this planet I wouldn’t kill to keep each one of you safe, no matter how old you are. If it’d been when you were so little and unable to fend for yourself against the evils of this world, I’d go insane to do anything to make sure you lived. Then, if I did what was asked of me and you died…" She glanced heavenward and put a hand against her chest. "Only the dear Lord knows how Madeline didn’t lose her mind. Losing Shane nearly destroyed me. If I’d lost one of you as a child, it would’ve killed me." She pointed at Shane. "Don’t ever pull a stunt like that again. If you’re going to die, then have the decency to make sure you can’t come back from the dead."
