Probably everyone, which was why our normal raid session had been extended to five hours from three, but still, it was the principle of the thing.
I sauntered lazily toward my closet and ran a hand through my lavender hair and stared at myself in the mirror. I still wasn’t quite sure why my mom had let me dye it, but she had, and I couldn’t have been more pleased with the results because it really brought out the purple flecks in my eyes. If this didn’t catch my boyfriend’s attention, nothing would.
Better yet, it’d look great in our Prom photos, and I had my dress all picked out. I hadn’t actually purchased it yet since I hadn’t saved up enough, but if the amount of viewers following the stream of our progress last night was any indication, I’d be getting a bigger than average check in the mail from our sponsors.
I pulled the closet open, revealing far too many shirts for the tiny space. I always half-wanted to get rid of most of them since I tended to wear only the ten newest ones at any given time, but then there were times when an old classic would come back into style, and I needed to be prepared for any and all things. Expect the unexpected. That was my motto, and it had served me well.
I chewed on my lip as I rifled through my clothes before pulling out a black shirt with Ramones written across it in white ink. Unlike most girls my age, I actually knew about the band. My father had been a huge fan, and I’d grown up listening to tales of CJ, Johnny, Dee Dee, and Joey like they were the next best thing to the Beatles, and as far as I was concerned, they were. They invented punk rock after all, and for those that disagreed, well, everyone knew what to do with brats like that.
A moment later, I was downstairs. The smells coming from the kitchen made my stomach rumble in a very unseemly way. Still, as I flopped into my seat at our cherry-wood table, I was pleasantly surprised to see a plate already there, piled high with French toast, bacon, and a still steaming easy over egg. My mom sat across from me, sipping coffee from a white mug with “Contents are always better when it rains” written across it in red ink.
“I’m guessing you had me pegged and had made breakfast before I even woke up, huh?” I asked, my eyes narrowing even though how could I be mad about that?
“Sometimes, I think you think I was born yesterday,” she replied, blowing the steam off the top of her coffee, which she liked black even though that was quite different from her taste in men. I’d once tried the stuff, but I’d had to add so much cream and sugar to make it palatable, my mother had banned me from having it again. It wasn’t exactly a huge loss, in my opinion.
“Maybe you were? Maybe you’re just a figment of my imagination created to distract me from what’s going on in the real world,” I said between mouths of food which was a little gross because I was totally talking with my mouth full.
She quirked an eyebrow at me, ignoring my display of poor manners, and sipped her coffee. “That’s what you’re going with?”
“Yup,” I said, trying to decide if licking the syrup off the plate would be a bit much. It probably would. Rats, I really liked the real stuff, and this was heated perfectly. Maybe an exception could be made?
“So what do you want to do today?” she asked, watching me glance from my plate to her and back again, and for a moment, I totally thought she was going to tell me not to lick the plate. You might say she’d been to this particular rodeo before.
“I was thinking beach day. Although I probably need a new swimsuit…” I left the sentence hanging to see if she’d get the drift.
“Shopping?” She sighed exaggeratedly. “How come these days have just turned into me spending all my hard earned money on you?”
“You get something in return,” I replied, grinning as I got to my feet and moved my plate to the sink. I turned on the water, letting it splash across the dish as I tried to decide if I’d get away with just leaving it in the sink to soak or if I had to put it in the dishwasher. She’d probably let me get away with it this once, but still…
“What’s that?” she asked, getting up and coming over to me as I scrubbed at the stubborn syrup with the stiff-bristled sink brush, managing to only partially soak my t-shirt in the process.
“You get to buy my love.” I shot her my biggest, stupidest grin. “What more could a mother want?”
She shook her head and drained the rest of her coffee in a single swallow before handing me the now empty mug. “Wash that too.” She sauntered out of the kitchen.
I stared at her cup like it was a live snake before sighing and placing it under the running water. Satisfied there was no icky coffee residue left inside, I took it, along with my plate, fork, and knife over to the dishwasher and used my ninja powers to fit everything inside even though we should have run the machine six meals ago.
Then, in an uncharacteristic stroke of generosity, I grabbed the soap from beneath the sink, poured some into the little dish on the dishwasher’s door, slammed it shut, and turned the contraption on. Sounds like a squealing, dying pig tore from the machine as it shook violently in the little alcove beside the sink. I turned away, hoping this time it wouldn’t also fill the house with smoke. I mean, it’d only been the one time, but it still worried me. Apparently, when plastic falls against the heating coils, bad things ensue. Funny that.
My mom was waiting for me by the door when I emerged from the kitchen. She had her black and gold Coach purse strung over one shoulder as she eyed me through her designer sunglasses. I had at one point argued I, as well, needed a Coach purse and designer shades, at which point she’d promptly told me to get a job. I hadn’t mentioned it since, and not just because I didn’t want to actually get a job. It was more that I was still hoping for a car when I graduated.
She hadn’t promised one at all, but my dad had let something slip, so while I couldn’t be one hundred percent certain, I’d kept my whole “asking for expensive things” thing to a minimum. Well, as much as I could anyway. I had needs after all.
I grabbed my ratty Tinkerbell purse and pulled out my own sunglasses. They were bright pink with black lenses and had cost me five bucks at a strip mall from a guy claiming they were real Oakley’s, though he had no idea how or why the brand name had been filed off. Whatever, they worked just as well.
We stepped out of the house, and I waited while my mom locked the front door to our house before we proceeded to her car for a day of shopping and beach. It was probably the most low key “special day” we’d ever had, but I sort of just wanted to spend the day with her. Lately, it’d felt like she’d been absent a lot. It was why I had even blown off my raid tonight even though after killing Jormungand, we only had two more bosses remaining before we reached Loki.
Still, I wasn’t keen on fighting the next boss, Fenris. All the strategies I’d read from the test realms indicated he had a way to take over your character and force you into a mini world that was very difficult to escape from. This kept up throughout the entire fight, and you had to hope your allies broke free of the spell and rejoined the fight before you were all lost.
It was one of those fights where the entire raid could be wiped out just because you failed to escape, and the thought of being screamed at over the failure to break free in a timely manner by our overly ambitious raid leader was strangely unattractive. Besides, I was starting to feel like I needed a break from the game anyway. I was going to my dream college next semester after all, and while I knew I’d probably play even more video games there, I was sure it meant I was becoming an adult fast.
So today was my last chance to spend with my mom while we could both still pretend I was still the little girl she needed to cart around and dote on. I had our day all planned out in my head. We’d go get new clothes, hang out at the beach, and finish up with some quality mother daughter time over pedicures. It sounded like a blast.
We climbed into her car and were off, angling toward the beach a few miles away. To get there, we’d have to pass by all the shops littering Main Street. With luck, maybe there’d be a sidewalk sale, and I could grab
some extras. You know, as long as she was paying. I wasn’t above playing the whole, “but it’s our special day” card either.
Chapter 2
“Did you have a good day, Lillim?” my mom asked after kissing me on the forehead. She was sitting on the bed next to me, having just tucked me in like she always had when I was a little girl. It was the perfect conclusion to a wonderful day, and quite honestly, I couldn’t ever remember having such a great time with her ever before. It made me incredibly sad the day was coming to an end, but alas, like all good things, it was over too soon.
“I did, Mom.” I smiled at her, and she beamed back at me.
“I’m glad. I had a lot of fun too.” She ran her fingers along my cheek. “I’m sad it’s over.”
“Me too,” I said as tears filled my eyes. “More than you know.”
“Don’t cry, honey. This is supposed to be happy,” she replied, leaning down and kissing me once more, her lips soft on the skin of my cheek. Her scent filled my nose as I wrapped my arms around me and pulled her close.
“Do you think you could stay with me until I fall asleep?” I asked, my words choking off in my throat as I said them.
“I suppose so,” my mom said as she extricated herself from my hug and made her way across the room. She switched off the light before coming back to my bed. I scooted over so I was pressed against the wall to make room for her. She sat down and kicked off her black flats before flopping down next to me.
I reached out, intertwining my hand in hers as she stared up at the stars shining on my ceiling, their iridescent green glow barely enough to illuminate her features.
“You know, when you were little, you were scared of the dark.” Her lips twisted into a smirk. “Hard to believe, I know, but you were.” She pointed at the ceiling with her free hand. “It’s why we put up the stars, but it never quite worked well enough even though you pretended it did. You always tried to be so tough.” She turned and looked at me, and the look in her eyes made my heart leap into my throat. “I’m proud of you. You’re tougher than I’d have ever imagined.”
I wanted to say something, but I couldn’t. My voice clammed up in my mouth, leaving me unable to do more than squeak pathetically as tears clouded my vision. Instead, I squeezed her hand. She squeezed back and started to sing.
“Here’s to you, my love.
Here’s to all the pain you’ve gone through,
All the sleepless nights you’ve spent,
All that you’ve missed,
And all you’ve done.
Here’s to you, my love.
Thanks for giving ‘em hell.
Thanks for not backing down.
Thanks for being who you are.
Here’s to you,
My love.”
The world around us faded away as the last words left her lips, leaving me holding nothing but my fondest dreams as I stood alone in the blank emptiness of my mind. Tears streamed down my cheeks, dripping down my chin and spattering across the ground which was altogether weird because it was just a blank white void in pretty much every direction.
“Did you enjoy your last day?” Isis asked, reaching out and touching my shoulder lightly.
“Yes,” I croaked, and it sounded like I had a frog in my throat. Her grip on my shoulder tightened.
“Are you sure you don’t want to go back? I could weave it again. I could make it last forever.” Her words struck me as strangely empathetic. I turned toward the goddess of magic and illusion with tears still blurring my vision.
“No.” I shook my head as every part of my heart ached with a pain I couldn’t quite describe. “I can’t live a lie.” I clenched my fists together. “But it was fun while it lasted.”
Isis looked me up and down, her lips set in a hard line. “If this is your idea of fun, I’d sort of like to know what you do otherwise.”
I smirked at that and sat down on the white ground that wasn’t really ground. “You make a fair point.”
“Oh, I know.” She nodded and sat down next to me. “But don’t feel sad. Seeing your pain makes me sad, and I don’t quite enjoy it as much as you seem to.”
I swallowed back my tears and wiped my eyes with the back of my sleeve and forced myself to smile. “Sorry.”
“No problem.” Isis smiled at me stupidly, and my sadness thawed just a touch. “Now are you ready to see your still living parent? I’m pretty sure he hasn’t slept since they brought you back.”
“I know,” I replied, and my cheeks burned at the thought of seeing my father. See, there’s something I left out. I didn’t exactly tell the whole story because in the end I died. And do you know what happened when I died in my dream world? I almost woke up.
I should have woken up. Only, at the last second, I reached out to Isis and asked her for one stupidly selfish favor. To give me one more day with my mom. One last perfect day. I know. I know it was silly of me, but well, I did it anyway because when I opened my eyes again, she was going to be a corpse once again.
“I’m ready,” I said, wiping my eyes one last time. “I have work to do.”
“Like finding my brother?” Isis asked, the distaste evident in her voice. “It’s bad enough I have to share your head with snake boy, but Set too?” She stared up at the sky. “Ra, why do you mock me so?”
“I don’t think Apep would appreciate you calling him snake boy,” I said, smirking as I rubbed the serpentine bangles wrapped around my wrists. My katana was strapped to my leg, its gleaming white blade as good as new in my mind’s eye.
“Perhaps,” Isis mused, tapping her lips with one corpselike finger. “I’ll trust your judgment on this one. But my brother, really? He always drones on and on about chaos and how nothing can be predicted. He’s like the guy in the movie about the dinosaurs who thinks he’s so smart for predicting the dinosaurs escape. Newsflash dumbass, the dinosaurs have to escape or there would be no movie.” She shook her head in disgust. “It’s like they don’t realize they’re made up. It’s sad.”
I smirked and shook my head. “I have no idea what the point you’re trying to make is, but we’re finding Set. We have to find him. Fenris is still out there.”
Isis waved her hands in annoyance. “I suppose you’re right about that, but I am starting to think you’ll have a bigger problem to deal with first.”
“Why do you say that?” I asked, staring at her ‘I’m obviously not going to tell you everything’ face and fighting the urge to smack her.
“Oh, I just have a feeling.” She shrugged. “But enough stalling, Lillim. Time to wake up and face the music.”
I huffed out a little breath that would have made my dad feel bad if he’d seen it. I know, I should have been excited to awaken and see him but waking up carried a whole host of problems for me to deal with. There was finding Set, fighting Fenris, saving the world. It was a lot of pressure. Not to mention, my mom would go back to being dead.
“Fine,” I said, shaking my head.
“Okay,” Isis said, magic flowing out of her words and enveloping me in a cocoon of sapphire light. “Just wake up.”
“Just wake up.” The words reverberated in my mind, threatening to overwhelm me. My awareness spun and broke as the scenery morphed into a black mass of darkness. I blinked or rather tried to blink because it hurt too much to move. My eyes fluttered open anyway, and the sudden brightness of the room scalded my brain.
“Please, I can’t lose you too,” my dad said, his face buried in my stomach as he clasped my hands in his rough, scarred paws. “Just wake up, Lillim.”
“If you insist,” I croaked, my mouth dry and scratchy as I said the words.
He sat up with a start, staring at me with wide, tear-filled eyes. I wasn’t sure how long he’d been crying, but it had to have been a while because his cheeks were filled with wet streaks. It struck me as odd because I wasn’t sure I’d really ever seen him cry. His arms wrapped around me, pulling me against his body and practically smothering me in a hug.
I was sitting in a scratchy hospital bed in a room I knew very well because it was part of the Dioscuri hospital. I’d expected to be in far more pain when I awoke, but evidently, my father had broken into headquarters and used Dioscuri technology to heal me back to perfect health. It made me wonder how he’d gotten the key to the main gate since the last I’d seen of it was when he’d swallowed it whole. Thinking back on the event now sort of made me wish he’d made some kind of snappy remark at the time like, “I needed more iron in my diet.”
“My Lillim,” he squawked, peppering my face with kisses and ruffling my hair. “You’re back.”
“Yeah, Dad,” I replied, wrapping my arms around him and kissing him on the cheek. “I’m back.” I smiled up at him. “Sorry for taking so long to wake up.”
“It’s okay.” He swallowed and kissed me again. “The important thing is you came back to me.”
“Even the hounds of the wild hunt couldn’t keep me away,” I replied, hoping for levity, but instead of smiling, he just nodded solemnly at me.
“Of that, I am certain, my daughter.” He smirked and grabbed a plain white box off the small metal table next to us and held it out to me. “I wasn’t quite sure why Jormungand decided to take you over, of all people. You’re much too stubborn.” He pressed the box into my hands and stepped back before I could reply. “I got you something.”
He watched me, trying his best not to shower me in gushy emotion even though I knew he wanted to do so with every fiber of his being. But if there was one thing us Dioscuri were, it was stoic and stalwart.
I opened the box. Inside was a single chocolate-covered doughnut. And it was the best gift ever.
Thank you for reading Mind Games, If you wouldn't mind, please leave a review. If you are wondering what became of Thes, you can find out in Under Wraps. As a special bonus, the first chapter is included on the next page.
Mind Games: An Urban Fantasy Novel (The Lillim Callina Chronicles Book 6) Page 16