Stevie groans and shifts her weight slightly. Her eyes still haven’t opened, and I’m panicking. The adrenaline is wearing off. I just killed my own mother. Her body is right over there. I’m not sure how much was left of her inside of that shell, but it was still her to some degree. While I might not have loved her, she tried to kill me. How does someone conceptualize killing the person who brought them into this world?

“Stevie, please, we need to go.” She doesn’t move, and I’m just lost. I don’t know what to do.

With shaky hands, I take my phone from my pocket and dial Dax. He picks up on the first ring.

“Hey, babe, what—” he starts.

“Dax,” I say, knowing it comes out as a croak.

“Babe, where are you? What’s wrong?”

“Can you portal to me? I need help, Stevie, she’s—” I can hear the tears in my voice, but they still haven’t leaked from my eyes.

There’s shuffling. “Dax can’t come, but I will.” It’s Kas’ voice, and I lamely nod my head, thinking she can hear me. She hangs up the phone, and I wonder how she’s going to know where we are. So I text the address to Dax’s phone.

I have to retype the numbers of the house twice before I get it right and shoot off the text. It’s not even two seconds later that I hear a large pop and the front door banging open.

Kas storms in the room, looking at my dead mother on the floor and Stevie’s crumpled body against the dresser. She doesn’t speak, she just picks Stevie up like she weighs nothing. Apparently demon strength is a universal thing.

I follow her outside where we stand in front of the Jeep. “Your keys,” she says.

“What?”

“Your keys, little witch. Sit in the backseat with her, and I’ll drive your car home.”

I nod my head and place the keys into her perfectly manicured palm. Getting into the backseat, she slides Stevie in next to me. I pet her long red hair between my fingertips as Kas gets in the front seat and drives like a bat out of Hell back to Hallowsdeep.

She doesn’t say a word until we’re on the highway. “Is she okay?”

“Yes, I’ll give her some potions when we get home. I think she just hit her head pretty hard.”

“Who was that back there?”

I look out the window and sigh. “My mother.”

“Oh, fuck,” Kas says.

“Yeah, it’s been a pretty shitty week.”

“Listen, as soon as we get back, I need to leave. Dax needs me.”

“Is everything okay?” I ask, worried about Dax and also selfishly wanting him to be here with me.