Chapter 35

The kitchen was coated in flour, as was the entire front half of Kayla's body. She looked up at Mark and grinned. "I don't seem to be any good at this."

"She's really not," Kristen said, from the sink where she was washing a sticky mass of ... something ... down the garbage disposal. "If she weren't my girlfriend, I'd kick her out of my kitchen."

"Don't worry, Kristen," Aaron said. "I'll clean up the kitchen when you're done."

Mark shook his head, smiling at Kayla. "And you're so good in the lab, too."

"That's different," she insisted.

"Nope. Baking is just applied chemistry," he said.

"Wrong," she said firmly. "Baking is applied torture, Mark."

He grinned, watching as Kristen brushed the remainder of the flour off of her and onto the floor. Once they were done, he sat down, his face sobering. "I talked to Aaron's mother about us?"

"Oh?" Kayla asked cautiously.

He nodded. "She thinks maybe she has an idea what Kristen is, but she needs to do some research. She also offered to weave some protections for us." He stopped there.

Kristen frowned, then tossed the towel she was holding onto the counter and sat down in his lap, pressing close against him.

Kayla's eyes narrowed, and her voice was wary. "What's the catch, Mark? These things always have a catch."

"She'll need things from us," he said. "Hair, blood, a photograph."

"Um." Kayla went pale. "Aaron ... I know she's your mother, hon, and I'm sorry, but ... you know what she could do with that sort of thing!"

Aaron nodded unhappily. "Yeah. But I also know what else she could do with such things," he said. "And ... I think she just means to help. But you're right. It's risky."

"So we need to decide if we're willing to trust her," Mark said. "On the one hand, she could really help. On the other..."

"On the other," Kayla said, "we'd be giving levers to a powerful Voodoo priestess who just might decide her son would be better off without all of us."

"Exactly," Mark said. "But ... on the gripping hand, she seems to be powerful enough that she might not need it for that."

Aaron nodded. "I wish I could say for sure she wouldn't do that, but ... I really can't. She's very protective, and unpredictable. I think she's okay with everything, but I can't be sure she's not just hiding her reaction really well," he said. "But you're right. She wouldn't need it, not just for revenge or anything. It would help, but she could do more than enough without it."

"So," Mark said. "It looks like things are pretty well balanced, and it all hinges on our decision."

"Yes sir," Aaron said, nodding again. "Sorry."

Mark looked down at Kristen. "How do you vote?"

"I guess ... let her have it," she said. "I'm scared enough to look for help wherever it's offered."

He nodded, then asked, "Kayla?"

She sighed. "Yeah. I don't like it, but ... we're already in enough trouble that I can't see getting cautious now would do us any good."

Mark grinned. "That's the truth. So I guess we do it." He looked thoughtful. "I think I want to use FedEx, though. Not the mail."

Kayla shuddered. "Gods no, not the mail! If you did something that stupid, I'd ... I'd ... I'd make you eat my cooking!"

The rest of the weekend was spent in playful relaxation. Despite the playful bits, they managed to produce only a slightly brighter glow in Kristen. She seemed to be getting more control over the light, though, and was able to use it as a sort of ethereal body paint on Kayla, who proclaimed it a really odd, but quite nice feeling. The light changed color slowly once it was applied, from gold to silver.

Kristen's ankle seemed to be basically healed, too, based upon the lack of attention she paid it. She certainly had no trouble getting around, even without crutches, and said that there was no pain at all, just irritation from the cast. There were no nightmares Saturday night, either.

Sunday morning, the rest of them woke up to find that Aaron had apparently slipped quietly out of bed much earlier, and cleaned the entire downstairs, careful not to disturb anything or make any noise.

Eventually, though, their pleasant weekend had to draw to a close. Sunday evening, as she and Aaron were getting ready to leave, Kayla approached Mark a bit nervously. "Ah, by the way, I needed to ask you something."

"Okay?" He looked at her curiously. Her cheeks were pink, and her eyes on the floor.

"Um, see, next week's my birthday, right?"

"Mmhmm?" he asked.

"So, like, there's my mom. She's crazy for birthdays. It's a real big deal to her." She sighed. "So, she wants to do a party. I rather hate them, but ... she's my mom, y'know? Anyway, Kristen is invited 'cause she's my best friend, and Mom wanted me to invite you because she wants to meet my 'favorite teacher who has the telescope' and like I said, it's really a big deal to her."

"Er, I see," he said, though he wasn't entirely sure that he did. "You want us to come?"

"Well, honestly," she said, "I'd rather I didn't have to come. But if you don't, she'll have her feelings hurt." She peeked up at him.

He nodded. "Okay. I'll be there. What do I have to look forward to?"