by Patti Larsen
The next streetlight caught the gloss of Erica’s staring eyes. I couldn’t help myself. I started to scream.
***
Chapter Thirty Five
I would have kept screaming, until my mind went, until I couldn’t breathe. It was too much, way too much. I went through hell and found myself right back in it. For the first time since the whole thing started I fell apart and let myself go.
I don’t know if I would have gotten myself stopped if Jared hadn’t snapped me out of it.
He jerked the wheel hard to the left, digging the seatbelt into me, throwing me into the car door.
“Syd!” He yelled. “Stop!”
I did. The final betrayer was Jared. It had been Jared all along. He had the good grace to look embarrassed.
“Hold it together,” he snapped.
I started to laugh, a choking sound torn from my sore lungs and throat.
“You’re kidding, right?” I said. “You’re really freaking kidding me.”
“I’m sorry, Syd. But, there are bigger things happening here than you know about. Darker things. And I haven’t had a choice from the moment it all started.”
“We always have a choice,” Meira whispered. I, for one, agreed with her.
“That’s right, Jared,” I said. “Only cowards use that excuse.”
His face twisted with something I didn’t recognize. His hands flexed on the wheel so hard his fingers went white. But when he spoke, his voice held steady.
“You can think what you want,” he said. “But it doesn’t change the fact I have to give you up to them. The decision’s been made. I’m sorry.”
He seemed to be saying that a lot. “Sure you are,” I said. How had I been so stupid, so blind?
“You have no idea,” he replied, so softly I almost missed it.
He slowed at a stop sign. I reached for the door handle. He sped up again, running it. He shot me a glare that said he knew what I was thinking.
“Don’t bother,” he said. “The doors are locked from my side.”
Crap. I hadn’t noticed when he did that. I gritted my teeth.
“Where are we really going?” I asked him.
“To the site,” he said.
Meira’s eyes were huge. “Is she dead?” Her voice was barely a whisper. She refused to look at the back seat.
Jared tried his charming routine. I would never trust a smile like that again for the rest of my life.
“Just asleep,” he said. “Honest.”
I reached out anyway and felt some relief at the steady da-dum of Erica’s heart.
I knew I had to do something to save us. Despite my usual reservations, I pulled in my demon as we approached a red light, knowing if I hit him while we were going slower I’d have a better chance of keeping Meira and I safe. I couldn’t care less about him. And I couldn’t worry about Erica.
As he hit the brakes, I lashed out with all the power I could muster, my demon leaping out to shred him to bits.
She slid over and off of him like oil on water.
I was so stunned my attack failed I almost missed the red glow in his eyes. He grinned.
In a rush of recovered memory, I recognized that grin, those eyes, that shaggy black hair, only it dawned on me the last time it was on something way more furry.
Jared was the black dog. I knew then he was the traitor all along. He was a member of our coven for well over a year, a young, eager witch fresh from another family, wanting a new start. Erica adored him. They started dating right away. He injected himself into our lives, our hearts, our power and used it against us ever since.
“You’ve been following me,” I said.
“You were the only one who was a wild card,” he answered. “They had no way of knowing if you could counteract me. Now we know you can’t.”
“What are you?” I asked. “You’re not human, I know that now.” The film of power I identified as Jared dissolved like a skim of water down the sides of a glass. His public mind was a carefully constructed mask. What emerged made my demon howl in frustration.
The green magic was his.
“No, not human,” he answered. “Does it really matter?”
“It does to me,” I said.
“I’m Fay.” His voice grated harsh.
No wonder he was able to hide from us. “A fairy? But, there’s no such thing anymore.” Fairy magic was rumored to be undetectable to human practitioners.
So why then could I feel it?
My demon shoved that faint question away, her unhappiness surging inside me.
Jared laughed, but it came out bitter.
“No, not Sidhe,” he said, “not a fairy. Fay. One of their slaves, a tool they use.”
“I don’t understand,” I said. My fairy history studies had fallen to the wayside with the rest of my training. Now I wished I paid more attention. If I embraced who I was in the first place none of this would have happened. The knowledge stabbed me in the heart as he answered.
“You aren’t meant to,” he said. “Syd, the Sidhe exist, the fairy high council exists. But this isn’t their doing.”
“The Moromonds,” I said.
“Yes,” he said. “The Moromonds. They supplied the power I needed to hide among you, to shield what I really am. You touched the edges of it a few times, enough I was forced to take steps.”
The wards on Gram’s door. The black dog sightings that just happened to occur every time something bad was going down. It made total sense now.
“Why, Jared?” I demanded. “Why are you doing this?”
“Batsheva has never been satisfied with the power she was born with,” he avoided the question, answering another. “I don’t know if you are aware, but she has hated Miriam since they were little girls.”
“I didn’t,” I said. But hadn’t Uncle Frank tried to warn me?
“She is so jealous of what your mother has, of her status and influence, she went a little crazy with it. She started out wanting to destroy Miriam, but it’s become so much more since then.”
He shuddered beside me.
“She scares you,” I said, knowing it was true, feeling it.
“She should scare you, too,” he said. “Her plans have grown so big, so dark…” he trailed off, unable to go on.
“You disagree with what she’s doing,” I began to see a way out if I could convince him.
“Of course,” he said.
“Then why are you still helping them?” I repeated the question. “Why don’t you help us?”
“Because,” he growled. The red glow returned to his eyes as the black dog stared out at me, “I already told you. I can’t. I have no choice.”
“Explain it to me,” I said. “Because from where I’m sitting you have lots of choices, Jared.”
“It’s not that simple,” he argued. “She raised me.”
“Sorry?” From what?
“Sleep,” he answered. “She called me from my sleep and bound me to her with an offer I couldn’t refuse. And now, for better or worse, she owns me and will until I get you and your sister to the site.”
“You can’t be freed, Jared,” Meira whispered. She sounded so sad. “You know the Sidhe won’t let you go.”
Jared refused to answer.
“He used to be human,” she told me. “A long time ago. But he was very bad and the fairies are making him pay for it. Like Sassy. Only he isn’t a good guy, are you, Jared?”
The truth dawned. “You aren’t who you are by choice?” He didn’t answer but I made the intuitive leap. “And Batsheva offered you what you’ve wanted since the Sidhe punished you. A way to be human again.”
Jared snarled at me, but he wasn’t angry, not really. There was too much frustration in him for that. “She seems to think she can. She convinced me she can. I have to believe…”
“And if she can’t?” I prodded. “If she was lying? What if she can but decides not to, Jared? Do you really trust Batsheva Moromond to honor the agreement she made with you
? After everything she’s done?”
He was so quiet I didn’t think he would answer. So, when he spoke, Meira and I both jumped.
“She has to,” he whispered. “Because if she doesn’t…”
“What, you’ll destroy her?” I made a face. “I think she’s past even your power, now.”
“No,” he said. “Not me. I won’t have to.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked. But we were turning and I sensed we were at the site. He wasn’t going to say anymore with Batsheva so close.
The black dog faced me down.
“Don’t give me any trouble,” he said. “Or I’ll make sure your sister suffers for it.”
I glared right back. “You can’t touch us,” I answered.
A searing pain tore through me as Jared’s fairy magic penetrated my mother’s shield and left me gasping for air.
“You can’t fight me, Syd,” he said. “Don’t even try.”
Jared climbed out of the car, slamming the door behind him. I took the brief moment I had alone with my sister to whisper in her ear.
“First chance you get,” I said as I watched Jared reached for the door handle on the other side of the glass, “run, Meira.”
Jared hauled open the car door.
“Everybody out,” he said.
I unhooked the seatbelt, clutching my sister to me as we left the car. I felt her struggle and set her down. She held my hand, her face a mask behind her demon.
We followed Jared toward the pentagram without being told.
When only the burnt out remains of the bonfire remained between us and the circle, Meira broke away and started to run. I saw our mother standing there, clearly free of the spell. She lifted my sister up into her arms and held her tight.
I would have kept walking if I hadn’t just crossed the threshold. I felt what powered it. My heart stopped. I looked up.
Uncle Frank and Sunny hung over me, staked to two huge crosses. They were both very pale, worse even than when they first woke. If I didn’t know they were vampires I would have thought they were dead. Both looked pristine, despite the fact their blood ran from multiple wounds to the ground to seal the spell.
I would have cried if I had any tears left. They were both unconscious. I knew they would have put up a fight given the chance. It had to be a sleep forced on them before they had a chance to rise. I glared at Jared as he crossed to Batsheva, standing outside the circle. Dominic stood beside her. So did Quaid.
“Welcome, girls,” Batsheva said. “We only need one more and the whole family is here.”
I ignored her and went to my mother. Mom released my sister and reached for me. I felt her arms go around me. I clutched at her like a child, burying my face in her hair.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I failed, Mom.”
“No,” she whispered back. “You didn’t. I love you.”
Her sweet, soft smile made me feel better than I should have, considering. No matter what happened now, no matter what Batsheva planned for us, we were together and would face it as one.
I glanced at Meira. She clutched something pale and damaged to her chest. I knelt next to her and met the glowing yellow eyes of Sassafras. He looked horribly injured, most of his fur missing, bloodied and battered, but he was alive and his demon spirit burned within him.
I reached out and gently stroked what was left of the silvery fluff on his tail, feeling more tears come after all.
“Hey, Sass,” I said.
“Syd,” he whispered in answer.
“I’m sorry,” I told him, sorry I hadn’t been able to save him that night.
He growled under his breath. “Don’t be. The dog would have gotten you, too.”
Furious, I glared at Batsheva.
“Why?” I screamed at her. “What do you want?”
She laughed from the other side of the shell that held us.
“I would think that would be obvious by now,” she said.
I made it to my feet. “This is about more than power.”
“It used to be,” she agreed. “It started as revenge on Miriam. Oh yes,” she beamed at my mother’s confusion, “that’s right, my dear. I hate you. I always have hated you. You with your perfect face, your perfect life, your perfect everything.” Her voice fell to a hiss. I had an uncomfortable instant remembering I thought about my mother that way myself.
“You were my friend,” Mom said.
“I was your shadow,” Batsheva snapped. “Until now.”
She stretched her arms out and fed from the circle. I felt my demon shriek as she weakened.
“Batsheva, you have to stop,” Mom said. “Your soul will be lost forever for this.”
“My soul,” Batsheva snarled, “is none of your concern. Besides, if this works the way it’s meant to I’ll never have to worry about my soul, Miriam, because I will live forever.”
Jared stepped up beside her. I wasn’t surprised he couldn’t meet my eyes.
“How is that possible?” Mom said. “How was any of this possible?”
Batsheva turned to Jared who refused to look at her either.
“I think it’s time Miriam saw your true form, don’t you, Jared?” Batsheva stressed his name like it was a joke.
He jerked his head in a nod. A silent apology filled his face.
“Jared?” Mom looked at him without judgment.
As an answer, he started to change. His tall, lean body compressed in height and expanded in width as his clothing faded away. His body swelled as he fell forward onto his hands, his skin filling in with hair thickening into the shaggy black coat I was familiar with. Jared’s true form solidified into the massive black dog that haunted me all week.
“Galleytrot,” Mom said. His tongue lolled out in answer. Part of me was relieved she knew what he was already.
“Fay,” she went on. “Black dog of the Wild Hunt, welcome.”
“Thank you,” he said. I jumped at the rough wildness of his voice. There was a weird call to it, a pull and a passion that spoke of ancient elements and a very old magic.
“Very good,” Batsheva said. “And now, with his help, I have all of you and can finish taking your power for my own.”
The Wild Hunt! Batsheva was insane. Even I, uneducated and unwilling, knew of the fury of the ancient Sidhe hunt that had torn apart the known world for centuries. It was a thing of elemental force with a lack of empathy for the plight of those that crossed its path. The Wild had been quieted, sent to sleep by the ruling Fairy council before their own departure from the mortal world a millennia ago. And Batsheva stirred them up again? Might as well try to control a hurricane or tame a tornado. The implications of the waking of the Wild on the normal world were terrifying.
I heard a hiss from behind me. Gram lunged from where she huddled. I hadn’t even been aware she was with us, she was so quiet.
Quiet no longer.
“Evil!” She shrieked at them. “Darkness! Betrayers! You will burn in fire and drown in blood and we will dance in your ashes!”
Batsheva recoiled from Gram, but didn’t lose her nasty smirk.
“Silence, crazy one, or I’ll do it for you.”
Gram’s eyes rolled in her head, her wild white hair waving around her as if alive.
“Bitch!” She went on. “Coward! I will tear out your heart and feed it to the cleansing flames!”
Batsheva gestured, an ineffectual motion, small and careless. Gram flew back as though struck by a freight train, collapsing in a heap in the center of the circle. Mom went to her, knelt beside her, bringing her mother’s head into her lap. I could hear her crying.
“With the oldest magic, I call you,” Batsheva said as her power swelled, seizing on Jared’s and using it to feed the domed shield around my family. “With the ancient power, I claim you and make you mine.”
The draw from my energy turned to a pull. I knelt next to Mom, joined by Meira, still clutching Sassy. My mother reached for my hand over Gram’s still form. We huddl
ed together while she drained us dry, knowing we were doomed and helpless.
***
Chapter Thirty Six
It wasn’t until Sassy cried out and I felt the presence of my father I grasped the full extent of what Batsheva planned. She floated the granite effigy of Haralthazar into the circle before closing it tightly behind him. His statue settled in the pentagram, cold and lifeless, but an open vessel for his presence.
Sassafras cried out again, ending in a hissing, snarling growl. He pulled himself free of Meira’s arms and dragged his horribly damaged cat body toward the statue, useless back legs lurching along behind him. He worked his way forward with his front paws, claws tearing at the dirt as he went. I wanted to cry at the trail of fresh blood he left behind, to throw a fit, curl up in a ball and make it all go away. But I didn’t. I watched our brave and broken Sassafras as he gathered the last of his strength and used it to get to Dad.
The statue warmed, the stone becoming flesh, real, and I knew why they kidnapped Sass. They needed a demon focus, someone to channel the unfamiliar power through, to bring my dad across, unknowing, trusting the feel of Sass, so they could trap him. I knew I was too late to stop that, a whole day too late. He had clearly been under their control since the twins were attacked. That’s why Mom hadn’t been able to feel him anymore. Batsheva probably used that very surge to fuel what she was doing and form the cage that now held my father prisoner. I wracked my brain as he grew more and more real.
There must be something I can do, I thought. Anything!
As Dad’s face became mobile, it twisted into a mask of pain.
I’m not sure what Quaid thought he could accomplish, but I was very grateful to him for trying. He spun and threw his power toward his mother, but not at her. He sent a focused beam through the connection between her and the statue. If he was stronger, had a little more time, I know he would have succeeded.
Two things happened at once. Dominic, in the background, struck Quaid in the back of the head with his fist, knocking him to his knees while Batsheva siphoned the homeless energy into herself.
