This time, it’s a mob. My heart skips a beat at seeing so many people coming in our direction, but they’re all smiles as they approach, so I force myself to relax. A bunch of people coming after me never meant anything good. Some look to be in their late twenties or early thirties, just like my parents and me. Others look older, but not by much. Forties, maybe. I don’t see a single white head. Does this mean none of these people got to get old?
Who are they, anyway?
“Is that Cassandra?” a lady asks. My father acquiesces and the others greet and welcome me. Some ask what happened, others act just like my father, like they know I died because of my powers. They press their lips together and shake their head in understanding. I want to tell them it’s okay—I’m not staying. I can’t stay, not with my men up there and Kayn still on the loose.
But how would they react? Would they look at me with pity? Surely others have said the same. Would they think I’m stupid, or mad?
Mom’s arm curls around my waist and Dad’s dropsaround my shoulders. They lock me in their soft embrace, protecting me. I sigh, letting my head rest on my father’s shoulder.
“Let’s give her a moment, everyone,” he says, and the group opens a corridor for us to pass. My parents take me into the house my mother left moments earlier, and Dad closes the door behind us. The silence inside is comfortable, warm, like a blanket cocooning me.
Mom and Dad step away, giving me some space. I almost stumble after them, then I remember I should look like someone who has their shit together. Act polite, Cassandra. At least pretend you’re civil.
I look around the living room, studying the furniture. The place looks a lot like the living room we had when I was young, but more spacious. Hardwood floors, dark furniture, green cushions. Everything is very green and brown. Or would be, if not for the flowers.
There are so many of them. Lavender hanging from the walls, baby’sbreath tucked into vases. Down the corridor on the right, I glimpse a dining table, centered with a tall glass filled with a bunch of pink peonies.
“I didn’t know there were flowers in the Underworld,” I think out loud, marveling at the colors.
Mom chuckles. “Same. Turns out flowers grow just fine here, even without the sun.”
“So,it’s always this dark?”
“No.” Mom walks closer, taking my hand in hers as if she couldn’t stay away for long. “I think something is happening in the palace. We don’t have a sun, but the human areas have a semblance of night and day. Watery light in the morning, dim in the evening. Usually. The Devil wanted some darkness today.”
“Oh, cool,” I mutter with a shrug because I don’t know what else I could add.
“You look a little overwhelmed,” Mom says, tugging me toward a couch. “Sit here. I’ll grab you something to drink.”
“I thought we didn’t need to drink here,” I say to her retreating back.
Dad sits next to me. “Just because you don’t have to, doesn’t mean you can’t.” And he smiles. It almost makes me burst into tears again. He must see it because he stretchesoutan arm and squeezes my shoulder.
My mother comes back with a glass of iced tea. I chug half of it, then put it down. With the silence, my confused head settles. Everything feels real. The place, my parents, the flowers. I bet I could smell them if I wanted to.
“You remember us,” Mom murmurs, sitting on the easy chair across from me. Her dark hair fans over her shoulders, and she’s in a loose, dark green dress. The smile on her face makes me smile back.
“I do.” And it was instant recognition.
“But...” The two exchange glances. “I asked a friend to put a spell on you,” Mom says, letting the sentence drawl on.
Oh, yeah. As far as they know, I shouldn’t have any memory of them. “She did.” That woman was an asshole,through and through, but there’s no reason to lie. She did what Mom asked of her. I wouldn’t count her as a friend, though. She dragged me to an orphanage without an inch of remorse. “She blocked my memories and my powers. I met the Light Mage, though, and...” Do they need to know everything? That the Light Mage assaulted me? No, not this soon. Maybe later on. “We had a discussion, and his spells broke through the seal on my magic.”
My parents hold equal expressions of shock. “The Light Mage attacked you?” Dad says, his voice failing. The wrinkles in the corners of his eyes deepen as he squints. “Why?”
“Mm.” Maybe I won’t manage to hold the truth for long after all. But this would break their heart. What am I going to say?
“She clearly doesn’t want to talk about it, love,” Mom chimes in, leaning forward. “Don’t worry, Cassie. You don’t need to say it if you don’t want to.”
My father curls his nose. “If the Light Mage attacked her, I would like to know. The second thatfucker crosses into the Underworld, I’ll be after him.”
Mom hisses,“Language,” but Dad doesn’t seem to mind. He does look like he would go after the Light Mage without a second thought.
I don’t tell them he’s been here for a while, and because of me. “What matters,” I start, “is that he broke the seal on my magic, and, recently, I met a witch who broke the seal on my memories for me. So, yeah, I remember. I remember that night.”
Their lips turn downward again, and Dad opens his mouth to say something else when the door is thrown open. I jump out of the seat, turning to see two women walking in. Like the others, they look like they died in their forties. One has light brown hair, still no signs of age on her strands, while the other is a brunette like me, but with several white strands lining the sides of her head.
“Is that her?” the brunette asks, and she immediately opens a smile and closes the space between us. She throws her arms around me, tightening the embrace as my parents get to their feet.