“But I should be the one putting myself at risk,” Gemma insisted. “This is my problem, not theirs.”
Brian balled his hand up in a fist and slammed it down on the table, frightening both the girls. “I hate that I can’t protect you from this. It’s my job. You’re my little girl, and I’m supposed to…” He gritted his teeth and shook his head. “All I want to do is run up that hill and beat the hell out of those girls for getting you into this mess. And I know I’m not supposed to say that, because I’m your dad, and I shouldn’t condone violence, especially not on girls.
“But they aren’t girls,” Brian growled. “They’re monsters and … it takes all my strength not to go up there and settle this for you. Because I know I can’t. No matter how badly I want to take your place, to save you from all of this, I can’t.”
“Dad, you’re doing everything you can do. You’re supporting me, and you’re helping me.” Gemma reached over and took his hand.
“But it doesn’t feel like enough. As long as you’re in danger, anything I do will never be enough,” Brian insisted. “So if the safest place for you is going to that play, pretending everything is fine, while that friend of yours gathers information, then that’s what you need to do. Do you understand me?”
Gemma lowered her eyes and nodded. “I do.”
“We’ll solve this, Gemma,” Harper promised her. “And we have a clear course of action now—find Diana, the goddess who helped Bernie’s Thalia become mortal. And if Lydia is related to Audra, the soothsayer who helped Thalia find Diana, then Lydia might know something.”
“Do you think this Diana will know how to break the curse?” Brian asked.
“I don’t know,” Harper admitted. “But she knew how to free Thalia from her being a muse, so she must know something.”
“So those are your leads?” Brian asked. “Trying to find Audra or Diana?”
“Yep.” Gemma touched the journal sitting on the table. “And, hopefully, this book will lead us to them.”
THIRTEEN
Glimmer
“We should stop there!” Nathalie pointed to a McDonald’s and leaned over quickly, so the seat belt locked in place, and she glanced down at it in irritation. She tried to unbuckle it, but she didn’t even have the hand coordination to push the button anymore.
That’s why she only wore pants with elastic waistbands and shoes with Velcro or slip-ons. On the outside, she might have looked like an ordinary woman in her early forties, other than her penchant for fuchsia leggings and teen heartthrob T-shirts, but her brain injury had left her impaired in many ways.
“Becky said you already had lunch,” Harper reminded her mother as she drove past the McDonald’s.
They’d only made it five minutes outside of Briar Ridge, where Nathalie lived in a group home, and Harper was already wondering if she’d made a mistake. She glanced up in the rearview mirror to see how Daniel was doing in the backseat, but he seemed to be taking it all in stride.
Their initial meeting had actually gone really well. It was the first time that Daniel and Nathalie had met. Since Nathalie could be pretty boy crazy sometimes, Harper had been afraid that she’d throw herself at Daniel or something. But Nathalie had been so excited about leaving that she hardly made a fuss about him.
While Harper had been hoping that Nathalie would talk to him a bit more than she had, she figured it might be better this way, so Daniel didn’t get too overloaded right away. He’d have plenty of chances in the future for her to hit on him.
“I haven’t had a burger in so long,” Nathalie insisted, and slumped back in her seat.
“I’m sure you’ve had burgers where you live, Mom,” Harper told her calmly.
“But I haven’t gone out for so long.” Nathalie continued to pout.
“Maybe after the play,” Harper suggested. If things went well, Harper had considered taking her mom out for supper, but it really depended on how she was doing. “We don’t want to be late, though.”
“What are we going to see again?” Nathalie asked, and her mood seemed to lighten.
“The Taming of the Shrew,” Harper said even though she’d already told her four times today. Nathalie had a hard time with her short-term memory. “It’s Gemma’s play.”
Nathalie cocked her head. “Isn’t she too young to be in a play?”
“No.” Harper paused, then looked over at her mom. “How old do you think Gemma is?”
“I don’t know.” Nathalie shrugged. “Seven?”
Harper swallowed. “That’s how old she was before the accident.”
“Oh.” Nathalie stared out the window at the highway and let it sink in. “That’s right. I’ve been getting things mixed up lately.”
“It’s okay, Mom.” Harper gave her a reassuring smile. “Everybody gets confused sometimes.”
Nathalie didn’t remember much before the accident, and she hardly ever mentioned anything about the girls’ being little or anything that happened before. But that seemed to be changing.
While Nathalie had been rushing around the group home looking for her purse before they left, Harper had a chance to talk to the head of staff, Becky. Becky had said that there’d been a subtle in change in Nathalie over the last two weeks.