Page 33 of Stoney Gazes for Helpful Gorgons

I reach out and put my hand on his back, doing the smooth movement he uses on me sometimes.

"Is there anything I can do?" I ask.

"No. I mean, tell me how I'm supposed to look after a thirteen-year-old all weekend? I don't have the money for that."

I grimace. "Yeah, that's a challenge. There are some free things you could do. I might be able to get my friend Sera to get some passes for the museum she works at. I know it's not fancy, but at least it's free."

"Free is good at this point."

"And I can help you with some of the meals if you want?"

"I can't ask you to do that, Rhea."

"You're not asking, I'm offering," I point out. "And I'm not talking about anything fancy. Just some pasta and tomato sauce. I can make up a big batch of it."

"Thank you," he says softly. But I can see how deflated he's feeling over the whole thing. "I wish I could make it up to you."

"There's nothing to make up," I respond. "You've been helping me since the moment we met, now let me do the same for you."

He looks up, meeting my gaze with all kinds of emotions swimming in his eyes.

The air changes around us, becoming more intense with every passing moment. My heart rate increases and I want nothing more than to give in to the feeling of something within me.

I clear my throat and pull back. "What are you going to do about your dad?"

Jack looks a little dazed as my question sinks in. "I don't know. I want to confront him, but what good is that going to do? Eddy's asked me not to, and he's the one at home, I don't want to make it worse for him."

I nod. "I can see that."

"But then he's being left alone so Dad can go around and do what he wants with his girlfriend."

"Have you got anyone else you can talk to?" I ask. "What about your grandparents?"

His face changes. "I hadn't thought about that."

"You should do it. I know it's not ideal, but maybe they'll have some authority over him."

"I can hope." He rubs a hand over his face. "How is all of this happening?"

"I don't know," I respond. "But I might have an answer to one of your other problems," I say slowly.

"Oh?"

"I was reading up on some stuff to do with magic, and there was a part about stress and depression sometimes causing people's magic to not function at its best. So, maybe the reason you can't turn into stone right now is because you're struggling with everything that's going on." I wait for him to respond, feeling somewhat nervous about it. Mostly because I'm not sure whether our relationship is at the stage where I can suggest things like this.

Then again, he's sitting in my bedroom admitting things he probably doesn't want anyone to know.

He blinks a few times as the words sink in. "I can't change forms because I'm sad about Mum."

"I don't know that for sure, it's just a guess based on what I read today. But it does kind of make sense."

"It does." He lets out a loud sigh. "Okay, then I guess that's good? It'll come back when I'm ready." He actually looks relieved, which is more than I hoped for when I read that.

"How often have you been trying?"

"Not very much, it's not really been at the top of my priority list."

"Fair enough." I reach out and take his hand in mine. "I'm here for what you need."