The smell of roasted beef and the cnking of ptes roused me. My head hurt like hell. Each throb sending a sharp pain ncing through my brain. It took me only a moment to piece together what had happened.

  I had run away from Victoria and her scary mother. Then there had been a fog that showed up out of nowhere. Giving me no time to stop before impacting with a…tree? Now the question was, how in the world did I end up here? Where even was I?

  Opening my eyes, I instantly shut them as the light stabbed into them. Letting out an involuntary groan as I rubbed them. Over the sounds of my groaning, I heard someone approaching from the kitchen.

  “Good, your awake.” It was a voice I had been hoping to avoid, at least for a while. Barely cracking one eye, I looked up at Victoria’s mothers face. Her face as neutral as I had ever seen it. “We should probably go over some ground rules we wait for Victoria to finish her shower so we can eat dinner.”

  It wasn’t until then that I realized how dry my mouth was. “Why? Aren’t you just going to kill me or something?” I croaked.

  “Why would I do that?”

  “Because one or both of my parents attacked you.”

  “The sins of the parents are not that of their kid unless the kid takes up the burden. Have you decided to hunt and kill my kind?”

  Shaking my head proved to be a royally bad idea. The nausea from the action nearly causing me to throw up what little was in my stomach.

  “While the physical wound has healed, you may find some lingering pain.” She said as she put a hand under my head to help me sit against the back of the couch.

  Seeing as she wasn’t going to kill me, at least not immediately, I wanted to get out before she changed her mind. “So, am I free to leave then?”

  A twitch at the corner of her lip was the only change in her expression as she said, “Sure, though I wouldn’t recommend it.”

  “What? Will the fog return if I try?”

  She seemed to actually think about it for a second before nodding her head. “I think it will. But that’s not the reason I am talking about. We are no longer on Earth.”

  “Mother!” Came Victoria’s voice from the top of the stairs. Turning my head, I looked up at her. She stood there in nothing but a towel. A towel that barely reached her thighs. I felt my cheeks burning as I looked away.

  She must have seen, and been confused by, the sudden shift of my focus from her because her mother chuckled and said, “You should probably put on some panties at least.”

  The squeak Victoria made was so cute as the sound pulled my eyes toward her again. I had to force myself to keep my eyes focused on one of the most interesting spots on the floor that I could find. It was a pair of knots that seemed to cause the wood around it to form into a figure eight.

  A few deep breaths ter, Victoria came barreling down the stairs. Looking up to see that she was charging directly at her mother. “Why did you tell him about us not being on Earth so casually. Shouldn’t we have at least tried to break it to him slowly?”

  Her mom shot her the eye. The one that says ‘you think you know what is best’ while she responded, “When have I ever been less then blunt?”

  “Any time we talk about magic or such.” Victoria said. “In fact, I recall asking you to stop with the damn riddles half a dozen times.”

  “That was only because wee had to keep magic a secret. Now that we are on a pnet with it everywhere, it doesn’t really matter. Think of it this way, no more riddles.”

  “I don’t know if that is better or worse.” Victoria mumbled.

  “What is this about magic?” Of course, my stomach took that moment to procim that I needed to feed it lest I pay. “Actually, hold that question. Is dinner ready?”

  In response, her mother walked off. Leaving the room while Victoria held a hand out to me. Grab onto it, she helped me stand before leading me into what had to be the dining room. A long table took up the majority of the space with chairs sitting around its perimeter.

  Her mother was a blur that only became distinct as she stopped to put this or that down on the table. Ptes, silverware, and even ptters of food seemed to appear as she came and went from the room. I chose a chair with its back to the wall. The doors to my right and front while the window was to my right. Only as I went to sit did I realize she was still holding my hand.

  Releasing my hold, I tried to slip out of her grasp. In response, she just gripped it harder as she sat next to me. In an awkward silence, we waited for her mother to finish what she was doing.