Shadow Oracle by Laura Greenwood

Seven

The restaurant is already crowdedwhen we arrive, which oddly does very little to soothe my nerves. I've never met anyone's parents before.

Well, that's not true. I've met plenty of people who are parents. But I haven't met any of them in the context of them being the parents of someone I'm dating. Or even friends with, and I suppose with Tobias and Juliet also going to be here, it's a little of that too.

"They're going to love you," Mathias assures me, reaching out to take my hand in his, giving it a squeeze.

"I hope so."

"How can they not when I…" he trails off.

A small part of me wants to prompt him to finish his thought, but I'm not sure I'm ready for him to. Especially not when we're in a restaurant full of people. This is the kind of conversation that should be had just the two of us, in a private room, and when neither of us has to go anywhere after.

A middle-aged woman at the back of the room waves to us.

Mathias returns the gesture and starts to guide us over there.

Ah. That must be his mum.

I take a deep breath trying to soothe the nerves growing inside me.

The woman jumps to her feet as we arrive and pulls Mathias into a tight hug.

"Mum, Dad, this is my girlfriend, Syxe," he says as he pulls back. "These are my parents." He squeezes my hand to reassure me everything is okay.

"It's lovely to meet you, honey," his mum says. "I'm glad you could join us."

I smile. "Likewise."

She directs us to the two empty chairs.

I sit next to Juliet, glad my best friend is going through this too. I suppose that's one of the advantages to us dating twins that I've never considered before.

"I'm glad you're finally here," she whispers to me.

"That bad?"

She shakes her head. "I'm just starving. We had a ghost that took longer than expected earlier and I ended up having to skip lunch to go to Latin."

I wrinkle my nose. "I don't know why you take it."

Juliet shrugs. "We deal with the dead regularly, it only felt right to learn a dead language."

I groan. "Please tell me you didn't take it just so you could make that joke?"

"You'll never know," she teases.

Mathias hands me a fancy looking menu. A quick scan ends up with me feeling like I'm super out of place. I've never eaten anywhere like this before.

"What's good?" I ask Mathias.

Understanding dawns on him. "You'll like the chicken," he assures me. "Or maybe the ravioli. We can get one of each if you want? Then I'll have the one you like the least."

"Isn't there something you want more?" I ask.

He shakes his head. "I can never decide what to have anyway."

I narrow my eyes at him, knowing he's not telling me the entire truth, but I don't want to argue with him about it. Especially when it doesn't actually solve the problem of what I'm going to eat.

He places the order for me. Thankfully. I don't think I'd have been able to say half of the things right. I've not had a bad education, but it's becoming clear that there are a lot of things I haven't experienced thanks to my sheltered upbringing.

I'll thank him for saving me from embarrassing myself later.

"Tobias says that you're also a Grove Captain," Mrs Carey says to Juliet.

"Yes, for Sakura Grove. We entered the competition to become Captains together."

"Is that how you met?"

"We'd worked together a few times before that," Juliet admits. "He stepped in for my previous seer partner when he was sick."

The questions continue, and I try to make note of them so I can prepare my own answers, assuming that she's going to want to know the same kinds of things about me and Mathias.

The twins' dad stays silent through the whole exchange, but from the expression on his face, he seems to be listening intently.

The more time passes, the more I start to relax, especially as it becomes clear that Mathias' parents just want to get to know us. There's nothing to worry about.

Our starters arrive just in time for my stomach to let out a loud rumble, though the sound is drowned out by the general chatter of the diners around us.

I load up my fork and take a bite, delighted by how delicious it is.

"Syxe is a pretty name," Mrs Carey says, seeming to have turned her attention away from Juliet and towards me now that there's been a natural break in the conversation. "Is it a traditional one in your family?"

"Mum," Mathias warns, making it clear he's told his parents at least a little about my past.

Horror flits across her face. "Oh, honey, I'm so sorry, I forgot."

"It's okay," I assure her with a smile that I hope conveys I'm not bothered by the mistake. "I don't know if it's a family name. It might be." I have no idea if my mother was even the one who named me.

"How are you finding Scythe Grove?" Mr Carey asks. He must have sensed his wife's discomfort. "Mathias says you joined late."

"I did," I admit. "I had no idea I was a reaper until a few months ago. It's been hectic and eye-opening, but amazing at the same time."

"She's a natural," Mathias puts in. "She catapulted us both up to the top ten for reaper bounty points in our year."

"You did that too," I counter.

"It was a team effort," he agrees. "But I wasn't in the top ten before, and I am now we're a team. I don't think that's a coincidence."

"It's not," Mrs Carey says, seeming to have regained her composure. "The right reaper partner is the key to success. If you want to get into the Reaper Guard, you should definitely keep at it."

"That's the plan," Mathias says with forced cheerfulness which draws a curious look from Tobias. It seems Mathias hasn't told him about the conversation we had. Which makes sense when neither of us actually made up our minds.

"Just keep your options open," Mr Carey says. "You never know what'll be the right career path for you."

The conversation lulls into my general topics. I join in when I can think of something to say, but for the most part, I stay silent and listen. At first, it's hard to settle in, but that's just because I'm new to the group. It's easy to notice Juliet having the same reservations as I do. But the fact two of us are new, and the twins are aware of that means we're included more than we might have been otherwise.

It all passes surprisingly quickly, though from the amount the restaurant has emptied, it's been hours.

We say our goodbyes and make our way outside to head back to our homes.

"Syxe, do you have a moment?" Mrs Carey asks.

Nerves fill me. Is she going to tell me to stay away from her son and stop dragging him into difficult situations? Technically, Mathias hasn't ended up in direct danger because of knowing me, but I'm not foolish enough to think the threat isn't there.

Even so, I nod. "I'll catch up in a minute," I tell my friends.

I step towards the older woman and out of earshot.

"I'm really sorry about earlier," she says, surprising me. "Mathias did tell me about your parents and I shouldn't have brought it up."

"It's fine, it's an easy thing to forget."

Sadness fills her eyes. "That might be the case, but it still must be a tough reminder, especially when you're around a family."

"I don't think I really thought about it like that," I admit.

She nods, seeming to understand but appearing heartbroken about it. "I can't imagine what it must have been like growing up without a mother."

"To be fair, I don't know what it's like growing up with one to compare."

"I know some things must be a lot harder because of it. But if you ever want someone to talk to about things that you'd talk to a mother about, please know you can call me. Mathias cares about you a great deal, and I care about my sons' happiness more than anything. That extends to you now too. And Juliet too. But I just want you to know that you have somewhere to turn if you want to."

A lump forms in my throat. I've never imagined this. I've barely imagined what a reunion with my own mother would be like, it never seemed likely.

"Thank you," I say quietly.

Mrs Carey smiles, but it doesn't quite chase away the sadness. But it isn't pity, and that's something I can live with.

"Get Mathias to give you my number. And if you want to talk, just let me know. It doesn't matter what it's about."

"Thank you," I repeat. "I appreciate it." Though there are some topics she won't be hearing about.

"It was lovely to meet you. I hope we get to do this again soon."

"Me too."

"But I think the others are waiting for you." She nods towards where my friends are still standing.

"Thank you for dinner." I wave and head back in the direction of the academy with plenty to think about.

"What did she say?" Mathias asks.

"She told me to get her number off you and that I could call any time I wanted."

He chuckles. "I should have known."

"Why?"

"She's always wanted a big family with lots of children. I think she was happy when there were two of us, but then there weren't any others. She's always gone above and beyond for our friends. Birthday cakes, celebration cards, you name it," he says.

"Oh yeah, Mum's over the moon that we've both got girlfriends," Tobias adds. "That's two more people she can dote on."

Their words put me a bit more at ease about the situation. If she's always like this, then I'm only a little special.

I sigh and lean into Mathias. He puts his arm around me and we walk slowly back to the portal. At least it won't be long until we're back in our rooms. It's been a fun meal, but I want nothing more than to spend some alone time with him.