The Binding Season by Claudia Cain

Author:Claudia Cain
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2023-11-29T11:00:00+00:00

16

By the time we arrive home the sky is turning the deep grey of afternoon, the clouds touched with sickly yellow, like the promise of a storm. Pen is reading on the couch, but she flinches as the door opens, looking briefly panicked.

“Oh, it’s you.” She relaxes. “You look like shit.”

Who else would it be? I think. Then I remember how she screamed at the sight of those beetles devouring Asphodel, and the fireballs in the grass when the Wardens showed up. I wondered if Pen felt safe here; I suppose I know the answer. “Thanks,” I say, with a pang of guilt.

Helen stomps into the kitchen, while Theo takes a seat at the table. He hasn’t spoken since we left the cottage, and there’s a distance in his face that didn’t exist this morning.

“What happened?” Pen asks.

We can’t tell her what we learned. There’s no reason for her to know—no memory spell was used on her, and she never knew our mother. Telling her would only destroy what little stability is left in her life. “The Fae tried to blame me for Asphodel’s death,” I say instead.

She lowers her book. “They think you killed her?”

“More like if I’d killed Ianthe when I first saw her, Asphodel wouldn’t have died.”

“They could have done it!” she cries. “I don’t see how they can blame you when a bunch of bugs—”

She cuts off, her face twisting.

“Exactly. It’s bullshit.” Helen pulls a container of leftovers from the fridge, barely pausing to crack the lid before she shoves it in the microwave. “They just want a scapegoat.”

“They’ll back off now,” Merich adds. He peels off his jacket, draping it over the back of a chair. “Cass made some excellent arguments. And she doesn’t have to kill the vile spirits anymore, so you can stop hiding Buzz.”

Which is one small win, I suppose.

Pen looks at me, her dark eyes steady. “That’s where you’ve been all morning, then? Getting bitched at by the Fae?”

“Yep,” I say lamely. “Being bitched at.”

Can she tell I’m lying? Her gaze seems to linger for a little too long, but finally she sniffs. “Here I thought the Fae were meant to be hot and carefree and stuff.”

“No, that’s just me,” says Merich.

The microwave dings, and Helen tears off the lid of the container, releasing steam and the smell of chicken. I hear Theo’s stomach growl from across the room.

“It’s casserole,” Helen announces, glancing at Merich. “Are you having lunch, or will you be eating bugs in the woods?”

There’s a pause. He gives me an uncertain look.

I’m sure, he told Holland.

“Stay,” I say.

And so follows a chaotic late lunch. Pen tries to use magic to carry plates, which Merich narrowly saves when she drops them. There’s an argument over whether Buzz is allowed to be present—no animals near the food, he’s actually a spirit disguised as a rabbit and therefore you’re being a bigot—before it’s decided he can sit on Pen’s lap. Theo steals the last of the casserole, and Helen lightly electrocutes him in revenge.

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