Dragon Witch ✔️

10 - Brainwashing

After a good twenty minutes of trying--and failing--to get useful information out of Kyton without letting on that I had a problem, it was time for breakfast. We brought the food to the dining room and set the table. Gold-edged mirrors lined the walls, reflecting light off the chandelier and making the long room feel more like a place for dancing than eating.

I wished it was just a place for dancing. Then we wouldn't have our usual family breakfast in it, and maybe my hands wouldn't be shaking. Punishments were usually doled out during dinner, but I'd skipped it last night. I was in for a world of hurt at breakfast. At least Mom still didn't know I was learning magic, but leaving the estate would still get me into serious trouble.

What if she didn't know about that? Dad had seemed kind of sympathetic yesterday, so maybe he hadn't told her about my little expedition.

Alice strolled in the dining room, grinning. My 13-year-old sister might've been adopted, but she was a carbon copy of Mom. Not in looks--she was as blond and petite as Mom was dark-haired and curvy; rather, they had identical views on magic. I guessed it kind of made sense because Alice was a nomahu, but she always took things a step too far. It was like she loved watching me get in trouble. One way or another, seeing her grin was never a good sign.

"What?" I asked.

She shrugged and went to the far end of the table. Like she did every breakfast and dinner, she counted three chairs from the end and sat in the fourth. And like always, she stared at Kyton as if he was the only guy on Earth. It was embarrassing enough when I hadn't talked to him much. Now that I knew him a little better, it was even worse. Part of me wanted to say, "He's way too old for you. And by the way, he's an Otherworlder."

But I didn't, of course. That would've been unfair to Kyton. He'd worked hard to keep his secret, and he had a good reason to. Besides, it didn't really matter if she stared at him. He never gave her a second glance. I mean, he was polite and all when she talked to him, but he never said or did anything that made me think something inappropriate was going to happen.

When I glanced Kyton's way, he went from looking at me to straightening out a crease in the blue tablecloth.

He nodded at the crease and smiled at me. "Perfect. I'll be cleaning the kitchen when you're done with breakfast. Please don't make me track you down."

I rolled my eyes. "I'll find you. But you know, you could just stay for breakfast."

Alice nodded, curls bouncing. "Yeah, Ky, you should totally stay for breakfast."

His smile faltered, and he edged toward the door. "I really have to clean."

If I had a strangely young admirer, I guessed I wouldn't want to eat breakfast with them, either. I'd better help him out.

"On second thought, you're right. The kitchen's filthy."

When Alice turned to glare at me, Kyton mouthed "thank you" and darted out the door.

Alice huffed. "I'm sick of you staring at my man like a lovesick puppy. You're making him uncomfortable."

"I'm making him uncomfortable?" The nerve of that girl.

"Why else would he turn down an invitation to eat breakfast with me?" She picked up a spoon and examined her curls in its reflection. "I am gorgeous, after all."

Before I could argue, Mom marched in. Straight-backed in a white blouse that contrasted with her olive-toned skin, she sat on Alice's left. Her brown eyes, so often filled with loving concern, turned cold as they bored into me.

"Sit."

I sat across from her as the rest of the family filed in. Leo stalked past me and leapt onto a chair with a swish of his tail. He placed his huge, spotted paws on the table and glared at Mom as if daring her to tell him to get down. I didn't blame him for being defiant. Since we'd moved here, he'd been treated like a real familiar, not a misbehaving house cat. Though, the privilege might've gone to his head a little.