Wren nodded and sat back in his chair. Lil stood up.
“I should probably make the rounds anyway,” she said. “We’ll try again tomorrow if you like, OK?”
“OK,” Wren said. “Thanks, Lil.” Lil nodded and started towards the door. The others stood as well.
“Guess I’ll go check on Wick,” Finn said. “But maybe next time I’ll try it too, huh?” Finn knocked Wren on the shoulder as he said it, and Wren gave him a little smile in return.
“I could work with you,” Mei said. “If you think it’d help.”
Finn smiled at her. “I’d appreciate it. Whether it helped or not.”
Mei actually blushed a little. If Cass hadn’t known better, she might’ve suspected there was something brewing between the two of them. Finn held out his hand to let Mei exit first, and then followed her out. As he passed Cass, he winked at her.
“Glad to see you up, ma’am.”
Cass nodded back. “Thanks, Finn.”
She watched them as they went out. From behind her, Wren made a little noise like he’d found something.
“Oh,” he said aloud, but almost to himself. “I wonder…” And then to Cass, “Mama, am I doing it now?”
Cass turned, and as she did, she had to squint against the radiance emanating from her son. But he didn’t appear to be her son anymore. Gone was her little boy, replaced instead by an otherworldly being, blazing like a star. The room behind him seemed dim in comparison to his brilliance. Where Lil had retained her general form and size, Wren seemed to grow. And his face changed; it seemed to be constantly shifting like a reflection on waves, his eyes and mouth distorted. If Lil’s eyes had been burning coals, Wren’s now were molten ore. Translucent orange fire seemed to gutter from the eye sockets and issue from his gaping mouth.
“Mama?” the demon said. Cass felt herself taking steps backwards without having meant to.
“Stop,” she said, and her voice came out in a whisper. “Please, stop.”
The light seemed to gather in on itself and moments later it subsided, and there set her son, small, fragile, nearly swallowed by the chair he was sitting in.
“Did I do it?” Wren asked.
Cass nodded, inhaled, tried to calm her pounding heart. “Yeah, baby,” she answered. “You did it.”
“I think there’s an easier way than what Lil said.”
And then, unexpectedly, Wren hopped up out of his chair and came over to her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and nestled his head against her stomach. Cass draped her arms over his back and hugged him. She hoped he couldn’t tell she was trembling.
“I really love you a lot, Mama,” he said.
“I really love you a lot, Wren.” The contrast was almost shocking. The suddenness of it had surprised her, but she wasn’t about to question the moment. It warmed her to hear him say it first.
“I’m hungry,” he said.
“OK. Let’s see what we can find.”
“OK.”
She took his hand, and they walked together towards the mess hall. And the whole way, she tried to fight back the tears.
Cass had always known her son was special and capable of great things, things beyond her imagining. And she had been afraid for him countless times. Afraid of what others might try to do to him, or force him to do – afraid of what the world had in store. But for the first time in her life, she had to face the fact that she was afraid of him. She had glimpsed him in power, and Cass knew without a doubt that whatever lay ahead, Wren would one day be beyond any need, or want, of her help. And that day might be much, much sooner than she had imagined.
TWENTY-TWO
Wren lay on his bed, watching the dust particles float above him in the pale light that came in through the high slot window. The first rays of dawn. Almost time to go.
He had it all figured out. At least as best as he could. The night before, he’d carefully given his guardians some casually vague and different ideas about where and with whom he’d be spending his time that morning. As long as everyone thought someone else was watching him, it ought to buy him a little time. It wouldn’t work forever, of course. At some point two of them would run into each other, each thinking Wren was supposed to be with the other. After that it would be just a matter of time for it to all fall apart. But there was a chance they’d think there had just been some kind of mix-up, and maybe they’d spend a little time looking for him before anyone guessed what he’d really done.
It was an old trick he’d learned from his time in the governor’s compound, and though he usually ended up getting caught at some point, it’d almost always bought him at least an hour or two of peace and quiet. Wren hoped he could get that much of a head start, if not more.