by Patti Larsen
Which meant I had to stay out of it. We argued about it, but it was normal arguing. Mom and Syd arguing. Almost fun, if it wasn't for the seriousness of the subject matter, just like old times. And, in the end, though it broke my heart to leave him there, I knew Sebastian had been through and survived worse. Didn't stop me from swearing to myself I'd find a way to help him, no matter what it took.
No more forgetting about family and friends because I fell into a lull coma.
No more.
Mom spent a lot of time in Wilding Springs, the pair of us, and Gram included when she showed interest, talking about our plans. What to do next. How to protect the covens. Mom mentioned a world conclave, hosting it here. As a way to check in on the other High Councils, to see how far the Brotherhood's influence had spread. I shuddered at the thought of managing those logistics and told her it was a great idea.
If I couldn't go to their territories to do my job, we'd bring them to mine.
The coolest part of all of the time we spent together? I felt like I finally had my mother back. Stronger and more powerful than ever.
Meira's reports came frequently. All quiet on the Demonicon front. She even joined us for dinner from time to time. All we were missing was Dad and we'd be one big happy family again.
Sigh.
Trill and her brothers were gone by the time I was released, but I heard from her shortly after my meltdown over Charlotte. She hadn't worried about me even for a second, knew I'd be fine. Was in pursuit of a dark maji who might be able to give her information on the Brotherhood. I let her go with the promise she'd stay in touch.
Look at me, going all protective and stuff.
Quaid kept his distance and I didn't blame him. He had to be as screwed up about his feelings for me as I was. And Liam's quiet patience made me wish I could just cut Quaid off and move on already.
Especially when I heard from Meira, whispering to me one night with tears in her eyes, Dad had finally narrowed his bride list down to three candidates. That he wanted me to meet them.
Oh hell no. How many kinds of wrong was that? Even my demon protested. Like some slimy high-Plane step mother was someone I was interested in coming face-to-face with, playing nicey-nice just to satisfy our demon family.
Gag. Besides, I was just too loyal to Mom.
But in the back of my mind, as the rest of my stress churned and I thought about Dad's pending marriage, my own threatened in the distance.
Wedding bells?
More like the deep tolling of my impending doom.
Married by twenty-one, huh?
I was so screwed.
###
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***
And now for the first chapter
Of the Book Seventeen in the Hayle Coven Novels
Shifting Loyalties
Chapter One
I choked on a French fry as Tippy's punch line made me blush and laugh at the same time. As outrageous as ever, the red-haired Hensley witch winked at me, substantial rack pushing the giant rude hand gesture on her chest into everyone's face. She'd forgiven me for choosing Shenka as my second almost as fast as she'd gotten over the fact Liam and I were an item. Sort of an item. I glanced sideways at him, found him blushing just as brightly as I knew I was and laughed privately.
He'd never survive Tippy even if he was into her.
Hell, I still worried if he'd survive me.
Not going there, not right now. I'd had a great, quiet fall, a lovely Christmas holiday at home with Meira making an appearance despite her permanent relocation to Demonicon. Mom was herself again, young, beautiful, enthusiastic. And though still stressed from her job, she was no longer under the control of the Brotherhood, her natural ability to balance work and home almost eerie.
No complaining. I was just happy to have my mother back.
It was almost hard to come back to Harvard for my last semester, to leave the happiness of my house, feeling almost as though nothing changed. Though so much had. Gram was the biggest indicator, quiet and withdrawn, crabby most of the time, she locked herself in her bedroom more often than not. Broke my heart, knowing how much she suffered from the loss of her magic.
To Ameline of all people. I still owed that bitch for hurting my grandmother. Would kill her for it one day. Just as soon as my maji guide, Iepa, told me I didn't need the evil witch anymore.
Talk about a mood downer. I set aside my fork, shoulders slumping despite the giggling going on around me. I wasn't really listening anymore. Besides, I was tired, worn out. I'd let so many people down in the past, forgetting their problems, allowing too much to slide. No more. Which meant almost constant contact with a large group of loved ones. Regular visits to Austria to see Sunny and Uncle Frank, to the Sidhe realm to check in on the now single court of the Fey. Almost daily chats with my sister, partly out of the need to keep her safe and partly because I just missed her.
And the coven. Always the coven. Shenka was great, I had to admit. I met her eyes as she rolled hers at me while Tippy brayed her excessive laugh. I loved my second, knew I'd made the perfect choice sneaking her out from under her sister, Tallah. She insisted on joining me for every visit she could attend, even trying to cross to Demonicon with me, though we both knew it wouldn't work out. The only one who'd been able to join me was Charlotte, my bodywere, which led me to believe she had demon ancestry somewhere in her makeup.
Thinking of Charlotte just made things worse. I still thought of her as “mine” even though she left me months ago, the bond between us broken. She came back from the dead for me, when I think she might have chosen to pass over in another circumstance. But then she'd left, with only a note telling me she loved me in Ukrainian. I hadn't heard from her in all that time. Yes, I was focused on keeping an eye on those I cared about to be sure they were okay, but in Charlotte's case, she'd made it pretty clear she didn't want contact.
And no matter how much I hated the fact she was out there on her own, I had to honor that.
Mostly.
Shenka set aside her napkin, pushing her tray away. The dark, early evening sky pressed against the stained glass behind her, window rimmed in frost of deep January.
“I'm off for home.” Right, I'd forgotten. It was Friday already, the normal crowd of students in the cafeteria thinned with the onset of the weekend. We'd both acquired the habit of returning to Wilding Springs when we didn’t have class. More family time. And while I looked forward to it for the most part, the idea of staying at school and getting some well-earned sleep seemed like a good idea.
No rest for the wicked.
Liam's hand fell on my arm as the small posse of girls rose. Nicci Mortimer, freckles pushing together as she wrinkled her nose and winked at me, turned, one arm sliding through Tippy's to guide her away while Donalda Pierce blew us both a kiss, gray eyes sparkling, before joining them, tall, thin body towering over the smaller pair. Shenka paused, a sweet smile on her face, turning her back to give us a moment.
Which made me nervous they knew something I didn't.
“I was thinking,” Liam said in his deep voice, hazel eyes sparking with points of green as his cheeks pinked, tongue running nervously over his lips.
“That's got to hurt.” I laughed and squeezed his hand as he snorted. “Go on.”
Liam relaxed, my irreverence seeming to put him at ease for whatever he was after. “You've been working so hard these past few months,” at least someone noticed, “I thought maybe you could let Shenka go home this weekend.” He paused. Swallowed. “Alone.” Paused again while my chest tightened. “So you could stay with me.”
Oh. Boy.
I'd been waffling over him, over what to do about us. Didn't help I only had a few months left before I was supposed to get married. Still gave me shivers and made me want to pack up and run for the hills thinking about it. His sweet offer was obviously some kind of bid to spend some time and see if we could reconnect.
; Shenka glanced over her shoulder, eyebrows raised. I knew then she was in full cahoots with him, but not in the way he thought. She waited, patient and 100% on my side, ready to support me no matter what I chose to do. As I looked back to Liam, the anxiety in his face, the way he bent his body toward mine, I thought of Gram.
She'd told me once he was too weak for me. That he was a terrible choice. And that held me back, too.
But there was only one way to find out if she was right. Which meant exploring this relationship at last. Images of other faces passed before me. Of Ram, my demon friend who I knew now I'd never choose to be my mate. But there were more, at least two more. One I pined for almost every day despite my best intentions. And the other I'd been trying desperately to free since August.
My appeals to Applegate on Sebastian’s behalf fell on deaf ears, every attempt Mom and I made to release the imprisoned former blood clan leader ignored. I knew I could simply storm into the vampire mansion and take out their current leader, Celeste Oberman. Wanted to, so very much. Would enjoy watching her wither and burn in the sun after all the horrible things she’d done to my family when she was a Hayle witch. But Mom insisted we use diplomacy despite both of us knowing Sebastian was suffering at Celeste's hand.
He was my friend, but more than that. He'd expressed his interest at Sunny and Uncle Frank's wedding and thanks to my immortality, choosing him was a distinct possibility. But I couldn't marry a vampire who I couldn't reach.
That left one.
I just couldn't go there. To those chocolate eyes, that smirk. Delicious magic threading through mine. Creak of leather, the way his long, wavy hair hung, begging to be touched.
All of him. Begging.
Growl.
Oh snap. I shook myself a little as Liam touched my cheek with his fingertips just as Shenka's mind poked mine.
You suck at this, she sent with laughter in her mental voice. Give the poor boy a break would you? She turned to face me, already gathering her things. I'll see you later.
She left me there, a wave for Liam, as I pulled myself out of comparing the handsome, sweet guy in front of me to the other options I had for marriage like he was an under ripe watermelon.
What the hell was wrong with me?
“Sorry,” I said, clasping his hands in mine. “Space cadet moment.”
He bobbed a nod, started to pull away, his disappointment clear on his face.
“I understand,” he said. “You have so much on your plate. Family and responsibility come first for both of us. It was stupid for me to ask.”
I tugged him back, forcing myself to relax. A weekend off with Liam? I could handle that.
“I'd love to,” I said.
And really meant it. Imagine that.
***
Introducing The Helios Oracles
A Hayle Coven Universe Series
Book One
Foresight
Chapter One
The single flame died as I flipped shut the lid of my silver lighter and slid it home in my front pocket. Velvet night engulfed me, humid and heavy. I embraced it, loving the heat, welcoming fresh air, so different from the cool quiet of home.
Kayden stood beside me, black jacket blending into the dark, though the blonde of his hair stood out in the dim glow of the spluttering streetlight on the corner. His eyes glinted as he turned his head, winked down at me from his height advantage, cocky grin as irritating as ever.
I took a half step away from him, breathing in the scent of the Los Angeles back alley, the sharp tang of decay blending into the moisture-laden air. Not so fresh any longer, as a breeze picked up from the ocean and pushed the taint of pollution and too many people into my face.
“How long, Zoe?” Kayden didn't even bother to whisper. So much arrogance. I really had to speak to Sibyl about him. Though he'd been assigned as my Pyros when we first began our training, I found he hadn't grown out of his inherent childish need to show me who was boss in our particular relationship. How tiring to have to tolerate him yet again.
Surely my grandmother would understand.
“As you very well know,” I answered, voice low and humming with tension, “the visions don't come with a built-in clock. Patience.”
Kayden shrugged his broad shoulders, slumping against the brick wall of the building whose shadow we lurked in, the flash of our arrival on the flame from my lighter long faded. I clenched my teeth against his posing, as though he thought himself the Creator's gift to women. Less a warrior of the Pyros and more a super model in wanting. He had the looks for it, the build. And goodness knew his sorcery wasn't so strong he had to choose this life.
So why did he? Maybe I could convince him to try his hand at the real world and leave me alone in mine.
“You don't have to be such a bitch about it.” Kayden's need to push me around spluttered behind his sullen tone, his pouting lips. Was he really twenty-one, my own age? He acted like a childish boy so often it was hard to keep that in mind. “I could find another Pythia, you know.”
It took a supreme effort not to roll my eyes and sigh from the depths of my lungs. Nothing irritated me more than his petulance. That was it. This would be our last job together. He'd decided for me. Though we'd been together since I was twelve, there was only so much I could tolerate. And his lack of respect for me and my abilities had been growing worse over the last few years. Not to mention his blasé attitude when we were supposed to focus on the job at hand.
A new partner sounded perfect, no matter how much time it took to train him. The moment we completed this mission, I would tell Sibyl she needed to find me a fresh pairing.
It had to be coincidence, though I was taught not to believe in such. But the moment I made up my mind to finally ask for my freedom from Kayden, I felt the familiar rising tingle on my skin, sparks racing through my blood as the vision I'd foreseen approached fruition.
Kayden pulled his act together after one look in my face clearly told him the time was near. I relived the vision before it happened, preparing myself. My oracle power hummed to life in prequel to the event itself while the ground in my memory quivered and shook. A minor earthquake happened first in my head, soon in the outside world.
Nothing major, low on the scale normals used to measure such tremors in a city long comfortable with the instability of the earth beneath it. But just enough to cause a chain reaction in the weakened foundations of the building across from us. To trigger the last breath of destruction needed to collapse it.
Kayden and I were here to observe. And to make sure nothing and no one interfered with the foreseen event's conclusion.
Right on schedule, the yellow light of another fire flared to life at the other end of the alley. I tensed, stepping away from the shelter of the building. Kayden's fists clenched where he stood next to me, face focused, though his grin was back. He enjoyed this part a little too much.
I despised it. My stomach knotted into a chain of icy clumps as two figures stepped into our view. She was shorter than me, long hair bound back, hidden mostly by the hood of her sweatshirt. Her Pythos still clung to the shadows, towering over her much as Kayden did me. I kept my attention on her and her round face, pinched in fear as she blew out the flame from her own lighter.
“What took you so long?” Kayden's arrogance echoed in his voice. “We've been waiting.”
I hissed at him, wordless, focusing on the other girl. Another oracle, like me, but not like me. Working for the dark side, for chaos, while we fought for the light. She looked young to me, only a teenager, I guessed. They had to be desperate, sending children against us. I should have been happy they'd fallen on such hard times, our enemies. After all, that meant we were winning.
But it didn't mean I hated what I had to do any less.
The tingle on my skin turned to a burn, melting the frigid grip on my insides as training and instinct took over. The ground began to shift as I turned toward the decrepit building, my power rising at my command even as the girl opposite me di
d the same. I ignored her Pythos, knowing Kayden would deal with him. His job. Mine was here, maintaining the true fabric of time.
“Let us save him.” The girl's Pythos spoke up, the sound of his voice startling me. I glanced over even as a line of fire burst into being between the young Pythia and I, her fight to alter reality shifting the space on her side to her vision. But she wasn't my focus, not when her Pythos stepped into the light and met my eyes.
Held them, captured me, drowned me in his power. Any other attempt to attack me would have failed. But his mind embraced me with kindness and compassion. So unexpected, his touch, I didn't fight. Not an attack, not in the least. An invitation. And longing.
“He has to die.” My words came out in a whisper as the ground shook harder, the apex of the quake upon us. “It is fated.” The rest of my vision flashed in my mind, of the young man in the basement of the building, high on drugs, life wasted. Who was he, why did he matter so much to them they risked everything, took to chaos to save him?
He was no one. And this building had to collapse. I had no choice in the matter.
Zoe, the Pythos's voice said in my head, his mind reaching deep, setting a fire in the base of my spine to climb to my heart. Please.
He knew my name. Flooded me with heartache, need and heat like I'd never known, all aimed at my heart. I almost broke, confusion and anxiety swirling in my mind as I fought the vision. Turned from his bottomless eyes and focused on my job, my task, just as the girl seized the edge of my foresight and pulled it toward her, fraying the edge.
She was weaker than me, but I'd allowed her Pythos to distract me. Stupid, foolish, what was I thinking? Just another means of attack, another way to get what they wanted. Anger rolled like thunder in my head, fed my power and the true vision. I ignored him now as he retreated from my mind before dashing between his Pythia and I, running into the building itself. Kayden didn't follow, simply stood there and laughed.
