And I guess I was beginning to understand how Dad’s mind worked, because I figured out the rest for myself. “He said he’d give you a drink if you signed the papers,” I whispered, because if I spoke any louder my voice would crack.
Mom’s face was a picture of guilt. “I suspect it wouldn’t hold up in a U.S. court of law,” she said. “I wasn’t in my right mind when I signed it.” She grimaced. “To tell you the honest truth, I don’t even remember much of this, but my signature is on the papers, and I have no reason not to believe I signed them just as Seamus said I did.”
My jaw clenched tight and I fought against my anger. I remembered that Dad had had her declared legally incompetent. But he’d obviously taken advantage of that incompetence first. Yeah, I was mad at Mom for what she’d done—and I couldn’t help feeling hurt that she hadn’t fought for me. But a big dose of the blame fell squarely on my father’s shoulders.
When I returned to my underground suite, I decided it was time to lay to rest the pretty illusion that either my mom or my dad would take care of me with only my own best interests at heart. I’d been taking care of myself for years now, and that was the way life was going to be, whether I wanted it to be or not.
Taking care of myself in Avalon would be more … challenging than taking care of myself at home. At home, my mom’s drinking had given me the freedom to do just about whatever I wanted without having to seek parental approval. Now I had two parents to appease—and work around, if necessary.
But I had something now that I most definitely did not have before I’d come to Avalon, something I vowed to turn to my advantage: magic.
No, I didn’t know how to use it. And yes, Ethan had made it crystal clear that letting anyone know I could sense it was a bad, bad idea. But if I could learn to harness it, I would have a powerful secret weapon. Maybe even one that would allow me to escape from Avalon and disappear from the Faerie Queens’ radar.
As plans go, it wasn’t much. I’d figured out during my week of extremely boring confinement that the magic seemed to “like” my singing. I couldn’t get through a whole song now without feeling that distinctive prickle, but so far, I hadn’t been able to convince it to do anything yet.
But I will. I’m smart and determined, and I have every confidence that I will be able to figure this out. (At least, that’s what I tell myself.) And when I do, I will use that secret weapon to wrest control of my destiny from everyone else’s hands and into my own. Where it belongs.
Jenna Black, Glimmerglass
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