Chapter 23: Blame Game

I must have been way more tired than I thought because the next thing I remembered was my mom leaning over me, worry plain.

She was about to be very unhappy.

"Syd," she helped me sit up, my comforter collapsing around me as I rubbed the blur from my eyes. "What happened?"

I could tell from her stricken look she already knew her wards were gone.

"Not sure," I answered, getting up from the floor and gathering up my pillow and quilt. "But Gram's safe and sound, so no worries." I yawned, almost missing the fear on her face.

"Did she get out?" Mom stared at the door, arms hugging herself.

"Yeah," I said, "but she made the mistake of turning the outside light on. I spotted her and reached her in time. Man, I don't know what the Griesan's did to her but she was stirring up one whopper of a spell." I grinned.

Mom spun on me. "This isn't funny, Sydlynn," she snapped. "Not even a little bit."

My defenses slammed up so hard I barely had time to brace myself. "She's safe, isn't she? So are