Chapter 6 Mom Are you okay

Finally clean, Orion and I head downstairs, where Mom and Angelica are nibbling on snacks in the kitchen. It's already past lunchtime? I guess we'd been at it a little longer than I thought...Orion and I share a sheepish look before joining them in the kitchen.

"Well, look who finally decided to join us," Mom says. Except, what should've sounded like teasing sounds more like... criticism? Even Orion looks taken aback-he's known my mom for almost a decade, after all. He practically grew up with us, so he knows my mom well enough to feel that something isn't quite right.

We share a look: does she know we've been upstairs having sex? We've done it here before, plenty of times, and as much as we like to pretend she doesn't know...she probably does. She's just never said anything to me before other than, "Be careful, Belly. You have your whole future ahead of you, and I know you know that."

So, I am almost 100% sure that us having sex on my birthday shouldn't be a reason for her to be upset with me. Not more than any other day, anyway.

"I didn't think we were on a schedule today," I say lightly, trying to make a joke of it. "Besides, don't we get to sleep as much as we want on our birthday? Isn't that some kind of unspoken rule?"

"Sleeping, yes," mom says, looking at me with a coldness in her eyes I've never seen before. Instantly, my insides freeze. This definitely doesn't feel right.

The tension in the room intensifies so fast, it makes it feel like we've been dropped into a vacuum chamber. What the hell is going on? I catch movement behind Mom's shoulder and see Angelica smile at me: is she trying to reassure me? But...there's something a little weird about her eyes, too.

My magic is brand new. Aside from last night when the witchmark burned into the back of my neck, I haven't felt it again. Will it even work if I call upon it now?

Cautiously, I reach out with my magic and instantly feel something ominous scurrying away, like a bug or a rat. But before I can chase after it, Angelica interrupts me.

"So what are your guys' plans for the rest of the day? I'm planning on meeting up with the girls tonight since I assumed you two would want to be...alone. We'll probably be partying pretty late." She meets my eyes and, with a certain look, she relays the rest of the message: if you want some quiet alone time with your precious boyfriend, it will have to be somewhere other than our apartment.

"I will be taking my lovely lady out on the town for her birthday," Orion says, grabbing my hand and kissing it in front of my mom and sister. Normally, when he does silly stuff like this, they would laugh-or at the very least smile-but my mom just furrows her brow. "I suppose we'd better get going, Jezzie..."

I grab a bottle of water from the fridge, walking behind Mom to do so. Normally, when I get close to her, she'd pat my back or sweep my hair behind my ear, but right now she doesn't even look at me. She just sighs.

I pause at the front door. "See you tomorrow, Mom! Love you! Bye, Angel."

"Bye." Angelica is the only one to reply.

What in the Nine Hells is going on?? Feeling nauseous, I shut the door behind me and follow Orion to his car.