Steadfast by Claudia Gray

Author:Claudia Gray [Gray, Claudia]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 2014-03-05T16:00:00+00:00

15

“YOU SURE YOU’RE OKAY, SWEETHEART?”

Nadia did her best to smile at her dad. “Yeah. I’m fine.” Then again—her eyes were probably red and puffy, and her throat was hoarse from all the crying she’d done. Coming up with an excuse would throw him off. “I guess I’m just upset about Verlaine’s uncle Gary.”

“He seemed like such a great guy. I kept meaning to ask them over for dinner some night, cook some burgers on the grill or something.” Her father could only cook outside, over open fire; when he walked into a kitchen, it was a different story. That was why Nadia was the one putting a lasagna into the oven now. “The same weird thing that happened to that girl at”—he glanced over at Cole, who was in the living room watching SpongeBob SquarePants with rapt fascination—“at L-A-C-A-T-R-I-N-A?”

“Yeah.”

“And the doctors still don’t have a clue what that is? Doesn’t look like any disease I’ve ever heard of. Something in the water, maybe? We have to get one of those filters.” He sighed heavily and leaned against the kitchen counter. “I really should have gotten to know Gary better.”

“He’s not dead, Dad. He’s just in a coma. So think positive and stop with the past tense, okay?”

“You’re right. Sorry.”

Dad wasn’t looking so good himself lately. He hadn’t been sleeping well, to judge by the late-night pacing in his room; his eyes were shadowed, and he’d lost some weight, despite Nadia’s best efforts with waffles and pasta. The last time he’d looked like this much of a wreck had been in the first few weeks after Mom had left.

Nadia hated knowing why he wasn’t sleeping. Every time her mind turned to the idea of what he was thinking about during those sleepless hours—who he was thinking about—her stomach twisted uncomfortably. Elizabeth’s hold over him had closed around their home like a cold, thick fog no amount of sunshine could dispel. Betrayer’s Snare might protect him if and when Elizabeth tried to strike at him again, but it could not undo the dark magic she’d used. That was beyond Nadia’s power.

“I forgot something!” Cole yelled from the living room, without ever looking away from the TV screen.

She and Dad exchanged looks. Nadia said, “Oh, yeah? What?”

“I’m in the Thanksgiving play!”

“That’s great!” she said, with as much enthusiasm as she could muster on a day as horrible as this.

Dad seemed to be trying just as hard. “So, are you a pilgrim or a Native American?”

“I’m mashed potatoes.”

Had they heard that wrong? Nadia went into the living room. “What do you mean, mashed potatoes?”

“We’re all different Thanksgiving food, and I’m mashed potatoes. Levi is the gravy, so we get to be onstage together. I need a costume.”

“A costume?” Nadia turned to her father in disbelief. “How are we supposed to make a mashed-potato costume? What would that even look like?”

Dad actually grinned. “At least we don’t have to make a gravy costume.”

That made her laugh—too hard, like the joke was a lot funnier than it really was.

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