Chapter 25 #2
“Maybe it’s best to just show you.” She glanced at Dessa with a sigh. “Can you look up the registry from Audubon Park? Search for Rosa Martins, please.”
Dessa shot a confused glance at Jamison before practically flying to her computer. It only took a few minutes before Dessa sat back, her jaw slack. “Um…I, uh, have it pulled up.”
Jamison’s mother nodded and gestured to the monitor. “See for yourself, Jay.”
In three strides, Jamison was looking over Dessa’s shoulder at his mother’s profile. The words “Born Magicker” jumped out at him from the screen. Affinity: Cotton proficiency.
“You’re part of the paranormal community?” Jamison’s confusion had him scouring his childhood for clues. He’d seen his mother sewing and knitting in her rare free moments, but she’d always explained it away as stress relief. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Her narrow shoulders rose and fell. “You never showed a Magicker disposition yourself, and honestly, I was relieved. Your father and I agreed we wanted to keep you out of this world if we could. Keep you safe.”
“Who else knows?” Jamison asked, not sure how to feel about this new development. Apparently, he’d been much closer to this world than he’d ever thought.
She waved him off. “I’m not at all powerful, so it doesn’t really matter. The real question is, why are you here in the middle of this mess?” She gestured around the office with obvious disdain.
He swallowed, the world no longer steady under his feet. What else had they kept hidden from him? At this point, it seemed like you couldn’t live in the PC without having a secret—him included. “Just trust me when I tell you I have my reasons,” he mumbled, running a hand over his face.
“That’s what your father said.” His mother rolled her eyes.
“But you don’t belong here, Jamison. Magickers believe in keeping secret and safe, and our success shows in the lowest death rate.
Come with me, and we can leave and start fresh somewhere else.
Paranormal affairs only ever lead to disaster.
” She gave Dessa a sideways glance. “As I’m sure you’re finding out. ”
Dessa stood up. “Let me assure you that we here in AzRIO are committed to keeping all members in the community as safe as possible, and Jamison has been making an impact.”
“But he doesn’t have magic,” his mom nearly shrieked. “How can he even work here?”
Dessa exchanged a tense glance with Jamison, and he nodded. He couldn’t tell his mother, but she could.
“He…he does have magic,” Dessa said. “He wasn’t born with it like you, but as an Uncanny, I can tell you that he has it now.”
His mom staggered back as if Dessa had slapped her. “No,” she whispered, her panicked gaze flicking back and forth between them. Then she ran to Jamison and threw her arms around him. “My poor baby, what did they do to you?”
Jamison sighed. Though his mother’s theatrics didn’t exactly surprise him, they didn’t have time to deal with this right now. “I’m fine, Mom. Just trust that I know what I’m doing.”
The bell resounded with a long, muted note that sounded strangely like a gong, and Arthur walked in, his thick eyebrows rising above his glasses as he took in Jamison’s mother sobbing in his arms. To be fair, Jamison preferred Arthur witnessing this over the embrace he shared with Dessa earlier, but it still wasn’t a great look.
To Arthur’s credit, he only paused for a moment before striding to his desk.
Of course, he did give them a wide berth as if they might be contagious, so there was that.
Though they were all in the office for special circumstances, Jamison still had to wonder if Arthur came in every Sunday. It seemed likely.
“I just…I tried everything I could to keep this from happening,” his mom sniffed and accepted the tissue Dessa handed her.
“Yeah, but sometimes things happen outside of our control.” Jamison guided her toward the door, his chest squeezing.
It’s not like he wanted the curse either, but he also wouldn’t have wanted to live his life in ignorance of the world right beneath his nose.
“Look, I’ve got to get back to work, but maybe we can have dinner later and catch up, now that we’re on the same page. ”
His mom swallowed hard and nodded as she put her hand on the door handle. “Yes, okay. Just…” She looked up at him, her green eyes swimming. “Promise me you’ll be careful.”
“Sure, Mom. But one more quick thing before you go,” Jamison said, retreating a step. “Do you know anything about Hexxers?”
His mom’s expression shuttered, and her tears seemed to dry almost instantaneously.
“Everything is dangerous in this world, Jamison, but the Hexxers are the worst. If you’re smart, you’ll stay away from them.
That’s really all any of us can do.” Her phone began to ring, and her frown deepened.
“I’ll see you tonight. Stay safe, dear.” With that, she strode out the door and down the sidewalk, her heels clacking as she answered the phone with a sharp, “This is Rosa,” any trace of her tears gone.
Jamison watched her until she was out of sight, wondering if perhaps he’d never really known anything at all.