Chapter Thirty-Eight
My mom ushered us all inside and we sat down in the living room.
She went around and asked about drinks, then she looked at me.
“Hey sweetheart? Why don’t you give everyone a tour?
I’m sure Abby will love to see your bedroom.
You have that small closet full of all your old teddy bears.
” She smiled. “I just have a few things to finish up in the kitchen and by the time you come down, dinner will be ready.” With that, she was gone behind the wall and I turned.
“Tour it is.” I brought them around the bottom floor, but I could tell Abby was being impatient.
“Amy?” Her soft voice had me turning.
“Yeah, sweetheart?” I crouched as she came up to me.
“Your house is really nice…”
“But?” I winked at her.
“Can we go see your room?” She sounded a little hopeful.
“Of course.” I looked up at Rick. “It’s upstairs.” My eyes flicked to Abby, and he nodded.
“Come here, baby.” He swooped down and picked her up. “Stairs are still a little hard for us, aren’t they, baby?”
Abby nodded. “I get tired.”
“Me too.” I winked again, and we turned to head upstairs. I pointed out a few other rooms, and then we came to my door. “Here we are.”
I opened my door and Abby ran in. I laughed as she spun around.
“This is just your bedroom?” She ran to the bathroom and spun again.
“Wow.” I ushered everyone in and closed the door.
I walked to a small closet I had next to my bed and swung it open.
Abby screamed as she saw all the stuffed animals I had.
I kept everything from when I was a child.
My dad used to give them to me every time I left until I turned sixteen and asked him to stop.
“Oh my goddess.” She ran and started playing.
I chuckled and then nodded to the other side of my room, where the other bigger closet lay. “While she is occupied, we can speak freely here.”
Shelly turned to me. “Rick hasn’t told me anything. He won’t, not in our home, because of Vince, but something is going on and I want to know what.”
I nodded. “I’m getting you out.” I cut right to the chase. “And I know you are going to bring up the fact you can’t leave because Abby is suffering from the withering, but she’s not.” I whispered, hopefully low enough that Abby couldn’t hear.
Shelly reared back. “What are you talking about?” She looked at Rick. “Is she insane?”
He rubbed his face. “Babe, listen. We went to lunch, getting Alannah and Ternen away from Brandon. Amy stood up for Tern, and in retaliation, Brandon decided to beat and fire him instead. At lunch, I told her about Abby. Just the basics, why we were here, and why I was helping Vince.”
“Okay, but that doesn’t explain what she just said.” She tossed out.
“I know. I know.” He pulled out the napkin. “Amy has never seen Abby before today. Ternen has never even talked about Abby.”
“I swear, neither of us have. We thought you deserved your privacy.” Alannah slid in.
Shelly looked around. “Okay, she hasn’t ever seen Abby. What does this have to do with what we are talking about? Our daughter is sick, and she just said she wasn’t Rick.”
“That’s because she’s not.” I quickly glanced over at Abby. “Do you know anything about witchcraft?”
Shelly looked confused and lost. “What in the Goddess are you talking about?”
Rick handed her the napkin. “I told her about the Withering. But Amy asked how old Abby was. She said she was too old for the Withering to affect her. But there was a spell. A spell that branded the affected wolf with a mark. That is the mark she gave me.” Rick pointed to the napkin Shelly had crumpled in her hand.
“This is a fucking napkin, Rick. What does this have to do with our child?” Shelly got louder, but Rick grabbed her face and kissed her.
“Babe, I love you, and when you get protective of our cub I love you even more. But look at the napkin and you will understand.” He lifted her hand that held the crumpled napkin.
Shelly shook her head but unclenched her hand and smoothed out the napkin. She gasped and her eyes shot up to mine. “Have you never seen our daughter?”
“No.” I met her eyes.
“Have you seen any of the children in her class?”
Again, I answered honestly. “No.”
She sagged for a moment. “Please.” Her voice wavered. “Please don’t pretend that you can help us unless you actually can. I don’t have it in me to go through all of this, only to be let down once again.”
“What do you mean?” I tilted my head.
“She means she can’t listen to another person say they might be able to save me, only to be told I have less than a year to live.”
Everyone froze, but Shelly dropped down and pulled Abby to her. “Baby…” But she trailed off, because what do you say to a child who is too observant to be kept in the dark?
“It’s okay, momma. I’ve known for a while now.” She reached up and cupped her face. “I just wanted to spend the best year with you and daddy so I didn’t tell you I heard you and the doctor talking about me.” Rick dropped down next to them and hugged them both to his chest.
“It’s going to be alright.” He whispered to them, but I could tell it was to himself. He looked up at me, so ready to believe, and I nodded.
“I can’t fix it today.” I held out my hand. “But I swear I will fix it.”
Shelly looked at me. “How can you be so sure?”
“Magic.” I winked, but she shook her head. I crouched. “I can’t tell you. Not before you are away from here. You can take a vow, Shelly, but Abby can’t.”
“I won’t tell anyone. I swear.” She looked at me with slightly wounded eyes.
“Oh sweet pea, I never thought you would tell on us. But sometimes, especially some wolves, they can’t help it.”
“Like when the Alpha commands us to tell him?”
“Exactly.” I smiled.
“But what about this?” Shelly moved back. “She’d already heard all of us talk about this.”
“Well, it can go two ways.” I looked down at Abby. “And I’m going to allow her to decide.” I smiled as I helped her out of her parents’ arms, letting her stand on her own. “This is a big girl’s decision, so I want you to really think it through, okay?”
Abby looked at me and stood a little taller. “Okay.”
“Now, anything we talk about here can’t be told to anyone. Not a teacher, not the Alpha, and not our friends.” She nodded. “Good girl. Now, because you are too young, the Goddess will not allow you to enter into a vow. So we have two options.”
Rick shuffled closer. “What are the options?”
Shelly slid closer. “Will they hurt her?”
I smiled. “I promise they won’t hurt. But because you are sick and weak.” She looked down, but I tilted her chin up with my finger. “We get to use that as a hidden strength.”
“How is that a strength?” She looked at me, confused.
“Option one.” I held up a finger. “I can use magic to erase your memories of this room, but you will have the feeling you loved it here and had fun. It will just seem like you were too tired to remember it fully.” I poked her nose.
“Or…I could use magic to seal your lips about the stuff that happens here, almost like a vow, but one that uses magic to seal your lips.”
“What’s the difference?” Rick looked at Abby. “Between the vow with the Goddess, and you.”
“Instead of being able to pick out the small talk and focus on the smaller things. Like I am assuming you had to do with Vince today?” I lifted my brow, and he nodded. “She won’t be able to talk about it at all.”
“How will that work?”
“Because she is so sick, and Vince is the one that made her that way. He will expect her to be fragile. He will expect her to clam up around an Alpha. And if by the smallest chance he questions her…she can just say I went to Amy’s room, yawn and then turn to you or Shelly and ask to go to bed.
Or play shy. Or honestly, just faint.” Abby giggled.
“She will have options, just not the same as you.” I held out my hands.
I waved my left hand. “So option one?” I waved my right hand. “Or option two?”
Abby opened her mouth, but Shelly jumped in. “Isn’t it better if she just forgets?”
Rick looked between his wife and Abby. “I know, as a dad, I would want to just have her forget and pretend she just fell asleep. But also as a dad, I want her to make her own choices. And Goddess knows in Abby’s life she doesn’t get many choices.
” He looked at Shelly. “I want to keep her safe. I do. But there comes a moment when we have to let her choose, Babe. She might not get many choices in her life.” His last words were whispered.
His tiny truth eating away at his soul. He has been preparing for Abby to die.
Shelly looked at Abby, who stood there, so determined but patient. “I know what I want to choose, but I’ll listen to you, momma.” She would still allow the adults to make her decision. “I trust you to know what’s best.”
I turned to Shelly but her eyes were on her daughter. I watched her fight the urge to decide, to step in and take control, but she closed her eyes and shuddered. “No baby. This is your choice to make. I believe in you.”
Abby’s face lit up. It was like she was waiting for this moment, this decision. “I don’t want to forget. I want option two.”