by Maria Dean
"I'm not," Calypso said quickly. "I just don't want her to know both of her parents are murderers."
"A heavy weight to bare, but she can take it." Nova stretched. "Come on, girl, let's get you some sun."
Sometimes a little sun and time with your family was the cure for stress. Especially when that stress was plotting your ex-husband's murder.
CHAPTER SIX
Destiny
CHAPTER 1
The rain pounded against the living room window. The echoes of thunder shaking a rack of dry dishes in the kitchen. Astrid had half the mind to go quiet them, but that would mean getting up, and she was too comfortable on the couch. She'd chosen to bury herself in blankets, in beer and ignore the constant buzzing of her cell phone.
She had given Nova and her coworkers a special ring tone. If one of them texted or called, she would know it was safe to pick up. Astrid didn't want to deal with any of the Russo cousins except Irene. Though even she knew Astrid needed a break. But after two distressed calls from Sally and Winston and a myriad of texts from Tom, Astrid gave up on answering her phone. She needed to collect herself, not answer every message to reassure people she was fine. If she wanted help, she would tell them.
Micah Wells was the only person Astrid wanted around. After she and Nova moved in with Zion, the slayer's son attached himself to Astrid's hip. Though Micah had no clue what his father did, it was hard to hide Nova's witch status from him. He then realized Astrid was magical, after he watched her Alice into the cotton candy realm to take a break. Every night since, Micah would curl up on the end of the living room couch and ask Astrid about magic. He'd settled down with a craft for his dad, often inspired by whatever story Astrid was telling him.
When Zion and Nova were home, the slayer sent her a look of warning every time she got too close to revealing the truth of his occupation. Astrid carefully avoided stories of dragons made it hard to give Micah the juicier details.
"The phone's buzzing again," Micah poked Astrid in the foot. "You gonna take that?"
Astrid shook her head, pulling herself further into the blanket pile. Thunder shook the house once more, and Micah followed suit by burying his head into her cocoon. "Talking to people is too much work right now," she muttered. When Micah pouted, Astrid sighed and tucked him back into her side. "You're the only exception," she added.
Setting down his paper cross, Micah grabbed Astrid's phone off of the coffee table. "You gotta lot of texts," he noted. "Lots of 'em. Who's Lorenzo?"
Astrid groaned. "A whiny piece of nothin'."
She'd been reprimanded for swearing very early during her stay at the Wells house. By Micah, to be specific. The executor's newfound attempts at not swearing produced several exciting phrases. Micah's favorite was 'confused clown', something she'd used to refer to Christian when the Dragon-slayer was spotted prowling around Lionheart.
"What'd he do?" Micah prodded, tapping on the phone screen. "He keeps sayin' he's sorry."
"Lorenzo," Astrid sighed, "had a good shot at being important to me, but made a mistake recently I can't get over." The smoldering looks and warm words did nothing to melt her heart. Though Lorenzo's hyperbolic concern for her wasn't as bad as Christian's blatant misstep, Astrid hadn't formulated a response to either of them yet.
Starting from the day after her father's fiasco, both Christian and Lorenzo had been bombarding Astrid with messages. She had read their texts from the lock screen. She knew both of them were asking for her affection again. And she didn't know how to tell them she'd made her decision.
"It sounds like you should forgive him," Micah said. He smeared a peanut butter covered finger across the screen, swiping down through all of Lorenzo's texts. "He really wants to be important to you again." He offered the phone up to her.
Astrid wormed an arm out of her blanket and accepted it. Lorenzo's concerned texts were too out of character for Astrid's liking. She'd preferred it when he was the cool, nonchalant one who didn't follow the rules. Perhaps this was a trait he'd buried deep down inside himself, only letting it loose when things turned dark. After all, she hadn't known him for too long. He'd disappeared after their first adventure and resurfaced when she didn't need him at all.
Everyone had their flaws, though, and Astrid couldn't deny that hers were getting the best of her. There was a difference between taking a break and being too damn stubborn, and Astrid was toeing that line daily.
"I want to forgive him," she told Micah.
He pushed the phone closer to her heart.
Scrolling through the messages, Astrid finished reading Lorenzo's rant and began the next set of texts. Sunday was everyone's day off work. Tom sent her a long paragraph on office business, while Winston and Sally both delivered snappy messages about Daniella from HR's latest gossip. Some texts were from Nova, who was out with Zion later today. It was the other reason Astrid was watching Micah during the storm. She found a string of calls from Christian and a short text from Giovanni.
He hadn't texted her yet. The rest of his family, Matilde included, had texted or called at least once, including a care package from Nicole and her partner. But Giovanni had held back, giving her the space she needed to recuperate. It was that, or he was tired of her bullshit.
Astrid ignored the text. She was tired, too tired to dignify him with a response. Like his brothers, Giovanni deserved a well thought out response. Even if he was just telling her she did a good job.
The final text she read was the earliest text sent. It arrived that morning when she was showering, vibrating the phone straight off the end table and plummeting onto the carpet. Astrid had caught Nova trying to login to her phone, in an attempt to delete the message. She had tried enough passcodes the phone had been locked. Dripping wet, Astrid stalked across the office carpet and stopped only when she was an inch away from her aunt.
"I'm sorry, baby," Nova started, her smile stretching for a moment. "I don't think you want to see this. It's an accidental text, from a different number. I don't..."
Astrid pried Nova's fingers off her phone, one by one. It took her twenty-seven years, but Astrid had deciphered Nova's tell. It was the brief, upward twitch of her lips. It was the one thing Astrid could remember from her childhood that felt strange. When she watched her aunt's face as she tried to keep the phone, Astrid's heart ached.
"I know," she said softly. "I know she's back."
Nova deflated. "And I know that, damnit. I can't keep trying to protect you. You're stronger than I've been giving you credit for, baby." She kissed Astrid's temple. "Go ahead. She wants to talk to you."
Nova poked at her for the rest of the day, pushing her to answer her mother's text. Still, Astrid left the message unread. She didn't even open her phone, opting to use her computer if she needed the internet. It wasn't until Micah began to pester her that Astrid considered answering any of the messages. This was their routine. Every night, they'd curl up on the couch reading her texts. They would either swipe through, leaving many of her friends on the dreaded 'read'. Often, they ignored the texts and played mobile games. It seemed tonight would be the former, especially as Micah was needling her about forgiving Lorenzo.
Thunder crashed outside their window, and Micah twitched. The brave little ten-year-old still had one major weakness. Since he was young, thunderstorms had terrified him. He referred to them as 'when God gets angry', and only recently grew out of hiding in his room during the storm.
"God was so angry when my momma went out," he admitted to Astrid one night. Huddled together under his duvet, Micah showed Astrid a scrapbook he'd stolen from Zion's office. It was the first and last time Astrid saw Rhea Wells. One photo of his mother was worn on the side, torn near the top where Micah had pulled it out and shoved it back in. "I don't like listening to God when he's angry."
Astrid let Micah settle as the thunder tapered off. She swiped open her phone and started with Christian's concerned texts. Her head pounded every time he said he was sorry, the sheer number of apologies overwh
elming the screen. Christian's texts were much like Lorenzo's, all asking if she was okay and needed anything. There was nothing he could do for the time being.
Astrid skimmed over the words 'Giovanni Russo' and decided she'd return to them after she'd dealt with the work issues.
Tom was succinct, at the least, and knew she wouldn't want her time to be taken up with worry. He'd learned from her lack of response she wasn't in the mood to talk. His news was more official than Winston and Sally's, who both relayed Lionheart drama in their own way. Winston, like his partner, laid the facts out first. Sally's grammarless text told the story in a manner that sounded a little too close to the plot of Mean Girls.
Astrid sucked in her breath, jumping back to Giovanni's text. There were two of them, to Astrid's amusement. What was so important the concise lawyer had to use multiple messages?
I'm sorry I didn't see your message sooner, it read. I can forgive you, provided you forgive me.
Then,
You looked brilliant out there.
Her heart soared.
"That's really nice," Micah said, kneeling so he could read the text message. "Is that your boyfriend?"
"That is none of your business," Astrid said, swiping out of the message log.
With nothing else to do, she scrolled back to the unlisted number and finally read her mother's text in full. It was then Astrid froze, now understanding why Nova had encouraged her to read the text sooner.
I'm coming home, it read.
Astrid squeezed her phone, reading over the message until her eyes hurt. "Micah," she said, nudging the boy away from her blanket pile, "I need you to go upstairs."
"Why?" Micah stayed hooked onto the cocoon, staring up at her with wide brown eyes. "I don't wanna go. Daddy and Miss Nova ain't home yet, and I wanted to show them the craft I made."
Astrid untangled herself from the blankets and, stuffing her phone into her front pocket, she looped her arm around his waist. "Oof," she muttered, supporting him with both arms.
"Miss Nova says I gotta be big an' strong," Micah said proudly. "She takes me out to the good places, the ones my daddy won't go to."
"Nova gon' get a talkin' to from your daddy if she keeps that up," Astrid muttered. She heaved Micah up the staircase, shifting his weight to her left arm and gripping the railing with her right. "Just because she says it's okay, doesn't mean it really is. Your daddy still runs this house, kiddo. And he's speaking God's word." Or something like that.
Micah giggled. "Miss Nova told me you'd say," he grinned. "She said you're still a Jesus girl at heart."
Astrid snorted. "My aunt took me to church twice when I was younger," she said as she pushed his bedroom door open. "And that witch knows perfectly well she didn't raise me in the house of God."
The ten-year-old squirmed out of her arms and dropped to the ground, running off to his bed and diving under the covers. "You can't call your auntie a witch!" He exclaimed. "That's not what God would want you to do!"
Astrid's jean pocket buzzed. Pulling it out just enough to read the screen, she sighed. Another distressed text, this time from X about her missing their library meeting. He'd planned it without much input from Astrid. Granted, she hadn't responded to him, but he was still completely panicked.
Once Micah was tucked in, Astrid returned to the living room and sent out her first text in days.
Door's open. Don't wake the kid.
Calypso Gray didn't need a door. Astrid should've known better. She had lived with Nova long enough to learn the Gray women didn't play by society's rules. Her aunt often arrived unannounced or way too late, both options driving Astrid crazy in her youth. Just when she thought her aunt was getting better, her mother showed up.
Back in the warehouse, they hadn't had a good look at each other. Calypso was standing in the shadows, while Astrid was fending off alchemists and her father. Now, Calypso stared at Astrid from inside Zion's kitchen. She was a good foot taller than Astrid, though her hair easily made up for a few inches. It hung in curls around her face like a bronze halo. The dimly lit kitchen framed Calypso as an angel in the midst of a storm.
Her first words to her mother in over fourteen years. Astrid had to make them count.
"So that kind of sucked," she said.
Calypso raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning against a granite countertop. "You really want to open with that one?"
There it was, the same voice echoed throughout Astrid's mind when she was in danger. As smooth and sweet as honey, but still too sticky to touch. Astrid shifted her weight onto her heels, distancing herself from her mother. It still felt like getting too close would reveal Calypso was nothing but a mirage.
"Yeah," Astrid continued, "I do. You never called, mom. I only learned you'd disappeared because I'd been thrown into this mess. If I hadn't, I would have lived my entire life thinking you were just the other half of my shitty, absentee parents. At least Dad called me. And he's a murderer." It was the first time she'd spoken her father's crimes out loud. "Shit. My dad killed someone, in front of me, for me. And he's fucking crazy."
"Your father isn't the parent of the year," Calypso admitted. "Neither am I. But I didn't want to hide from you, sweetheart. You know that. Aaron threatened both of our lives. Sending you away was the only option I had." She stepped forward, opening her arms up to Astrid. "I wish I didn't have to do what I did, but it was the one chance I had to keep you safe. And now I'm here."
Lightning ripped across the sky, illuminating the house long enough for Astrid to see a streak of tears on her mother's face. "You're here," Astrid murmured, "now literally everything is on the line. I'm in too deep for you to do anything now, Mom. If you'd come sooner, maybe things would be different. Dad wouldn't have the pendant."
Calypso sucked in a breath. "The key?" She asked. "Why would you give it to him?"
"Well maybe if you'd stuck around to watch," Astrid muttered, "you would've seen him steal it. I got held up, and he took it before I could put together what was happening. It wasn't on purpose."
Her mother groaned. "Astrid, that's the key into the forbidden realm. Now he and his pals can go in and kill the rest of the locked-up dragons. Do you know how much chaos that will cause? Either the alchemists succeed and grow in power, or the dragons massacre them and break into our world!"
"Maybe I would've known that if you'd actually FUCKING called!" Astrid snapped.
Thunder crashed against the Wells house. Floorboards squeaked as the Gray women stared each other down. Neither said a word, both standing with their shoulders squared and chins tilted downward. Had she thought it appropriate, Astrid could've noted how she and her mother got angry in the same manner.
"That's a bad word." Micah's quiet voice echoed in the dark house.
Astrid's shoulders fell as she turned to him. "I told you to go to bed," she scolded him as she met him on the stairs. "Come on, there's nothing to see down here."
"I heard shouting," he complained. "Who's that? She looks like Miss Nova. And you, kinda. Is she your momma?"
Placing a hand on Micah's back, Astrid ushered the child back upstairs. "Something like that," she said to him. "But I haven't seen her in a long time."
When Astrid returned downstairs, her mother was gone. Astrid's phone buzzed with a text, no doubt telling her Calypso would be back when Astrid was ready. Or they needed to talk, but now was clearly not the time. Or some bullshit to excuse the fact Calypso had forgotten she was Astrid's mother.
She'd have to reckon with her father soon. If he thought he would get away with killing the dragons, he had another thing coming. This was just something Astrid would have to do on her own.
***
The awareness she was embarking on a lonely journey was still with Astrid when she set out for coffee the next day. There was a small café near Zion's house she'd become infatuated with. Nova questioned whether the coffee was good enough to warrant a trip in what she referred to as "a wild storm". Astrid's shrug did
n't satisfy her. Astrid's glare, however, stopped her from asking again.
The light drizzle didn't faze Astrid. Her hood was an adequate shield for the ten-minute walk, and the rain made for great motivation to walk faster. By then she'd memorized the route from Zion's house. After a right and a left, Astrid turned onto the main street and ducked under a bus shelter for a reprieve from the rain. The east-west stoplight was notoriously slow, and Astrid got to the intersection just when it turned red.
Leaning her head against the shelter, Astrid toyed with her phone. To her surprise, and perhaps enjoyment, no new messages had arrived yet. The day was still young, as Sally usually sent an update around 10 am. Astrid relished the temporary silence.
The light turned green, and Astrid nearly skipped across the street. Something about the quiet kept her sane. Perhaps it was because no one demanded her attention or her forgiveness.
All this ignoring will bite you in the ass, she reminded herself when she hit the pavement. You will not know how to handle it when it does.
Astrid planned to ignore every crisis she was facing, internal and external. She shook it off, returning to her coffee shop adventure. It was only a few blocks down the main road, giving her time to enjoy the smell of fresh rain as it hit the ground. Summer was slowing down into fall. The tips of trees were turning yellow and orange, while other trees were already shedding their leaves. Astrid stopped at a crosswalk to watch in awe as the wet breeze whipped up a frenzy in the trees. A flurry of leaves smacked the ground before an older couple. They jumped, laughing to each other when they realized what had caused the ruckus.
It was so cute Astrid shook off the strange feeling she was being watched in favor of enjoying the moment.
The café was empty aside from the bored barista and a handful of high school students, hunched over their coffee stained textbooks. Astrid wandered up to the counter and ordered her coffee, throwing in a muffin as a last minute breakfast item. She reached into her pocket, about to fish out her wallet, when a shadow loomed over her shoulder.