Chapter 37 FEAR AND AGITATION (1)
WILLA’S POV
“Willa, Circe’s tits!” Sarina cried out, looking utterly pale as she barged into my room in the Alfiero family house.
“Language!” Mom and I immediately chided at the same time.
But when I noticed how Calisto looked quite shaken and pale in her arms, I immediately rushed to meet them halfway. Upon closer look, I realized how Sarina also looked like she had seen a ghost.
“What happened? Are the two of you okay?” I asked, my worry ringing loudly in my tone, as I got my son from Sarina.
“Yes. No. I don’t know. I…”
She cut off her answer with a groan, frustratedly tugging at the ends of her short hair.
“Slowly. Breathe, Sarina.”
She heaved a sigh and tried explaining again. “Yes, we’re okay in a sense that we weren’t physically harmed. But no, we’re also not okay. I just…” Sarina glanced warily at Mom, who was fixing Gillian’s hair. “We need to talk.”
Sensing the urgency in her voice and the worry dancing in her eyes, I nodded. “Just a second. Alright?”
I directed my attention to Calisto, who had wrapped his arms around my neck and buried his face on my neck. I then murmured soothingly, “Hey, love. Are you okay?”
He moved his head as if to nod, mumbling, “I’m okay, but the man was sick.”
Something in my gut stirred, as if my instinct was telling me he was talking about Gallahan.
But that couldn’t be. Right?
Right.
I tried to wash away the nauseating anxiety with an even breath, but it continued to slither out of my heart, tightly wrapping its tendrils around the wildly beating organ and around my lungs. It made it quite a challenge to breathe.
But showing panic or even a sliver of fear and weakness in front of my children was never an option. I should always be their image of strength, safety, and certainty, and I wouldn’t fail now.
And especially not for a baseless worry.
So, as I held Calisto closer against me, I whispered, “I’m glad you’re alright, love. So glad.”
“What’s wrong with Cal, Mommy?” Gillian suddenly asked from where she sat on the bed with my mom, who was still busy fixing her copper-red hair into a neat crown braid.
Gillian was obviously itching to get to Calisto’s side with the way her fingers were fidgeting with the duvet and how she was gnawing at her lower lip. But ever the good girl that she was, she remained seated, all behaved and prim, as her beloved Memaw worked diligently with her hair.
“Cal’s fine. He just saw something unpleasant. But he is all fine. Right, love?”
Calisto lifted his head and nodded to appease his twin sister’s concern.
“Cal, can you stay with Memaw and Gillian for a moment? Memaw will help you get ready for the Ascension Rite. Or do you need me to stay with you for a little longer?”
Calisto shook his head and said, “I’m fine, Mommy. You can go, and I promise I will behave with Memaw.”
“Alright.”
I pressed a couple of kisses on his cheeks before finally putting him down, and as soon as his feet touched the floor, he rushed over to join his sister on the bed.
A smile tugged at my lips at the sight, my apprehension forgotten for a moment.
“Willa, come on,” Sarina urged quietly as she held me by the elbow.
I gave her a nod in response, then turned to my mom, saying, “Mom, I’ll leave the twins with you for a minute. Sarina and I just have something to discuss.”
“Take your time,” she answered without deigning to lift her gaze away from Gillian’s hair, which was almost finished.
Without further ado, Sarina and I slipped out of my bedroom and transferred to the nearest empty room we found, which was a lounge room that was barely used.
Sarina then muttered two quick spells. One was to lock the door, and the other was to protect the room from any potential eavesdropping.
“Sarina, what’s going on?” I immediately asked as I tugged and squeezed at my fingers.
“Calisto and I were just going to sneak a peek at the glass dome, right? That’s what we did, but then he suddenly disappeared! And when I found him, he was already talking to Gallahan. Goodness, Willa! Gallahan is here!”
Sarina paused to take a deep breath, but then she quickly carried on right after, sounding utterly stressed as she said, “And Gallahan knows Calisto is his son. Oh, Circe’s titties! He knows your son!”
My stomach sank to my feet, and I felt my world lurch to a stop, throwing me off-kilter. My breath stuttered, and so did my heartbeat.
I blinked repeatedly, as if I was malfunctioning, and all I ended up saying was a small and airy, “What?”
“Willa, you’ve shown me a couple of paintings that you did of Gallahan, and I am ninety-nine percent sure the man Calisto and I met was him.”
“But, but,” I sputtered, my mouth unable to keep up with my mind, which was in utter mayhem. “How could that be? Sarina, that’s… That couldn’t be true. W-why would Gallahan be here? He has no reason to be here.”
My fidgeting with my cold fingers became harsher as the beating of my heart began to ring loudly in my ears.