by Patti Larsen
I don't want to hurt her, she sent in a snarl. Or my son. But I will if I have to.
I know, I sent back. We're working on it. Knowing she was probably eavesdropping anyway, I let Gram in on the conversation with my vampire. Keep going, I sent to her. Demonicon.
Your father contained me, she sent, still disgusted. In that gem.
Right. Okay, I sent as I shuddered from the pressure of Sunny's power. What does that have to do with Sunny? The queen dove headfirst for me, puncturing the outer layer of my shielding, pouring her darkened spirit magic into the surface of the wards. I felt myself weakening until my sorcery latched on and began to drain her. She shuddered and pulled away, howling to the ceiling, burning with white fire.
My vampire sighed as though I was dense. You drew me out and contained me, she sent.
Oh. Gotcha.
Gram prodded me. Hurry the hell up, she grumbled. Before she hurts her damned self. Sunny was now hurtling herself against the shields with abandon, gnawing on the edge as Uncle Frank pounded away with his spirit magic.
I need someone to channel it through. It had been Uncle Frank last time.
No, my vampire sent, you don't. You have me.
She was so smart I just wanted to smack her.
Bracing myself for the experience, fully open to my vampire, I let a small gap open in front of Sunny and stepped into it, reaching for her. She lunged at me, claws sinking into my arm, pain spiking, blood gushing from me, but it didn't matter.
I had her.
The taint came almost willingly, suctioned down into my sorcery, forming a writhing mass at my feet. I shuddered from it even as it raced through me, not hurting me, but stirring my nausea again. I wished there was some way to wash my insides and knew I'd be taking a very long and very hot shower at the first opportunity.
But I'd never be clean again.
Sunny gasped, her body returning to human form, claws retracting from my flesh as her eyes and mouth opened wide, blackness pouring from her and into me. Uncle Frank staggered, his darkness rushing to her and out again. I felt the oncoming rush of power before it appeared, the stain spread to Sunny’s bloodline on every continent rushing back to source. I had just enough time to flinch before a great wave of taint burst against the stained glass window, shattering it inward, collapsing on Sunny and, in a surge of waste and rot, through me. The last of it burst from her, a bubble of filth, falling with a wet gurgle to meld with the rest.
Now, my vampire sent. Contain it.
She showed me an image, of the cavern in Wilding Springs where Sebastian had retreated to die. Flashed to me pulling her out of him, through Uncle Frank. To Dad. A shot of Demonicon, of her fighting my father, how he compressed her power, formed a gem from her very essence.
Gotcha.
I compressed the taint with my magic, corralling it into a single entity. It fought, writhing and struggling for freedom while my alter egos fenced it in. My sorcery spun beneath it, maji power crushing it with fire and my own blood still seeping from my arm, condensing it, tighter and tighter. It floated higher, rising to eye-level as it spun into facets, the size of a watermelon, a baseball, finally flashing on its edges as it imploded into a stone no bigger than a pea.
My vampire forced my hand out, opened my fingers, my palm itching with the need to pull away even as the gem spun on its axis before dropping into my waiting hand. The hard edges hummed with life, but I no longer felt the taint outside its confines, firmly trapped within.
I looked up and into Sunny's eyes as she stared at me in horror.
“Syd,” she whispered. “What have I done?”
***
Chapter Twenty
I let the shield drop completely as the vampires around me either collapsed or stood stunned, looking around at each other, blinking, waking as though from a terrible dream. Uncle Frank came forward, hugged me, tall, strong body shaking.
“Love you,” he whispered into my hair before turning to Gram and hugging her, too.
Sunny just stared at me with horror growing in her eyes, both hands clutching at her skirt, giant fistfuls of satin crushed under her grip. I stepped into her space, slid my arms around her and squeezed her, let her feel my love for her even as the gem with the taint pulsed softly in my fist.
She hugged me back, but it took some time, hands finally releasing their death grip on her skirt, rising to press against my back, cold cheek on mine.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“Sunny,” I leaned back. “What happened?”
She shook her head, frown creasing her flawless face as she sank to the step behind her, head in her hands. “I don't know,” she said. Uncle Frank joined her, the vampires of her court falling back, some whimpering, others crying softly as they held each other. Only Piotr glared at me still, though he embraced himself as though unwilling to look to others for comfort. “We returned after the wedding. And everything is fuzzy from there.”
“Exactly,” Uncle Frank said, one arm going around her shoulders. “I remember thinking how gray life seemed and then… nothing.” He shook his head, blonde hair, grown almost to his shoulders, swinging. His blue eyes brimmed with anxiety. “So you tell us, Syd. What happened?”
“I'm sorry,” I said. “This is my fault. I knew something was wrong, and you weren't talking to me, but I didn't come to find out why.”
Sunny leaned against Uncle Frank. “Don't you dare apologize,” she said. “I can tell by the look on your face you've had more things to worry about than us.” She met her husband's eyes. “And we should have been able to take care of our own.”
I wasn't the only one beating myself up, I guess.
“Enough stabbing yourselves with guilt,” Gram snapped. Jabbed me in the ribs with one finger. “Tell them.”
I did. Everything, knowing how little time I had, that dawn was coming. But they needed to know. From the wedding on. How Ameline tried to take over the Node on Demonicon, my adventures there, my trip to the Sidhe realm the first time around and almost losing Shaylee. Capturing Ameline. The loss of the Dumont magic thanks to the Brotherhood and subsequent return. And now, the Sidhe again, Sebastian's displacement. Ameline. And, the worst, Mom and her battle with the Council magic. I sank down to sit with them, feeling Sunny's fingers run through my hair, the comforting gesture I remembered from being a girl when they used to live with us, in cupboards in the basement. They, along with Sassafras, had been my constants when my life seemed so wrong.
How could I let them down like this?
“So you think the Brotherhood did this.” Sunny let her fingers linger on my cheek. “To control us.”
“And take your power eventually,” I said. “I'm worried about Pannera.”
Sunny nodded absently, eyes locked on the distance as a chill wind blew through the gaping hole in the back wall where the window used to be. She waved at it, off hand, a glowing white shield blocking the rising air current. “Considering their track record, I can only assume you're correct.” She stood, taking my hand, pulling me to my feet, facing her people. “I've been compromised,” she said, no nonsense, taking it all on herself. “And through me, all of you.” They shuddered, exchanged worried looks. “And now, I fear, our sister clan, the Sthols, are also at risk.” First time I heard the other clan in those terms. Was Sunny making headway to peace with Pannera before it all went to hell?
“My queen.” Piotr's snarling voice cut through the fear and worry compressing the air in the room. “You've failed us.”
The rest of the gathering gasped, but Sunny didn't hesitate. She flew past me, flashing around behind him. One hand gripped Piotr's throat, claws digging into his flesh as she hovered, teeth at his jugular.
“My queen,” he choked, “what is your will?”
She let him go, shoved him so hard he fell, and though the others looked immediately more confident, I worried for her. Piotr's attitude wouldn't be stilled so easily.
I shouldn't have doubted her. Sunny's magic burst from her
in a wash of white light, slicing through every vampire in the room, making them cry out in pain and fear.
“Go to your blood clans,” she said, as cold and imperious as she had been when I first arrived. “Cleanse them if you must. Report back immediately. And Piotr.” She turned to him. “Go to Castle Sthol. I would speak with Queen Pannera.”
He gaped at her as though she just asked him to cut off his own leg. “My queen, dawn is coming.” Gasped from between his lips, full of fear. I watched him wince, face crumbling under the pain of her order as he collapsed to his knees, clutching at his head. I knew that pain, felt it when Batsheva had control over me and a fraction of it earlier before I'd broken free of Sunny's command.
“Now,” Sunny said, ever so softly.
With a cry of agony, Piotr, face a desperate mask, flickered into shadow and vanished.
I had no idea what Pannera would do to him if he wasn't welcome.
Frankly, didn't much care.
Besides, I was much too busy to worry about Piotr, especially when the air around me burst with blue magic and Margaret Applegate, surrounded by Enforcers, appeared in a flare of power.
Her glare told me I may have dodged one bullet, but she had me firmly in her sights for another barrage.
“Coven Leader Hayle,” she said in her crisp British accent. “What are you doing in my territory?”
I didn't get to answer. Good thing, too. I probably would have been burned at the stake then and there for saying some rather rude things to a foreign Council Leader. Instead, Sunny pushed her way past me, glaring up at the floating witch.
“Council Leader Applegate,” Sunny said, mimicking the woman's tone exactly, “what are you doing in my territory?
Best. Comeback. Ever.
Snort.
Margaret grumbled and Margaret glared but, under Sunny's furious cold gaze, Margaret finally relented. She pointed one finger at me, still bobbing in the air, ridiculously comfortable looking shoes swaying beneath her.
“This isn't over.” And then, with a wave at her posse, the air flared blue again and she left.
I was in total crapola so deep I'd never shovel my way free when I got home. But I didn't care.
“Syd.” Sunny turned me toward her. “We must talk to Miriam.”
“Mom can't do anything.” Uncle Frank looked so sad and so grim I wanted to hug him again. Okay, I wanted him to hug me and make me feel better. Wasn't going to happen. “We're on our own.”
“The only way Pannera would allow Celeste to take over Sebastian's blood clan is if she was under the same influence we were.” Sunny shook with the anger on her face. “We have to free her before something terrible happens.”
“Why didn't the Brotherhood use us, since they had us so deeply in thrall?” Uncle Frank's voice vibrated with emotion.
“I don't know,” I said. “Unless they were holding you in some kind of reserve. Or you weren't completely under control yet.”
True, my vampire sent. If the taint had been allowed to progress further, we would never have been able to free the Wilhelms.
“I know you're already in trouble,” Sunny said, “but if you can free Pannera... Syd, we have to try.”
This close to morning? Sunny was pushing it. I could feel the coming of dawn through my vampire, though she didn't keep me from moving around in daylight. But could we afford to wait?
No, Sunny was right. And I hated the idea of it. The Sthol Queen and I weren't exactly buddies. She'd claimed to want to help me when I was here last time, but I knew she'd throw me under the first bus to dead she could if it meant getting ahead.
And if someone who loved me could turn on me like Sunny did, what kind of reaction would I get from Pannera? Then again, it couldn't get much worse.
Could it?
I used the veil this time, despite Demetrius's offer to guide us. Instead, I let Sunny's memory guide me, taking her hand as she and I, Charlotte with us, stepped up to the slash in the barrier.
I turned to see Uncle Frank, one arm around Gram, nod to us as my grandmother hugged her son. Comical, the tall, handsome vampire and his scrawny, white-haired mother. But so much power surrounded the both of them, I wasn't worried.
“I'll be right back,” I said.
Little did I know how prophetic my statement would turn out to be.
The gem of taint tucked into my front pocket for safe keeping, I stepped into the veil with Sunny and Charlotte.
Emerged on a windy mountain road at the gates of another castle, the night still deep, but softening in the east. To find a row of vampires waiting, scowling. And Margaret Applegate smiling grimly down on me from where she floated over head with her Enforcer bullies.
“Our queen does not wish to see you.” I didn't know the vampire who spoke, a dark-haired young woman in appearance, though she stank of the taint now I knew what to feel for. “You are not welcome here.”
Maybe if Margaret hadn't been there, we would have pushed the issue. She didn't give us the chance.
“That's it,” she snapped. “You heard her. And, now that you're outside the realm of the Wilhelms and in my territory,” she looked too satisfied for my liking, making me suspect the Brotherhood really did have a hold on her again, “I'm ordering you to leave.” She hovered closer, lip curling into a sneer. “Not asking.”
Fury did me no good. It just burned a hole inside me as I ripped open the veil again and retreated.
I hated losing.
***
Chapter Twenty One
Margaret and her band of unmerry Enforcers appeared shortly after we returned to Castle Wilhelm. She barely gave me time to pick up Gram. Watching the Council Leader glare at me from outside the castle gates as Sunny led me inside, I considered staying, just to piss the woman off. After all, she had no authority in Sunny's domain.
But I'd stirred up enough trouble, from what I could tell, and I really didn't have time to play power games with a stubborn, old, British witch.
Sunny hugged me as we prepared to leave, sparing me a few more minutes despite the fact a line of vampires, growing by the second, clamored for her attention.
“I'll keep you updated on Pannera,” she said, kissing me softly on the cheek. “I hate to lose the day, but I have no choice.” Her eyes seemed haunted to me, though her face settled into her usual calm and kindness. I worried Sunny might punish herself too much for what happened and promised myself I'd be back as soon as I could to talk to her and offer what support I could.
When this was over.
If it ever ended.
“I'm coming with you.” Uncle Frank had changed into jeans and a leather jacket, hair as short as I always remembered it. Not that a haircut and swap out of clothes could make him less attractive, but he looked more like his old self and less like a vampire. “Miriam might be fighting the Council's power but she—and it—can't ignore what's going on forever.”
I silently wished him luck, sure he'd get about as far as I had, but welcoming the chance Mom might crack if her brother showed up.
Yeah, wasn't holding my breath.
Uncle Frank left us as we stepped out into the grass of the park into full night again, but not before hugging me. I was suddenly sixteen again, needing my tall, strong uncle to lean on, feeling his chilly body, unfed, leeching warmth from mine.
Syd, he sent. I love you. Please, be careful.
You too, I sent back. Mom's... just be prepared, okay? I let him see an image of her, as I'd seen her last and Uncle Frank flinched.
Damn her. He pulled away, looked down at me. She's too stubborn for her own good.
Is that what you call it? I couldn't help the wry smile tugging at the corner of my mouth.
Uncle Frank laughed. “I guess it's my turn to see if I can make your mother cry.”
That old joke actually made me giggle. “You can have that job,” I said.
He reached for Gram, squeezed her until she swatted him. He planted a wet smack on her forehead.
“I'l
l need a place to crash.” He winked at me. “Hope the basement is still available?”
“You bet.” I waved, feeling a little forlorn, like he was riding off into a battle he'd never win as Uncle Frank saluted before flickering into shadow and disappearing.
I followed Gram and Charlotte into the yard, Demetrius hopping and bobbing beside me. When I finally met his eyes he pointed at my pocket.
“Kill it,” he said.
Huh? My hand settled over the denim, the tiny bulge reminding me what I carried. I slipped the compressed taint out into the open air and had a look at it.
How innocent it seemed now, like a tiny black diamond, glittering in the light from over the back door.
“I take it you have a plan to destroy it?” I met Demetrius's gaze again and heard him groan in agony.
“You must,” he said. Slammed both fists into his thighs several times before speaking again in a broken stutter. “But, d-d-don't let it o-o-out.”
That would probably be bad. I let my power ease forward, felt around the edges of the gem, now nervous. “If it escapes, can I contain it again?”
My vampire answered this time. There's no way of knowing, she sent. But if it does manage to flee, it could contaminate vampires here. Or worse, return to the Brotherhood.
Why worse? They could have it as far as I was concerned.
My vampire's disgust with my attitude came through loud and clear. There is a great deal of power contained in that gem, she sent. Paused. Almost as much as my own.
Well, there was a revelation. Are you saying this is some kind of alter you? Dark you?
She shrugged inside me. No, she sent. It has no sentience. But its power base has built in hundreds, if not thousands, of vampires.
So destroying it won't be some walk in the park. Sigh. Nothing was easy, was it? I thought of the cave on the edge of my territory, the very one I'd only just shielded and hidden from view. I think I know a place we can try it.