Idols and Enemies (Amplifier 4)

by Meghan Ciana Doidge

  “It’s not always about digging in, brother,” Isa drawled. “A decisive unexpected blow can be very effective.”

  Aiden grinned at his brother. “We’ll see how that works for you, Isa.”

  I stepped up beside the witches, trying to decipher the card layout now that Aiden had outlined the setup of the game.

  “Is Opal okay?” Ocean asked quietly.

  “Yes,” I said. “She has detention.”

  The witch waved her hand, relieved. “Oh, totally easy. It’s usually exercises to ‘improve our focus and dedication.’ ” She flicked her fingers beside her head while speaking the last few words. “So it’s like extra homework, but not a waste of time.”

  “And you know that how?” Sky asked.

  Ocean batted her eyes innocently at her older sister. “Oh, just rumors. You know.” Then the younger witch winked at me.

  “To start your turn,” Aiden said, “you flip a card.”

  A mane of shortened tentacles sprouted all around Paisley’s neck.

  Grosvenor muttered under his breath, then appeared to catch himself doing so.

  “But …” Aiden raised one finger. “You must not touch any of the active magic in play while doing so. The card you flip will tell you what sort of turn you get to play. Or it might be supplies or treasure. Okay?”

  Paisley grunted. All of her attention was seemingly fixed on the small stack of cards in the center of the kitchen island.

  “Flip the card,” Aiden said.

  Paisley’s mane snapped forth, crackling with power. She wove her tentacles through the intricate magical grid. Then she tore that grid down, gathering it into a pulsing globe of power. Her maw unhinged, and she swallowed the glowing orb. She flicked her tentacles out a second time, scouring the island of all the cards and eating them too.

  The witches and sorcerers all stared at the demon dog, blinking. Including Aiden.

  “Those cards don’t belong to you,” I said mildly.

  Paisley chortled. Then she reopened her mouth and spat out all the cards. They landed in a messy but contained pile in the center of the island.

  “You might want to count them,” I said.

  The witches and sorcerers turned and blinked at me now. Except Aiden, who was grinning, amused.

  I shrugged. “So did Paisley win?”

  Kader Azar threw back his head and laughed. For one heart-stopping moment, his power rumbled through the kitchen, bathing my exposed skin in raw energy. Then, as he quieted to a chuckle, the magic withdrew.

  Khalid rolled his shoulders as if shrugging off the residual. Since he was likely the most sensitive among us, I wasn’t surprised. “I never did know what was worse,” he muttered. “His anger or his mirth.”

  “Then you haven’t ever seen him truly angry,” Isa said dryly.

  “Well,” Kader said quietly, slapping his hands on his thighs. “Dinner?”

  The sorcerers, quickly followed by the witches, all roared with laughter.

  Grosvenor reached over and gathered the cards. “Paisley wins! Rematch after dessert.”

  Everyone started hustling around. Isa grabbed a bottle of white wine from the fridge and a bottle of red from the counter. Sky pulled buns from the oven, where they must have been keeping warm.

  Khalid grabbed a bowl and started filling it with the buns. “We need an extra place setting.”

  “Oh, yes,” the witch said, ceding the buns to the sorcerer and crossing toward the dining room.

  “Cerise?” Aiden asked Sky quietly as she neared.

  His sister grimaced. “Still in her room. She was going through the contract, though, when I took her tea up.”

  Everyone eventually piled into the dining room, where the meal was already laid under stasis spells. The bottles of wine were passed around, and everyone served themselves, standing and reaching across the table, not bothering with the formality of the previous evening.

  Cerise’s chair remained unoccupied. Paisley perched to Kader’s right. Isa was on his left.

  The food was simpler. Two roasted chickens, roasted veg, a large salad, and the buns.

  “There’s pie for dessert,” Ocean whispered to me. “Your friend dropped it off … Brian? Said he knew Christopher was away and that we might need it.”

  “That’s nice,” I said, though I was slightly disconcerted about Brian wandering up to a house filled with warring witches and sorcerers.

  Except that no one appeared to be in the mood to murder each other at the moment.

  “Strawberry and rhubarb!” Ocean announced gleefully. “And you had vanilla ice cream in the big freezer in the barn, tucked in with a crazy amount of meat. Like, there must be a whole pig in there!”

  “There’d better not be a pig in there,” I grumbled, eyeing Paisley. We kept the freezer well stocked with beef for the demon dog, but any pork would have been something she’d picked up — which is to say, hunted down — on her own.

  “Are you still going on about the pie?” Grosvenor asked around a mouthful of butter-swathed bun. “You haven’t even eaten it yet!”

  “I know.” She sighed. “I like pie.”

  I laughed quietly. Aiden pressed his thigh against mine under the table, smiling as he carved a leg from one of the chickens and held it out for Paisley. Sky, on the demon dog’s right, grabbed Paisley’s plate and held it out to Aiden. He placed the chicken on it, and Sky set it in front of the demon dog.

  Paisley licked it. Lasciviously. Her tongue was long, blue, and forked.

  “Manners,” I said quietly.

  Ocean giggled, covering her mouth.

  This was a gathering of family, I realized. Not with everyone the best of friends, or even completely comfortable around each other. But still sharing a game and then a meal together.

  Cerise appeared in the open doorway to the hall. With all the magic already stuffed into the dining room, I hadn’t felt her approach. She gazed at all of us, hands clasped before her.

  She looked young. Innocent.

  Beautiful.

  Poised.

  Waiting, watching all of us. There was something behind her bright-blue eyes … something sizing us up. Assessing. Looking through her …

  I blinked.

  Casting her gaze down, Cerise smiled. Almost timidly.

  That was odd.

  Wasn’t it?

  “I’ve signed the contract,” she said quietly. Then she raised her head, looking directly at Kader. “I’ll remove the curse at dawn.”

  Grosvenor frowned. “It’s not a curse.”

  “I’ll need to prepare,” Cerise said to no one in particular, ignoring the curse breaker. “And I’ll need all of you to participate.”

  “I see,” Kader said, leaning back in his chair. “Why?”

  She shrugged prettily. “I’m not powerful enough to cast a multistage spell on my own.”

  “No,” Kader said. His tone was smooth and even, edged in darkness. “Why sign the contract?”

  Cerise cast her gaze at Aiden. Her eyes were wide, and clear of whatever I thought I’d seen there just a moment before. “I would never hurt you, my son. Not knowingly. I’ll admit I was … I wished ill of your father, but I never intended to kill him.”

  “You aren’t a junior witch, Cerise,” Kader snapped. “Playing with a spell you’ve dug up in your grandmother’s library.”

  His antagonism seemed oddly timed. Why push Cerise now that she’d decided to sign the contract? Khalid and Grosvenor were frowning at the elder sorcerer as well.

  Aiden’s attention was on his mother, as was Sky’s. Ocean was looking at her plate, her fingers curled around the edges as if holding her hands in check. Isa looked at me, then at Ocean, then at Cerise.

  Noting what I was noting.

  It wasn’t just me, or the black-hearted apple blossoms beside my bed. How long had we all been acting oddly? Since the witches arrived? Or even before that? Did I know the sorcerers and witches gathered around my dining room table well enough to
even judge their behavior?

  Cerise opened her hands to the sides. “I just wanted to draw you out, Kader,” she said coolly. “But you didn’t come to me, so I had to apply additional pressure.”

  “To murder me,” Kader said. “After draining my power?”

  Her lips thinned. “For a conversation.”

  “A letter would have sufficed.”

  Cerise looked at Aiden, then smiled sadly. “I sent many, all unanswered.”

  Kader’s eyes narrowed. “Are you certain you got the address right?”

  “Since I was held there against my will for so many years, I would think I would remember.” Cerise’s composure began to crack.

  Kader leaned forward, as if he could gaze through those cracks. “About?”

  “About what?”

  “What did you wish to discuss with me? Your revision of our history?”

  “One of us is lying,” she snarled.

  “Both of us,” Kader said, unruffled. “Both of us are lying.”

  Cerise snapped her mouth shut, glaring at the sorcerer.

  Something shifted behind her eyes. Again.

  Perhaps it was just a manifestation of her magic. Some Adepts held their power tightly in their hands, so perhaps Cerise did the same with her eyes. Except that didn’t line up with how I’d seen her cast.

  Kader leaned forward.

  He could see it as well.

  Cerise smoothed her expression. “I’ll need supplies. And help setting up from Aiden, Sky, and Ocean. The moonlight will fuel the spell, and at dawn it will be ready.” She reached over, quickly adding chicken and vegetables to her empty plate and wrapping her utensils in her napkin.

  We all just watched her, our own food cooling.

  She straightened, took the glass of white wine by Ocean, and said, “I’ll be in my room. Aiden, Sky, Ocean, please come see me after you’ve eaten.” Then she turned and walked away.

  Khalid turned to look at his father. “Why would a curse need a moon-fueled spell to remove it? If Cerise is the original caster?”

  “It’s not a curse,” Grosvenor muttered.

  “And dawn triggered?” Isa said. “That’s …” He glanced at Aiden. “That’s usually reserved for transfiguration or transformation spells, yes?”

  Aiden tore a hunk of chicken from a drumstick, chewing thoughtfully. “As far as I know,” he finally said. Then he looked over at Sky. “Has she told you what supplies she needs?”

  Sky nodded, her expression solemn. “She’s been working on some aspects of the spell since we arrived. I just didn’t mention it because I wasn’t certain she was going to sign.”

  “And if it’s a trap?” Isa asked quietly, not really speaking to any one of us in particular.

  “To what end?” I asked when no one else answered him.

  He shook his head, glancing over at his father. “If she’s draining your magic, she’s not using it for herself. I can’t see any trace of it on her.”

  “No,” Kader said simply. Then he looked at me. “She’s not.”

  “Collecting it?” Grosvenor asked. “Storing it? Can witches do that? I mean, specifically with power that isn’t their own?” He looked at Sky.

  The witch sat with her head bowed over her plate, copper-and-blond-streaked hair hanging around her face.

  “Sky?” he asked softly.

  “What do you know about it?” she snarled, standing abruptly and shoving her chair back.

  “Not as much as I’d like to know,” Grosvenor said, trying to joke.

  “I just want this over and done with.” Sky tossed her napkin on the table. “I want to be done with all of this shit.” She marched out of the dining room, abandoning her dinner.

  We all stared at her empty seat. The curse breaker looked resolutely at his plate and started eating again, literally stuffing his face.

  “How do you know?” I asked, speaking to Kader. “That Cerise isn’t absorbing and harnessing your power?”

  He smirked at me. “It’s a rare trait.”

  I leveled a look at him. “Well, you found someone capable, or you couldn’t have made me.”

  Every single person sitting at the table turned and stared at Kader. Including Grosvenor, still in the middle of chewing.

  Kader shrugged. “You are unique. Can you cast with the magic you siphon yet, or do you still need to be fed the spell?”

  Everyone turned and looked at me then, excepting Aiden. He was glaring at his father.

  “The Five gain new abilities,” Kader said, looking at me but speaking to Aiden as if benevolently instructing him. “With the other four, it was mostly due to Emma’s … ongoing connection to them. Though I imagine distance negates that transference.”

  “Care to find out for yourself?” I said, grinning at the elder sorcerer.

  Grosvenor muttered under his breath. Apparently, my smile was disconcerting.

  “Indeed,” Kader said easily. “Though I prefer to see you focused elsewhere.”

  He meant on Cerise. “I’m watching,” I said. “I see. All of you.”

  The elder sorcerer inclined his head, then returned to his meal.

  “That’s it?” Khalid said. “We have no idea what the witch is planning. The amplifier is another wild card. Not to mention the … Paisley …” The sorcerer jabbed his thumb in the demon dog’s direction.

  She eyed him as if contemplating eating his hand.

  He noticed, withdrawing the offending limb.

  That was a smart move. I wasn’t sure that Paisley would give him the hand back, not even if I asked nicely.

  “Yes,” Kader said smoothly. “We will adapt and then respond. Unless you prefer the alternative?”

  A moment of silence fell over the table. Apparently, none of us preferred the alternative. But all for different reasons, I was certain.

  The elder sorcerer rested his gaze on me. “To answer your question, Emma, I would know if Cerise was holding my power, utilizing it for herself. I’d be able to feel it. As I could feel it lingering on you eight years ago, even though you’d released the spell I fed you.”

  Everyone was looking at me again. Except Paisley. She took the opportunity to steal all the chicken from Khalid’s plate. I shook my head at her. The others could stare at me all they wanted.

  “So … maybe she needs to feed the power she’s siphoning into the curse?” Isa rubbed his forehead.

  Grosvenor stood up, his empty plate and utensils in hand. “I want to make it very clear, for hopefully the very last time, that whatever Cerise Myers is doing to you …” He looked pointedly at Kader. “It is not a curse.”

  “No one is blaming you for not being able to break it,” Isa said tersely.

  “I want you to listen.” The curse breaker’s English accent thickened. “For one bloody time in your life. It. Is. Not. A. Curse. I knew it before I was even in the same room as Cerise. Whatever spell she’s going to have Sky, Aiden, and Ocean help her set up tonight, it will not be to break a curse.”

  “Thank you, Grosvenor,” Kader said quietly.

  The dark-skinned sorcerer nodded curtly, then scooped up Sky’s half-eaten plate and exited into the kitchen.

  Glancing at all of us, Ocean took her own plate and followed him. The sound of water running and the dishwasher being loaded filtered through to us.

  Aiden was watching his father. Kader had leaned back in his chair, having barely eaten anything. “You know something,” the dark-haired sorcerer finally said.

  Kader shook his head, tired. “If I knew anything for certain, I would have acted. Long ago. Ask Emma what she senses.”

  Aiden looked at me, as did Isa and Khalid.

  “My sense for magic isn’t as well honed as yours,” I said dismissively.

  Kader smiled tightly. “I didn’t breed modesty into you, amplifier. It isn’t becoming.”

  Aiden stiffened.

  “Being self-aware isn’t modesty.”

  “Next you’re going to suggest that even you
have limits.”

  “You’re certainly getting close to finding out.”

  Kader sniffed. “Even if the four of us united against you right now —”

  “Never going to happen,” Aiden growled.

  “Ditto,” Isa said. “I’m not eager to repeat the experience.”

  “Exactly.” Kader smoothed his fingers along the edges of his napkin. “You’re never going to trust me, Emma. But I’m certain you already know that harming you — in any permanent way — would never be a choice I would make lightly. To save myself, or one of my children, perhaps.”

  “My dinner is getting cold,” I said. “Perhaps you’d like to get to your point?”

  Khalid’s jaw dropped. Isa stifled a smile. Aiden’s gaze didn’t leave his father.

  Kader sighed. “No one converses any more. It’s just jotted notes and mad dashes everywhere.”

  “You didn’t breed me for conversation either,” I said.

  Isa and Khalid slid their chairs back from the table. Paisley took the opportunity to swipe one of the remaining chicken carcasses, setting it politely on her plate and blinking at me.

  I nodded at the demon dog.

  “No,” Kader said musingly. “I suppose we didn’t. But you’ve been out of our employ for over eight years now. And Aiden is … well educated, so I would assume he’d choose a partner who stimulates his mind.”

  “Is there a point to this, Father?” Aiden asked, barely containing himself.

  Kader looked at me. Prompting me. “Emma?”

  Backing me into a corner. “I don’t like to make suppositions.” I glanced at Aiden. “And I only truly know you and myself in this current situation —”