The Outcast

by Patti Larsen

This time, she nodded. “The maji are aware he had Gaia. And that he is looking for a replacement.”

  “Me,” I said.

  Ameline bit her lower lip. “I fear so,” she said. Hearing such things from her gave me the heebie jeebies while my heart softened and wanted to believe her. I was such a sucker. “But, Syd, the maji are afraid. Not of Belaisle. But of the one he serves. The one they call his dark master.”

  “Who?” Belaisle served no one, was far too arrogant for that.

  Again, Ameline shook her head. “I don’t know. But I do know it’s not good. They won’t speak directly of him, only in whispers I catch from time to time. You must be careful.” Her hands caught mine. “You can’t give him the power he requires to fulfill his master’s needs.”

  “Not in the day planner for this week,” I said. “Thanks for the warning.” And paused, considering. “Have you heard anything about the drach?”

  Ameline’s brow puckered again in a tiny frown. “No,” she said. “Nor have the maji, as though something prevents them from being in contact.” She shrugged her narrow shoulders, perfect bangs shadowing her eyes. “You’re worried about them.”

  I was, but without help or knowing where to look, I was at a loss. And if the maji were clueless… well, no comment. Since they were usually clueless—

  Okay, so it wasn’t like me to keep my opinions to myself. Time to go. I looked around, feeling suddenly awkward. “Can you leave the chamber?”

  Sad eyes belied the smile she gave me. “No,” she said. “My life is here. As the keeper of the chamber. It’s been too long without a soul to give it voice. That’s my job, now.”

  Which meant I had to just leave her here, right?

  “Syd,” she said, fingers brushing over my arm, “ask the Stronghold about Creator.”

  Um, what? “What do you mean?”

  Ameline’s frown was back, deeper this time. “I don’t know,” she said. “But the maji are chattering about Creator and something to do with the Stronghold.” She finally sighed and shrugged, stepping away from me, a small wave and a hopeful smile her farewell. “I hope you’ll come back again, soon,” she said.

  And vanished into thin air.

  I released a huge gust of air and shivered in the coolness of the chamber, not sure what to think. But I paused at the bottom of the stair and looked back. “I’ll be back to visit,” I said in the stillness.

  No response. But I was sure she heard me.

  The long, slow climb to the surface took me longer than usual, thighs aching from the exercise, whole body ready to drop. I reached the top only to have to climb one more flight, out from under the ground. I suppose I could have just torn open the veil, but I needed the time to work through things in my head, to shift my thinking about Ameline and absorb my anger at the maji.

  Besides, I wanted a look around upstairs to see if there were any clues as to where Sebastian and his people had gone. I was so tired as I cleared the last step and turned to slap the protruding stone on the wall to close up the staircase, I failed to realize I wasn’t alone in the room. In fact, I was half-turned toward the door before the shadowy shapes surrounding me registered at all.

  My power rippled, though sluggish. It turned out my weariness saved them from a quick and painful death. Considering the young woman who stepped out of the shadows and came to hug me had a face I loved, I was happy for once to be this worn out.

  “Syd.” Trill Zornov embraced me, dark, curly hair tickling my nose. When she leaned away, I mustered a smile.

  “Trill.” The human born maji and her sorcerer brothers had helped me in the past. Trill worked through Max to draw me out of the veil when Batsheva drained my blood, saved me from an endless prison and possible death. And we’d fought together to tackle the Brotherhood, so I knew I could trust her and relaxed. Though when her small band of friends closed in, my natural caution kicked in once again.

  “These are maji, like me.” She turned and gestured to the young man in the front, about my height with a thick black beard and dark eyes. His were narrowed as he approached, but his handshake was firm and warm. “Sydlynn Hayle, Cable Noonan.”

  “Any friend of Trill’s,” he said.

  “Has to prove himself,” I said, only half joking. Okay, not joking even a little bit. Not after the last few days I’d had.

  Trill’s face fell a moment as he scowled, but I ignored him and pulled her aside. “You know what’s going on?”

  She nodded quickly. “We came to Wilding Springs as soon as we understood the magnitude of what happened.” Her hand shook as it squeezed my arm. “I was so afraid for you and the family. Especially when the house was empty, everyone gone.”

  “They’re safe,” I said. Why was I being so short with her? This was Trill, my friend.

  “We came here next,” she said. “Wilding Springs is crawling with Brotherhood and Enforcers. I figured if anyone knew where you were, it would be the vampires.” She looked around. “But they’re gone, too.”

  I felt her frustration like my own and finally eased out of suspicion. Too wound up for your own good, Hayle.

  “I know,” I said, leaning back against a chair, rubbing my face with one hand. My eyes burned with weariness, body aching. But I had a meeting to go to and a long way to travel before I could sleep. “They’re missing from Europe, too.”

  Trill gasped softly. “Sunny?”

  “No.” I turned toward Cable and his group. “Just the DeWinters.” I gestured to the small group of maji. “Thanks for coming.” There, now that wasn’t so hard, was it?

  Cable shrugged, black leather motorcycle jacket creaking. “Trill’s idea,” he said.

  Okay. Asshat.

  “We came to help,” she said, glaring at him. “Anything we can do, Syd.” Her intense eyes locked on mine. “Anything.” Her power rippled around me and, for the first time since she’d hugged me a moment ago, I tasted her magic.

  And recoiled. “What have you done?” I didn’t mean to whisper those words, staring at her in shock. She felt totally different, her maji power warped somehow. Black now instead of shining rainbow light.

  Trill grimaced, glanced at Cable who shook his head at her.

  “It’s a long story,” she said. “But it’s worth listening to, I promise.”

  She felt like a sorcerer. That wasn’t possible, was it? And suddenly all the trust I had for her flew out the window and went South for the winter. Still, this was Trill.

  I had one way to find out if she was trustworthy. The Stronghold would let me know the minute they tried to enter its borders.

  “Come with me,” I said, offering my hand and a small smile. She took it quickly, gesturing to her friends to gather close. “I have a safe place to go.”

  “We need to make a stop,” Trill said. “Owen and Apollo.”

  At least I knew her brothers were okay and not on the missing list like so many of my friends seemed to be.

  “Show me,” I said. And carried them through the veil with me, heart beating just a little too fast.

  ***

  Chapter Twenty Seven

  Trill’s odd new sorcerous feeling guided me to the center of Wilding Springs. I stepped out in the narrow space between the corner drug store and Johnny’s, the local teen hangout. I’d spent quite a few Friday and Saturday nights there when I was younger, took the kids for burgers at least once a week now I was an old married woman. Being here, in the middle of my town—so eerily quiet and empty of power—made my skin crawl.

  Trill pushed past me and stopped at the sidewalk, her friends waiting behind the dumpster the two businesses shared. I ignored them, concentrating on my shielding. This was a foolish place to be, though part of me longed for a fight with the Brotherhood, especially if I had allies with me. But a big battle in the heart of Wilding Springs would draw too much attention, especially now the normal residents didn’t have the blur of embedded power to keep them from noticing.

  The sound of pattering feet on pavement made me
tense, two figures darkening the end of the alley. I relaxed a little as the smaller one waved at me and waved back. Owen slipped forward on sneakered feet to hug me. He’d grown tall, as tall as me, though I doubted he’d ever be as big as his brother, Apollo. Brilliant blue eyes—the bluest I’d ever seen in my life—smiled at me as Owen let me go, but there was something of worry and even fear in them, making it past his happiness to see me.

  “Syd.” I still thought of him as a kid, the boy I’d met so long ago, he and his sister on the run from the Brotherhood. His deep voice and the shadow of a beard on his face reminded me he’d grown up with the rest of us. “You’re safe.”

  “You, too.” I looked up as Apollo joined us. His typical smirk was missing, handsome face serious. I’d always liked him, though I would never tell him, only because he had this arrogant, misogynistic attitude for which I sometimes wanted to smack him. But all of that was gone from his demeanor as he hugged me tight, smelling of fresh air and fabric softener.

  That created a swirl of memories in my head, of Liam. Damn it, I didn’t have time for this.

  “We have to go,” Apollo said, releasing me. He looked genuinely afraid, glancing back over his shoulder. “This place is stacked with Brotherhood.”

  I nodded, reached for the veil, the exact moment a blast of black rolled down the alley and slammed into all of us. My shields held, but I staggered, cursing my continuing weakness, drawing on the family magic a little more than I would have liked. It responded as best it could shoring up the gaps in my wards as my sorcery blossomed and went hunting.

  Multiple shadows blocked the light from the street, back the way Trill had gone. She whistled to her people and we all turned at once, only to see our exit the other way had been cut off.

  Trapped. Well, not for long.

  The veil felt sluggish, my demon doing her best. I wrenched at it, sweat breaking out on my forehead while the others crowded around me, backs to me to protect me long enough for me to save them. I just hoped their faith wasn’t misplaced.

  I’m sorry, my demon grunted. I’m trying.

  Shaylee threw her earth magic into it, shaking the ground, but it was a minor tremor, barely enough to make the oncoming Brotherhood stagger.

  “Syd.” Trill’s hiss of worry reached me from over her shoulder. “What’s the holdup?”

  I didn’t answer her, gritting my teeth and jerking at the edge of the veil. Blackness poured over us while Trill and her people pushed back. I could feel their power rippling around me, waves of darkness devouring other waves of darkness. My blossom of sorcery wanted to join them, but I pulled it back, hand reaching desperately into my pocket to retrieve my crystal.

  It pulsed in my hand, the tiny life inside it as weary as I was. But, with a soft gasp that sounded like the ringing of a tiny bell, it shoved power at me, the last of its reserves. Enough to open the veil.

  On this end, at least. I would just have to worry about getting us back out when we had left the Brotherhood behind.

  The veil parted at last, the gaping hole beckoning. Panting, I turned to Trill only to see her gather a giant mass of black. My senses felt what she was doing before I could stop her or even fathom what she had planned. Creation energy channeled into the sorcery, feeding it, making it swell and grow, seeding it until it became something I’d never seen before.

  She hurtled the mass forward, into the approaching Brotherhood. I could only stand and stare in horror as it hit them, engulfed them. And began to suck the very life from them. Creation power was meant to create, not destroy, and yet Trill had finally found a way to combine the hunger of sorcery’s need to devour with the bursting, life-giving energy of creation magic.

  The results were devastating. Flesh melted from bone, blood running black, bodies collapsing into puddles that used to be tendon and meat only seconds before. She spun on me, eyes jet black, before gesturing at the hole I’d made.

  “Are we going?” She half laughed, exhilarated, clearly, and full of power.

  I turned, realized what happened on one side of me was repeated on the other. Cable and his friends had squeezed past when I was otherwise occupied and dissolved their opponents, too. Sickened, unable to speak, I met Owen’s troubled eyes. He took my hand without comment and led me into the veil.

  I feared becoming trapped, though the moment I entered the place between planes, I felt a resurgence of energy and wondered where the power drain had come from. Yes, I was tired, but surely I wasn’t that tired. Which made me wonder about Trill and her new friends and this ability they seemed to possess.

  Had it affected me in my weakened state? I didn’t want to think about it. Besides, if they weren’t on the up and up, the Stronghold would let me know. Though I hated taking the risk bringing them there in the first place, I wasn’t trusting my own power or cognition at the moment.

  The veil parted before me, the main hall of the Stronghold a welcome sight. I stepped out and turned immediately, still holding Owen’s hand. Apollo was next, on his brother’s heels, dropping his grip on Owen’s fingers the moment he was free. But I wasn’t worried about the Zornov brothers being accepted.

  I wanted to see what the Stronghold would do about Trill.

  She leaped out with full confidence, looking around her with a grin. Her maji friends entered in a group, Cable at their head. His attitude pissed me off immediately, how he seemed to claim the place with his gaze.

  I needn’t have worried about anyone thinking in terms of ownership about the Stronghold. Not ever again. His power pressed down on Trill and the others, a bubble of shimmering, rainbow magic pinning them in place as the veil slipped shut.

  Syd, he sent, anger in his mental voice, a thundering earthquake in my head. Who are these?

  Not Brotherhood, I sent. But. What do you think? I’ll trust your judgment.

  He grunted, the whole room shaking from it. Trill finally looked afraid, eyes meeting mine.

  “Syd, what’s going on?” She raised one hand, touched the barrier. It didn’t harm her, but the Stronghold wasn’t letting her through, either.

  “It’s not me,” I said. “This place has a soul, Trill. He’s deciding if you’re welcome or not.”

  Cable glared at me, his little pack of whatever they’d become sharing his nasty expression. Trill’s face fell, but she stepped back, into their midst. She’d made her choice, apparently.

  Agreed they are not Brotherhood, the Stronghold sent at last. But they are of maji blood, Syd. And have corrupted their creation power, their gift, with the darkness of sorcery. I have never encountered their kind before. He paused. I am wary of them. Still, if you speak on their behalf, I will allow them to remain. The Stronghold sounded troubled and I agreed with his concern.

  “He says you’ve corrupted your creation power,” I said to the group. “And from what I saw in that alley, you’re not afraid to use it.”

  “Should we be?” Cable bit off the words like explaining anything to me was a waste of his time. He turned to Trill, gripped her upper arm in one hand, dark hair falling over his face, the scruff of his beard. Apollo and Owen both leaned forward, as if to protect their sister, but from their expressions they knew they’d lose even if they could reach her through the shield.

  “Syd, please listen.” She jerked free of Cable and stepped forward again, both hands pressed to the inside of the shimmering wall between us. I moved forward on aching legs, heart weary, mind exhausted, wanting to believe my friend. “We’re tired of the Brotherhood always having the advantage. You are strong, able to fight them.” She didn’t sound bitter, just frustrated. “But you’re not always around. And you need foot soldiers who can handle themselves.” She looked back over her shoulder at her glaring companions. “We can be your army.”

  I didn’t respond right away, knowing we were gathering a bit of a peanut gallery. I could feel witches watching, Mom and Dad among them, but thankfully they kept their distance and let me deal with this.

  What do you think? I sent
to my alter egos. She kind of makes sense, doesn’t she? I’d longed for others who could step up and take on the Brotherhood, allies strong enough not to fall under the power of their sorcery. And while I didn’t really like Cable, Trill was my friend.

  This feels sketchy, my demon growled. Something’s off with this bunch. Like they have another reason for wanting us to trust them.

  Agreed, Shaylee sent in her soft and elegant voice. And they feel dirty, Syd. Like they’ve been tainted.

  By sorcery. My vampire’s sadness was clear in my head, in my whole body. I don’t think we can allow them access to us or to the Stronghold. Allies? Perhaps. But outside our safety zone. Until they can prove their worth and real goals.

  Syd, Owen’s voice met mine, the darkness of his sorcery somehow cleaner than what his sister had become. I love her. She’s my sister. But I don’t know her anymore.

  That decided me. I sighed and nodded before meeting Trill’s eyes. It couldn’t have been easy for Owen to speak against her like that. He only would if he was really worried.

  “Trill,” I said. “There are lines drawn we just don’t cross. And I’m afraid you crossed one.”

  Her face darkened, anger finally showing as black crawled over her brown eyes. I watched it ripple with sorrow falling over me.

  “How dare you judge me?” She slammed both fists against the shielding. “I’ve been out there, Syd. Alone, trying to make this work.” Obviously her brothers didn’t count. “Not all of us have the benefit of being pure maji.” There was the bitterness at last. “And when I finally manage to figure it out, to come up with the means to fight back, you judge me.” She barked a laugh. “You. Judging me. That’s rich.” She turned her back on me, joining her friends. “We offered you our help. Do you want it, or not?”

  I needed to keep an eye on her. She was losing it, slipping away from the Trill I knew to the elements knew where. But I simply couldn’t allow them to stay.

  “Not,” I said with real regret.