She’d have done anything for her mother and her sister. Anything at all. Would Daric be so different? She couldn’t imagine what it would be like to have a sibling so unhinged and despicable. They grew up in the same house. They must have learned the same lessons, experienced a lot of the same things, just as she and Calliope had.
“What would it take to prove to you that I'm one of the good guys?”
“An explanation, Daric. The truth. The full truth.” She crossed her arms. “Make me feel like less of a fool for trusting you.”
“What exactly do you want to hear?”
“All those theories you refused to give a voice to. What did you know, Daric? Why didn’t you tell me about your brother?”
“Why didn’t you tell me you’d already started the ritual, in what I can only assume is questionable circumstances? It's not something I normally spread around.”
“Why were you in the alley that day? Why have you been shadowing me?”
“I never lied. I told you then, I was getting coffee and felt the spell go off.” His lips formed a white line.
“Were you part of this?”
“No.” Daric’s face turned to stone.
"Are you lying to me now?" She watched for any shift on his face, any flash in his eyes.
"No." Daric maintained his stone posture. His eyes never flinched, and they never left hers. Her heart softened. Not enough to forgive. Not yet. But she’d listen.
“You knew the spell. You’ve obviously seen the book before.”
“When I was a child, I found a journal kept by one of my uncles. He’d obviously had brief possession of the book and copied some of the spells. They were exactly what I needed to keep Victor off my back, so I memorized them. My mother found me practicing a summoning one day and forbid me to use the journal again. She took it back to my father’s office and hid it there. When my father died, Victor became Head of House and inherited my father’s office.
“It became obvious over the last year that Victor had found the journal and learned the spells. He’d also learned more of them than I had. The few I knew were illegal at best. The ones he focused on were pure evil. I started following him to try to get the journal back or to stop him. His ambitions have always been high. At first his goal was American politics. But with the spells in that journal, he thought himself invincible. I think he hoped to combine American politics with magic society ones. I think he envisioned a super race type of situation, with himself leading the charge. He’s always been zealous. The confidence gained from the knowledge in that journal unhinged him. I knew, but I didn’t know exactly what he plotted. He’s quite capable of hiding his intentions, and very skilled at manipulation.”
She thought about that. Victor had certainly manipulated a lot of people, including, a very powerful demon. He’d had knowledge and skill, but hadn’t known enough about the succession to make it really work. He hadn’t known all the rules or counted on her breaking with tradition.
Knowledge, indeed, was power greater than magic.
“When I saw my brother answer the Call, at the same time as the odd rituals that popped up, I knew something major was going on, and that somehow he was at the center of it. He’s never been all that interested in women. I answered as well, so I could be around you and watch him at the same time.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I couldn’t prove anything. I had nothing solid. I told you, giving a voice to a theory is as good as making it fact in your mind. I wanted to be sure I hadn’t misread the situation. It felt like two or more people were involved. I had no idea who Victor was working with, or even if he was part of it at all. I had a hunch, nothing more. Not until I walked into this room.”
Daric glared at her. “Besides, Scion. Or should I say, Keeper. You’ve been keeping a few secrets of your own.”
“This isn’t about me.”
“I know I wasn’t the first to help you with the ritual. That’s why you pushed so hard. That’s why you wanted me so badly. You’d already been with someone, and you needed at least three. So was that all I was to you? A tool?”
She couldn’t even deny it. She had, indeed, used him. But it was more than that. Much, much more. It’s what made all this so unbearable.
“Who was it, Tarian? I know Alex is one, but who’s the other? That’s how you got the book, wasn’t it? Who did you deal with?”
She rubbed her neck, the spot where the tracer once resided throbbed with the soreness of tired muscles, but no external power tugged. Her stomach, however, fluttered at the thought that she’d completed the ritual. Rasmussen had told her as much, and she believed him, though it would be weeks before she knew for sure. If she was pregnant, it would be a long time before she knew the consequences of her deal with Steffahn.
“I see you still keep secrets. You are aptly titled, Keeper.”
“Get out.” Rational thought abandoned her. All of her anger and fear had to unleash somewhere, and Daric stood right there in front of her. She was beyond exhausted and this was just too much.
Without a word, he left.
“You know, Tarian, he really is a friend to you,” Calliope said.
“I know.” She stared at the spot where Daric had stood, as if it would bring him back. It was more than she could take, to tell her friends she’d joined with a daemon and that she had no idea what kind of trouble might come of it. It might be nothing. It might mean everything.
In this moment, she simply couldn’t handle one more thing. It would have to wait.
The loss of her mother loomed over her. But she had to hold it together for the sake of the House. There were a lot of people just on this island who depended on the stability the House offered.
“Scion…er, Keeper,” Chloe said.
“Just Tarian, Chloe.” She couldn’t keep the defeat out of her voice.
“Tarian, dear, let me do for her now. Do what you have to do. I will have the arrangements made. Your mother was very specific on what she wanted to have happen when…” her voice trailed off as she choked on a sob. Tarian nodded.
“Thanks, Chloe. Please, will you tell Calliope about it all? She’s so much better at this sort of thing.” Chloe nodded.
Tarian crossed the room to kneel beside her mother one last time. A hollow place in the center of her chest consumed her, making it difficult to breathe. “I can’t do this without you,” she whispered.
Calliope quietly sobbed behind her. The world stood still.
“I know you don’t like displays, but I do.” Calliope pulled Tarian up into a hug. “As Mother said, together we can change.”
“Change what?” She let the tears fall.
“Everything.”
The two of them stood entwined in a hug that dulled the ache in her heart.
An eternity later, she looked around at the room. The clutter, debris, shambles of a solid life torn apart. It looked how she felt, ripped apart, barely held together by stone and determination. Above it all, the Dolphin Throne remained untouched, serene and strong.
Alex strode into the room, bringing with him a group of people who immediately started clearing rubble. She watched him, setting order, righting her world. A true friend.
Her sister watched with her. “You don’t have to handle everything alone.”
“I’m just exhausted.”
She loved their Society. She loved the feeling of magic that flowed through all of them, and into the very rock that formed the House of Xannon. It was her home, and she was willing to defend it against anyone and everyone. Shame it took all of this destruction for her to see the House as it truly was: a home. And the throne as it truly was: a friend. Not a burden. Not shackles on her freedom. A path to much more than she ever dreamed possible. All it took was a change of attitude. And slaughtering a demon. She nearly laughed at the thought.
Alex approached and cleared his throat. “Transitions are touchy, and this one’s got everybody spooked.”
“What do you mean?�
��
“With the rumors Daryl started, and all the mess, all anybody really knows is that you were in the middle of it. They don’t know the real story. All it takes is one bad apple, and suddenly you’re in the middle of a bunch of jerks trying to push you around. You have to take the throne officially, Keeper.” Alex drew himself up straight. “As your advisor, I advise that you do it now before anybody gets any ideas.”
At the word “advisor,” she smiled. Alex had found a way to remain close to her, beyond simply being her friend. It wasn’t exactly moving on from the whole Potential thing, but it was a start of a very different sort of relationship. One they both could handle.
“Set it up, Advisor Alex.”
Chapter 43
A few hours later, Tarian and Calliope stood next to the Dolphin Throne in the disheveled Receiving Hall. Alex stood beside her. His face was a mix of sadness and awe, and something else she couldn’t quite put her finger on. She squeezed his hand before he took up a watchful stance.
Tarian waited while people gathered. Some tried to clear rubble around them. Others simply stood on it. Some looked angry or even hostile. Some looked sad. All looked anxious. She couldn’t blame them. Sentinels lined the room on all sides. This many people gathered in one place, all with some magical talent, made the air vibrate. It pulsed around them, and singed her nose hairs.
“Can you feel that?” She whispered to Calliope.
“It’s hard to miss. Puts my teeth on edge.”
The muttering of the crowd died down as Tarian moved to stand in front of the throne. From behind her, raw power licked at her back and moved her hair slightly as it caressed her body. She looked uncertainly at Calliope, but her sister stared out at the assembled people, apparently unaware of the sensations Tarian felt. She looked back at the crowd and cleared her throat.
“Uh,” she said. Way to go, Tarian, nice way to begin. She mentally kicked herself.
“It’s with great personal sorrow that I tell you that Keeper Marielle…my mother…that the Keeper has died.”
She heard gasps and a few startled shouts, and then general talk started to rise as people started asking questions.
“Please…have patience. Everything will be explained. I will send out a formal announcement so that all in the region may get the news. She died protecting me and this house against a traitor.”
Tarian turned and stepped to the throne. She felt the warmth of the power surround her as it invited her in. She sat down, and immediately the dolphin symbol rose up and started to spin. As it spun, it shot out beams of light into the crowd. The glow settled over Tarian, and she felt one with the chair. She traveled along the beams of light and could see each person in the room as clearly as if they stood next to her. She felt their intentions. She felt their needs, their desires, their hurt at the loss of her mother, and a variety of other emotions she didn't want to feel. They weren't all kind. She followed the light and found it extended out past the walls of the House. For a moment, she traveled along it across the ocean and into the heart of the Region. As she went she touched on a face here and there, each one a member of the Society, each one with magic in their very soul. Each one she was now responsible for.
The sheer enormity of it overwhelmed her. In a panic, she tried to pull back and found she couldn’t. The throne had her and would not let her go. She struggled against it. She tried to push away or stop or reverse the flow. She could do nothing but follow where the light led. Across the region, she touched face after face, and witnessed families in their everyday lives. Some simply watched TV, some made love or studied or even gardened. Others commanded attention in bars or meetings or casinos. All facets of life. She started to cry as the beauty of it and the weight of the responsibility crushed in on her. Life. All of it precious. She’d never felt so outside of herself before. She surrendered to it, letting the light completely consume her.
As she came back to herself, the crowd in the hall stared at her in awestruck silence. The dolphin emblem shone above her head, a beacon above and separate from the throne itself. Tarian stared up at it. She’d never known it could be removed from the throne, but here it was floating above them all. As she watched it slowly descended and became part of the chair behind her once more. Alex, who stood on one side of the platform, fell to a knee and bowed his head. She watched as a ripple went through the crowd as each one of them also took a knee.
“Let this moment be for my mother. For Keeper Marielle,” Tarian said. Her words traveled throughout the hall. Silence reigned.
Chapter 44
It was several weeks before the Receiving Hall was in any kind of shape fit for humans. While Alex, with his skill with earth and stone, worked on repairing the damaged parts of the exterior walls and ceiling, Tarian worked on repairing the damage to her own psyche.
They celebrated her mother’s life in a traditional style for the Pacific. Tarian crafted the platform of wood and twine herself, with help from Calliope. At sunset, they stood on the black sand beach outside the rocks that created the House of Xannon, placed her mother’s body on it, set the whole thing ablaze with a small combined pulse of power, and set it out to sea. Tarian watched her mother join with the waves. Dolphins splashed and nodded a salute, each one taking a turn to leap over the funeral pyre, until the last ember died and her mother’s ash joined the waves. A void in her heart ached, and no amount of tears filled it. On impulse, Tarian ran into the surf and threw herself into a wave, letting it wash over and around her. The dolphins joined her then, a representative of her friends, her childhood, her future, all wrapped up around her. It comforted and buoyed her, as the water always did. Her mother would live on here in their collective memory. Theirs, and the archivists, whose strange hive mind never forgot anyone or anything.
Reluctantly, Tarian turned for the shore. Calliope waited there, tears streaming as she leaned into Frankie, who held her in protective arms. Alex stood next to them, stoic.
Daric didn’t attend, though she’d invited him. His absence struck her in a way nothing else did, not even her mother’s death. He’d refused to even speak to her, much less return the many messages she’d sent.
It’d been a few weeks. It felt like months. Longer, even. She stood on the shore, took the towel Alex offered, and dried herself automatically. They walked silently through the rest of the crowd gathered for the service, mostly regional leaders all wishing to make a good impression on the new Keeper. When they reached the rotunda, Tarian kept walking toward her bedroom without a word. Nobody followed her.
When she reached her room she shut the door behind her and leaned against it. The power infused wood did little to comfort her. The room felt empty and bare, though nothing had changed. She sniffled, then moved toward the bed. She’d thought to take a shower but now exhaustion claimed her and all she wanted was to lay down and sleep for an eternity.
Tarian took off her wet shirt and paused. Something had changed.
A single red rose lay on her pillow, and a steaming cup of coffee in a paper cup labeled PJs rested on the table beside her bed.
Tarian took it in her hands and held it, absorbing the warmth and scent she loved, pretending it was Daric’s arms around her and his lips on hers. She pressed a hand against her stomach. She couldn’t seem to stop touching it, nor could she stop the occasional butterfly flutters that overtook her whenever she thought about the state of her uterus. There was nothing to fear anymore. Nothing but impending motherhood.
She resolutely refused to think about Steffahn.
The next morning, she woke to the stare of an archivist. He huddled on the table next to the empty coffee cup, an immovable statue of patience.
She sighed and held out her hand. He sprang to life and touched her.
“Keeper. We propose an agreement.”
“What is it about these agreements?”
“All daemon are bound by agreement. By such bonds is life ensured, peace and knowledge advanced.”
“So you want to ma
ke a trade. For what?”
“We know of the promise made to our brothers. Keeper’s agreement with Carraig did not specify a time limit. We would exploit the omission. We propose an agreement. The Book of Daemon will be yours for study as long as the promise is not kept.”
“You have it?” She sat up so abruptly, she dropped his hand and knocked over the coffee cup. She quickly put her hand back out. “You stole it? You’re the ones?”
An angry chorus of voices circled in her head. “We do not steal.”
“Still playing word games. How did you get the book?”
“The Book of Daemon belongs to daemons. It returns to nearest daemon.”
“You mean I was never going to be able to keep that book. He tricked me.”
An image of Steffahn flashed in her head along with mutters from the archivists. “No trick. Agreement. Precisely worded.”
They were right. Steffahn never promised she’d be able to keep the damn thing. Only that she’d leave with it. It would take a lifetime to master the art of deals with daemons. And a lawyer. But now that she’d been fooled once, she wouldn’t be fooled the same way again.
“Why don’t you want me to keep my promise?” She’d promised to release the daemons in the cave. She saw no reason not to fulfill that request.
Silence filled her head. Followed by more silence.
“So this is how you want to play it? You want to give me only the bits and pieces you’re comfortable with? Well, I’m not falling for it again. You either give me all of the information I ask for, or we’re done with this discussion.”
“Keeper has learned well.”
“I have good teachers.” She waited for them to answer her question.
“We live under agreement, carefully worded. They would not. There are consequences, seen and unforeseen. Many possibilities, many negative scenarios. Keeper already has in motion one such consequence. There will be others. To release Carraig requires summon or destruction of Stulos. This we would avoid. Our agreement involves the protection of this House and all within. This we do.”
Demons & Djinn: Nine Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy Novels Featuring Demons, Djinn, and other Bad Boys of the Underworld Page 142
