“Grandma, are you okay?” Lily inquired, noticing the flash of sadness that had crossed Zipfarah’s face. Since her grandmother’s strange illness and more stranger, but welcomed healing, she had noticed that the woman’s gentle and calm face was sometimes preyed by flashes of longing and sometimes sadness. What could she be thinking about? Lily wondered, whilst waiting for a reply which she knew would be anything but the truth.
“Of course dear. I am fine. Just tired.” Zipfarha replied, putting on a faux smile, a no surprise to Lily who just nodded, before resting her head on Damon’s shoulder. “I miss Prescott though. You should have sent me with them.” She cited, sighing tiredly at the end.
Leila scoffed, not believing that her twin was really serious about leaving her here alone with her two brothers to travel out of the vicinity with Emma. Why? Had they been that close? But they had only known each other for less than a week!
“So, are we going to let them be alone? Are you sending one of us to check out on her? Even though Prescott is a strong being, he is still an animal and so is limited in some ways. I think you should send one of us to check on her.” Damon posed a suggestion, looking expectantly at his grandmother.
He too, wished that he would be chosen to check on Emma. He just had a feeling that she would be needing the company of a fellow human rather than a squirrel anytime soon. He didn’t know exactly if he had feelings for her, but for now, he just wanted to keep her safe. After all, if she really was the prophecy, then they couldn’t let her be without enough protection.
“Damon is right, grand mother. I think I should go, since we have history together.” Daniel suggested, but Lily shook her head, totally not in agreement.
“If I can remember correctly… she had slapped you the last time you guys met. No, I think you are the last person she would want to see. So, it’s either I or Damon goes, or better, we both go. I think it would be cooler.” Lily pointed out, but Daniel snorted.
No way was he going to let that happen. To him, his twin was prone to falling in love with Emma, and he didn’t want that. He didn’t want to fight with his twin over a woman, just like his aunt had hated his mother because she thought his mother was a boyfriend snatcher. Something he had checked out and researched time without number and had found out was false. His aunt, Leonarya, had just been spoiling for a fight.
“No one is going anyway, at least for now. We will wait till Prescott brings the first word. If he needs our help, he will reach out to us. I don’t think that should be a source of bother to any of us.” Zipfarah stated, rubbing her forehead with her thumb and index finger, not interested one bit in siblings’ gamble. Her daughters had done enough. “For now, we will just wait as I have said before.”
The children hummed their reply, and of course Leila was happy about the decision. It seemed to her that since Emma had come into her life, the latter was trying to usurp her position, and take away her loved ones for her. She didn’t care it sounded pathetic even for her.
“Good. You all can go to bed now. Damon, check out Casper’s tomb before you retire. Even though I had given the final ruling that the lad be buried like a warrior, I’m worried that some overzealous people, like that elder, will try to steal his body and perhaps dump it elsewhere, not believing that he had deserved a proper wizard burial ceremony.” Zipfarah ordered, and Damon nodded, before standing up first and bowing. The rest followed suit.
Zipfarah watched with near closing eyes as her grandchildren stalked out of the room, each absorbed in their own thoughts.
Immediately they were out, she exhaled deeply and rested her head on the table, feeling like she had aged an extra ten years in the last few days. She too, wasn’t happy that Emma had chosen to return to her home, instead of the witches’ clan as she had promised before going to Derek’s party. And there was the fact that the evil foreboding she had felt since that night hadn’t eased up yet, if anything, it doubled.
She also wasn’t sure of what was happening out there, only that one of her spies had reported that Peter had been poisoned, but healed , and that there had been sightings of a vampire attack around the closest hotel to the werewolf’s pack.
She thought it was high time she contacted Margo. She had known that the latter was still alive, and that she had been keeping an eye on Emma all these while, against Leonarya’s instructions. Perhaps, it was time for a visit.
****
Tempest turned aside from the window and sat up on her bed when she heard footsteps in the sitting room. Ketura must be back from her exploration. She thought, counting seconds until her friend stepped into the room.
“Evening Ketura…any new findings?” She asked immediately as she sighted Ketura walking into the room, a package in her hand.
Most likely food. Tempest thought amusedly. Her friend was a true foodie.
She wasn’t far from the truth.
“You couldn’t even wait for me to be done eating?” Ketura asked, before plopping down on the bed, next to Tempest, her mouth moving as she dumped a fish cake into her mouth.
“I don’t have time to wait. You know I have a long journey to undertake tomorrow so I need my quality rest. But I can’t do that until you fill me in on your latest findings. So, be quick. Tell me friend, what did you find?” Tempest asked, palming her face the next second when Ketura crossed her leg over the other, and took another portion of the fish cake.
Seems she would be waiting after all. She thought, before dipping her hand into the nylon and taking a cut for herself, before Ketura could say Jack!