KeLani (Pov)
I watched Mama's face as she talked about going to S City. My heart started racing, and my tummy felt all twisty and sick. No, no, no! Not S City! The book showed what happened there—Mama getting so angry, going after the female lead Lenna and all those other people who hurt her. The fire and the screaming and Mama...Mama not coming back.
"No S City!" I shouted before I could stop myself, panic making my voice sound loud and scared. "I don't like it! Let's go somewhere else, please!"
Mama looked surprised at my outburst, her eyes wide and questioning. I couldn't meet her gaze. Tears burned in my eyes as I turned my face away. I couldn't tell her what I knew—that in S City, terrible things would happen. That she would die there, just like she always did in her past lives.
Her warm hand gently caught my chin, turning my face back toward hers. Her eyes were soft, not angry like they sometimes get when the darkness comes.
"Look at me," she whispered, her voice almost begging. I blinked up at her through my tears. "I need to go check something out and then we will leave."
I stared into her eyes—those eyes that looked just like mine. I could see that determined look she gets when nothing can change her mind. I'd seen it before, and I knew I couldn't stop her. But maybe this time I could protect her. Maybe this time I could keep her from dying like she did in the book.
"Okay, Mama," I whispered, even though every part of me wanted to scream no.
After that, Mama got out of bed, still holding me close to her side. "Let's get changed and all cleaned up in some new clothes," she said, trying to sound happy for me.
She carried me to the bathroom, and we took a bath together. The warm water felt nice, and for a little while, I could pretend everything was normal as she gently washed my hair, making sure no soap got in my eyes. She washed herself too, but I noticed how careful she was around the bandages on her side where she got hurt.
When we were all clean, she wrapped me in a fluffy towel and carried me back to the bed. She picked out my favorite overalls and a pink flowered shirt. As she dressed me, her fingers were gentle and sure, just like always.
She sat me between her legs on the bed, carefully drying my hair before dividing it into two parts. I sat still as she twisted my hair into two ponytails, adding pretty bows at the end of each one.
Sitting like this with Mama doing my hair made me remember how things used to be before all the bad stuff started happening. How we would laugh and play and read stories together. How peaceful everything was until the bad people started coming after us.
When she finished with my hair, Mama leaned around to look at me, her face breaking into a big smile—the kind that makes her eyes crinkle at the corners.
"Lani, look at Mama," she said, turning me around to face her. "Aw, you're just too cute! I just can't get over how cute you are." She touched my nose with her finger. "You look just like me."
Her smile grew even bigger as she picked me up suddenly, spinning us around in circles until I felt dizzy and giggly. We fell onto the bed together, and she started tickling my sides and planting noisy kisses all over my face.
"Ma-ma!" I shrieked through my giggles, squirming as her fingers found the ticklish spot under my arms.
For just a moment, I forgot about S City and the bad things in the book. I forgot about being scared. This was my mama—my real mama—not the angry, scary one who hurt people. This was the mama who loved me more than anything in the whole world.
But even as I laughed and played with her, a tiny voice in the back of my head whispered: You have to protect her this time. You can't let her die again.
I wrapped my small arms around her neck, holding on tight. "I love you, Mama," I whispered into her ear.
"I love you more, my little treasure," she whispered back, and I hoped with all my heart that it would be enough to keep the darkness away when we went to S City.