by Patti Larsen
Chapter Nine
Knowing the kids had to be in Hong Kong by now, I guided Max with that thought toward the other side of the world. He emerged in the towering foyer outside the WPC leader’s office, sending his magic out in a gentle nudge so the Enforcers guarding the office tower would know we were coming and that we were friendly.
Things had been tense since Femke’s kidnapping. Coming and going from Hong Kong had become much more difficult, though I knew if I wanted in or out they’d never be able to hold me. Still, it was a good idea to play nice every now and then so the Enforcers didn’t have combined aneurisms.
Instead of heading for the living quarters at the other end of the hall, I instead strode past the spluttering, new young woman at the reception desk, her power fluttering against me a moment, and through the glass door in to the main office.
Mom stood behind the desk talking with Dad, so at least I wasn’t interrupting anything important. Or official. Rude of me to think they couldn’t be having a world shattering conversation without me.
“Mom.” I closed the door firmly on the girl in the foyer, Max towering beside me, before turning back. My parents both closed the distance between us, Mom hugging me before nodding to Max, Dad shaking the big drach’s hand.
“Sweetheart.” The line between Mom’s brows was deeper than usual, her blue eyes tense. “Is everything all right?”
“Not quite.” And though I knew it would irritate Max, I took the time required to tell Mom and Dad what was going on with Piers and the Steam Union. And Apollo. Nona. How she’d been in league with Trill all along. And that Charlotte was with Iosif, hunting for clues about Femke.
Max held still and quiet, didn’t protest while I skimmed through the details I’d discovered since seeing my parents last. Was it really only a few hours ago? Maybe he knew better than to interfere at this point. Or, maybe I was right and Jiao’s influence was doing something to him I’d have to put an end to.
Not that it mattered as Mom nodded her way through my explanations. Until I reached the part of the story I dreaded.
“We’re ready to set the trap for Belaisle,” I said, now seated on one of the white leather sofas, feet propped on the glass coffee table while Mom sat, straight backed, across from me, Dad cross legged next to her. Max hovered over my shoulder, silent and patient as always.
I had to keep an eye on him, obviously. Like I needed one more problem in my life right now.
Mom nodded. “We’ll prepare a place for him when you bring him in,” she said.
She’d what? I hadn’t even considered that a possibility. There were bigger things at stake—
“We need to take Gabriel with us,” Max interrupted, gently, but with firm intent. “His power is required to set the trap for Liander. Syd assumed he is here?” Max’s tone was nothing if not kind, but held no room for argument.
Mom hesitated, glanced at Dad, both of them frowning. “He’s still recovering from the last incident,” Mom said.
Incident. Great way to put being driven into a near catatonic state by the maji, Zeon, who assaulted my son with the truth of what happened to the people he’d tried to save.
“I’m not asking, Mom.” Okay, I didn’t mean for it to come out that way, though at least I sounded tired and not angry. Because I was. I just wanted this to be over—the struggle, the strife. For my life to go back to the joy and calm and boredom I’d enjoyed in the seven brief years after defeating the Brotherhood, after marrying Quaid and having Ethie. A happily ever after Belaisle ruined for me.
He’d pay for that.
Mom nodded, looking down at her hands twisting in her lap. “He’s your son,” she said. “We both know that. And he is more than capable. But Syd,” her blue eyed gaze met mine, “he’s also a child. Son of a man we both know had a heart too full of kindness.”
“You do Liam O’Dane a disservice,” Max spoke up before I could. “He held out against forces far more powerful than he to save Syd. To save all of you.” Was that his temper showing again? And why, if it worried me, did pride swell inside me when Max went on? “His son is precious to all of us. But he, like his father, is far stronger than you could ever imagine.”
So there.
Mom cleared her throat, eyes moist. “Forgive me if I worry about my grandson.”
Dad grasped her hand, squeezed it. “We know how important he is.” He met my eyes. “And what his power means. That there is a giant mess out there and Belaisle is in the middle of it. That Gabriel is possibly the only one who can see this through. But we also know he’s a little boy who loves his mother and will do anything for her.”
Max shrugged, chill passing over his power. Okay, so it wasn’t just Jiao, then. I was wrong. The drach leader had either been invaded by some strange virus or he was, at long last, at a breaking point none of us could comprehend after centuries and centuries of safeguarding the Universe.
“The boy,” Max said. “Or we’ll go find him.”
That went a little far, even in my present state of mind. But, before Mom could react, before the storm clouds gathering in Dad’s eyes could erupt, the door to the office opened, a giant black dog and two children entering of their own accord.
“Mom.” Gabriel came right to me, hugging me, though again Ethie held back, fingers wound in Galleytrot’s fur. The harried young secretary just tossed her hands in the air and closed the door.
“Sweets.” I kissed his cheek, held my hands out to my daughter. She wavered, almost came to me. I could see it in her face, in the hurt in her eyes. Until the air sizzled with blue fire and Quaid appeared.
“Daddy!” She ran to him, into his arms as he lifted her, snuggled her against him, frowning already as he stared at me, with Max. With Gabriel. And his face darkened further past his weariness.
“You’re not taking him with you.” There was power behind my husband’s words. How had he known? Did he feel us here? Probably. And seeing Max with me… he had to have guessed why we needed my son.
But Quaid’s attitude wasn’t helping any, nor was the anger it stirred in me in response.
“So you’d rather the entire Universe collapsed in on itself,” I said, “that Belaisle finds a way to open a Gate for the Order and Dark Brother and Creator’s work be unmade. Is that it?”
He scowled, glared, shifted. But didn’t speak. Because this was where we were, ultimately. The corner of NoChoiceVille and OutOfOptionsLand. And Gabriel was the crossroads.
“I’m going.” Gabriel didn’t give his father an opportunity to come up with an argument. He held my hand, small face determined, fear in the back of his hazel eyes flecked with green. Liam’s beloved eyes. “I’m a Hayle, Mom. I know my duty.”
Dear elements. Tell me he didn’t just say that. Tell me my kid wasn’t that grown up at seven he put the whole freaking Universe ahead of his own happiness.
Great Mom job, Syd. Stellar.
Quaid finally spoke up. “Gabriel,” he said, voice husky, “listen to me.” My son turned to face the only father he’d ever known. When did I stop thinking of Quaid as his dad alone? Not good, not good at all. “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do.” His teeth squeaked audibly, jaw jumping as he ground his teeth together. “I swore when you were small neither of you,” he bounced Ethie, “would ever be forced into the lives your mother and I were handed.” I’d done the same thing. Made the same vow.
And yet, here we were.
Fate sucked.
“I know, Dad,” Gabriel said in his crisp, clear voice. “But who else is there?”
Quaid set Ethie down, crossed to kneel in front of my son. Mom turned away, moisture on her cheeks even as my own guilt built and built inside me. She had to be feeling the agony I was. Blaming herself for everything I went through. Because I was already living Gabriel’s future pain, and Ethie’s, before either would be asked to make more sacrifices.
“Gabriel,” Quaid said. “You can say no.” Was that desperation? A need for my son to choose? B
ut what choice did Quaid want him to make? The sinking suspicion he was asking Gabriel not to pick staying out of the fight, but to pick Quaid over me, wouldn’t shake loose even when I examined it and deemed it ridiculous. Because the longer my husband stared into my son’s eyes, the more it felt as though that was exactly what this was about.
Get a freaking grip, Syd.
Gabriel hugged Quaid before leaning back, taking my hand all over again. “I’m supposed to do this,” he said. “I’ve made mistakes. But if you and Mom taught me anything, it’s that I can’t just curl up and stop because I did something wrong.” His little brow furrowed even as my chest constricted. So grown up, so innocent, at the same time. He was Liam all over again. “I’m going with Mom. Because it’s the right thing to do.” My son met my eyes. “The Hayle thing to do.”
Quaid surged to his feet, half turned away. “There are times,” he snarled, “I wish I’d never met this family.”
I didn’t get a chance to react to that. Mom was on her feet, one hand spinning Quaid around. She didn’t slap him, didn’t touch him aside from the energy required to make him turn. But he flinched from her anyway, the sullen, angry young man he’d been when I first met him, the Quaid owned and run by the Moromonds, living in his face and the touch of his angry magic.
“This family,” Mom said in a tone so harsh I winced, “is the reason you’re standing here, Quaid Tinder, with a world under your feet. Not burned at the stake by the Brotherhood. Or lost to the darkness. Or any other countless things Syd and the Hayle coven have done to ensure your safety and that of everyone on this plane.” She turned to me, blue eyes blazing. “Go get Belaisle,” she said. “Kick his ass. And bring him back to me.”
Whether she meant Liander or Gabriel, I had no idea. But knowing I had Mom’s support—needed or not—gave me the impetus I required to stand, to nod. To turn away from Galleytrot who watched with mournful eyes, my daughter clinging to his fur, the fury of my still fuming husband.
The sadness of my parents.
Gabriel’s small smile, his courage, finished the deal for me. Gone was the hurt boy who ran from me, the sobbing, shaking mess he’d been after understanding what his actions as Gateway meant for those he tried to save. Instead, the Gabriel I loved shone through, his resilience and ability to bounce back shocking me, making me want to weep. How many times would he be able to recover? Would I find out before this was done?
“I’m ready, Mom,” he said. “We’ll make this work.”
“Take me with you!” Ethie suddenly hurtled herself across the distance, Quaid’s attempt to grab her on the way by missing as she slipped between his fingers and flung herself at her brother. Gabriel hugged her, nestled her dark curls under his cheek, rubbing her back with one hand.
“Not this time,” he whispered, so soft I almost missed it. “Don’t worry. I’ll be back soon.”
“You said you wouldn’t leave me again,” she whispered. “Don’t go without me, Gabriel.” She sounded like Sassafras a moment, so lost and alone.
“I have to,” he said. “And someday you’ll have to go without me.” He pushed her gently back while I clamped my teeth over my lower lip, tears spilling down my cheeks in silent protest of his wisdom. “And you’ll be the hero.”
She cried, clung to him, but he was already turning her around, pushing her at Quaid. “Dad,” he said. “Take care of her.”
Quaid glared at me. While my heart asked me what I was doing to my family. Hoping it was all worth it in the end. And that we could heal this giant hole gaping between us someday.
Gabriel tugged on my hand, caught my attention. “Let’s go,” he said. “It’ll be easier for her when I’m gone.”
Galleytrot howled as we left, the veil swallowing us whole, and I had to fight the urge to join him.
***
Chapter Ten
No more time to think, to consider what I’d done raising my son with this sense of purpose and duty. Not when Max carried us into the veil on his broad back. Gabriel’s joy radiated from him, and I allowed myself to embrace that—the simple yet profound happiness of a boy riding a dragon.
Cool, yes. And enough to hold my heart together, at least for now. If this worked out, maybe forever. I hugged my son and leaned with Max as he banked and passed through the veil into a new plane.
We couldn’t take Ethie with us. She wasn’t able to cross the veils like I was, like Gabriel and Max and the rest of the drach. Were she to try, she might end up like the poor lost souls he’d tried to save. Or not. She was, after all, part maji, like me. There was no way of knowing without testing it and I wasn’t willing to go that far with both of my children, thank you very much.
Especially when, according to Max—and that asshat Zeon of the maji, who I hated to admit was right about anything—the veil and the barriers between planes were there for a reason. To keep us all apart and safe. Risking Ethie on a maybe wasn’t worth it.
The pale purple sky was lit with three small, glowing suns the color of peaches, expanse of ground beneath us crusted over with some kind of thick moss in a rainbow of hues. Max settled down on four feet, morphing to human shape while Gabriel and I slipped to the mossy ground. It was surprisingly springy and changed color under our touch as we stepped on it. Gabriel seemed fascinated, prodding it gently with his fingers while a large group of drach strode toward us, all in human form.
I waved at Mabel, surprised to see her here. My drach ancestress usually stayed close to my sister on Demonicon. Max had obviously called out all the big guns for this one. Amazing how a single human sorcerer could evade the most powerful race in the Universe for so long.
I couldn’t wait to get my hands around Belaisle’s neck and prove how frail he really was.
“We are ready.” Mabel nodded to me, accepted the quick hug Gabriel offered her. “You are well come, Gabriel. We are in need of your specific power to ensure the safety of our Universe.”
“Just tell me what to do,” he said.
Max pointed to the center of the moss. “We know Belaisle is able to track your mother through the Gateway,” he said. “It is our hope when he feels the energy form, he will seek her out and find her here. This plane has a low level of power available and should give us the edge we need to prevent him from escape.”
I reached down with my own magic into the ground and understood as I did what he meant. “The moss,” I said. “It’s alive.” Not just alive as in vegetable matter, either.
Max nodded. “It consumes the power of this plane to support its lifecycle,” he said. “Leaving little to no extra power for Belaisle to draw on once he arrives here. My people will form a net of magic,” he gestured up toward the purple sky, “into a contained bubble of drach power. We will then allow the organism of this place to drain him sufficiently. Belaisle will no longer be a threat or able to escape.”
I felt the moss reach out toward me, sniffing at my magic. It didn’t seem to comprehend the elemental powers I controlled, my demon growling at it as it prodded her with gentle, curious tendrils. But the black blossom beneath me, the source of my sorcery, that it found immensely interesting.
“We should hurry,” Max said, smiling down at Gabriel who nodded. “If you would open a path, Gateway.”
My son drew a breath, strode forward on his short legs, leaving me behind. I should have gone with him, stood next to him, but Max held me back gently.
“Trust him,” he said, quietly, for my ears only. “He knows what must be done. And he is more than equal to the task.”
Okay then. And though I agreed with him on the one hand, the Mom in me was a freaking basket case, thank you very much.
The Gateway formed almost immediately, vibrant and flawless, the shimmering edges sharp and bright.
He gains more confidence, my vampire sent.
Practice makes perfect. My demon’s grumble wasn’t all grump. She sounded impressed.
Max is correct, Shaylee sent. He is strong and we’ve done well.
&nb
sp; I only hoped they were right. Because I wasn’t sure I could take another blow like the one that hurt him so badly. Never mind Gabriel’s hurt…
“Well done.” Max gestured for my son to retreat, which he did with visible reluctance. The green sparks normally flecks in his eyes had joined together, flooding Gabriel’s gaze with the glow of his power. He grinned up at me as he stopped and looked back over his shoulder.
“Now we create an untruth on this side we want him to see.” Three drach hovered near the Gateway, power focused on the entry, shimmering across the surface. The image showed a vault, a set of bars, and a large, iron box with a carved stone eye on the surface. “And we wait.” Mabel nodded to Max before stepping back, morphing into drach shape, over a hundred of their kind doing the same. The rest spread out in a circle, humming the song of their race, Max moving forward toward the Gateway.
I had to go with him. But I didn’t want Gabriel anywhere near Belaisle. I turned to my son, spotted a pair of drach close by. Gestured them forward. They joined me, heads cocked at identical angles.
“Stay here with the drach,” I said, even as my son tried to protest. “I mean it. Part of knowing your duty is knowing when your job is done.”
He sighed and nodded. “I’ll stay here,” he said, arms crossing over his chest. “Go get him, Mom.”
I kissed Gabriel quickly before spinning and joining Max, heart pounding. Mommy warred with maji as I took a stand next to the drach leader, pulling in my power, joining the net the drach created. It was a bit of a struggle to separate my sorcery from the devouring eagerness of the moss, now fully awake and aware I was there. Which made me all the more excited this might work.
Without any forewarning, Belaisle wouldn’t stand a chance. I hoped.
Time trickled, oozed, dragged its damned feet. I was about to turn to Max, to ask him how long he thought it would take before something happened, when something happened.
And I almost missed it in my impatience. But the drach were more than ready. Thank the elements.