by Patti Larsen
Gram's power smacked him gently. I'd have thought you got the hint I didn't want you to find me, silly boy. Her magic hugged him then. Sunny, child, how do you put up with him?
Sunny's mental laugh thawed the ice age and brought the sun back. He has his moments.
Only Gram would call a centuries-old vampire a child.
Listen up, all of you. Gram's power grasped us in a surge of magic and gripped us in a vice. Sebastian may or may not be the key to this. I've been looking for a way to break up the trial, and Batsheva has handed us an excuse to put an end to it. Even if she reneges on her promise, and we all know what a Moromond promise is worth, maybe we can use his influence with the other blood clans to force the witches out.
Those are a lot of maybes, could happens and ifs, Mom. Uncle Frank's tone was light so I knew he'd forgiven her.
I didn't say it was perfect, she sent. I just said it's worth it to find out. Her magic jabbed into me and from the tightness of the connection, I knew she shared her next thought with only my mind. Well done, sister soul. I considered Sebastian, but didn't think he could be saved. Can you do it?
If I can find him, I think so. She felt my hesitation and the gist of my plan and shrugged off my worries.
I'll work or it won't. Either way, we'll have an answer.
I just hoped getting the answer wouldn't cost us more than we could pay.
“I can distract the Enforcers,” Charlotte said out loud. It felt weird to hear her speak. Her two friends nodded as well.
“I'll help.” Quaid made a funny face, lips crooked. “Since I've been told to mind my own damned business.”
You're learning, Gram sent, but her tone was gentle. Never get in the way of a Hayle witch, especially a Hayle coven leader, when she has a job to do.
Noted. Quaid touched my hair. I guess I have a lot of things to get used to. He frowned a little, but his magic was as loving as ever so I didn’t say anything.
He could worry all he wanted. But I could pretty much promise him it wouldn't be nearly as much as I did.
Charlotte was on her feet, moving toward the door. I stood up, pulling away from Quaid. He actually looked startled.
“What, now?” The vampires both nodded as Quaid's face settled into resolve. “Right. We're kind of on a time limit, aren't we?”
“We have all night,” I said, “but if we're going to do it, let's do it.” I was tired of waiting, of holding back. This at least was something I could act on. I turned to Charlotte. “Give me five minutes to change.”
She nodded and slipped out the door, her friends behind her. Quaid paused, bent over me. His kiss was brief, but it was enough. The love he sent me through that one touch filled my heart and made me light headed.
It was hard to see him go. Even more so when I realized two vampires and a demon cat were grinning at me.
Like I needed an audience.
Three minutes later I zipped up the front of my jacket, bending over the sleeping form of my sister. Meira was so peaceful I didn't want to wake her. Sassafras jumped up on the bed, padding his fat cat body toward her. I watched him curl up on her pillow, felt his power reach out and seal them together.
I'll keep her safe, he sent. You see you do the same for yourself.
I kissed his soft, furry forehead before pressing my lips to Meira's cheek.
See you soon.
The vampires were waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs.
“Back door will be best, I'm thinking.” Sunny shook her head. “I just wish I knew where to look. He's totally cut himself off from us. So much I can't even feel him anymore.”
Her words triggered a memory. Uncle Frank nodded even as my mind clicked the puzzle pieces together.
“I think I know where he's hiding,” he said.
“The cave.” It made perfect sense. Sunny's eyes flew wide.
“Of course.” It's an interesting thing, watching a vampire blush. There's a glow to it from their white power that made her look absolutely adorable. “I'm a fool.”
“No,” Uncle Frank said, “you've been focused on taking care of the clan. Meanwhile, I've been chasing all over the countryside looking for Mom. With lots of time on my hands to think.”
“But the cave was sealed with witch magic.” Sunny frowned a little. “Would he be able to break the wards?”
I shrugged. “You felt how powerful he was,” I said. “It wouldn't surprise me.”
I felt the werewolves shift as Charlotte shared the experience with me, their bodies morphing from human to half wolf. I'd never touched anything like it before and realized Charlotte was letting me inside something intensely personal. Neither of the vampires seemed to notice so I figured it was for my consumption only.
We're ready. Charlotte's mental voice was more harshly accented than her speaking one. She sounded almost guttural and I could only speculate it was the werewolf wakened in her.
“The weres are acting,” I said just as Quaid's power surged somewhere down the street, striking out at the house. Three howls followed. I slid my power through the wards and watched as two of the Enforcers went to investigate.
“One left.” I eased through the back door and into the yard, the vampires right behind me. “You two head out,” I whispered. “I have my own means.”
Sunny winked while Uncle Frank frowned, but the two of them flickered into shadow and vanished.
I'd tried before to jump into the veil, ride it from inside the house. While I was able to access it no problem, something about the family magic kept me from moving forward. Which meant I was forced to go outside.
I snuck across the lawn to the opposite side of the house from the driveway and the disturbance Quaid and the werewolves were raising. A peek around the corner and a whisper of questing power told me the third guard wasn't paying attention at all, too focused on what his friends were doing. I scowled to myself, knowing then the Dumonts could have attacked me without the Enforcers who were supposedly there to protect me even having a clue I was in trouble.
That raised a lot of confidence. Before I left, my mind remembering the fire threat, I whispered a water spell around the perimeter and sealed it with earth magic. While it wasn't foolproof against attack, it would drench whoever tried to break in before sucking them down into the ground. A witch would be able to break free eventually, but I was hoping if someone did approach, I'd be able to get back in time to heap some serious unhappiness on their ass.
The moment I set foot on the sidewalk, clear of the family shields, I slid into the veil and headed for the cave. My demon hummed happily, sliding us across the thick, rubbery membrane, her magic propelling us at an incredible speed I couldn't feel, cushioned by the veil. It was only a matter of seconds before I shot out of the edge, running for the cave entrance and the two vampires who were only then flickering back into corporeal form.
“Nice.” Uncle Frank high fived me. “How?”
I grinned, the experience, as always, leaving me fiercely joyful. “Ask me when this is over. I might even take you for a ride.”
He winked his good eye, smiling back. It had taken time, but the sweet man my uncle used to be seemed to be winning past the angry, hurt vampire he'd become.
I didn't know about Sunny, but I'd take it.
No time for idle chit-chat. I stepped forward, swiping with magic at the heavy growth of vegetation hiding the entrance. Someone planted earth magic deep beneath the ground to encourage the plants to grow thick and tall. I recognized the feeling of Mom's power and had a moment of intense sadness.
Find him, Gram sent, breaking the emotion, and you could save her. Remember that.
Right. I shook my head, blinking back welling tears and pressed my hands against the stone sealing the cave.
“The wards are broken.” Relief surged. “The witch shields are gone.” I dug a little deeper, moved past the stone and, on the immediate other side, ran into a shining white barrier. “He's here.” I turned to the vampires. “He's sealed it up from t
he inside.”
Sunny joined me, her magic following mine. “Yes,” she smiled suddenly. “It's Sebastian's power. Even tainted by the virus, I know his energy.”
“Can you break it?” Uncle Frank's magic joined ours.
“Yes, of course.” Sunny grasped onto both of us. And gasped. “Oh my very dear,” she whispered. “My poor Sebastian. He's not sealed it against us coming in.”
I felt it then, what she meant. How the outside of the shield was pitted in places, weak. Bu the further into it we went, the more powerful it became.
He'd sealed it so he could never escape.
Sunny's magic dissolved it easily, the ward collapsing in on itself with a gentle outside push. “Maybe he hoped we'd find him and save him someday,” she said, wiping tears from her cheeks. Uncle Frank hugged her gently.
“Maybe,” he said. “For better or worse, that's exactly what we're here to do.”
There was no time to second guess or let myself freak out with the thought I was wrong, so wrong and what the hell was I thinking? Shaylee's earth magic reached out as if she acted on her own, sliding the big rock out of the way, exposing the dark tunnel beyond.
I choked on a whiff of old, dying air, knew whatever we found in the cavern was bound to be horrible. Took the first step, then the second, as my magic dulled, elemental power shut off by the wards meant to hold the creature Cesard had become when trapped here, now Sebastian's prison. I was startled to find them restored. I’d shattered them, using Torsh’s magic to do so, when I’d tricked the banished demon with a God complex to lend me his power. Only then had I been able to reach Demonicon and Dad, suffering a slight elevation of my own self-worth in the process. Good thing I had my demon to keep me in line or I might have become as bad as Torsh.
Now, as I stood there and felt around, I realized someone restored the wards to their previous power.
There was nothing I could do about it. I had to act. I moved further ahead and didn't look back.
Mom's need or not, it was the least I could do for a friend.
***
Chapter Twenty Two
I remembered that walk, taken with Quaid, down the long, dark tunnel, on our way to face Cesard and rescue the people he'd taken. It seemed like so long ago, yet the feeling was so familiar it all flooded back as if it was happening all over again. I fought the urge to look around, to feel for Quaid, knowing he wasn't there with me, that two vampires followed my lead instead and this time, I was the one in charge.
Not my mother.
The idea scared me more than a little bit.
The soft glow of permalight beckoned from up ahead. I emerged into the large cavern with a sharp exhale, only then realizing I'd been holding my breath. Part of me worried the vampire would jump out at us, and I'd either succumb to the pull of his power or be forced to kill him. Neither of those options worked for me.
At least the demon binding was no longer in place. Whoever restored the elemental wards had failed to return the muffling pressure of the demon proofing which held the demon Torsh here for millennia, only offering him a hope of freedom when the ancient Susquehannock Indian tribe trapped Cesard, already fully infected with the vampire virus, in his prison. Those same wards acted as a siphon, collecting every ounce of energy the combined magics of the three powers threw at them and sent them back to the magician and his possessors.
Talk about centuries of frustrating.
It was a big relief to know only the elemental wards were in place, considering I’d need my demon magic if I was going to succeed in this particular endeavor.
Sunny and Uncle Frank joined me, the three of us staying near the entrance, looking around in the dim light. It was more than enough after the walk in the dark for me to get a good look around. But there was nothing, no one.
The cave appeared empty.
“How could we be wrong?” Sunny took a step forward then froze again. “No, he's here,” she whispered. “Somewhere.”
She was right. Now I was used to the deadened feel of the place again, I could sense Sebastian's faint energy. I strode past her, refusing to be afraid, probably for stupid reasons, but unwilling to stop now. I made it three more steps before I froze in place, eyes locked on the far wall and the bundle of cloth and bones propped against it.
He was so thin and filthy he blended into the very rock, his skin shriveled, dark hair lank with dust, what was left of his clothing stinking rags hanging in tatters from his skeletal body. Sebastian looked like mummified remains, normally smooth skin darkened and rough. His fangs protruded from his thinned lips, every bone visible through the parchment texture of his flesh.
But he was alive. That was the worst of it, I think, the fact I knew his shining white heart still glowed, the virus keeping him from letting go as he obviously had chosen to do. I drew closer slowly, clenching my jaw against the tightness in the back of my throat and blinking away the prickling in my eyes, knowing I could dissolve into sobbing at the sight of him if I didn't keep firm and rigid control over my emotions.
“Syd.” Uncle Frank caught my arm, held me back from getting too close. “We have no idea what he's become.”
Fair warning. I turned back just as Sebastian's eyes opened and met mine.
A thin rattling sound emerged from his mouth, his chest caving in on itself as he struggled to speak. The sticks that were his fingers fluttered, fell still.
“Sebastian.” To hell with warning. I went to his side, found myself on my knees beside him, Sunny with me, while Uncle Frank stood over his fallen leader with a frown on his damaged face.
Again the dry, whispering rattle. Was he trying to say my name? As much as it revolted me, I reached forward, took his frail hand in mine. There was nothing in his flesh, no residual power at all. Demon power ready, I followed the lines of his magic back, deep inside him, to the barely pulsing heart of white light. The virus refused to die, swirling angrily, hungry still.
“Sebastian.” Sunny's hand settled on his forehead, stroked the tangled, lank mass that had been his shining black hair. “We're here to bring you back.”
He moaned, a long and horrible sound, his body jerking once as though in protest.
“Don't worry,” I said. “We're going to heal you first. Kill the virus. Do you understand?”
How was it possible? Even in the wasted and husked state of his body, he was able to generate a single tear. It stood for a moment, a drop of moisture, before tracking down the leather-like skin of his cheek.
As quickly and as efficiently as possible I filled him in on what was happening to Mom, the trial, how his clan was in danger of possible eviction from their home and the likelihood of extermination if the Hayle coven wasn’t there to defend them. He remained still, but his eyes were alive, active, the only part of him not shriveled and sunken, a hideous reminder of the undead creature he was.
...trapped...
That whisper in my mind. It had to be Sebastian.
“We're here to free you.” Sunny looked up at me. “Tell me your plan will work.”
There was only one way to find out.
“I have something I want to try.” I winced at the weak sound of my statement. “You just have to trust me.”
He shuddered once, but weakly.
...hunger...
I pulled back, biting my lip against the renewed need to sob. I could only imagine the pain he endured. And with the virus inside him, would he ever be allowed to die if he remained here, like this?
“There are two things we can do,” I said. “We can make this virus fully integrate with you so you can control it.” I knew a thing or two about that. My separation from my demon was what gave me the idea in the first place. “We kill off its personality and you take over. It will mean you'll still have the power it commands, which might lead us right back to where we started, or it could mean you're just the strongest vampire ever.”
Sunny was nodding. “The fight with it, that's what drove him here.” She stroked his face again.
“He told me he could no longer control it.”
“And we know it has a life of its own,” I said. “It was one of the personalities inside Cesard. So if we can force it to give up control and let Sebastian take over for good, maybe he'll be okay.”
“Maybe?” Uncle Frank met my gaze. “That's a huge maybe, Syd. What if it doesn't work?”
I nodded. “Then we go to plan B.”
He grinned like it was really funny. “Of course you have a plan B.”
“If we can't integrate the two with Sebastian in control, we take it out of him and destroy it.”
Sunny sighed. “We've tried,” she said. “The only way to do it is to transfer the power to another vampire. And then we're back where we started.”
“I don't think so,” I said. “Because you two aren't going to do it. I am. With a little help.”
“Even if we do pull it out of him,” Sunny said, “what will happen to him? Syd, without the virus, he'll die in this condition.”
I hadn't thought of that. Or considered he'd be in this kind of shape. “I just don't know,” I said. “But remember, that's plan B. Hopefully, if Sebastian is strong enough to take control, with assistance, we can feed him and he'll recover on his own.”
Those blue eyes didn't blink, just watched me as if he considered what I said.
“Okay, so to what help are you referring?” Uncle Frank finally crouched next to his fallen leader.
I shrugged. “Dad.”
Both vampires looked startled. “How is a demon going to fix this?” Sunny seemed almost angry.
“And I don't see his effigy anywhere around here,” Uncle Frank said.
“I don't need his effigy,” I said. “I still have the imprint of him from last time I called him to this cavern.” I could feel Dad's residual energy all around me when I reached out to the wards still surrounding the cave. “He's powerful enough now to come over on his own. All I need to do is invite him.”
Sunny was staring down at Sebastian. “And then what?”
