Mum sighed. “I know this is scary darling, but please, come home. We have a much better chance of finding answers and keeping you safe than you’re capable of doing on your own. Your father has even had a safe room built so we can protect you.”
“I have found a lot of stuff on my own though,” I insisted, even though I knew it wouldn’t change her mind. My research was never good enough for her, not even when I’d told her I found where Zia lived.
“You’ve found hearsay and rumours, Beth. Nothing concre—”
“Mum?” I winced as soon as I said it; I sounded like a child once again.
When she finally spoke, it was loud enough to make me flinch. “You SAW her?” she yelled. “Do you understand how dangerous that was? I know you believe your curse allows you to have a blatant disregard for your own safety but you cannot protect yourself from that kind of magic! We spoke about this, Beth. You were meant to leave her to me!”
“But you hadn’t done anything yet,” I defended, hating that it sounded like a whine. “And I had the time and I was sure she couldn’t hurt me and—”
“I only delayed attending,” she interrupted, “because I was gathering enough magic to defend myself should the need arise. She was a dangerous mage, Beth. Walking in there unprotected would have been foolish.” Like you did, I could almost hear at the end of her words.
“So you know she’s dead?” I asked.
“Yes, I was informed Saturday morning. How did you know?”
“Because I found her dead,” I mumbled.
Suspicion crept into her voice. “Before or after the house exploded?”
I stared down, grinding my foot into the footpath. “During…”
At that I heard Mum breath in sharply. “That’s exactly why you shouldn’t have gone alone! Anything could have happened!”
I was definitely going to need a drink or seven by the end of this. “Nothing happened though,” I insisted. “My clothes got a little burned, that’s all.” And my hair, and my phone, and my hopes, but I needed to quit while I was behind.
