Demon Child

by Patti Larsen

  The kitchen was dark and quiet. I could feel the vibration of Sassy’s energy above me as he wove his wards tighter and tighter around my sister. One less family member to worry about.

  I followed them to the back door where Dad stopped me.

  “You need to stay here.” I knew a Dad order when I heard one. But it was about as effective as the Mom version, I figured.

  “I’m going with you.” Dad and Sunny both started to protest but I cut them off. “You said you needed demon power.” Sunny nodded, unhappy but knowing I was right. “And Nicholas has already shown he’s scared of me.”

  “If that wasn’t an act.” Sunny shrugged. “I have no way of knowing.”

  But my demon and I both knew the truth. The fear he showed, he regretted. I had seen it in his eyes, a flash of hate I managed to instill real terror in him, probably for the first time in centuries.

  “Syd,” Dad said, “I won’t be able to do this if I don’t know you’re safe.”

  Did he and Mom practice this crap? I’d heard that line before.

  “Tough,” I said. “Either you let me come or I follow you. Your pick.”

  Dad sighed. Then laughed softly. “Okay, cupcake.”

  I swatted at him for the nickname, but my relief was powerful. “Just give me one second.” I looked down at myself and my rumpled pj’s. “I just need a sweater.”

  I ran for the nearest closet, not really believing they would leave me behind, but certain Dad would attempt something sneaky if he thought he could get away with it. I jerked on an old sweatshirt of Uncle Franks, a baggy hooded thing with a university logo on it. I was back down the hall in a flash.

  Lo and behold, they were waiting for me.

  Sunny reached out and ran a finger down the sleeve with a smile so sad I wanted to hug her.

  Shake it off, Syd.

  Sunny led the way, Dad right behind her. Thoughts tumbled together in my head. I needed to tell Dad about the new and improved Sebastian. I was just about to pass the threshold when my flip flop caught on the carpet at the door and I stumbled. I looked up, in the process of taking my next step, and froze.

  Sunny and Dad were surrounded buy a pack of fluttering shadows rapidly solidifying into vampires. My demon grunted in surprise while my temper flared to bursting.

  “SUNNY!” She shook her head even as I moved to lunge forward. Right into a wall of amber power.

  “Syd,” Dad shouted at me. “Stay!”

  No. I had to reach him. My demon clawed at his shield, I threw myself against it but nothing worked. He was just too strong.

  “Honey,” he said as Nicholas materialized next to him. “I have to know you’re safe.”

  And I was safe, here inside the wards of the house. He dropped his shield. I stayed put. But not because of my dad or what he said. I was hit with a second shock that drove me to a wide-mouthed freeze.

  A man in a white robe was gently set on the ground next to Nicholas. I knew that robe, if not the face.

  One of the Chosen of the Light. What was he doing with Nicholas and his vampires?

  “Well done.” His voice was boring, ordinary, his features more so. He looked like a lackey waiting for a master. Three more Chosen appeared and I frantically searched faces. No Demitrius. Had he died in the accident?

  “I had nothing to do with this, Haralthazar.” Sunny was shaking again, but this time in fury. “I swear to you, I did not betray you.”

  “Not on purpose.” Nicolas’s laughter was getting on my nerves. “But, my darling Sonja, there was no need for your cooperation.” Sonja? “You see, I’m still inside your mind.” Her face crumpled as he spoke. “Oh yes, you missed it, didn’t you? Thought breaking away from your master would be that easy.” He fixed Dad with a grin full of malice. “Women,” he said. “So stupid.”

  Dad didn’t move, but I felt his power building. He was going to wipe them out, or do his best trying. And I was ready to help.

  “I’ve been in your mind far longer that you think.” Nicholas turned on Sunny. “I’ve even been able to influence you from time to time. Like this gem I cooked up.” He gestured at Dad. “Convincing you to raise the demon and make him take mortal form. Quite genius, don’t you think?”

  “You bastard.” I barely heard her, but agreed whole heartedly.

  He slapped her so hard she staggered. Blood poured from her nose when she straightened up and glared back at him.

  “Enough.” The Chosen leader approached Dad. “Bring them both.” He glanced my way. “And get the girls.”

  No way. I hit the wards around the house with a burst of demon flame that drove the other three back.

  Their leader shrugged. “Your power will only last so long,” he said. “We’re patient, Sydlynn Hayle.”

  Nicholas moved to take Sunny’s arm but the man in the white robe cut him off. And it was suddenly very clear to me who was in control here. Now to figure out a way to use it to my advantage.

  “Don’t make me order you again.” Nicholas actually cringed away from the man, hissing softly under his breath.

  Sunny laughed. “Well,” she said, “isn’t this a surprise. The mighty Nicholas DeWinter the lackey of a human.”

  He snarled at her, but stayed back.

  “Vampire Sonja,” the Chosen leader said. “Shut up.” He leaned forward quickly and pressed his palm to her forehead.

  I’ve never heard a scream like that before. Ever. There was power moving around out there, but without passing the wards I had no idea what kind. Only that Demitrius lied to me.

  His people harbored witches after all.

  Sunny fell to her knees when the man finally dropped his hand. I heard her sobbing, saw her fingers lift to her face. She shook violently, though from where I stood she didn’t look harmed. Whatever it was, it hurt her so much she collapsed from it.

  I felt the edge of Dad’s might move to strike just as the man turned to him.

  “I wouldn’t.” His tone was so reasonable. “Your wife is not where this vampire thinks. And if you fight us in any way, we will kill her. And your daughters.”

  This was exactly what I had been afraid of. “Dad, kick their asses.”

  He shuddered. Looked at me with so much sorrow I wanted to cry.

  “Why?” Dad faced the man head on. “Why are you doing this?”

  “For your power, of course,” he said. Sunny raised her head, fought her way to her feet as he went on. Her eyes met mine, face sheathed in tears, but she was okay. At least, she looked that way. “Our mandate must be filled. We will use what makes you a demon to purge the world of magic and evil once and for all.”

  They were nuts. Totally certifiable. Besides, they clearly had no idea Dad didn’t have access to his full power anymore. In fact, they would have been better off keeping Meira. Clearly their education was flawed.

  I figured Dad would fill them in. Until I realized he knew what I did—if he told them the truth, he would be worthless to them and we’d never bring Mom back.

  Okay then. I kind of agreed with his decision. But he could still make the right choice and fight. I could tell when he met my eyes for the final time he chose a different path the second the Chosen told him the truth of things.

  The leader extended his hand, a round crystal pointed at Dad. Instantly he was surrounded by a bubble of force, shimmering in the cool air.

  I was forced to stand there, vibrating with so many emotions I could barely tag them as they rippled through my tension, watching as the Chosen took my father away.

  ***

  Chapter Twenty Nine

  The moment the Chosen were gone I lunged through the wards and reached out my mind even as my demon lashed out against the vampires in my yard.

  Quaid!

  He didn’t answer. He didn’t have to. The fury in his mind was all I needed to feel.

  Demon fire enveloped three of the vamps, sending them scurrying with inhuman squeals of agony. Nicolas spun on me, a vicious smile on his face and lashed out,
a flash of white power reaching for me, trying to penetrate my body.

  I countered with more demon fire, melting his cold magic with a roar of sound.

  They were all around me, hedging me in. It was stupid, probably the stupidest thing I’d ever done and my mom and dad would kill me when they found out. But seeing Dad being torn away like that was more than I could bear.

  Now I stood, my demon’s power wrapped around me, encircled by vampires. “Don’t worry,” Nicholas hissed. “I have no intention of killing you. I want your power too badly for that.”

  “Come and get it,” I said with more conviction than I felt.

  “He’s too afraid.” Sunny stood beside me, glowing like a small, white star. That was a relief. Whatever the Chosen did to her didn’t hurt her as much as I feared. “Aren’t you, Nicholas?”

  He snarled at her, but it only made her laugh. “He needs you, your power. To break free of the hold the Chosen have on him. Isn’t that right, darling?” Her voice dripped honey. “I thought there was something different about you. Muted. I thought it was brought on by time. But I was wrong.” She literally beamed a smile, so bright I had to look away. “You fool, Nicki. You let yourself be taken.”

  He howled into the night. The part of me still worried about normal stuff was terrified what the neighbors would think. But their houses stayed dark, lights out. Maybe Nicholas was smart enough to keep what we were doing hidden.

  “I will drain you,” Nicholas said to me, “and use your demon power to destroy this hold they have on me. And then I will seize your mother and father, your sister and grandmother, and do the same to them. And I will be the most powerful being.”

  “How did they trick you?” Sunny went on as if they were actually having a conversation and he hadn’t just threatened my entire family. “Did he offer you more power, Nicki? More followers? What could possibly convince you to trust the Chosen?”

  “He told me he could kill Sebastian!” Nicholas’s cheeks flushed, a sign of high agitation for a vampire. His eyes stood out of his head, whole body tight and trembling as he screamed at Sunny. “He swore he would!”

  She sighed and shook her head as if he was a misled child. “Oh, Nicky,” she said.

  Nicholas went ballistic. I felt his power thrash at me, but it had no direction, no focus, almost as if he was just tossing magic around without being able to control it. I slammed my demon fire into him, sending him back two steps, cursing and snarling.

  “Take them both.” Nicholas stood back, letting his people crowd closer. “I want the girl alive. Kill the traitor.”

  I glanced at Sunny. She looked very calm. That was a good thing, right?

  “You can try,” she said. Definitely a good thing.

  I could feel the power building around us, the cold of the vampire magic sending a chill all the way to my bones. I’d never been the center of so much of their energy before and I finally knew what dying would feel like.

  The Chosen attack has weakened me. Sunny’s mind reached mine. His touch somehow had the same feeling as the sun. I’m not sure how long I will last, Syd, but I’m here with you until the end.

  Great. But she was right to tell me. I tightened my shields as much as I could and drew from the power buried in the property, trembling from the effort it took to hold myself back. I offered her a sliver of the energy and felt her thanks in response. I wasn’t sure if she would be able to use it or not, our magic was so different, but her glow grew even more so I figured she found a way.

  Still, with it just being the two of us and her injured, there was no way I would win if I tried to fight. My only hope was to hold them off long enough for Quaid to summon the family.

  My demon had other ideas. Before I knew she was acting and without the control to stop her, she lashed out with everything she had, slicing through the pack with a wave of power strong enough to knock half of them over.

  Trouble was, when it was over I was on my knees, almost spent. Sunny crouched next to me, but didn’t touch me, her own power still at full strength.

  “Syd,” she whispered. “I’ll protect you for as long as I can.”

  She was up again and I was vaguely aware of the battle going on around me.

  Stupid! I shouted at my demon. We could have held for a long time.

  I’m tired of not acting, she grumbled, though there was an edge of regret to her voice.

  Great, I shot back at her. Your needs are a priority over us surviving. Fabulous.

  She just growled at the sarcasm and settled into a sullen silence.

  Meanwhile, my strength slowly returned. I made it to my feet just as a bolt of white fire leapt at me. I tried to duck, felt my mortality like a sharp jab through my heart and knew the moment it touched me I was dead.

  Sunny’s body was in front of me, curved backward as she took the blow. I felt the last of her energy leave her in a protective outpour, the white magic cascading around me in a fall of star like sparks. I caught her in my arms as the visible glow of her power, badly drained by the Chosen, flickered and faded. I checked out the carnage we’d made and realized there were only a handful or so vampires still in any shape to attack us.

  Unfortunately, one of them was Nicholas and he was still fresh.

  He crossed the line of his people, some half ash and groaning, the line of cinders crawling higher. I couldn’t watch those, wished I could close my nose to the smell of burning dust. My demon did that.

  Sunny’s victims weren’t much better off. We’d taken a large slice out of his network in this fight, but it still wasn’t enough.

  I let myself crumple to the ground, still holding Sunny. She seemed dazed, but okay, at least physically. Nicholas came to stand over me, his dark eyes laughing at me.

  “Well done,” he said. “But not good enough.”

  My demon gathered herself for one last assault.

  “Maybe you’d like to try me on.”

  Quaid. My head swiveled around, eyes turning up. He stood in the doorway of the house. Alone. What? Where was the coven?

  The idiot was going to get himself killed.

  Nicholas scowled at Quaid. “Be gone, mortal witch,” he said. “I have no need of your magic.” A shot of white power leapt toward Quaid. I tried to block it, did my absolute best, but my demon and I were just too weak after that stunt she pulled.

  The bolt headed right for Quaid’s chest. And disintegrated under a sheet of demon fire.

  Sassy snuck across the threshold between Quaid’s legs and protected him. My heart surged. I had to help them. I pulled myself to my feet again, leaving Sunny on the ground. Nicholas hissed at Quaid and Sassy while I summoned what little power I had left.

  “Nicholas,” I said. He turned to face me. “You suck.” I slammed my fist into his chest, putting that little thread of power behind it. A spark of demon fire formed between us, fed by a blue matrix of the family energy. I felt the divide between me and my demon suddenly widen, as if the crack was forced apart by the power in the magic.

  The combined power drove Nicholas backward thirty feet and into the trunk of a big maple. He hit so hard the tree shuddered and partially uprooted.

  The amazed look he gave me was full of fear.

  Nicholas ran.

  Quaid was beside me while I slowly crumpled again. “Syd,” he said, catching me and helping me to the ground. “That was awesome.”

  I didn’t know I had it in me. He was right, it was amazing. But horrible at the same time. I reached for my demon only to find it harder to reach her.

  No time for that now. “We have to find Mom and Dad.”

  Sunny groaned and sat up while Sassy roamed the yard, disposing of the last of the vampires. I shuddered and looked away from what he was doing as demon fire crept everywhere.

  “Syd,” Sunny whispered, “I’m so sorry. This is all my fault.”

  Another blamer?

  She shuddered and shook her head as if to clear it. “If I hadn’t tried to do this alone, rather than as
king for help, none of this would have happened.” Her gaze found mine. “I knew he was still connected to me. He created me, a bond that cannot be broken. But I didn’t know he was still embedded in my mind after all those years.” She choked a bitter laugh. “This arrangement does have benefits, however.”

  “What do you mean?” I pulled away from Quaid.

  “He may be in my mind,” she said, “but that goes both ways.” She climbed to her feet, some of her grace gone with her weariness. Quaid steadied us both as Sassy came to join us. “I know where they are going.”

  The funny thing was, I did too. “The site.”

  She nodded. “Of course.”

  “We have to go.” I turned to Quaid. “Did you contact the family?”

  He shook his head. “Not yet,” he said as his cheeks flushed and his eyes dropped from mine. Quaid? Embarrassed? “I was so worried about you I just…”

  Sweet. But stupid. It takes two seconds to call the family. I guess I understood. Quaid wasn’t used to trusting anyone else. Still. Idiot. I reached for Erica even as Sunny took a step away.

  “I need to find Frank and Anastasia,” she said. “This ends tonight.”

  My mind flickered to Sebastian and, for a moment, I considered telling her about him. But I held back. She admitted Nicholas was still in her mind. I just couldn’t risk it. If Nicholas knew Sebastian was hunting him, he might run and we’d lose our chance to save Mom.

  Sorry, Sunny.

  Erica’s mind was so strong in my raw one I almost cried out.

  Syd, what’s wrong?

  I sent her a shot of the site. They have Mom and Dad. I followed that up with a quick run of images of what just happened. By the time I was done I wanted to cry from the pain.

  On our way.

  She was gone. I turned to Quaid. “We have to go too.”

  It was Sassy who stopped me before I went anywhere.

  “You’re hurt and drained,” he said. “You can’t go.”

  I shrugged as Quaid reached for me. His magic felt lovely, but he was frowning.

  “I don’t have a choice.”

  Sassy trembled with the need to stop me. “I can’t lose the three of you.”