by Patti Larsen
“You have to give it back.” My body vibrated with the surge of power she threw at me. The protective spell in my mind sighed and expanded a moment, as if answering her call before settling tighter around my mind. I didn’t have time to wonder what it was or even what it meant.
“Gram, stay.” I pulled away from her, hoping to prevent more clawing injuries, but she lunged after me, sharp nails extended. Quaid forced himself between us as she howled and swiped at me like an animal.
“Give it back!” She struggled against him, her skinny body slamming into his as she threw herself toward me. “Give it back!”
“Syd, get out of here.” Quaid grunted softly as Gram drove one little fist into his stomach in her attempt to get to me. “Go!”
I rushed from the room feeling terrible, like I hurt her but didn’t know how or why. Tears sprang to my eyes as I turned and watched him slam the door on her, his power briefly visible as he sealed her door from the outside. Panting, he turned to face me, leaning against it like it was the only thing holding him up.
“Remind me never to piss of your grandmother,” he said.
Gram started to bang on the door, screaming at us. “Horrible things! They are coming, tearing, rending! Horrible! Tainted green and black, killing the earth, killing everything. YOU MUST GIVE IT BACK!”
The whole house shuddered as Gram threw her power against the door. Quaid’s wards held though they flared with light. I saw his face constrict, palms flat against the wood behind him. Another blow rocked the house.
He was sweating, biting his bottom lip, eyes unfocused as he fought her off. I was sure the house was coming down the way she threw her power around. Even I with my crippled and latent magic could feel the power they exchanged and was grateful for once I wasn’t myself.
Quaid gasped finally, shoulders drooping, hands falling away as the pounding went quiet.
In the sudden stillness, I heard her voice, so soft and pathetic and small.
“Please? Oh please. You must.”
I sobbed once and fled.
I didn’t stop until I reached the driveway and his motorcycle. Quaid was only a few steps behind me. He grabbed my shoulders and spun me around, pulling me against his chest to hug me. I cried myself out against his T-shirt, wishing I knew what she wanted, but pretty sure I knew how she felt
I just had to have my demon back.
Quaid tipped my face toward his and kissed me. My arms lifted around his neck, my whole body caving into his as I lost myself for a moment in the way he felt, the way he smelled, the warmth and comfort of him. I missed the magic we used to share, the way we wound around and through each other, but for now this was enough.
Car tires crunched on pavement and bright light shone on us. I pulled away, a little embarrassed we’d been kissing so openly, only to feel my heart sink into my shoes as my eyes dropped from him and met Alison’s.
She didn’t even turn the car off. She just dropped it into reverse and backed up, not looking behind her, eyes locked on mine. I ran after her, grabbing the passenger door of her convertible.
“Alison,” I said, voice choked, tears still on my face. “Please, you don’t understand.”
“No, Syd, I don’t.” Her voice was very quiet. “I thought you were my friend. I was sure of it. But now I find you kissing the guy I told you I liked after you abandoned me. You dare judge me for the things I do when you’re just using other people.” She glared at me, words starting to tremble as she let her anger out. “Does he know?”
“About what?” I wanted to explain everything but how could I?
“About Regan.” I drew a blank. “Mom told me. I know you snuck out last night to be with him. And here I find you kissing Quaid.” She snorted and looked away while in my mind I called her mother all kinds of names. “You know what, Syd? I think we’re done.”
Alison hit the gas and I let her go. Had to. No choice. As much as I wished things could be different, I had a more important mess to clean up before I could deal with the one I’d made of our friendship.
I turned and went to Quaid who didn’t say a word. He just held out a helmet to me and climbed on his bike.
I hugged him hard to thank him for not making me talk about it.
“Let’s go get my demon,” I said.
***
Chapter Twenty Eight
It was a short ride to the far side of the park, but the rush of fresh air was enough to clear my head. Yes, things were screwed up, but I was doing something about at least one of them and that had to count for something.
The town of Wilding Springs was quiet, most of the houses abandoned, businesses locked up against the coming storm. I hoped they escaped, that they all made it somewhere safe in the end. My mind went to Blood and Simon and Beth, most of all to Alison. I’d abandoned them all for the sake of my demon. And though I knew there was little I would be able to do to save them otherwise, it still hurt me to know it.
Sunny waited for us under a massive maple tree, a shadow among shadows. As she stepped forward when we pulled up, her skin ruddy in Quaid’s headlight, I realized only then she wasn’t alone.
Uncle Frank’s scowl was dark enough I knew there was trouble brewing. He was usually on my side, so seeing his boyish handsomeness twisted into anger and pointed in my direction told me I was in for it.
The bigger shock? Mom was with him. And she looked about as happy as he did.
I ignored the two of them, reaching for Sunny. She’d eaten already, probably in anticipation of this. I hugged her with fierce joy she must have felt through my trembling excitement.
“I got your message.” Sunny focused on me, blue eyes guarded. I knew she wanted another crack at Demitrius herself for what the Chosen leader did to the evil twin. After all, if it hadn’t been for Demitrius, Nicholas would have left her alone. So why wasn’t she excited?
I filled her in quickly and let her and Quaid look inside my mind, studying the image of the house even as Uncle Frank and Mom held quiet and watched. No way was I letting them stop me or interfere. They could be as angry as they wanted that Sunny was helping me. But nothing would keep me from my demon.
“I know the place.” Sunny’s expression was so grim I was almost afraid of her. “Nicholas used it as his own base of operations. Now I know why.”
“We’ll meet you there.” I assumed Quaid and Sunny shared some kind of magical map info. Whatever. As long as we made it where we needed to go.
If only it was that easy.
“You’re not going anywhere.” Uncle Frank actually grabbed Sunny. By the arm. And not in a nice way. His blue eyes were focused on me. “Not until we have a talk.”
“In case you hadn’t noticed,” I said, “we’re in a bit of a hurry, here.”
Sunny didn’t move, her gaze on Uncle Frank’s face. He ignored her, still gripping her upper arm. Mom was at his side, but like him she focused on me.
“I can’t let you go with her.” I’d never heard that tone from my mother before. Not even when Sunny betrayed us to Nicholas. I thought that was all cleared up? Surely they didn’t blame her for wanting to help me when no one else would?
I glanced at the blonde vampire, ready to jump to her defense. This felt like a trial waiting to happen. Sunny’s expression hadn’t changed nor had she moved, but there was sadness in her face, the way her full lips curved downward.
“Mom,” I said, “this is Sunny. And my demon. So if you don’t mind, we have to leave.”
My mother hugged herself, her black shawl twitching as she did. “I don’t have time for this.” As if to punctuate her words, a clap of thunder sounded in the distance. “I want you to go back to the house and stay there.”
“What is wrong with you?” It was only then I saw the guilty look on Quaid’s face. “What?”
He dug his fists into his front pockets. “They know.”
“About?” Mom was right. There was no time. And I was sick of this little back and forth.
“Your request.�
�� Uncle Frank’s anger flickered into desperate fear before returning.
What was he talking about? What request—
I spun on Quaid with all my rage surging directly at him. “You told them I asked Sunny to make me a vampire?”
“No,” Sunny said softly, finally looking at me. “I did.”
I shook my head at Mom and Uncle Frank. “You two are idiots,” I said.
“Sydlynn Thaddea Hayle.” I hated it when Mom used all three names. “You will never speak to me like that again.” But her usual heat was missing, her argument spark. I saw the fear in her too, and realized the truth. No matter what happened, even if I was to be normal the rest of my life, neither of them would ever give their permission.
“In case you hadn’t noticed,” I snapped, “the point is about to be irrelevant. We found my demon, remember? If you’ll just get out of the way, go do your thing and let us do ours, we’ll be back in time to make a difference.”
Mom’s face crumpled. “Syd,” she whispered. “Honey, please…”
“As for trusting Sunny,” I went on without remorse, “the two of you should know better. She told you, for pity’s sake. I’m safer with her than anyone.” I jabbed an index finger at my uncle. “Including you.” And then at Mom. “And you.”
Mom’s shoulders sagged forward. “I know,” she whispered. “This is crazy. All of it. But Syd, you know if anything were to happen to you…”
She didn’t have to say it. I’d lived it when my sister was kidnapped. Mom almost lost her mind.
I went to her, hugged her hard. “Mom,” I said, “I promise. I’ll be back. With my demon. I won’t do anything stupid.”
She snorted a laugh through a sob. “You know better than to promise something like that.”
“Fine,” I rolled my eyes, “I’ll keep the stupid actions to a minimum. But becoming a vampire isn’t on the menu. Okay?”
She exchanged a look with Uncle Frank who finally released Sunny. The beautiful vampire dropped her gaze, stepping aside as he came forward to hug me.
Before he could touch me, I punched him as hard as I could, bruising my hand.
“You apologize to her,” I said. “Right now.”
He didn’t. Uncle Frank stood there, staring down at me. “You have no idea what you were asking of her.”
“Only what you asked,” I said. “Stop being such a jerk and say you’re sorry.”
He sighed. Turned to Sunny. I wanted to cry for her. She may have been the current leader of the DeWinter Blood Clan, but at the moment she looked like a broken hearted woman who might never recover from the pain.
Before Uncle Frank could say anything to her, even as he was extending his hand, she turned to me. I saw her change, her shoulders going back, face sliding into calm and poise.
“We need to go.” She sidestepped Uncle Frank, meeting Mom’s gaze. “I’ll bring them both back.”
Mom hesitated, brushing at tears on her cheeks. “Please forgive us,” she said.
Sunny shrugged. “Nothing to forgive.” Oh, but there was so much damage done here, I could feel it even without my power. And that scared me almost as much as anything.
Uncle Frank reached for her one last time. As if on purpose, Sunny flickered into shadow and vanished.
Mom hugged me again. “Be careful,” she said. “And whatever happens, remember you’re not allowed to come to the coven site.”
I scowled. “I remember,” I said.
Mom nodded, touched my cheek with her fingertips, then backed away. Uncle Frank looked so forlorn I almost relented. But I was still too angry with him.
“It was my idea,” I said. “You had no right to take it out on her.”
His blonde head bobbed, but I didn’t care if he understood or not. I turned to Quaid. “Let’s go.”
I refused to look back while Quaid spun the bike around and gunned the gas.
I had less than an hour this trip. In fact, I’m pretty sure Quaid must have been doing something to keep the cops away and boost his engine because when I glanced at my watch near the familiar turn off to Alison’s lake house, only half that had passed.
Still, it was a whole thirty minutes alone in my head with Quaid pressed to me. I did a whole lot of thinking that long and lonely drive, about who I was and what I’d done. As Quaid slowed just enough to make a turn past the exit ramp, I made a vow. No matter what happened, from now on I was a good witch. Whether I wanted to or not, whether it was the very worst choice I could make for myself, I would never, ever abandon my family again.
Time for Sydlynn Hayle to take her place as her mother’s daughter and a true member of the family coven.
I was startled out of my thoughts when the headlight went dark and the engine fell quiet. Quaid coasted us to a stop, coming to a standstill inside a small copse of trees. A fluttering shadow appeared beside us so close I jumped, but it was just Sunny.
Her cold mask was still in place. I reached for her but she avoided me.
“Sunny,” I said. “This is my fault.”
She shook her head, but instead of talking about what had happened, she said, “Stay here. I’ll scout ahead.” She flickered again and was gone before I could say anything to the contrary. I slid from the bike, pulling off my helmet, my anger rising. I was done being brushed off and left out of things.
“I take it you disagree with her suggestion.” Quaid had his own helmet off, was shedding his leather jacket.
“You could say that.” I crossed my arms over my chest, ready for the fight. “Are you going to try to stop me?”
He shook his head and laughed. “Not a chance. Let’s go.”
I was so startled by his willingness to act I stood there as he moved off. He turned and looked at me. “Well? Are you coming or not?”
He didn’t have to ask me twice.
The woods were thick, not a path in sight, so I found myself clinging to the back of Quaid’s T-shirt and cursing softly every time I tripped over an exposed root or was whipped by a branch. I missed my night vision, something else I took for granted when I had my demon with me.
“Syd,” Quaid finally stopped and turned toward me. “Do you want to go back?”
“No.” Absolutely not.
“Then shut the hell up.” He kissed me quickly on the cheek to take the sting out of it. “Or the Chosen will hear you coming.”
Fine. I gritted my teeth and pushed on.
It wasn’t long before I caught glimpses of light up ahead and felt Quaid slow. He took my hand and pulled me up beside him. I now realized there was enough illumination for me to see and that the woods thinned to the point I wasn’t falling all over myself anymore.
Not good. While the light made it easier for me to move around, the gigantic spots lighting the grounds weren’t going to make breaking in as simple as I hoped. And the more accessible tree line made me worry there might be traps set up we didn’t know about, or patrols we needed to watch out for.
Speak of the devil. Two Chosen emerged from the dark in their ridiculous white robes, drifting through the trees ahead like a pair of ghosts. Quaid and I crouched beside a tree and watched them go.
I leaned in and breathed in his ear barely above a whisper. “At least they’ll be easy to spot.”
His teeth flashed when he grinned in answer.
We waited for them to disappear into the forest before easing forward toward the edge of the trees. Quaid pulled me to a stop, face creased as he concentrated before copying my earlier conversation method.
“I don’t feel any wards.” I barely made out his words around the shiver in my body from the warmth of his breath in my ear.
Still, something wasn’t right. I could feel it. The protective spell keeping my magic latent buzzed louder and louder the closer we came to the perimeter. I shook my head and pointed at my temple before answering. “What remains of my witchy senses are tingling.”
Quaid grabbed my hand and I felt his magic slide over the barricade in my mind. He frowned an
d pulled me close.
“What is that?”
If I had that answer…
“Something’s not right.” I let him feel what I felt, the humming, crackling feeling before suddenly and completely understanding what it was I sensed.
My demon. It was her power. Somehow Demitrius was using her to ward the entire place. No wonder the protective net around my magic was on fire. It knew she was there and either wanted to get away from her…
Or was trying to tell me how to find her.
I preferred to think the latter. After all, I didn’t give a crap if whatever held me back wanted her home or not. It could just suck it up.
Quaid must have made the same connection I did because his eyes widened then dropped to slits. He squinted into the light, obviously focused on something, before grinning at me.
“She’ll let us in.”
Of course. She loved Quaid. Perfect.
We rose from our crouch to move, only to be driven back by a tightly focused burst of power that left me cold. Sunny fluttered into existence next to me, face a mask of fury.
What are you doing? Her mental voice just cut through to me. I told you to wait.
Quaid obviously shot something back that pissed Sunny off because the vampire glared at him. I grabbed her sleeve and pulled her toward me, thinking at her with everything I had in me.
My demon is in there and I’m going to go get her.
Sunny’s face softened. Good, she heard me.
I know.
I felt a rush of cold as her power settled around me and saw Quaid shudder so I wasn’t the only one the vampire was protecting.
You have to stay close. Her voice was getting stronger in my head. Good old vampire magic—they didn’t use power so much as they were power. Made communication with even my blocked off mind possible. The glamour I’m casting will only reach so far. If you fall behind, you’ll be visible. Now, follow me.