Chapter 257: Chapter 257: Adjustments

Once family time was over and she'd deemed Dad sufficiently recovered, Mom spent the rest of the evening trying to restore his power. Which meant Sassafras endured it right along with them.

I waited, watched, saw the pain in Sassy's face, his endless squirming, waffling between empathy for what was clearly an uncomfortable process for him and annoyance he was making such a big deal out of it.

It was as if Mom was trying to use the family magic to wrestle the power out of Sassy, but every time the column of power dove inside him, the amber magic reacted, at first fighting her, then dissipating so her energy simply slid through him like a sieve over water.

When Dad finally cried out while Mom's magic wove a lattice between the pair, hurting him too, she finally relented.

"We'll try again in the morning." She patted Dad's hands without a glance for the rest of us, including Meira who clung to me like I could save her from what was happening.