''You know how they came up with the word Lunatic?'' he asked.
I shook my head, feeling like I probably didn't want to know the answer. His lips pulled up on one side in a mischievous, lopsided grin.
He stepped closer. ''Because all of the worst m...
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Tucker and I were silent on the walk back to his house. The weight of what had just happened sat on both of our chests.
To the death.
The phrase ran through my head like the sound of a record scratch. Either Tucker would die or he'd have to kill Owein. Both ways he'd lose. When I looked at the boy walking next to me, I realized something- he didn't care.
Tucker didn't care if he'd die, he just wanted to make sure Owein went with him.
Familiar faces greeted us when we entered the Joy household. All of Tucker's brothers gathered in the living room, including Ben who was sitting next to Tilly and Harry on the couch. Tilly and I made eye contact, and she blushed a little.
"So?" Elias asked.
Tucker's face remained stoic. "I challenged him. For the next full moon. We have a little under a month until the challenge."
Time seemed to have frozen in the living room. Even the little boys seemed to understand the gravity of what Tucker had said- Harry was the only one who seemed confused. Noah curled into Lucas' shoulder and the slightly older boy seemed to puff out his chest before putting an arm around his little brother. Ben blew air out of his mouth and put his head in his hands. Elias couldn't move.
"Not to interrupt the dramatic moment, but uh what are Lou and I supposed to do for a month? We can't live with that psycho if what you guys say is true."
The room seemed to reanimate with Harry's interjection. I didn't know how to respond. Sure we could stay with the Joy's for a month, but what about our mom? She couldn't handle the knowledge of all of this.
She could hardly handle it when I had 'feelings.' I wondered how she'd handle knowing that I could change people's emotions to match mine or cause someone so much physical pain that they'd writhe on the ground, or that my father was just like me. Only worse.
"You'll both stay here," Tucker said, with a tone of finality. "As for your mom, I think Tilly and her mother can handle that."
Tilly nodded. "We'll take care of that."
Harry and I both looked at her skeptically. The new knowledge of her abilities was a little disconcerting.
"What exactly are you going to do with her?" I asked.
Tilly shrugged, uncomfortable having the attention of the room on her. "We won't hurt her. It's kind of a complicated process. She'll be in like a deep sleep but still feel time passing so when she wakes it'll be like nothing ever happened."
We both stared at her. I looked accusingly at Tucker and he winced a little.
"You're going to put our mother into a coma for the next month?!"
