Chapter Two
I lay on the bed with Saul as he slept. His face was too pale and his skin was clammy beneath my knuckles. He slept so soundly. He always had, but this was different. I could feel it. I thought Seth could, too.
It was late when Seth returned. I slipped out from beneath the warm blankets and eased the bedroom door closed behind me.
He’d been to The Sand. Saul didn’t know he went there or that he could; but one day, during an argument, he’d lost his cool and let it slip.
If that hadn’t given it away, the sand in his boots would have.
I told him I’d keep his secret as long as he was safe and was careful about making sure no one else was around when he entered that place.
I assumed he did it the same way Tage had.
Most people who entered the forest were our friends, but you couldn’t be too careful. Secrets were best kept held close to the chest. Roman had given me the same advice once.
People feared what was different, and things in the Colony were once again tense.
Mercedes kept me up to date on the goings-on in the Colony, and I knew Roman helped Saul and Seth on carpentry jobs when he wasn’t helping our dad.
He once promised me to keep my son out of trouble, and I knew he was talking about his power.
The biggest problem was that Seth didn’t know what he was fully capable of, so we were all surprised each time a new ability presented itself. And they did...often. The list of what he couldn’t do was seemingly much shorter than the list detailing what he could.
“Are you okay?” I asked, watching as he unlaced his boots and removed his hat, coat, and scarf. I noted that the lantern beside his feet hadn’t been lit recently; the wick was cold and black. He could have lit it, but he could see perfectly fine at night without it.
“Yeah.”
He wasn’t.
“I just don’t want to get into it tonight, Mom. Can we talk tomorrow?” He rolled his neck, left and then right.
“Yeah, get some rest.”
“Night.” He stepped over to hug my neck. “Love you.”
“Love you.”
He walked to his room and closed the door quietly. From the living room, I could hear him trying to stifle his sobs. Something was wrong, and I knew it had to do with Saul. I could feel it in every fiber of my being.
Dad was up at dawn the following day. He and mom were making biscuits like nothing in the world was wrong, and I was glad they had these moments, especially knowing what was coming. I cleared my throat. “Morning.”
Mom smiled. “Morning.”
“Ready to go? We have some bread left from yesterday. This’ll keep us for the rest of the week,” Dad said, turning to rinse his hands off in a small pan of water. He wiped them on a towel and turned around to give Mom a kiss before grabbing the hard lumps of bread from a few days ago.
“I need a few minutes,” I answered. “Do you care if I meet you there?”
Dad’s smile fell a little, but he recovered quickly. “Sure.”
He kissed Mom again and pulled his coat on, closing the front door and blocking the harsh winter wind from blowing inside.
Mom and I listened as his footsteps on the crusted snow faded.
She kept cutting the biscuits with a jar, and when she was finished, dusted her hands off and braced them against the counter. “Please talk to me, Seth.”
It wasn’t that I didn’t want to, I just didn’t know how to say what needed to be said in a way that wouldn’t break her. And breaking Mom was the last thing I’d ever want to do.
“Dad is sick,” I finally said.
She blinked twice. “How sick?”
I looked to the ceiling instead of answering, and she somehow knew.
“What is it?”
“Cancer. He’s got a growth in his brain that doesn’t belong there. It’s big.”
She stood upright and covered her mouth with a shaking hand. “How long does he have?” she asked, her voice breaking.
“I wish I could tell you.”
“He’s healthy, so I’m sure...” her voice faded away.
“He’s not healthy, Mom.” As she silently began to cry, I walked around and let her cry on me. “There’s something I need to ask you,” I said when she finally calmed down.
Her back stiffened. “What is it?”
“Actually, there’s a lot I need to tell you.” I raked my hand through my hair. Damn it. She was going to kill me.
“Spill it, Seth.”
“When I go to The Sand, I’m not always there alone.”
Her eyes widened. “You’ve been taking someone with you?”
“No, someone meets me there.”
Her hand brushed an errant strand back into her bun. “Tage?” she asked quietly.
I nodded.
She turned her back to me, stoking the fire, more to busy her hands than anything. I watched the poker quiver, her nervousness leaking into the steel. “I thought you only saw him in dreams.”
“When he told me about The Sand, he met me there.”
“How old were you?” She gripped the poker like a weapon, strangling the handle of it.
“Ten.”
Her top teeth raked over the bottom ones. “And you thought I didn’t need to know?”
“It would only have upset you.”
She pursed her lips together. I was in trouble. I might be bigger than her, but she was meaner when she got mad.
“The reason I’m telling you now is because Dad isn’t healthy, and he isn’t going to get better; he’s only going to get worse. He doesn’t have long, Mom, but if he wants, he can stay in The Sand—like Tage does.”
“Oh, I’m sure Saul would love to spend an eternity with Tage.”
“It would be his alone. Tage couldn’t stay there if Saul chose to.”
“What would happen to Tage?”
“That’s up to you, he said.”
“How is it up to me?” she asked.
“He said that I’m strong enough to bring him back, but if you don’t want that, he’ll cross into the Underworld. It’s all up to you.” Her mouth gaped open. “And before you say anything, I want you to know I’ll support your decision no matter what.”
“This is too much,” she said, shaking her head. “I need time to think.”
She stripped the apron from her waist and grabbed her coat, wrapping a red scarf around her neck and grabbing her crossbow. “Go to work, Seth.”
“Yes, ma’am.”