A Spell of Death

CHAPTER FIVE-1

CHAPTER FIVE

"YOU'VE HARDLY TOUCHED your food." Aunt June slurped another mouthful of japchae before continuing. "Is everything alright?"

Mina froze, her left hand stopped twirling her chopsticks while her right paused under the table. The dog still found the morsel it held, licking at her fingers until she pulled them away, wiping them on her pants. She brushed aside thoughts of Cam lying catatonic and Jack in the clutches of his maker — or worse — and smiled weakly at June. "I'm fine. Tired is all. You know, work, school." Glancing from Dale to his wife Hana, her gaze passed over the kids, Maggie and Liam, before coming back to June. She was starting to understand Jack's insistence that being dead to her family would be easier. He was supposed to help her with that. Who else can help me die if he's dead? She swallowed against the tightness in her throat. And what if I don't want to be dead?

"How's your roommate?" Hana asked, taking another bite of carrot before looking at her sidelong.

"Yes, you should bring Cam by sometime." Dale smiled as he twirled noodles around his chopsticks. "It's been so long since I've seen her. Well, other than..." He stopped, stuffing the noodles in his mouth instead.

But Mina knew the last time he'd seen Cam: their mother's funeral. "I'll mention it." Her stomach churned as she stared intently at the food on her plate. "She's just been a little, um, busy lately." She swallowed and forced a smile to her lips as she turned away from her brother's questioning gaze. "How's rugby, Maggie? Your dad says you're pretty good."

"It's awesome!" Without further prompting, Maggie regaled Mina with more information about the sport than she ever needed to know, giving her a five-minute reprieve from the grilling of her aunt and sister-in-law. Unfortunately, Maggie eventually ran out of steam. "I do get a bit banged up though, which Mom doesn't like much." She slurped the last of her noodles before pointing at Mina's bruised cheek with her chopsticks. "Like you." She smiled, exposing the gap in her front teeth.

Mina's hand came out from under the table, where the dog had taken a break from eating her supper, and her fingers grazed the tender skin on her cheek.

"Maggie! It's not polite to point with your chopsticks." Hana frowned at her daughter before turning to Mina. "How did you get that scrape?" Her head c****d sideways, a look of concern affixed to her face. Her expression appeared as if it could slide away at any second, to be replaced by another one lying underneath. There was an unexpected coldness there. Mina sunk lower in her chair. She'd always had a warm relationship with her sister-in-law, and she knew Hana had been trying to get her to come over for supper for weeks.

"I..." She stuttered as her mind flashed to a scene of obsidian eyes and crimson blood. "I fell when I was out running. Icy patch." She dropped her hand to her throat, where she'd still had a bruise that morning, acquired when Angelos, the Herald of Night, tried to choke the life out of her. That mark had faded more than the memory, but it was still shades of green and brown. She tugged up the cowl of her turtleneck.

Beside her, Hana's heart beat a tad faster, and she tsked. "That's too bad. It looks like it's healing well, anyway. But you need to be careful out there. There are dangerous people on the streets."

"Thanks, I can take care of myself." Mina neglected to mention that she was the dangerous one now. The table went silent again, an interlude to eat. Mina played with her food, twirling and untwirling noodles, listening to the staccato of Hana's metal chopsticks clack against the plate, underpinned by a pulse that beat a touch too fast. Mina glanced at her sister-in-law. She's definitely pissed I haven't come by sooner. The rhythm of Hana's heartbeat sounded out her irritation. These biological tattletales were becoming familiar to Mina. She'd heard something similar in the cemetery. Cam. She put her chopsticks on the table. I shouldn't be here, pretending to eat, with Cam lying comatose at home. And Jack god knows where. She started to push her chair back, but Hana moved first.

"I didn't realize it was so late." She looked at the clock over Mina's head. "I have to get to work, unfortunately. The morgue never closes, and we've had a fair few strange deaths lately."

"Hana." June's voice was sharp. A small frown on her lips, she looked from Hana to Liam and Maggie. In that moment, Mina saw her mom reflected in June's face. Mina followed Hana's lead and stood up from her own chair.

"They know very well what their mom does." Dale placed his hand on his wife's arm.

"She helps catch the bad people," Liam said, before spearing the last piece of kimchi.

"You've been working too hard lately." Dale ran his hand down his wife's back. "You need to be more forceful. Say no. Tell them you need more backup."

"I know." Hana bent over and kissed him, causing the kids to make faces. "But the wicked never rest. And it looks like Mina needs to leave anyway."

Mina shifted, shrugging a shoulder and giving Hana a half smile as her sister-in-law peered at her. "No rest for the wicked, as you say."

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