him and threw my arms around his waist. I couldn’t keep the tears from burning my eyelids, and I sobbed into his chest. And then I realized he wasn’t hugging me. I leaned back and glanced up at him. He was gaping, his eyes darting back and forth between my changeling and me.
Oh God. There was no lying out of this one. I loosened my grip and stepped away.
My double leaned against the doorframe and glared at me. “He wouldn’t be here if you had a driver’s license.”
Pop turned from Deidre to me. “Why do you look like each other?”
“Um. You see—” I tugged my trench coat closed to hide my sword. “It’s because I’m your daughter. The girl next to you is Deidre.”
Pop studied my face. The confusion in his eyes broke my heart. “Are you twins? Wait, you can’t be… I was there when you were born. Are you related?” His forehead wrinkled. It did that whenever he was confused. “Who are you?”
“We’re not twins or related,” Deidre said. “She’s your daughter, not me.”
I knew I wasn’t supposed to tell anyone about the Mystik world, but did it really matter anymore? Pop would find out soon enough, since we were there to whisk him off to Oz. I’d tried to tell him about the magical light before and never could. Would my words even come out?
Kale shifted his gaze from Deidre to me. “We’re not safe here. We must go.”
I nodded. “Yeah, let’s get out of here.” I looked at Pop. “We’ll explain on our way. Please trust us.”
Pop rubbed his forehead and glanced at Deidre.
“We should go,” she agreed.
He nodded and followed her out the door, and my heart twisted in my chest. She was taking over my life. Over Pop.
Afton slipped her hand in mine. “Come on.”
Sitting in the backseat of Pop’s Volvo felt odd. Not only was Deidre taking over my life, but she also claimed the front seat. Where I’ve always sat since forever. It hurt so badly I felt like my chest had been torn open. Pop gripped the steering wheel so tight his knuckles turned white. His jaw muscle twitched, and I knew he was clenching his teeth. I hated making Pop feel this way. Scared? Confused? Both ?
I scooted forward and placed my hands on the back of the front seats. “Remember that time when I was going into the first grade and I was so scared I wouldn’t go into the classroom? Back when you used to call me Bumblebee? You had told me it may sting at first, but soon it would be all honey. I never got what you meant. It was cute, though, and it still makes me smile.”
Pop nodded. “I never was good at analogies.”
“Nope.”
He glanced at my double then returned his focus to driving. “So, Gia, who’s Deidre? And how does she look exactly like you?”
I gulped. Deidre started to open her mouth, but I frowned at her. “This is going to sound like I’m crazy.”
“I’m sure it will.”
I explained everything to him while everyone else pretended to look out the window. I figured I’d show him my light globe later, when he wasn’t driving. I wasn’t sure I wanted to show him Mom’s letter, though. Maybe he didn’t need to know how much she’d loved Carrig.
He looked at Deidre again. “That explains why you’ve been acting odd lately.”
“So you see, you have to come with us. You’re not safe here. In Boston.”
“My mother’s a witch, huh? That answers a lot of questions.” He rubbed his neck.
“I love you, Pop.”
“You too, kiddo,” he said, reaching over the seat and squeezing my hand. “We better hurry, huh? It’s like having twins,” Pop directed to Deidre. “I was beginning to get suspicious. You and Gia are polar opposites. She can’t cook and she’s a slob, and you can cook and you’re tidy. I worried someone had clobbered you on the head during kickboxing lessons. I was about to call a doctor friend of mine.”
Deidre laughed. “It’s been such a rush. I hadn’t time to learn about Gia’s quirks.”
“There’s the parking garage,” I blurted, wanting to end their conversation about my hijacked life.
“I see it,” Pop said.
He kept giving me weird looks on the walk to the Athenæum. His shoulders were slumped, and his face looked worn out. I wished we hadn’t had to drag him into this otherworld stuff, but at the same time, I was relieved he was there, and I relaxed. I squeezed his hand