by Patti Larsen
Avenesequoia eased up on her grip, face sad, but she kept her peace as we swept our way out of the train and down the steps to the Parade. I spotted Father and Mother on the elevator platform, my brother Jabuticabron between them. His glare was enough to finish the job my sister started.
Just what I needed. A lovely family reunion. Not like any of us normally spent any time together. This sham was for Ruler's sake, for the sake of the royal family. Appearances.
Mother's eyes traveled over me before she nodded once as I took my place beside her. “You're late.”
“Actually,” I said as the elevator began its ascent, “it appears I'm exactly on time.”
She didn't comment, though Father sighed and shook his head.
My brother didn't have the same restraint. Jabuticabron leaned past Mother and jabbed me in the ribs before I could stop him, a scowl on his overlarge face. If my sister was the tiniest demon around, he was the opposite. It still shocked me anyone in our family could be Guard material, but from the way Jabuticabron was growing, that was where he was headed. And suited his personality perfectly.
Troglodyte.
Then again, since Mother and Father grew the lot of us in test tubes as experiments to satisfy their scientific curiosities, it made total sense my brother and sister were polar opposites. With me stuck in the middle.
“Don't embarrass us,” Jabuticabron snarled. “We don't get invited very often.” He gave me the impression with his heavy-handed tone he blamed me for the lack of invitations.
“And you remember to use words and not grunts,” I shot back with a smile.
“Enough, you two.” Mother's power crackled around us while Father ignored the conversation, fingers scratching at the air, calculations floating before him in amber fire. “Theridialis.”
Father twitched, round face guilty, before his fingers flickered and the writing disappeared.
I would never know what Mother saw in Father and why the pair of them decided to have not one, but three offspring with each other. Or why they would ever even want to perpetuate the faked image of our 'happy' family when everyone knew we were just their personal DNA experiments. The only time we were happy was when we were apart.
And since my happiness was of utmost importance, I'd be going my own way the moment I had the opportunity. Which happened the moment the windbag porter announced us.
With a wink and a grin for Avenesequoia and a snarl for my brother, I dodged Mother's grasping hand and disappeared into the crowd of gathered demons.
Keep it civil, Mother sent in a very tight beam. Don't go looking for trouble.
Who, me?
***
Here’s a look at the first chapter of
Book Thirteen of the Hayle Coven Novels
Dark Promise
Chapter One
I sucked at packing.
Didn't matter how much time I had to do the job, my clothes always ended up scrunched and squished and wrinkled. If I stogged in one more sweater I'd end up never wearing anyway the zipper would bust. And I still had a week before I had to leave for Harvard.
Restless, I went through my closet again, just in case I forgot something important. The sound of laughter from the living room downstairs drifted up and through my open bedroom door, enticing, but not enough to keep my slightly fractured attention. I could have gone down and sat with Gram and Meira, sprawled for Sass to sit on my stomach, privately giggled at how stiff and formal Charlotte held herself even when relaxing in front of a movie, but I just couldn't seem to make myself hold still.
The nightmares and sleeplessness weren't helping. I felt as though something lived under my skin, crawling around at the least opportune moments, giving me nuclear goosebumps at the mere thought of fangs and blood and lying, dying, under cold stars... I shook myself and went deeper, digging through clothes I forgot I had that would probably fit Meira more than me.
Funny, this was the first time we'd stayed put for as long as I could remember. No more moving suddenly in the middle of the night, forced to wipe memories and run for the hills because someone in the coven let magic slip. Nope, I was tied to this house and to Wilding Springs for the rest of my life—or until the Wild Hunt woke from their slumber in my back yard to destroy the world. Which, thanks to my immortality, would all happen at about the same time.
Sigh. No thinking. Just digging. I giggled over a pair of pale blue sparkly leggings with fur on the bottoms and tossed them over my shoulder. But even the unusual finds of my walk-in weren't enough to keep my attention for long. I finally shut the door and sank to the corner of my bed, shoulders slumped, heart beating a little faster than I liked.
—clammy lips on my neck, the sharp jab of fangs, everything going dark—
My entire body jerked as I sat up straight, both hands pressed to my chest as I forced myself to breathe slowly. Batsheva had almost defeated me, would have killed me if not for my slow evolution to maji. Now that Sunny was ensconced as the Queen of the Wilhelm clan, Uncle Frank beside her as her Prince, the squabbles of the vampires were over. Or, most of them, I hoped. And it brought me great comfort knowing the shell of Batsheva Moromond was in my basement, probably gathering mold. Still alive. Suffering.
Fantabulous.
Still.
I stood and paced toward my dresser, hands shoved in my pockets. This inability to relax was getting on my nerves. All I needed was one good night's sleep. Could it be I was so hooked in to trouble that when things calmed down I couldn't handle it? I hugged myself, forcing my butt into my desk chair, wiggling my mouse to lose myself in the Internet for a little while.
No thinking.
Social media held no attraction, everyone too damned cheery. My emails had been piling up, though, so I took some time to delete the countless offers for gambling, Viagra and finding true love in a foreign country while writing back to my friends who took the time to check in on me.
Tippy's lurid tales of her summer fun made me laugh out loud. Better. Leave it to the sultry red-head Sashenka introduced me to last year to distract me. I answered her with the suggestion she take up writing romance novels before moving on to one from Quaid.
Syd,
Sorry I couldn't be at the wedding, would have liked to be there. Had a chance to go on an assignment and took it. I hope you understand. See you at school.
Love, Q
Understand? My temper sizzled through my demon's magic and almost fried my keyboard. Yeah, I understood. The Enforcers and his life came before family. There was a time when our feelings on such matters were different, when all he craved was family and I wanted out of mine. And while he claimed the Enforcers were his family now, I wasn't buying it.
Nothing mattered as much as the people I loved.
And what was this love business? I calmed down, drawing deep breaths, sitting back before my angry fingers could type a very pissed-off reply I'd regret later. I knew he loved me. I loved him too. But there were times it seemed our priorities were just so out of synch we'd never get it right.
Not that being with him long term was an option anyway. Which led my mind to the maji, my immortality, the vampires.
Twitch. No. Thinking.
I filed his email away for a bit, not ready to answer it in any manner that wouldn't start a fight I wasn't really interesting in having. Instead, I clicked on the next in line, eyes flickering over the smiley face that was the subject heading while my whole body went tense.
Sydlynn,
You still owe me for saving your life.
Oh. My. Swearword. Ameline.
Everything inside me screamed denial, from my demon's roar to Shaylee's shriek, to my vampire's rumbling anger. Even the family magic bubbled and swirled in answer. No. Way. I didn't owe her anything. I didn't ask her to help me when Batsheva and her clan drained me dry, stealing the essence of my vampire from me. I was doing just fine on my own.
Yeah. Just fine. Right, Syd. As much as it hurt, ached, burned, part of me knew Ameline was right.
Damn her. Damn her.
My eyes kept reading while my brain spun in furious circles.
Despite the fact I'd rather take the debt directly from you at some point, I've discovered the means to balance the score without your participation. Consider us even.
Best,
Ameline.
Um, what? Cold sweat leaped to the surface of my skin as my heart skipped once, a thudding beat that brought a moment of darkness. The email was time stamped only a half hour ago.
What was she up to? What had she done?
Panic gripped me even as I felt a surge of demon magic coming from below me.
Dad. I ran down out my door, down the stairs, pounding around the corner and to the basement door, while Meira called, “Syd, is that Dad?”, her footfalls following me. Sassafras's mind touched mine, but I didn't have time to talk to the silver Persian, to give him anything.
Ameline couldn't have hurt Dad. He was on Demonicon. This was a coincidence.
Just a coincidence.
I skidded to a halt after almost falling down the last three steps, staring in fear at Dad's diamond effigy. Mom had covered it when Dad was forced to break their mating after being tricked into taking Second Seat. But I'd contacted him since then, refused to cut him out of my life.
He was still my father.
The demon magic hovered, but no Dad. I reached for him, panic dimming a little. This was crazy. Ameline was messing with my head. I was right, just a coincidence after all.
“Syd?” Meira stopped on the bottom step, a frown creasing her forehead as amber fire flamed in her eyes. “Was that Dad?”
I didn't answer, focused on the magic I'd felt, the surge that usually preceded his arrival. But no one called him. Were we imagining things? I reached for it, let my demon sniff around the touch that brought me downstairs.
The moment I contacted the demon magic pooled in the basement, the veil jerked open and powerful amber energy wrapped around me. I heard Meira calling my name, Sassafras, Charlotte's choked cry, even as I hurtled head-first through the tear in the barrier between planes to land painfully on my hands and knees on cold stone. The sizzling crack of the veil sealing behind me was so loud I almost cried out, breathless enough I managed only a whimper.
Thick black nails with red-tinted skin supported me as I pushed myself up and looked around. The large room was dark and chill, outlines of black furnishings familiar, as were the two large windows I faced.
Ahbi's room. My grandmother. What was I doing here and who brought me?
My eyes scanned as I rose to my feet, feeling my demon surge inside, my vision improving immediately in the darkened room. Just enough I could make out a shape collapsed on the floor.
“Ahbi!” I was moving before I knew it, stumbling to fall on my abused knees at her side, where my grandmother sprawled, facing away from me. I reached for her, pulling her toward me, feeling something hot and slick on my skin. Jerked away on impulse, stomach knotted at the scent of copper now very familiar to me.
Looked down.
Choked on a sob of disbelief.
My hands were covered in blood.
