by Robin Roseau
"And are you a partial owner of those businesses?"
"Yes. They will not become a maid and pool boy, unless that is what they want."
"You will help."
"I will help."
"Money."
"You are asking for money?"
"I want to know what you propose. You are taking away my livelihood."
"What do you want?"
"I want to know what to expect. What did you expect when you originally came to me. Do I have to give up my car because I can't afford insurance and gas? Do I have to stop reading because I no longer have money for books? What?"
"I'm sorry. I didn't think of these things."
"And so?" I crossed my arms.
"Is this coming down to money, Lyra? Is that what you want? How much? A million? Five million? Ten? How much do you want?"
"That would be a lot of books, Verity. I want a job and I expect to be paid a fair wage based on my skills and experience."
"Your job is to learn to use your magic, and you will be kept very, very busy doing so."
"Too busy to read myself to sleep at night?"
"Well, no."
"Then how will I buy books?"
She made a disgusted sound. "I asked you how much you wanted."
"I told you. I want to earn my money. I'm not looking for a handout. If I have to clean your house for minimum wage, then that's what I'll do. But I want to know now."
"I just offered you five million, and you're offering to clean toilets for minimum wage? I don't get it."
"What don't you get? Pride? I'm just the poor little witch girl, so I shouldn't have any pride?"
"We're talking about pocket change? Pocket change?"
"Maybe to you it's pocket change, Verity. Maybe to the two-hundred-year-old witch, my needs are nothing. But they are my needs. Mine! Do you understand?"
Until then, I hadn't realized how close I was to completely losing it. I turned away from her. "Fuck." I stomped my foot. "Fuck, fuck, fuck."
"Lyra," she said gently. "I'm not as good at this as Raelyn is. Maybe we should ask for her to help."
"Why would I want that backstabbing bitch to help?" I asked. "I never want to see her again."
"I thought you wanted Cybele to give her to you."
"I wanted to know what you were offering. It sounds like you're not offering me a thing I want."
Verity set her hands on my shoulders.
"Go away. Verity, I-" But then she was upon me, her hand over my mouth.
"No!" she said. "This is a communication problem. That's all this is. Do not reject me over a communication problem, Lyra. Please. What do you want? Just tell me what you want."
I stood there, not speaking.
"Please, is it safe to take my hand away. Don't say those words. You won't be able to take them back."
I thought then nodded my head. She removed her hand, and I glanced at Cybele for a moment. She was watching us, and she was smiling.
"She's beautiful," I said. "As long as I leave my second-sight off."
"She is," Verity agreed. "Her aura didn't always look like that. It used to be quite beautiful."
"What happened? Do you know?"
"Her daughter was murdered in front of her. It took her years to repay everyone responsible, but her aura has looked like that ever since."
"Oh hell," I said. "I wish I didn't know that. It's hard to hate her now." I turned back. "You didn't have to tell me that, you know."
Verity shrugged.
I studied her for a minute. I looked back at Cybele, watching intently. Raelyn was watching, too, but her expression was impossible for me to read. I looked back at Verity, and then, before she could react, I stepped away from her and crossed the room to stand before Cybele.
Vows
"Have you decided?"
"I thought I would give you a chance to say anything else you cared to say."
"Will you tell me what she has offered you?"
"Almost nothing."
"I think I can top 'almost nothing'."
"I am terrified of you."
"You don't need to be. I am very good to those loyal to me. You would be happy."
"You promise?"
"I cannot make a promise like that. I can make a prediction. But it would not be my intention for you to be unhappy. I know I am frightening. I know what my aura looks like. But that does not mean I am uncaring."
"Would you love me?"
"Would you love me?" she asked. "Neither of us can answer a question like that."
"Are you capable of love? I don't ask that in spite. I honestly don't know. You are a death witch, and your aura shows no love. So I don't know."
"I have loved," she said. "I would be fond of you. I am already impressed. You have comported yourself far better than I would have expected. I cannot promise love. Fondness, affection, protection, passion. These I can promise."
I glanced at Verity.
"Has she offered love?"
"No."
"You would have your friends," Cybele said. "There is deep love there. You would be loved."
I said nothing.
"If you want her, I will give Raelyn to you."
"Is she yours to give?"
"No, but she would give her consent."
I glanced at Raelyn, and she nodded once. I didn't say it, but I wasn't remotely interested in her. I never wanted to see her again.
Cybele cocked her head. "Money. You will want money. I will give you a healthy allowance."
"How healthy?"
"Your annual salary. Per month. Tax free."
The figure shocked me, but perhaps it shouldn't have.
"It's not enough? You said Verity offered you 'almost nothing'. That seems like more than 'almost nothing'. Perhaps you understated her offer."
"We came to no conclusion financially," I said.
"And so you came to play us off each other?" Cybele said. "I'm not sure I care to play that game. I'm fairly certain Verity will refuse."
"No. I came to see what else you had to say."
"Then it is time to choose, unless there is something you want, and you are fishing for it. Whatever it is, I will offer it."
"I want to be left alone!" I said firmly. "That is what I want."
"Well," said Cybele. "Except that."
"Then I will decide," I said. "You vow my friends are safe, if they leave you alone."
"You and your friends are safe, if you vow yourself to one of us, right now. Your time is up."
"Very well. I am afraid of you, but I was afraid of Verity first. But Verity did not force this decision upon me. She would have left me alone. You are the one who has taken my dreams from me. You are the one forcing me to make this decision."
I turned to Verity, dropped to my knees, and said, "Verity, I accept your offer. I offer my obedience, allegiance, and loyalty to you in exchange for your protection extended to me and my friends, and the training you have offered."
"That's it?" Cybele said. "When you said 'almost nothing', you weren't kidding."
There was another flash, and Verity's spell faded from view, but I could feel it around me. Then Verity raised her hands, forming magic between them. She cast the spell at me, and it settled around me. Then she stepped forward and took my hands. I looked up at her. The spell shifted, and I both saw and felt it grow to encompass Verity as well as myself.
"Repeat your share of the promise," she said. "I will repeat mine. And then when we both accept, the spell becomes binding."
"I offer my obedience, loyalty, and allegiance to you, Verity Patrick."
"I will take you into my household. I will protect and nurture you. I will train you. I will care for you and see to your needs, material, emotional, and intellectual. My promise includes you and the humans you have claimed as your own."
"I agree and accept your spell of binding," I said.
"I agree. Thank you, Lyra."
There was a flash, and the spell tightened around both of u
s. It squeezed, and then faded, but I could feel it there, waiting.
I was now hers.
New Home
I was a little wobbly when I stood. Verity slipped an arm around me to steady me, and we both turned to Cybele.
"We request permission to depart in peace," Verity said.
Cybele waved a hand at her. "Of course. Congratulations. But Lyra. Why? I offered you everything you wanted."
"I wanted to be left alone, Cybele. You took that from me."
"I would not have mistreated you."
"You took my dream, Cybele." Then I glared at Raelyn. My tone turned cold. "And you consort with backstabbing bitches." I turned back to Cybele. "You are beautiful, and perhaps I could have been happy here. But I would have resented you for the rest of my days. If you have any empathy at all, you would understand."
She nodded.
"I'll see them out," Raelyn said.
"You will do no such thing, Raelyn Woods. You and I have much to discuss."
Raelyn gulped, but then Verity tugged on my waist. I let her begin to draw me from the room. Before the doors closed behind us, I heard Cybele say, "You will give me every bit of magic I would have gotten from her, and I am going to enjoy taking it from you."
"It was your own fault, Cybele. We should have done this my way."
Then the doors closed, and I did what I could to put them both out of mind.
* * * *
There was a car waiting for us at the portico, Verity's cute little Aston Martin. She handed me in then climbed into the driver's side.
"I didn't know what this was the first time you took me here," I said.
"Hold your thoughts until we're well clear of Cybele's influence."
She started the car, and soon we were passing through the trees, out the gate, and then down the road towards the highway.
We were ten miles away before she brought the car to a stop. "I'm sorry," she said.
"It's not your fault." I closed my eyes and tried not to cry. "Will you be kind to me?"
"When it comes to your studies, I will be a taskmaster. You have much to learn."
"Will you be kind otherwise?"
"Yes, Lyra. I will."
"Do you know what kind of witch I am?"
"No. You have yet to decide."
"Please don't let me become like her." I turned to her, my eyes beseeching. "Please."
"A death witch? I will do my best."
"Actually, I might have meant Raelyn."
In the dim light, we looked at each other. "Perhaps you shouldn't blame her as heavily as you do."
"Why not? She's a backstabbing bitch."
"If not for Raelyn's influence, Cybele would have handled that differently."
"Oh?"
"She would have sent people for you, Felicity, and Jaime, and that entire conversation would have been held in her basement. That is what she used to do."
I took a breath. "Raelyn is still a backstabbing bitch."
"Perhaps she is. Can you move on?"
I nodded.
"You and I are going home. What do you wish me to do with your friends?"
"May I speak with them?"
She pulled out her phone, dialed, spoke very briefly, then handed it to me. "Felicity?"
"Lyra! Are you safe?"
"I'm safe. So are you."
"I don't feel safe," she said. "They blindfolded us during the drive, and we don't know where we are. It's some basement somewhere."
"Where are they?" I asked Verity.
"My house."
"Are you still blindfolded, Flick?"
"No. They've been firm, but polite."
"What do you want me to do with them, Lyra?" Verity asked.
"Felicity, I need you and Jaime to think about this very carefully. You don't have to decide now. I won't be able to live at the store anymore. I won't be able to work there anymore." I started to cry. "I don't know what to do."
"We'll sell the store," she said. "But can we be together, Lyra? That's all we want. We want to be together. It's the three of us, Lyra. It's always going to be the three of us."
I continued to cry, and for a while, I couldn't speak. Felicity tried to talk to me, but eventually Verity took the phone from me.
"She's all right, Felicity," Verity told her. "Will you tell me what you told her?" She paused, and then she said, "We're coming to you. Ask the nice people holding you to give you a tour of your new home. We'll be there in an hour."
Aftermath: You Owe Me
"You look like shit."
"You owe me."
"And you look like shit. You really should take better care of yourself."
"This is what six months in Cybele's basement looks like, Verity. And you owe me."
"What is it you think I owe you?"
"You owe me my fee for Lyra."
Verity laughed. "Talk to Cybele about that."
"I delivered her to you, gift wrapped."
"Oh please."
"I figured it out, Verity. It had your signature all over it. She knew I was a witch. How did she know that? She was terrified. Why was she afraid? Because someone else had gotten to her first, someone who had scared the shit out of her, but who hadn't claimed her. Who do we know like that, Verity? Hmm?"
"If you figured it out, you would have taken steps-"
"I did take steps! I made damn sure Cybele rushed me. I told her others were sniffing around, but I was subtle about it. I made sure you were at the party. I made sure you got a good look at Lyra, but not until she met Cybele. I went out of my way to introduce her to people who would shake her up before she met Cybele so she'd already be uncomfortable. I made sure she was scared shitless."
"Why would you do that?"
"So you would win."
"I repeat, why would you do that?"
Raelyn turned away. "You're better for her."
"That hasn't stopped you from delivering people to Cybele in the past."
"I didn't love any of them. Hell, I didn't even sleep with any of them."
The two grew still. Raelyn moved to stare out the office window. "She hates me."
"Yes."
"You owe me."
"Perhaps I do. You came here for money?"
"No." Raelyn turned around. "I spent six months in Cybele's basement for her, Verity. Six months!"
"I bet you regret what you did."
"I'd do it again."
The two stared at each other. "What do you want, Raelyn? You want your fee?" Verity pulled out a checkbook. "The last I heard, an untrained witch was a half million. Should we double that to cover your pain and suffering?"
"I don't want your money."
"Then what do you want?"
"Is she sharing your bed?"
"She's still awfully raw, Raelyn."
"Is she?"
"No."
"Has she seduced Felicity?"
"They share a bed, but Lyra tells me they're remaining platonic. I see Dyson from time to time, but I think that's going to end."
"Felicity would let Lyra seduce her if she tried."
"What do you want, Raelyn?"
"If she loved someone else, would you keep them apart?"
"She doesn't love you, Raelyn."
"Would you?"
"It would depend."
"On?"
"If the person accepted my authority."
The two stood quietly watching each other. Verity sat calmly. Raelyn fidgeted from foot to foot.
"I want two things."
"What?"
"A job. You suck at recruiting. This all could have been avoided if you let me recruit for you."
"She needed to know what she was getting into. They all do."
"And I can show them that. They will come to you with their eyes wide open. But it can be better than this was. How many have I stolen from you, Verity? How many?"
"Seven."
"All of them are now in Cybele's household. She doesn't abuse them, and a few are better fits for
her style. But most should be living here, with you."
"It might get a little crowded."
"I want a job. You continue to find them, but you let me handle it from there. I'll lose a few. I'm not fast. What I am is good. Very good. How long did you know about her?"
"Two years."
"Two years, and you still almost lost her. With that sort of lead ahead of anyone else, I won't lose them. And you know it. You scare them. I don't know why you always scare them." Raelyn shook her head. "I think it's intentional."
"They need to understand the dangers!"
"Perhaps, but first and foremost, they need to be safe, and you scare them right into Cybele's hands."
"They're safe with her."
"The ones that slip past Cybele aren't so safe. I know for a fact the vampires have two you scared away, and Beelaad catches a few from time to time. I want a job. A quarter million each for the ones you find first, a half million if I find them first."
"We do it my way."
"No, we do it my way. But I will make sure they know what they are getting into. And you tell me about each one you find."
"All right, Raelyn. Agreed. When can you start?"
"I already did. It's a good thing I got to that sweet girl in Mobile when she ran from you. Who knows what would have happened to her."
Verity looked away. "You always were the best, Raelyn. What's the second thing you want? I can't make her love you."
"Make her forgive me. Make her see me again."
"I can force her to let you talk to her," Verity said, "but I do not believe she will ever forgive you."
"Won't you even try?"
"I'll try. But it would take time, Raelyn, and if she invites herself to my bed, I'm not going to turn her away. If she asks me if she should seduce Felicity, I'm going to tell her yes."
"How long?"
"I can't answer that. How am I supposed to answer that?"
"You'll try? At least you'll try?"
"I'll try. Years. A year at least, maybe longer."
"Work through Felicity. She listens to Felicity."
"Felicity hates you more than Lyra does."
"Yes, but if you explain what I did, she'll listen."
"In the meantime, they can't see you."
"No, I suppose not." Raelyn paused. "How's she doing?"
"She's well. She's learning."
"You've been easy on her."
"How do you know that?"