Free Painfully Ordinary Special Edition by Stephanie Amox Page B

my temples. I still had a mild headache. I was
glad Leah was having fun, but then again she could have fun at an insurance
seminar.
    “What happened in here? Talon seemed so serious when he
came to get Jace.”
    I sighed. “Leah, I have no idea. Things were going really
well until I picked up one of those.” I gestured to the bowl on the table.
    Leah nodded. “Yeah, they have those all over the place—some
sort of light. I thought they were so pretty—such a soft, calming glow.”
    “They aren’t calming when I hold them.” I leaned over the
table and plucked a stone from the bowl.
    Leah’s eyes squinted as the stone grew brighter and
brighter.
    “How do you do that?”
she demanded and picked one up for herself. The stone in her hand gave a
brighter glow, but nothing like the sunspot I was able to create.
    I shrugged, “I don’t know, but it sent Talon out of here
awfully fast. He said they only do that in the hands ‘of a Lumina ’, whatever that means.”
    Leah bounced up and down on the couch clapping her hands. “Is
this where we find out we are really princesses?”
    I snorted. “ Right, and we have
magical powers too. I think we had one Princess Night too many when we were
younger.”
    Leah giggled, “If that were the case, I would have changed Tami
into a frog a long time ago.”
    There was a knock at the door and Leah bounded across the
room and flung it open.
    “ Hellooooooo .” She squealed and immediately lurched out the door. I
leaned over to see past the door only to find Leah locked in a bear hug with my
mom.
    “Mom!” I ran across the room, grabbing her around the neck and sobbing.
“I am so sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you or worry you. The battery on my mobile
is dead. You wouldn’t believe what we’ve been through.”
    She patted my back as she had when I was little, and it was
incredibly calming. Pat--pat…pause…pat--pat…pause – the sound of a mother’s heartbeat. I reluctantly pulled back out of her embrace.
    “Mom, how did you know where to find me?” I eyed her
suspiciously. “Have you been here before?”
    She nodded silently. I ground my teeth together, astounded she
would withhold information of this magnitude from me. We were in some mystical safe
house and she was perfectly calm like we were just out visiting friends. We got
here through a tree for God’s sake!
    I walked back over to the table. “Great, maybe you can
explain this ?” I turned back to face
her with one of the stones and slowly opened my hand. The stone glowed brighter
and brighter until it completely illuminated the room. I dropped the stone into
her open palm.
    Her face went white. “Oh! I hope this isn’t why Talon was
so upset when he called me.”
    I balled my hands into fists and slammed them into my
thighs. “Speaking of Talon, perhaps you can enlighten me as to what the hell a
‘ Lumina ’ is, since his face went ashen
just saying it? I’ve had enough surprises for a lifetime, and just want someone
to give me a straight answer.” I threw the stone across the room.
    She reached over to take my hand, but I immediately pulled
it back. I didn’t want anyone to touch me right now.
    She blew her bangs out of her eyes. “It’s complicated.”
    I scowled. “Yeah, well, I’ll try to keep up.”
    “Caiti, remember all the bedtime stories I used to tell you
about fairies?” I nodded and waited for her to continue.
    “Well, those were stories about me.”
    Whoa,
whoa, whoa. Wait a second.
    I contemplated what she said, amazed. “The stories about
the fairy princess, who defied all the rules, left her home and married a Corpora ?” I
shook my head in disbelief. “Seriously, Mom. I’m not five
anymore. Surely, if you had fairy powers, we wouldn’t have to worry about,
well…anything. Next you are going to tell me Leah and I are fairy princesses
and there is an evil power out to get us.”
    She shook her head, “I’m not Rumplestiltskin, and I can’t
weave straw into gold.