“No.” She shook her head, eyes back to serious. “You’ll do that and do it well, if need be. You were chosen because that baby has Sullivan genes. And while Jamie got the fire magic, you carry the full weight of the blood that runs through your veins.”
He grinned. “I’m reckless, am I?”
“That’s a fine word for it.” She handed him another muffin. “And a bit slower to grow up than some, but you’re making us very proud along the way.”
She’d always been genius at handing out a compliment and life advice in the same sentence. “So how do I keep a possibly reckless babe safe on her journey to be with us?”
“You already know the answer to that, sweet boy. Trust that huge heart of yours.” Moira leaned forward and patted his cheek. “Invite her into love. It has been, and always will be, love that keeps a reckless soul safe.”
~ ~ ~
Sierra lay down on her bed and fingered the ugly orange frog hanging on the chain around her neck. She’d always been able to fall asleep anywhere—on a train, in a strange room, or just curled up on Momma’s shoulder. And in foster care, she’d willed herself to sleep simply to make the days go by faster.
But here, with all these cool people, sleep only came after she’d wiggled around for an hour or two.
Weird. Maybe it was all the cookies they’d eaten during the Great Poop Cleanup.
She rolled over one more time—and was positive she heard giggling. Then her door squeaked open, followed by some loud bumps and more giggling.
Must be the triplets this time. Aervyn had snuck in several nights, but he just ported.
Sierra grinned and prepared a slime spell, layering it over her duvet cover. When the invaders hopped onto her bed, the squealing was loud enough to wake the dead. She giggled. “Shh. We’re supposed to be sleeping, remember?” She lit a small firelight.
“Ugh!” said Mia, in a loud whisper. “What is that stuff?”
“Witch goo. It keeps me warm while I sleep.”
“You sleep in slime?” Shay was trying to wiggle away from the goo, without much success. “That’s disgusting.”
“You two are such dorks.” Ginia held up a handful of slime closer to Sierra’s light. “Hey, can you show me how to make this stuff? I think it would be good for some of my healing salves.”
Mia snickered. “I want some for the next time Aervyn tries to borrow my iPod without asking.”
Sierra giggled and disappeared the slime. “It’s really fun to slide on. Momma used to take me hiking to find secret waterfalls and stuff, and then she’d make a goo slide on one of the rocks so we could slide into the water.” It had always made her feel like a big otter, shimmying around on her belly.
Shay snuggled closer. “You must miss her a lot.”
“Yeah.” Sierra touched her fingers to the frog.
“Is it true that she just disappeared?” Ginia cuddled into her other side. “We hear stuff.”
Pulling her knees up to her chest, Sierra tried to figure out how to tell a story she still didn’t truly understand. Maybe the short version was best. “We were in New Orleans for Mardi Gras. That’s like a big party they have down there. She left me at the hotel one night and didn’t come back.”
“You were all by yourself?” Mia’s eyes were as big as plates.
Sierra knew lots of people thought Momma had made a bad mistake leaving her alone. She tried to explain. “I was twelve and everything, so it was no big deal.”
Mia shook her head. “Our brother Nathan’s twelve, and Mama would never leave him alone in a big city.”
Shay elbowed her sister, and they all got very quiet.
Sierra tried not to feel the squeeze of pain. Why did everyone think it was Momma’s fault? “Nothing bad happened to me. It happened to Momma.”
“Did they look for her?”
“Yeah. But not very hard.” The police had been sure Momma had just walked away and left Sierra sitting in New Orleans all alone.
Ginia reached out a hand in comfort. “Maybe we can find her. We know lots of people who could help look.”
Sierra shook her head. For reasons she had never understood, she was very sure Momma was gone. “She’s dead.”
Ginia’s eyes were no longer nine years old. “Then maybe we can find out what happened. So at least you’d know.”
Sierra smiled sadly. They were sweet—but they were just kids. “Will you guys sleep