Page 105 of Demon and the Raven

“Oh, you’re such a good hugger,” Meijun praised JJ.

“I know. My mom tells me all the time.”

Everyone looked at Amanda then, who beamed. She might not be perfect, but in that moment, she was the mother they all wanted. She made sure to go around the table after that and hug each one.

It was a very nice morning.

Shelby, Meijun, Jeremy, and Liam were sorry they couldn’t stay, but they had to leave Osprey, which they had visited for the same reason everyone else did—the doomsday cult—and go directly to Salem, Massachusetts. They had a YouTube channel and a TikTok for me to follow, swore not to mention me, and would make sure to come back through as soon as they could.

I wasn’t holding my breath. They were all young, and things could change at a moment’s notice. Their paths could diverge as well.

When Lorne was ready to go—he had to check in at work as both Friday and Saturday night had been so eventful—he got the kids moving. Since he was going to drop them at their van, they were on his timeline. I hugged each of them goodbye. I’d packed up fruit, bread, and cheese for them, which they were all excited about. Normally I would have left those in cloth-and-jute-wrapped packages, but since Amanda had brought food, we sent them on their way with plastic, which my friend assured me would keep better on the road. I didn’t like it at all.

Shelby had my number and vowed to call. I told her I would love that, but no pressure.

“Friendship is never an obligation.”

“I know,” she agreed.

“And be smart in Salem. Keep that charm on.”

She promised she would, was about to close the car door, but then popped out of the police utility vehicle—she was riding shotgun—and ran back over to hug me again. It was sweet that she felt the pull to do so.

“They were really nice,” Toby told me when I came back inside.

“I think so too.”

“Do what we practiced now,” Amanda ordered her children.

Instantly, they both turned their backs on us.

“What is—no,” I managed to get out a moment before Amanda smacked me so hard in the gut, I had to bend over. I noted that there was no reprisal for her from my cottage for striking me. If she’d done it to Lorne… I shuddered to think. “Owww, and why?” I snapped at her.

“You were supposed to call me after you saw Father Dennis. You were supposed to tell me what was going on, update me, and…nothing. And then you don’t answer any of my texts. Do you have any idea how frustrating that is? How angry, sad, and worried I was?”

“And then you brought breakfast.”

“And then I brought breakfast!” she yelled at me.

I walked into her, gathered her close and hugged her tight. “I’m so sorry. It was an insane night, and I will tell you all about it, and I promise that will never happen again.”

“Years off my life,” she said into my shoulder.

“No,” I soothed her. “No life lost.”

“I have to know everything, you understand?”

“I do. Forgive me. I was thoughtless, and I’m truly sorry.”

She grunted softly several times, then let me go. “Okay, turn back around,” Amanda instructed, and her kids faced us again as though nothing happened. They were well trained.

“Uncle Xan?”

“Yes, JJ?”

“Can you braid some sweetgrass into my crown so it smells good?”

“Of course. Did you bring it back with you?”