Broken Spells (Broken Realms, #6)

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 2“Brilliant suggestion. Do the hand thing,” Mara said. “We’ve completely traumatized her.”

Mara held her mother by the shoulders, providing support while she sat at the table recovering from her shock.

Sam handed his sister a damp cloth, which she applied to Diana’s forehead. “How was I supposed to know she would faint? Usually she’s so strong. She didn’t faint when we brought Hannah home or when the dragon chased her across Portland or when it burned down the house.”

Diana pushed away the hands attending to her. “Mara, sit down. Sam, go brush your teeth and get ready for school.”

“You mean tutoring with Mrs. Zimmerman,” he said.

She glared at him. “I mean now.”

Sam glanced warily at his sister but left without further comment.

Mara took her seat and said, “Look, Mom. I know this is a big change, but it doesn’t have to be a big deal. I freaked out when it first happened, but I’m still me.”

“Is it true that your real body died?” she asked.

“This is my real body now.”

“Answer the question. Is the body I gave birth to dead?”

Mara welled up, tears pooling on her lower eyelids, threatening to spill onto her cheeks. “Yes. The Aphotis destroyed my original body after I transferred to this one.” Her lips trembled, and she looked down, self-conscious in a way she had not felt since she was a child. It had been many years since she had heard such disappointment in her mother’s voice. “I am still your daughter.”

“I know that, sweetie. It’s just a tough thing for a mother to hear—how the body that grew inside me, that I nurtured and cared for all those years is gone. The bond between a mother and child is many things, but, at its most basic level, it is biological. And now that has changed, I think. You may not understand until you have children of your own.”

Mara looked up, crestfallen. Her voice trembled. “I don’t think that’s possible.”

Then Diana understood and reached out, placing her hand on Mara’s arm. “Oh, baby. I’m sorry. I didn’t realize.”

“People in Cam’s realm procreate artificially. That’s not likely to be an option for me living in this realm.”

Diana took a deep breath and straightened in her chair. Mara watched her mother rally like she always did when there was a trial to face. “If there’s one lesson we’ve learned in the last few months, it’s that life doesn’t always play out the way we expect. We can’t spend our lives regretting what might have been when we don’t have a clue about what might be. Things will be as they should be.”

“Sam’s right,” Mara said. “You are strong.”

“Having you as a daughter has made me strong—stressed but strong. Now why don’t you get dressed and run your brother to his lessons while I spend some time meditating? I’ll need to unpack my high-octane crystals to assimilate today’s developments.”

* * *

Mara pulled to the curb on Woodstock Boulevard in front of the Mason Fix-It Shop and cut the ignition on her Subaru. It seemed like it had been months since she had driven a car. Traveling through three realms in the last—what?—week had screwed up her sense of time. At least it had been a week in this realm. However, in the realm of the synthetic people, double that time had passed. And, in the dream realm, even more days had flown by. All of them were out of sync.

And she was out of sorts. Apart from the time discontinuities between the realms, she felt guilty about the stress she had put her mother through. With everything happening, it had never occurred to Mara what she was doing might hurt her mother. Though Diana would never say it, part of Mara knew her mother could never accept a daughter with an artificial body. Mara could see it in her eyes.

“Hello?” Sam said. “Are you just going to sit in there?” He stood outside the open passenger door, looking into the car. “I thought you would be glad to get back to your gadgets and stuff.”

“A normal routine will be nice,” she said. She got out the car and, for the first time, noticed the cold December air. “When did it turn to winter? The air feels like it might snow.”

Sam looked upward at the gray clouds and shook his head. “Naw. Cold rain, sleet, maybe some hail. No snow. See you later.” He headed to the glass front door of Ping’s Bakery.

Mara called after him, “Mom said not to dawdle at the bakery too long. Mrs. Zimmerman was annoyed you didn’t show up for class last week, and being late today will just make things worse.”

“Yeah, yeah.” He waved and disappeared into the bakery.

Mara turned her gaze to the gadget shop and gasped. Someone stood in the display window, erecting a Going out of Business sign. The placard blocked the top half of the person’s body as he applied tape to the corners of the poster.

Though she had taken out her keys, she didn’t need them. The front door was unlocked. As she stepped in, the familiar jingle of the bell above the door announced her arrival. Bruce stepped out of the window to greet her.

“Hey there, stranger,” he said. “My grandfather has been trying to get ahold of you for more than a week. I told him to quit calling and to send you an email, but you know what kind of a technophobe he can be.”

Mara took off her coat and hung it on the coat tree in the corner. “What’s with the sign?”

“Grandpa finally decided to close up shop. He’s officially retiring and moving to Arizona. He’s tired of waiting for me to take over the business, so he’s packing it in.”

“Is this because I disappeared on him? I’m sorry about that, but an emergency came up and—”

Bruce shook his head. “No, that had nothing to do with it. He’s been ready to do this for a while. He knew you would go to college soon, and, like I said, he got tired of waiting for me.”

Mara headed toward the back of the shop to get the cash register tray, but Bruce waved her off. “You don’t need to open the shop today. The outstanding repair jobs have been finished, and the auction house is stopping by tomorrow to clear out the shelves. There’s nothing left for you to do.”

“You mean, I’m fired? That’s it?”

Bruce chuckled. “Of course you’re not fired. But I guess you are without a job, unless you want to work for me in the bicycle shop. I’m taking over the whole space now. You could run the retail shop out here if you want. Anyway, the old man left you a check through the end of January and told you to take whatever inventory you wanted.”

“Jeez, I guess Mom was right. We don’t have a clue about what might be.” Looking stunned, Mara returned to the coat tree and grabbed her jacket. She scanned the little shop, took in the old radios on the shelves, the neon signs behind the counter, the trinkets in the display case and the billiards light fixture hanging over the old brass register. She couldn’t believe it was going away.

While she absorbed her last look of the place, Bruce must have run back to the office, because now he stood in front of her holding an envelope with her name scrawled on it in Mr. Mason’s messy penmanship. “Is there something you want to keep? He said you could take whatever you wanted,” he said.

“The Philco 90.” She pointed to a wooden cathedral radio on the shelf behind the counter. “Ping taught me metaphysics with it.”

Bruce retrieved the radio and brought it to her. “He taught you what?”

“Nothing. It has sentimental value.”

Handing it to her, he said, “It’s lighter than it looks.”

“There is no internal mechanism. It’s just a wooden case.” She wrapped an arm around the radio and balanced it on a hip. “Thanks for everything, Bruce. It has been wonderful being work-neighbors with you.”

“What about the job in the bike shop? You interested? You’re great with customer service, and I could use the help,” he said. “I plan to have the new shop open in time for spring.”

“Let me get back to you on that.”

Bruce held the door open, and she left Mason Fix-It for the last time, in a daze.