The Tethering: The Complete Collection

33. Gray Wrath-2

Aunt Iz sat behind her desk, staring down at her fingers, not looking at Emilia.

“Aunt Iz, I’m sorry,” Emilia said quietly. “But we had to go find Rosalie. Where she was, it was horrible.”

“And where was she exactly?” Aunt Iz asked, her tone level. A sure sign of danger.

“In the Siren’s Realm, and time moves funny there. We thought we had only been gone for a few days, and then a month had passed.”

Aunt Iz’s head snapped up. “The Siren’s Realm is nothing more than a fairy story. Do you sincerely expect me to believe that you went to an imaginary place to rescue your long-lost mother?”

“It’s the truth. There’s a way into the Siren’s Realm in Acadia, Maine. That’s why we were there. We found a poem, and it told us how to get in.”

“You found a poem?” Iz stood and paced behind her desk. “And what made you think that your mother could be there? Or that a poem you found might be true?”

“Sabbe said we should find my mother. And she really was with the Siren. But we didn’t know she was tethered when we were there. Her hand didn’t have the mark.” Emilia didn’t say that hers had, or that she could have stopped the Dragons but wouldn’t trade Jacob. Not even to destroy the Pendragon.

“A centaur told you to run away, to find a mythical place and a woman you had never met, and you did it?” Iz stormed back and forth, back and forth. “I thought I had raised you better than that. And to do this crazy thing, you abandon Connor, Claire, and the only safe place I could find for you. You run away with Jacob, to whom you are tethered, and you expect me to believe this was all a rescue mission?”

“But it was―”

“I should have sent Jacob away as soon as you were tethered. I should never have allowed him to stay in the house with you. You are seventeen for God’s sake.”

“Jacob protected me.”

“Is that all he did? Two bound teenagers running away together. You will end up like your mother.” Iz’s cheeks flushed with anger.

“I am nothing like Rosalie,” Emilia growled, standing up. “And Jacob is nothing, nothing like LeFay. I went to find my mother because I didn’t know what else to do. It was my idea, and Jacob came along to protect me, because that’s what he always does. And if you try to send him away, I will go with him.”

Tears streamed gently down Emilia’s face as she waited for Aunt Iz to shout. But Iz stared silently at Emilia.

“If you don’t trust me, at least trust Jacob.” Emilia brushed the tears off her face. “Rosalie lived in the caves at Graylock. She knows how they’re set up. And she knows the Pendragon. I thought she could help us get Samuel and Larkin back. I didn’t know she had lost her mind. She spent too long with the Siren, and now I don’t know if we’ll be able to make her tell us anything. But I really did think I was helping. I couldn’t survive doing nothing anymore.” Emilia turned to leave.

“I am glad you are home safe,” Iz said, stopping Emilia in the doorway. “And Jacob, too. I will do what I can to protect Rosalie. Perhaps she can be useful.”

“Thank you, Aunt Iz.” Emilia ran to Iz and hugged her hard around the neck.

Iz held Emilia tight. “But if you or Jacob leave this house without permission, if either of you steps a single toe out of line, or even considers doing so, there will be Hell to pay.”

“We won’t, I promise.” Emilia gave Iz’s hands a quick squeeze before leaving her office and heading upstairs. She wanted to find Jacob, to tell him what Iz had said. She ran up the steps to Jacob’s room as quickly as her tired and sore legs could carry her. But when she opened the door to his room, he was asleep face down, snoring loudly.

Emilia pressed her hand over her mouth, trying to stop herself from laughing. She could roll him over and sleep here until he woke up, but Iz wouldn’t like that. Emilia shut the door and walked back down to her room. Jacob had been right. It did smell like lilacs. She curled up on her bed and waited for sleep to come. But her mind, though exhausted, kept racing. Her mother was in this house. Sleeping only a few feet away.

When she was little, she had always hoped her mother would come for her, not to take her away from the Mansion House or Iz, but to join their family here. Her mother would teach like the professor and help take care of all the students. Back when the Mansion House had had lots of students.

But now there were no pupils left. The family had fallen apart. Her mother was in the house, but she had lost her mind, and there was no way to know if she would ever get it back.

Emilia lay on her back, staring at the purple canopy above her bed. As she finally slid into sleep, visions of waves and green smoke drifted through her dreams.

Emilia woke with a shriek when someone pounded on her door.

“I’m not bringing your dinner to your room.” Molly’s terse voice carried through the door.

Heavy footfalls thumped down the stairs.

Emilia’s stomach growled its hunger. She would have to face Molly eventually, and at least this way she would get food, too.

Jacob was already seated at the kitchen table when Emilia arrived. He flashed Emilia a quick smile before regaining his solemn air as Molly rounded on them.

“Did you come to my kitchen to stand or to eat?” Molly slammed a plate down on the table at the far end, away from Jacob.

“Thank you for lunch, Molly,” Emilia said somberly, sitting at the table.

“It’s dinnertime,” Molly said. “And if you think I’m taking food up to that woman―”

“Is Rosalie awake?” Emilia asked. She took a bite of the steaming roasted potatoes heaped on her plate. Had it really been a month since she’d eaten? How was that even possible?

“Isadora has been in to speak with her,” Molly said.

“I’ll take food to her,” Emilia said.

“Yes, please bring dinner in bed to your mother.” Molly’s voice cracked. “It’s very sweet of you.”

Emilia stood and went to Molly, wrapping her arms around her. “I didn’t go to find her because she’s my mother. I went to find her because she knows the Pendragon. I thought she might be able to help us. I don’t need a mother, Molly. I have you and Iz. That’s all I need.”

Molly pulled Emilia into a backbreaking hug and began sobbing into Emilia’s hair.

“I thought the two of you had been captured or run away for good. I thought I would never see either of you again,” Molly choked through her tears.

“We didn’t mean to scare you,” Emilia whispered. “I promise we won’t do it again.”

“You had better not, or next time I will peel you both like carrots and leave you out for the centaurs to roast!” Molly let go of Emilia and wiped her face on her apron. “Now, take that poor Rosalie some food. That woman’s brain has been addled, and good food is the first step to fixing anything.”

Jacob stood and took the plate Molly tried to hand Emilia. “I’m coming with you. You shouldn’t be alone with her until we know if she’s calm.”

Emilia nodded. If Iz had been in to see her, Rosalie must have figured out going back to the Siren was not a possibility.

“How did it go with Iz?” Jacob asked as they walked up the stairs.

“We’re still both alive.” Emilia shrugged. “What are we going to do about Rosalie? We can’t keep her here. The Pendragon could already be on his way. How fast do you think you would be able to find me?”

“I would already be here.” Jacob paused outside Rosalie’s door.

“I wouldn’t have run.” Emilia leaned into Jacob, letting his arms wrap around her. She sighed, for a moment completely content. She could feel Jacob’s heart beating in time with her own, and their hearts began to quicken.

“Shall we,” Jacob said, pulling away.

“Compuere,” Emilia murmured, and the door opened.