by Patti Larsen
Kristophe snickered. “Delicious,” he said.
Gram!
Pay attention.
“We’re so glad we ran into you.” As if I wasn’t standing in their doorway. Or that they didn’t know I’d be here. I was positive they had.
“Aren’t we just.” Kristophe eyed me up and down. I satisfied my demon’s need to break him in half by letting her imagine skinning him slowly, starting with his eyelids. She hummed happily to the fantasy as Jean Marc went on.
“We’re holding a bit of a soiree this evening,” he said. “Some of the local children are coming to play.”
It was clear how much they thought of their soon-to-be-guests.
“You must join us,” Kristophe said. “It’s going to be wicked.”
I knew he didn’t mean cool. They were up to something. But even Gram agreed I should probably make myself scarce. Who knew what kind of trouble I could get into if I showed up?
“Thanks but no thanks.” I stood there for a moment, staring them down. “You’re going to move now.”
Kristophe flashed his teeth at me, but Jean Marc didn’t budge.
“You’re sure you won’t change your mind?” Tell me he wasn’t trying to thrall me? I laughed out loud and slapped his magic away, making him wince.
“I said, you’re going to move. Now.” No magic. But I let my demon out, felt my vision alter as she emerged enough for them to see her. The spark of fear in Kristophe’s eyes was satisfying. I just wished I could do more.
“Young masters.” Charlotte was beside me before I heard her approach. “The Mistress is asking for you.”
They slunk off toward the parlor while Charlotte stood next to me, watching them go.
“Have a safe drive home,” she said. Was that a warning?
I did a careful check of my car before I even climbed behind the wheel, just in case.
***
Chapter Thirty Three
As predicted, Mom went ballistic the moment I walked through the kitchen door.
“You were specifically told to stay away from that hotel and that woman!” Mom trembled so much she had to clutch her hands together to keep them from shaking. It just transferred the extra vibration to the rest of her body. “Sydlynn Thaddea Hayle—what were you thinking?”
Gram sat at the table, grinning at me. I kept expecting her to speak up, but she didn’t say a word.
So much for having my back.
“It was go see her now on my terms or run into her at a time I wasn’t prepared.” I used my best logical, thought- this-through voice. It worked in the fact Mom didn’t explode.
Good sign.
“You know better than to take these matters into your own hands.” Mom’s face flushed dark red. “And with your temper and lack of control… Syd, you could have made things much worse.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence.” Her blame game was contagious, as usual. “Just so you know, I happened to hold my own, thanks. Your super scary witch lady isn’t as clever as you both give her credit for.”
Mom’s trembling eased. “What did she want?”
“Finally, asking questions instead of raving at me like a lunatic.” Oops. Went a little too far with that one. Mom’s temper flared.
“You will show me respect, young lady,” she yelled. It was actually kind of funny. I’m not sure what in particular about it made me giggle, but there was nothing threatening about her all of a sudden. She reminded me of Meira throwing a temper tantrum.
Also a bad idea, the whole laughing thing. I had terrible timing, it turned out. But before Mom could turn me into something requiring a terrarium and a steady diet of flies, Gram spoke up.
“Oh Miriam, hush.” Mom spun on her, lips flapping, but no words coming out. “Syd didn’t want to go. She was a good girl, obeyed you just as you asked.”
“Mother.” Mom’s tone dropped to ice cubes in January. “What have you done?”
Gram rolled her eyes and patted the seat next to her. “Sit,” she said. “Syd and I have some things to tell you.”
Mom did, though she perched on the edge of her chair as if she would spontaneously combust at any moment. As calmly as I could, I told her what happened, while Gram just watched. Mom grew paler and paler as I spoke. I kept glancing at Gram, expecting her to join the conversation, but she instead sat back and calmly spun a ball of blue fire in her fingers like it was a toy.
Her ‘we’ had gone out the window.
By the time I finished, Mom had calmed somewhat, but two points of pink remained in her cheeks, and her fury was still clear in her eyes.
“The two of you are a menace,” she muttered.
Gram laughed. “At least Odette’s first salvo has been uncovered,” she said. “Offering young Quaid up as bait while trying to thrall Sydlynn was a resounding failure.”
“It’s not the initial attempts I’m worried about,” Mom snapped. “You know this was just a test.” I was right. I really wished I hadn’t been. So Odette’s cleverness hadn’t been fully explored yet. I still had my doubts she could trick me into anything.
“You don’t give your daughter enough credit.” Gram’s eyes met mine. “She picked up on the old crone’s tricks like she’d been born to manipulating people and turned the tables right back.”
Um, was that a compliment? If so, it was backhanded. I wasn’t sure being considered a great liar was a good thing.
“You’re to stay out of this, Mother.” Mom’s voice rippled with anger. “I don’t trust your motives.”
Gram scowled. “Don’t question me,” she snapped. “You know I only have the best interests of the coven at heart.”
“Do you really?” Mom turned away. “I wonder. You seem very single minded these days, especially once you discovered Odette was coming here.”
“I owe her,” Gram snarled. “You want me to sit back and do nothing?”
“I want you to be more responsible and not drag my daughter, your granddaughter, into unnecessary danger just to satisfy your need for revenge.”
I’d been thinking kind of the same thing, not in so many words. But it was pretty clear to me Gram had her own agenda.
Or did she?
“I have always only ever thought of this family,” Gram said, so much emotion in her voice it was hard to decipher what the mix was made of. “I clawed myself out of insanity to save you, to warn you, at great personal risk and cost. I gave up my life, my mind, to save you all.” It was Gram’s turn to tremble. “Don’t you ever, daughter of mine or not, tell me I’m selfish when it comes to this coven.”
Mom blushed deep red. “Mother, I—“
Gram sat back, the ball of blue light flashing out of existence. “I’ve given up more for this family than anyone should have been asked.” She hugged herself, rocking slightly.
I stood up on impulse, went to her side. She was so frail and thin in my arms when I bent and hugged her. Now that she was mostly sane again, and even when she’d been nuts, she’d always seemed so huge to me. But I forgot how small and old she really was.
She fought me at first, finally hugging me back when I refused to let her go.
“I love you, Gram,” I said.
Her breath caught. I pulled back, met her eyes. Hers were full of tears.
“I’ve always loved you, my very dear,” she said. “My soul twin, you are, you know it, don’t you?”
I nodded, not sure what she meant really, but knowing we would always be connected at the deepest level.
Mom sighed softly. “Mother,” she said, “I’m sorry.”
Gram reached out and squeezed her hand. “I know. Believe me, I would never put any of you in danger. But this is important, Miriam. We can’t shelter anyone any longer.” Gram let me go. “If I learned nothing from my past, it’s that standing and facing problems is always the best recourse.”
“That being said,” I looked back and forth between them, “I’d say it’s time to get rid of our unwanted guests.”
Mom�
�s lips curled into an angry smile. “Agreed.”
But Gram shook her head. “Not yet,” she said. “Not quite.”
Mom opened her mouth to argue, but Gram held up one hand to silence her. “Miriam, the Dumont family will not simply go away. Odette has an agenda. We know her goal is to destroy our coven. And that she plans to prod us like a sleeping bear until she manages to rouse us to fight her. But like us, she knows she must somehow make us act first.”
“It’s not like the High Council is paying attention anyway,” I said, remembering how many times we’d needed their help and had been ignored again and again.
“I’m not so sure you’re right,” Gram said softly. “I have a feeling they are watching us very carefully indeed.”
Mom nodded slowly. “Very well,” she said. “We’ll wait this out, gather evidence against them. But Mother, we can’t play this game forever. I will eventually have to insist they leave. And I’m not certain I can do that without starting something.”
Gram grinned. “Don’t worry,” she said, “I’m much more ornery than Odette. I’ll find a way to prod her right back. And make her act out first.”
Why did that make me nervous?
***
Chapter Thirty Four
I came pounding down the stairs when I heard voices in the kitchen, almost running right into Dad.
“Cupcake,” he said. He looked distressed, like he had bad news or something. My heart constricted, but he simple stepped aside. “Please be careful.”
Okay, not good at all. I ran into the kitchen with him following, Galleytrot panting beside me, to find Uncle Frank sitting with Mom at the table. He looked up as I entered, normally boyishly charming face grim.
“Hey Syd,” he said, going for all casual despite the tension in the room. Sassafras hissed softly from the end of the table, eyes glowing amber.
“What happened?” I looked back and forth between Mom and Uncle Frank while Dad’s hands settled on my shoulders and squeezed.
“Nothing,” Mom said, while Uncle Frank said, “It’s okay, kiddo.”
“What’s okay?” I was so close to blowing my top I shook Dad’s hands off and spun away from him. “Tell me what’s going on.”
“Two vampires are missing,” Mom said softly. “Sunny is sure they were taken down by the werewolves.”
“Any proof?” I was shaking for a different reason now. Were we that close to the end of this little exercise? I was so ready.
“None,” Uncle Frank said. “We have nothing, no recourse, no reason to accuse or strike. But we’re sure.”
Not that I was a huge fan of all of the vampires in the blood clan or anything. I barely knew most of them. Anastasia was the only one I’d had much contact with outside of Sebastian, Uncle Frank and Sunny and she was a bit of a bitch. Still, they were our vampires, damn it. Or at least I thought of them as ours. Mom’s magic was linked to theirs. No one touched them and got away with it.
“Miriam, we need to act.” Sassafras vibrated with anger. “This can not be tolerated. They are chewing away at our edges like a rat at a piece of cheese.”
“There’s more to this, isn’t there?” I knew it, there had to be.
Mom sighed. “Nothing specific,” she said. “But some of our number have mentioned their dissatisfaction with the coven and have expressed desire to leave in favor of the Dumonts.”
That was a massive blow. Though I understood how convincing Odette could be.
“She’s cheating,” I snarled.
Mom nodded. “She is,” she said, “and that’s against coven law. So if she succeeds, we’ll have her on counts of thralling other witches. A severe penalty. She’ll be forced to step down as coven leader if convicted.”
“But you don’t think it’s enough.” I forced myself to unclench my fingers from the fists I’d made when Galleytrot shoved his huge nose under my hand. His warm fur was enough to soften me just a little.
“I do,” Mom said, “but your grandmother doesn’t. And she has far more experience with these things than I do.”
What was that supposed to mean? And speaking of Gram, where was she?
“Miriam, we have to do something.” Dad’s voice was low and soft, but tinged with anxiety. “They will simply continue as Sassafras said, wearing us down until someone makes a mistake.”
He was right. There were about a hundred of us all told. All the Dumonts needed was to trip up one of our number badly enough. Mom was responsible for us all. But I was less worried about the others in the coven.
“She wants us,” I said. “Odette’s not going to settle for just anyone bringing the family down, is she?”
Mom stared back at me. “No,” she said. “She’s after me.”
“In the meantime,” Uncle Frank said, “those grandkids of hers are wreaking havoc with the locals.”
The party. I’d forgotten about it. “Many at the hotel?” Not that I cared. Except some of the kids in town were actually nice. Okay, most of them.
Uncle Frank nodded. “The place is packed,” he said. Grimaced. “Syd, I saw Alison there.”
My heart skipped, sped up, crashed against my ribs. “What?”
He glanced at Mom. “She looked pretty drunk.”
I was heading for the door before anyone could stop me, but Mom was quicker. She bolted toward the exit, putting herself between me and the Dumonts.
“Syd, listen to me.” She gripped my upper arms in her hands, her magic wrapping around me. “You can’t go up there.”
“I have to.” I gritted my teeth against the need to slap her power away. My demon howled her outrage and even Shaylee protested with some heat so I knew if I let my temper out I was in serious trouble. “It’s Alison, Mom.”
“Who they will use to get to you.” She let me go slowly, with great sadness. “Honey, they won’t dare hurt her. But if you show up and try to stop whatever it is they have planned, they will find a way to push you past your breaking point. It’s what they do.”
She was totally and completely right. But I still had to go. Mom must have seen it in my face.
“Don’t make me order you.” She sighed softly. “Oh Syd, just listen to me for once.”
I shook my head. “I can’t. Mom, I have to go.”
“Miriam,” Dad said. I turned as Mom looked up at him. He approached the both of us, face sad but expression firm. “She has to go.” He leaned forward and kissed my forehead. “Because if things were reversed, you would.”
Mom struggled for an argument, her face contorting with it. Finally she slumped and nodded.
“Just be careful,” she whispered. “I have to stay out of it. You know I do.”
I nodded. “I know, Mom,” I said. “I won’t let them get to me. I’m going to find Alison and take her home. End of story.”
“You’re not going alone.” Galleytrot pressed his huge head against my legs as he slid around Dad. “I’m coming with you.”
“Me too,” Uncle Frank said. “But only as far as the parking lot.” Dad stepped aside as Uncle Frank stood up and hugged Mom. “I’ll be watching her,” he said, like I needed an undead babysitter along with my Fey dog. His blue eyes met mine. “But she’ll be fine, won’t you, Syd?”
We bumped fists. “Piece of cake,” I said.
I left before Mom could change her mind. Because with our without her approval, there was no way I would let the Dumonts have my best friend.
I paused only long enough to pull an old blanket out of Minnie’s trunk for the back seat before Galleytrot heaved himself inside. He took up the entire space, his muzzle sticking out between the front seats.
“Drool on my car and you’re toast,” I said.
He chuffed a laugh in reply. Uncle Frank leaned down, looking in the window. “I’ll meet you there,” he said before flickering into shadow and vanishing.
It was a quiet drive, punctuated by Galleytrot’s soft panting and me trying to decide how I was going to rescue Alison if she didn’t want to leave. I fina
lly decided if she fought me on it I’d leave her there. Magic thrall or not, I had to choose my family first.
But she was family too.
Man this sucked. A lot.
The parking lot was packed. I had to leave Minnie near the entry to the road, pulled sideways to protect her in case someone else arrived in a hurry. Good thing she was so compact. I could hear music all the way from where we were, lights on in every room in the place, the sounds and sights of the party in full swing.
Galleytrot leapt from the back seat, shaking vigorously as he landed on the gravel.
“Let’s go get her,” he growled, his deep voice calling up his magic, the very ground beneath me rumbling from it.
I suddenly felt a whole lot better having him with me.
The werewolves were all around me in the dark. I felt them watching, pacing us, following from where they hid in the shadows all the way to the front door. Raoul stood there, watching us approach. I didn’t slow, but kept walking at the same pace, as though I intended to walk right through him.
I did, actually. No rules against hurting the weres. None whatsoever.
I think he finally took me seriously because he raised his hands, suddenly flanked by three more of his people. Charlotte wasn’t one of them and I found myself disappointed by that.
“You may pass, of course,” he said, “but no pets allowed.”
Galleytrot growled, the most menacing sound I’d ever heard. Green power flowed down the length of him, rippling his fur. His huge eyes flared with red power as he seemed to grow and fill out, becoming the black dog of the Wild Hunt.
He scared the crap out of me and he was my friend.
But instead of insisting he be allowed entry, he said, “If any harm befalls Sydlynn Hayle while she is in your care, I will call up the power of my ancestors and I will drag all of you to the halls of the Unseelie for an eternity of torment.”
He was pulling out the big threats. The Unseelie were the more chaotic side of the Sidhe, less mischievous and more murderous from what I understood, but I had no idea if Galleytrot was bluffing or not.