Weeks had passed since that night. The first few days, everyone had moved through the motions of recovery - tending wounds, sleeping off exhaustion, pretending normalcy could return if they just went through familiar routines. But pretending only worked so long.
It had been Tess who finally decided enough was enough. She'd found Cass holed up in the Hendersons' abandoned house, living off canned goods and stubbornness. What followed wasn't pretty - a physical confrontation where she'd reminded him exactly who the parent was, followed by the kind of emotional battle that left them both raw and shaking. She'd dragged every ugly truth out into the light: his resentnt, her fear, the terrible things they'd both done under Gabriel's influence.
But she was his mother. And mothers didn't abandon their children, not even when those children had tried to kill them. Especially not then.
The resolution hadn't been forgiveness exactly - so wounds needed ti to heal properly. It was sothing more pragmatic and more powerful: the absolute refusal to let her family break apart. Cass was coming ho, whether he thought he deserved it or not.
Now, three weeks later, he'd moved from the Hendersons' house to the Kowalskis', then the Garcias'. Close enough to ho to want back in, far enough to punish himself for wanting it.
"Luna, go get your brother and tell him we're leaving. He's coming with us."
"I'll try, mom, but he said he's not ready to co back yet."
Tess stopped her packing and fixed Luna with a look. Ready or not, guilty or not, Cass was still her son. And they had work to do.
She stord out of the house. With the voice of every parent who'd ever called a child ho for dinner, she shouted into the neighborhood at large. "CASSIAN! Quit hiding and get over here right now! We're getting the power back on and you're coming with us. Don't make co hunt you down!"
Her voice echoed through the silent neighborhood, then a response ca from the direction of the old Murphy place.
"I can't, mom. You guys go ahead."
Can't. Not won't - can't. The guilt was eating him alive over there.
Tess's face went dark, but not with the anger Luna expected. This was the expression of a mother who'd spent three weeks watching her child torture himself.
She was gone at a sprint, moving faster than any human had a right to. She vaulted over the Kowalskis' fence, cut through their backyard, and found Cass sitting on the Murphy's back steps, staring at his hands.
"Ti to go," she said.
He looked up, startled. "Mom, I told you-"
"I heard what you told . I'm telling you different." She held out her hand. "Co on."
"I attacked you." The words ca out flat, matter-of-fact. "I let him into my head and I attacked my own mother. How am I supposed to just... co ho and pretend that didn't happen?"
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
"You don't pretend it didn't happen. You live with it, you learn from it, and you do better. But you don't do it alone in soone else's backyard feeling sorry for yourself."
Cass's jaw tightened. "Maybe I deserve to feel sorry for myself."
"Maybe you do. But your family doesn't deserve to lose you because you can't figure out how to forgive yourself." She stepped closer. "We fought, Cassian. We bled together, we scread at each other, we said terrible things. And then we decided we were still family. That decision doesn't get to be temporary just because you're scared."
He stood up slowly, lightning flickering around his feet - not aggressive, just nervous energy. "What if it happens again? What if soone else cos along and I-"
"Then we'll deal with it then. Together. Like a family." She held his gaze. "But running away and hiding isn't protecting anyone. It's just making you weaker."
The lightning faded. Cass looked away, then back at his mother's outstretched hand.
"The neighborhood won't trust ."
"Probably not. But if you want to earn that trust back, you'll have to start sowhere. We can start by getting this neighborhood back up and running. Your dad wants to start helping everyone in the neighborhood stronger - he wants to build so sort of community militia or army or sothing and he thinks the first step is giving them the comfort of electricity."
Cass paled at her words. "They're not going to trust us. They're not going to trust ."
They stopped and she turned to regard her son. She hated seeing the sha on his face but was glad it was there. Better that than no sha at all. She reached out to hug him but thought better of it, resting her hand on his shoulder instead.
"They probably won't, Honey. But if you're going to make up for what you've done you'll have to start sowhere. Let's take the first step, we'll figure the rest out later."
Cass mumbled sothing under his breath but her perfect hearing caught it. She froze in place, her heartbeat doubling. Through gritted teeth she asked, "What was that?"
He looked up in shock, surprised that she'd heard him. He waffled but realized it was too late to lie. "I just said that Gabriel brought everyone together and built an army."
"The things that son-of-a-bitch did…" Tess's voice was quavering.
"I know, mom! I know," Cass cut her off. "I'm not saying everything he did was great or that his motivations were pure, I'm just saying that he DID bring everyone together."
Tess took a deep, steadying breath. Don't start this fight now. Focus on the task at hand. Without a word she turned and stalked back to the house, Cass following silently behind her.
They walked back to the house in silence, Cass's shoulders gradually straightening as they got closer to ho.
Twenty minutes later they were in the SUV and pulling onto the road. Zavier had been surprised to see Cass, hope and wariness warring in his expression. A warning look from Tess had stopped him from saying anything beyond a quiet "Good to have you with us, son." Cass had just nodded and climbed into the backseat.
Zavier looked at the gas gauge with no small amount of trepidation.
"We may have to siphon so gas, we're running a little low here," he said.
"Plenty of cars on the way," Tess replied.
Zavier put the car into drive with an "Excelsior!" but was interrupted by a small figure running across the street, waving its arms frantically.
"Is that Madison?" Zavier asked.
She skidded to a stop in front of the SUV and Luna jumped out of the vehicle, running around to et her. The two girls hugged tightly, then Luna cupped Madison's face in her hands and leaned down to give her a lasting kiss on the lips. Zavier and Tess t each others' gazes with raised eyebrows, then Luna was back in the car.
"So…" Zavier said.
"Shut up, dad," Luna replied, refusing to et his grinning expression in the mirror.
"What?" He said. "I was just going to say 'EXCELSIOR!'"
Reviews
All reviews (0)