Kevin couldn’t cross the barrier of her doorway unless he was invited in, but the bag definitely could. “Here, look at it. You’ll see.” He tossed it to her, and G-ma caught it easily.
He watched her open the little bag and pour the contents into her palm. There was a purple amethyst crystal and a piece of raw turquoise shaped like a perfect heart, as well as a sprig of lavender, the breast feather of a dove, and a spoonful of red dirt. The last thing that fell out of the bag was a rolled-up strip of lavender-scented paper.
With steady hands, G-ma Redbird unrolled the paper to reveal two words, written in her strong cursive script.
Trust Kevin.
G-ma’s sharp brown eyes found his. “Where did you get this?”
“Like I said, from you. In another version of our world. After Zoey called me there and Aphrodite and Nyx restored my humanity. G-ma, it’s a long story, but I swear on Zoey’s memory that you did give this to me and told me to go to you and show you. I need you, G-ma. I don’t know where else to go or who else I can turn to. Will you please let me come in? I won’t hurt you. I won’t ever hurt you.”
Sylvia Redbird studied Kevin carefully. Then her gaze fell, once again, to the two words written in her own hand on the stationery she made for herself there on the lavender farm that grew such fragrant, unique plants that the vampyres left her in peace—as long as she kept providing them with the lavender products Neferet so enjoyed.
“Kevin, I would like to invite you into my home.” The old woman stepped back, holding the door open for her grandson.
He entered the cottage and took a deep breath of air scented with childhood memories. Through the tears flooding his eyes he grinned at his g-ma. “Do I smell lavender chocolate-chip cookies?”
“You do, indeed. Would you like some?”
“More than almost anything,” Kevin said. “But first, could I please have a hug?”
“Oh, u-we-tsi, that would bring me great pleasure!”
Kevin held open his arms, and his tiny, loving, beautiful g-ma stepped into his embrace. And suddenly he found himself sobbing as she held him and patted his back gently, while he released the sorrow and loneliness and regret at having to leave his sister and return to a world filled with struggle and fear.
“It will all be okay now, u-we-tsi. It will be okay. I am here. I am here …”
2
Other Kevin
“G-ma, these cookies are the best in any world!”
Grandma Redbird smiled fondly at Kevin. “You have restored my joy in making them. I have no idea how Neferet found out about them, but several months ago her Blue Army goons showed up here, insisting that I fill a weekly order of two dozen cookies—for the High Priestess herself. I thought it odd, but it did help insure my safety, and while they were here they also put in a standing order for my soaps and lotions …” Her words trailed off as understanding bloomed over her face. “You did this!”
Kevin squirmed and grabbed another cookie. “Well, yeah. Everyone knows your lavender is the best in Oklahoma. Your soaps and lotions are awesome, and your cookies are special and delicious. I figured if Neferet knew about them, she would want them. She’s all about getting things no one else has, and no one else has your recipe.”
“I don’t use a recipe.”
“Exactly! They’re something only you can make. So, I mentioned it to a Warrior who is mated to the priestess who brings Neferet her nightly snacks. I knew all she had to do was try a cookie and she’d be hooked. Apparently, Neferet has a sweet tooth. The soaps and lotions were a bonus.”
Grandma Redbird didn’t speak for several moments. She studied her grandson as if he was a puzzle she’d just figured out. “You were different. Even before you were pulled into that Other World.”
Kevin nodded, speaking around a mouthful of cookie. “I kept thinking that would change—that someday I’d wake up and not be able to control my hunger at all. But it didn’t happen.”
Grandma’s work-worn hand pressed against his cheek. “Oh, u-we-tsi, I wish you had come to me then.”
“I couldn’t, G-ma. I was super scared of turning into a monster.” Kevin stared down at the ancient wooden table. “I couldn’t risk hurting you.”
“So, from afar you made sure I would be one of the safe ones—the protected ones.”
Kevin nodded.
“Thank you,” she said simply.
When Kevin was sure he wouldn’t dissolve into big, blubbery tears again, he met her gentle brown eyes and smiled. “It’s the least I could do after you lost Zoey. I know she was always your favorite.”
“Zoey and I were close from the moment she was born, but that is often the way of it with grandmothers and granddaughters. That does not mean I loved her more than I love you.”
Kevin felt tears fill his eyes again and he blinked hard to keep them from overflowing. “Really?”
“I give you my word. It was easier to be close to Zoeybird. She wanted to cook with me, to garden with me, and to learn the ways of our people.”
“And I wanted to play video games and tell fart jokes with my friends,” Kevin said sardonically.
Grandma Redbird’s smile was warm with understanding. “You simply wanted to be a boy. There is no fault in that.”
“I know I can’t fill the place left by Zo, but I want us to be close. I—I need you, G-ma.”
The old woman pressed her hand over her grandson’s. “I am here for you. I will always be here for you. You will never be alone again, my u-we-tsi.”
For the first time since he realized that he had to return to his world—had to somehow lead the Resistance into defeating Neferet—Kevin felt a little of the terrible weight that had settled over his body lift. “Thank you, G-ma. That makes everything better.”
“I am glad. Now, I have a few questions perhaps you can help me with.”
“Totally! Ask away and I’ll munch cookies.”
“That is a fine idea. So, you’re telling me that our Zoeybird is alive in this alternative world from which you just returned?”
“I am. And she is. Well, she isn’t exactly our Zo. But close enough. Close like that Grandma Redbird is almost exactly you too. It’s weird. Nice, but weird.”
Grandma sat across from him, pouring herself a cup of fragrant lavender tea from the timeworn iron pot she’d used for as long as Kevin could remember.
“Let me make sure I understand. In that world Zoey is High Priestess, and in charge. There is no Neferet, and—”