Chapter Thirty-Four #2
Emelee fled the room, yelling, “Bye. You know what? I don’t want any part of this,” clearly scared of the Minister.
My mother was busy rocking on the balls of her feet, praying and begging for forgiveness, and for the second time recently, Tulya went limp and nonresponsive.
The only positive was the Minister’s mirage went up in a poof of smoke, evaporating before our very eyes.
“Was that supposed to happen?” I asked as I bent down on the floor and lifted a limp Tulya.
The Minister’s silence told me all I needed to know. No—it was not. We were stronger than his bullshit mirage.
Good, I thought to myself before grumbling, “Get out. Your magic is not working here, with us.” I stared at the three assholes in my office, waiting for them to go, then heard myself yell, “Get the hell out! I need to revive Tulya for the second time in six months.”
Finally, they listened. In the moment, all I cared about was my sweet Tulya, shoving all thoughts of the Minister torching my house to the back of my mind. His mirage had evaporated, so it was clear Tulya and I had some collective worth. But first, I had to figure out why she collapsed again.
This time around, Tulya recuperated from the incident in my bed, where she belonged.
My mother was banished to her side of the house—no one would dare force me to separate from Tulya now or ever, moving forward, after the immediate action I took.
First, I knew Abraham loved a human, so my brother wasn’t the only one.
This type of scandal was not exclusive to our family.
Second, I gave more thought to the Minister’s disappearing mirage and came to a big conclusion.
I called Ezza, who wasn’t happy to hear from me, but I didn’t care.
“Her abilities are greater than yours” was all I said.
“I’m still her mother,” she replied, knowing exactly what I meant. Tulya’s potential was grander than her own.
“Together we could either cancel one another or double the powers, making our houses the strongest collaborative house.”
“It wasn’t meant for you two…”
“Bruno! You wanted it to be Bruno!”
“It still could be.”
Rolling my eyes, I couldn’t believe what I figured out. “You don’t want to be overshadowed by your own daughter. Screw you, Ezza.”
I hung up before she could reply, not caring she could be my mother-in-law. I’d uncovered her weakness, and she wouldn’t want it revealed.
I did text my mother and let her know Ezza and I had come to a mutual agreement. When she asked for details, I left her unanswered. Let her ask her friend.
For two days, I didn’t leave Tulya’s side, holding cold compresses to her forehead, running ice along her lips, kissing her shoulder, and making sure she appeared to be comfortable.
I couldn’t stop worrying as to why this happened again, and refused to tend to myself other than taking calls right outside the bedroom door.
I hadn’t showered in forty-eight hours, and my feet had traced a permanent path in the carpet.
That was exactly what I was doing when Abraham showed up without being summoned.
Shock and relief ripped through my body in equal measure.
“What do you want?” I greeted him without any pomp and circumstance, thinking I should be nicer, but I wasn’t in the mood.
“A little thank you, maybe? I was the one who shared the information with you regarding Emelee’s medical diagnosis, allowing you to make some progress with Ceci.”
I felt myself nodding. “Yeah, sorry. Thank you for that, but that sort of backfired. Anyway, that’s on me. Been a lot going on here.” I spoke in short, choppy fragments, waving my hand at Tulya in my bed, her head propped on the pillows, her arms tucked underneath the blankets.
“That’s why I’m here. Ezza visited me—”
“That bitch. She’s the reason this is happening. Again. She doesn’t have her daughter’s best interests at heart.” I didn’t mention my reasons or the torch, unsure if I should or not.
“Shh, we know Ezza is only about Ezza. But she is worried about Tulya, so I’m here.”
“She’s only worried she won’t be able to use her daughter’s power.” And she’s afraid of me.
“That’s true,” he agreed. “But here’s the thing, every time Tulya gets overwhelmed with anger, her abilities are shorting out. This isn’t about Emelee’s feelings making her go unconscious. It’s about her own aggravation at the situation.”
“With Ezza too?” I couldn’t help but ask.
“Ezza, Emelee, you and her… And yes, she caused additional problems when she held the feelings before and after the transfer, but I believe it was coupled with her being mad about the scenario with Blake. We know she’s come to care for the girl.”
I felt myself nodding, wondering where Abraham stood on the issue.
“So, I thought about it and casually mentioned to Ezza that she would get a lot more use out of Tulya if she allowed her to be happy.”
“Wow,” I said, not believing what I heard. “You did?”
Abraham patted me on the back. “I did. You’re a good man and an even better Rubian, Donovan.”
“I don’t know,” I mumbled, still thinking about the torch but schooling myself. I could only worry about Tulya in this moment.
Abraham interrupted my black hole of bad thoughts. “More on all of that later. I have ideas on fixing it all, but let’s get your lady better.”
Quickly, he pulled a syringe out of his pocket, and I sat down next to Tulya on the other side of the bed without prompting. Touching her, in case she needed to know I was there.
I couldn’t help but take in the aging medic, dressed in a navy suit, hair graying at the temples, and wondered if he could advocate for Blake too.
Surely there was no one better to do it than him with his age and wisdom.
I was drawn away from my thoughts when he pushed the syringe into Tulya’s arm, now exposed from the sheets.
And then we waited, both of us tracking up and down my carpet path.