Seventh Seal - Jacquelyn Faye Page 0,46

Marge. If I were keeping score, I might have even said the match went to her. If I could just get my mother from altering her reproductive organs in the future, that would definitely be a win.

"Mother. Knock it the fuck off. She's good people."

"But she's still people, Darling."

And there it was.

The mood at the table shifted as I frowned at my mother. Nana could feel the storm coming and became very interested in the happenings outside the diner window.

"Don't you ever fucking say that again, Mother."

"Watch your tone, Daughter." She wasn't even trying to look sorry as she stared me down over the table.

"I will not watch my fucking tone," I hissed back at her. "You're as bad as they are."

"Who?"

"The humans that hate us. The ones that used to round us up with pitchforks and torches. The ones that spray paint our garages and want to gather us up in the center square and burn us because we're different."

"I don't want to burn anybody, Dear."

"The hell you don't." I lowered my head closer to the table as if that would help keep my whispers from being overheard. "Those two people right there," I paused and pointed at the window to the kitchen, "have done more good for the people of this town than I could ever hope to do. So, if you're going to be a racist asshole, go the fuck home, Mother. Go back to Ashville, fix your broken fucking coven, and stay out of my life."

Power slid down her arms as the anger flared in her eyes. I swear there was a low rumble of thunder that spread through the diner. "I said, watch your tone, Daughter."

"And I should have been a little clearer. Fuck off, Mother."

It had been a long time coming. Truth be told, I was afraid. Afraid of both my mother and my grandmother. Their power was immeasurable. Against a couple platoons of marines, I would have bet all my money on the two of them without a second thought. For the first time in my life, my anger outweighed my better judgement.

The lights above us dimmed as the shadows pulled from beneath every table and corner in the diner. The windows darkened as the sky blackened. Somebody in a booth on the far end of the diner screamed as they looked out the window at the overhead sun. Their fear only fueled my fire.

"Knock it off, the both of you." Nana slapped us both in the head. When the shadows abated and the sky cleared, only then did she shoot us a reproving look. "Daughter, Dorothea is right. I think it is time for you to leave."

"What?"

"You heard me. Go. Goddess knows what her purpose was bidding you to stay, but the benefits could not possibly outweigh your moronic outlook on life. I did not raise you to look down your nose at mortals. Your power, and your position, have gone to your head. How they got through that thick skull of yours, I shall never know. But go." She pointed at the door.

"Are you serious?"

Nana nodded.

Mother looked back at me and found only a smoldering glare. The slap Nana had placed upside my head hadn't shocked me into forgiveness, it had only stopped me from doing something monumentally stupid. For that, I was grateful.

Without a word, my mother got up and burst through the diner door without so much as a single word.

You could feel the tension drain from the diner when she was gone. "Well. That went well." Nana shot me a reproving look.

"What?"

"I may have sided with you, Granddaughter, but that does not put you in the right."

"Are you kidding me, Nana? She was being a stodgy elitist douche."

"She was. That is why I agreed with you. However, you lack the experience to wage a war with your mother in a town full of innocent people." She motioned to the people behind us.

"Huh?"

"In all our disputes over hundreds of years, how many people do you think were injured in our squabbles?" She cocked an eyebrow at me.

"Uh??one?"

"Precisely. And do you think you could accomplish the same?" The disappointment in her look and voice was real. "Especially with all these newfound powers that you can't control? You blotted out the sun, Granddaughter."

"Just for a moment."

Nana just shook her head.

"Everything okay?" Marge asked gingerly as she brought out our food, minus one plate. "Should I keep the other one hot in case she comes back?"

"Everything's fine. Just scolded my daughter for