Shimmering Chaos (Enchanted Chaos 2)
I angle my head to the side. “What’s a secured magical signal?”
“It’s …” Foster starts then pauses. “Well, it’s easier to see it than try to explain it.”
Okay, now I’m a bit curious. “For how long is your mom going to be gone?”
“We’re not sure yet,” Foster says. “And actually, everyone is gone right now. You, Easton, and me are the only ones here.”
“Porter, Hunter, and Max left already?” I ask.
He nods, his face a mask of guardedness. “Right after they dropped you off, they got called on a job. So did Holden.”
Why do I get the feeling he’s lying to me? Maybe he is. Maybe Max, Hunter, Holden, and Porter took off because they couldn’t stand being around me while my powers are flowing down the link. Perhaps Foster is just trying to spare my feelings. It’d make sense since Porter and Hunter seemed to struggle with being near me while we were in the car.
“Where are your parents?” I ask, scratching at my arm.
“On missions,” Foster says. “Well, my dad is on a personal mission in Shimmerland, the world of faeries. He’s looking for some faerie dust so he can concoct a potion that’ll hopefully erase Kash’s memory.”
“So he won’t remember what we are?”
“Yep,” Easton is the one to answer. “And then we can kick his ass out of the house.”
“He was really quiet when I walked by the room just barely,” I tell them. “I thought maybe he was gone.”
“Nah, he’s still there. He probably just screamed himself to sleep,” Easton explains. “Thank the gods. He screams are more high-pitched than a whining unicorn.”
My jaw drops. “Unicorns exist.”
“They do.” Easton smirks at me. “Maybe if you’re really nice to me, I’ll show you one someday.”
Foster’s brows crinkle as he glances at Easton.
Easton hastily clears his throat, his flirty smile vanishing. “Just an FYI. Everyone’s going to be gone for a few days,” he tells no one in particular.
Foster stares him down for a moment before slipping his fingers through mine. “When is Mom sending the message?”
Easton glances at our twined fingers then at his watch. “In like three seconds—”
Poof.
A lavender cloud of smoke puffs up in the center of the kitchen, hovering just above the kitchen island and taking the form of Emaline.
“Oh, good. You’re all here.” Her cloudy eyes glance at the three of us then settle on me. “I just wanted to check in and see how everyone’s doing, especially you, Sky. I heard what happened, and I feel awful. After we spent so much time assuring you that everything would be all right, this happens. Plus, that whole ordeal with darkness …” She shakes her head. “We’re currently working on finding out if the darkness in that room can send messages to the outside world. But I promise that you’re safe with Easton and Foster. They won’t let anything happen to you. I don’t want you to be afraid.”
“I’m fine,” I try to reassure her, even though I’m not sure I am
She gapes at me in disbelief, smoke twirling around her. “I want to talk more about it when I get back, but right now, I wanted to let you know that nothing like that will happen again. If you go back to that school, we’ll make sure no one harms you again.” She waits for me to nod then directs her attention to Foster and Easton.
“I wanted to let you two know that, as of this morning, the council has gone silent. Between that and what happened at the school, you’re all on high alert until we find out more about what’s going on. You are to be guarded by protection spells at all times and, for now, you’re just going to have to hang out in the house.”
“No one knows what the silence from the council is over?” Easton asks, resting his arms on the counter.
She shakes her head, her hair moving like wisps behind her. “Your father’s looking into it. I’m still working on … something else.”
Her vagueness sends warning flags popping up everywhere.
She’s being discreet, but about what?
“Look, I have to go. I’m in the middle of something really important, but I’ll check in tomorrow morning.” Apprehension floods her features as she gives a pressing look at her sons. “If anything happens, you know what to do.”