by Patti Larsen
He was right. Sass was always right. Hated that.
“I really thought we would have patched things up by now.” The hurt I felt at our being at odds surfaced in a way that surprised me. I didn’t realize it bothered me as much as it did.
“Except you’re both proud, powerful women who can’t be seen to show weakness,” he said. “Bad enough Femke chose to step down as European Leader.” I hardly blamed her. Juggling two Councils would have driven anyone to drink. But I got his point. “It’s time to reach out and mend this fence, Syd. Before it goes too far.”
“Fine.” I prodded his round belly with one finger, determined to change the subject. “How is your sorcery training going?”
I’m sure he saw right through my attempt, but from the flare of excitement in his magic and the way his tail quivered like it did when he was happy told me he was giving me this out because it meant talking about his favorite topic.
Himself.
“Splendid, if I do say so,” he purred, whiskers spreading out as his ears curved sharply forward, pushed in nose wiggling ever so slightly. “Demetrius is doing a bang-up job teaching the family, you know. He’s all kinds of clever. Who would have thought?”
I knew what Sass meant. The first time we met Gram’s husband, Demetrius Strong was the leader of the Chosen of the Light, a sect of sorcerers and witches who followed the old ways, thought all magic was evil. He’d even tried to burn me at the stake, once. It wasn’t until years later I discovered not only did he know Gram from their youth, but he was actually one of the good guys, a Steam Union sorcerer tortured and turned by Liander Belaisle. It was Demetrius who helped me defeat Belaisle at the Stronghold, regaining his sanity and his health with the victory. I’d grown to adore him even when he was broken and crazy, used to Gram’s nuthouse routine from my childhood. But I loved him even more now he was whole. His patience and kindness never ceased to amaze me and I couldn’t have been happier for Gram she finally got to marry her one true love.
“I wish there were a hundred of him and Gram,” I said. “I’d send them out to all the covens.” Waking sorcery wasn’t that hard, it turned out. All it required was a sorcerer of power to trigger it through a push of energy feeding the first magic directly. Once fed, the person’s sorcery was awake and aware. The hard part was teaching my coven how to control the hunger. But I had absolute faith in Demetrius and in my family.
The insatiable need of sorcery to devour wasn’t for the faint of heart. But if we were going to survive another attack—and even if we were never attacked again—having the ability to use our dark power was a necessity at this point.
“I can’t imagine Eva is very happy Demetrius and Ethpeal are helping out.” Sassafras’s ears swiveled as though he heard something, but his attention never wavered.
“Gram and Demetrius can take care of themselves,” I said. “Besides, Eva’s probably too busy shoving her head up her ass to even notice the world is turning around her.”
Sass swatted my hand. “Sydlynn Thaddea Hayle. Language.”
We laughed together. Because, language or not, it was damned funny.
“Gram doesn’t seem concerned.” The one time I brought it up to her she snorted and patted my cheek like I was adorable or something. “So I’m not.” Okay, not much. Just enough to make things interesting.
“You’ll be happy to know the entire coven is awake now,” Sass said. “And making excellent progress. Even the little ones.” I’d almost held off on the twelve and unders, but, to my surprise, their parents insisted and I was happy they made that choice. Everyone needed to be able to mount a basic defense, just in case. “Just let the Brotherhood try to come after us again.”
I grinned at him, mind turning. “You remember what the Stronghold told me. About the difference between the Brotherhood and the Steam Union?”
Sass nodded. “That the Brotherhood are parasites,” he said. “Thieves without magic of their own. But the Steam Union have earned and built their personal power.”
“There has to be a way to use that weakness against them.” Demetrius was, naturally, teaching the family the Steam Union way of utilizing their sorcery, Gram at Harvard doing the same for Mom’s Enforcers. They learned to funnel wasted energy from decaying flora, sunlight, and their own magic into their sorcery to build the base. A Brotherhood sorcerer simply would drain whatever was around him or her to feed their need.
“I don’t see how,” Sass said. “There is magic in everything, Syd. How do you cut them off from everything?”
I shook my head, shrugged at last. “I have no idea. But there has to be a way. And I’m going to find it. Time to turn the tables on Belaisle if I can.”
“I have no doubt the answer will come to you.” Sass’s front paw rested on my knee. “Just, be careful, Syd. You know where the need for revenge can lead.”
I hugged him against me, his soft fur up my nose, against my cheeks. “I’m sure you’ll be keeping a close eye on me,” I said. “So I don’t have to worry.”
When I let him go, he blinked away moisture, sniffing, turning his head away. “You’d be so lucky,” he said.
I laughed, stroked his fur as our quiet moment was broken by the touch of a vast and powerful mind just before the veil before us opened and the massive form of Max, the drach leader, stepped through.
***
Chapter Six
Sassafras turned and bowed his head to Max as the tear in the veil closed behind him. In turn, my big friend nodded, the light from the swaying bulb overhead catching the faint scales on his bald pate. Glittering diamond eyes swiveled to me, a faint smile on his face.
“I’m interrupting.” His deep voice always sounded like there was a song behind it, the musical language of his people bleeding through.
“Not at all.” Sassafras turned tail and headed for the stairs. “Will you be home for supper?”
I had no idea. “I’ll try to let you know.”
Sass stopped half way up, met my eyes. “You do that.” And then, he was gone.
When I turned back, Max smiled wider. “He is an old soul with a young man’s arrogance,” he said, describing Sassafras perfectly. “I hope he knows I like him very much.”
“Pretty sure the feeling is mutual.” I grinned, gently punched his arm, though I could have hit him as hard as I wanted and Max wouldn’t have felt a thing. “Ready to go hunting?”
“Of course,” he said. “After our morning visit.”
I almost rolled my eyes, but fair enough. “You know there’ll be no change in them, right?” Max tore open the veil, the edges shimmering with rainbow magic. I reached for his hand, felt him pulling on me even as he dove through and into the darkness. He tossed me with practiced ease and I soared over him as his body transformed in mid-leap. No longer a giant man shape draped in a gray robe, his true form burst into life, the solid power of his wide shoulders my seat as I landed on his dragon’s back and settled on the base of his neck.
Of that I am certain, he sent as his massive wings propelled us forward into the gloom. It always took me a few minutes to adjust to the darkness. When I did, the vast, web-like network of the veil came into sharp focus, the barriers between planes as clear as lines in the sand. He banked to the right, giant head leading as he spoke again. The Fates are trapped in their loss, Syd. His kindness and caring shone through. We are their only connection to what’s happening in the Universe.
Consider myself chided, I sent. I’m sorry, it’s just…
I understand your worry, Max sent. I, too, fear if we wait too long to find the pieces, if our task of hunting them is too slow, our efforts to save the Universe will fail. But this is important, too.
I bobbed a nod into the darkness. It just makes me so sad to see them this way. The Fates had lost their ability to see the future when the heart of Creator was taken. Powerful beyond measure, the Light and Dark Fates had fallen from all-knowing, all-seeing entities to a brother and sister as helpless as any newly blind normal. Broke m
y heart.
I, too, feel their pain most keenly, Max sent. I winced. Of course he did. He was in love with Light Fate and had been for, well, forever. Literally. And she loved him, too, only their positions keeping them apart. I knew what that was like and should have had more empathy.
Would have, in the future. Sure, Syd. Sure.
The veil split before us, Max’s body shrinking as the pair of us hurtled through the tear and into the square outside the massive meeting hall. I tensed, ready for opposition from the maji leader, Zeon. He usually either stood at the top of the stairs and stared his hate and distrust or sent his cronies to do it. Maybe if he wasn’t such a horse’s rear compartment and actually did something about the problems in the Universe instead of treating me like some kind of magical patient zero who had to be eradicated, he might have earned a bit of my respect.
But, nope. The leader of the second most powerful race in the Universe sat on his behind, preaching non-interference while everything went to crap around him. Threatening my son didn’t endear him to me, either.
Surprisingly, there was no sign of Zeon today, nor of any of his people. The square was quiet and silent save for the burbling fountain, a woman’s sculpture gracing the middle. The white marble perfection of Center always made me feel like I was in Vegas or somewhere equally contrived. Like they were trying too hard to impress themselves with their awesomeness.
Yeah, wasn’t buying it anymore. I’d seen the ugly behind the curtain too many times to buy their smoke and mirror show.
My body grew upward as we approached the stairs of the massive building, the trick I learned long ago serving me well. By the time my foot touched the bottom step, the marble columns were a more normal size, the stairs easy to take, not a wall to surmount. I followed Max, staying back as he crossed the hall and to the end of the large meeting room, to another fountain and a pair of what looked like teenagers sitting on its edge.
A lovely woman, her flaxen braid swinging behind her, rushed toward us. There was a time the maji Iepa and I weren’t friends. She was my guide for the prophecy I fulfilled, destroying Belaisle and then, Ameline. But we’d not seen eye to eye on her methods. It wasn’t until after it was all over I realized she had as little choice in the matter as I had. Fate led us. And Iepa pushed the boundaries of her capabilities far past where she was supposed to just to help me.
I hugged her after she released Max. “So kind of you to come.” She’d taken it on herself to care for the weakened and blinded Fates. Usually, their lack of physical sight didn’t slow them down. If anything, it made them even more powerful, freeing them to see the future. But, without their foresight to guide them they were reduced to the darkness of normal blindness.
I couldn’t even imagine how frustrating it had to be.
Max went directly to Light Fate, embracing her gently. They were an odd pair, he so giant and alien looking, she a frail, pale haired girl. But their love was as real as any I’d ever witnessed, stronger, even, for all the years they’d known each other. I settled on the fountain’s edge and squeezed Dark Fate’s soft hand and he smiled faintly at me, face settling back into quizzical concern.
“I must warn you,” Iepa said, voice barely above a whisper. “Zeon is preaching war against you still, Syd.” What else was new? “The maji are terrified you will reassemble Creator’s physical form and try to take the power for yourself.”
I shook my head, sighed. Whatever. “Any luck reaching the dark maji?” I’d had more positive response from them in the past, their open-mindedness at least making assistance a possibility.
“Not yet,” Iepa said.
“I have an idea I want to try anyway,” I said.
“Please,” Light Fate’s fear made her voice vibrate. Her white eyes stared at me, sent shivers through me as she held tight to Max. “Be careful, Sydlynn. The final vision cannot come to pass.”
Her brother shifted beside me, hand tightening on mine. “We’ve had this conversation,” he said, a hint of his old humor in his voice. “It’s already in motion, my sister.”
She turned away as if doing so would mean erasing her fear. “The end of everything,” she whispered. “And it will be our fault.”
We stayed a few more minutes, but I just couldn’t stand it any longer. When I rose, releasing Dark Fate’s hand, Max joined me with a pained expression. But he was kind when we parted ways with Iepa and the Fates, his head hanging low.
Thank you, he sent. I know how troubling it is.
If it wasn’t the same conversation every time. I hooked my arm through his. We have to do something before they break, Max. I couldn’t even imagine what a crazy Fate would mean for all of us. Bad enough the way they’d been before, all knowing and whatnot. But if one of them cracked… who knew if, even powerless, their fundamental connection to the Universe would alter reality along with such a breakdown? After all, they were literally children of creation, tied to the past, present and future for as long as there had been two Universes. I, for one, had no wish to test if their wellbeing meant holding things together. Not a pretty thought.
You said you had an idea, Max sent.
Thought of it last night. I joined him in shrinking to my normal size as we reached the bottom of the stairs. Still no sign of the maji and I wondered where they’d all gone. Not that I cared, really. Probably out picking daisies and singing kumbaya to each other or something.
Asshats.
When Max entered the veil, I reached out to him. Human form, I sent. It’s cramped where we’re going and I wouldn’t want you to slip up.
I drew him along by the grip on his hand. I think I know where you’re taking us, he sent. The maji chamber?
The very one. Thinking about bringing Gabriel to see Ameline had made me remember my initial conversation with the new her. About how she could feel and connect with all the maji. I hadn’t asked her if she could talk to the dark version, though. Time to find out.
We stepped out together in the top chamber. I didn’t trust myself enough to put us down in the tiny space below. Max didn’t protest as we descended the spiral staircase underground, the carvings on the walls telling the history of this plane and my family’s place in it. By the time we touched down at the bottom in the small chamber, I was hit with the same sense of reverence I always was. Old power lived here, deep underground. And now it had a voice.
She was waiting for us, smiling at me, at Max, waving a little. Ameline’s glossy black hair was as flawless as I remembered, perfect pageboy bangs fluttering when she blinked her long, black lashes. Ice blue eyes that used to hold malice and hurt smiled at me, her bow mouth curving in delight, pale cheeks pinking as she watched us approach.
“Welcome,” she said, reaching out with hesitation to touch my hand, just the barest brush of her cool fingertips over the back of my wrist.
“Ameline,” I said. “You remember Max?”
She bowed to him and he bowed his head back. “Nice to see you again, Drach Lord.”
“You’re clean,” he said with a hint of wonder. “The darkness has left you.”
“I am only the soul of the woman Ameline Benoit,” she said. “The echo of me is long gone, devoured by Syd’s friend, Alison.” I still woke up from nightmares at times, remembering that battle, how my former bestie and ghost turned vampirish something no one understood ate the furious echo of Ameline after I stopped her heart.
“I’m pleased for you,” he said.
She dimpled. “So am I.” Her gaze returned to me. “This isn’t a social visit.” No judgment, just curiosity. “I felt you coming. You were in Center.”
Hopefully that meant this little experiment would work. “We need your help,” I said. “Do you also have access to Core?” The dark maji’s plane was the total opposite of the light, but I liked the supposed dark side of the race better. Go figure.
Ameline nodded immediately. “I have a connection to both,” she said. A tiny frown puckered the smooth space between her brows. “But they have bee
n quiet for some time.”
“Can you try talking to them?” This was our only hope. Max and I attempted to enter Core at other times but were repelled at every pass. If Ameline couldn’t get through to them we might as well just write them off and move on. But I didn’t want to do that without trying everything.
Ameline cocked her head to one side, silky black hair sliding around her slim shoulders. Gone was the robe I found her in when we’d last met in the flesh, the aged look to her from tampering with my son’s development. She was as young and fresh as when we’d first encountered each other, though I liked her now where we’d once hated one another.
“I can feel them,” she said, voice distant. “But they aren’t allowing me in.”
“Can you send a message?” Maybe if I asked them nicely? I wasn’t holding my breath.
“We can try,” she said. “What do you want to say?”
“That the Universe needs them,” I said. “And it’s time to stop hiding.”
Her lips pursed and she nodded, meeting my gaze again. “Sent,” she said. “I will try to find you and alert you if I receive a response.”
No instant gratification here, I guess. Still, it was worth the long shot if they would come out of hiding and lend a hand. “One more thing,” I said, feeling suddenly nervous and a little awkward as I thought of Gabriel.
“Anything, Syd,” she said, only making things worse. So weird, this new, bright and almost cheerful Ameline. How was I supposed to hate her now?
“My son.” I stammered over those two words. “I’d like to bring Gabriel down here. To meet you. The new you. So he…” My lips felt like they’d grown ten times their size, my tongue seeming to swell as I fought for the words to say.
“So I can tell him it’s not his fault.” Ameline nodded. “Of course. I’d be honored.” She paused. “He deserves to know the whole truth from me, Syd.”
