Steam Union

by Patti Larsen

  The Steam Union leader just smirked at her. “Outsiders don’t get to speak further.” Her power crowded me, heading for Zoe. Rainbow fire sizzled along the edge of her magic and shoved it back in her face. Eva retreated with a cry, the watching Steam Union calling out in fear, but I didn’t attack. As much as I wanted to.

  “You try that again,” I said as mildly as I could manage, “and the leadership will be wide open for takers.”

  She backed off, though only to turn and address her people. “Will we allow this to happen to our order?” Self-righteousness wasn’t pretty on her, either. “Will we fall to our fears or stand for what we believe in?”

  They swayed, but more with fear than belief.

  “Oh, give it a rest, will you, Eva.” Gram’s testy tone actually inspired a few titters of nervous laughter. Eva spun on her, but my grandmother wasn’t looking at her. Her focus was on Piers. “We’ve demanded a change of leadership,” she said, speaking to his crumpled form as though they were the only two in the room. “And we want you to take your mother’s place.”

  For the first time since he was led inside, Piers reacted. Slowly, so slowly, painfully, he raised his head. I could almost hear his bones creaking, the tendons moaning from the weariness in his movements. But it wasn’t from physical exhaustion, I knew that much. Just from the look on his face. He was emotionally damaged, hurt so deeply he could barely function. His tongue slipped over his dry lips.

  “No,” he said in the sudden quiet, barely a whisper, but it carried.

  Eva smiled, triumphant, crossing her arms over her chest. “There,” she said. “You see? Even my son believes I am the best leader of our people.”

  He laughed, soft and broken, full of gravel, stopping her amusement in its tracks.

  “Mum,” he said, gray eyes darkened to charcoal. Their gazes locked, the steel inside my friend showing at last. “Please. Don’t embarrass yourself.”

  She snarled at him, power gathered, but one glance at me and she held back. So, I’d made her think twice, had I? Good, then. Though, part of me—okay, my furious demon part—wanted her to try it. Any excuse.

  But Femke was right. This was Piers’s fight. I couldn’t win it for him.

  “Piers Southway,” Eva said, “I declare you an enemy of the Steam Union. For your attempt to take over my leadership, I order you stripped of power and put to death.”

  “Um, hang on a second,” I said, halting the wave of resistance that washed through the crowd. “He did no such thing.”

  “Wasn’t his idea,” Gram said, thrusting her magic at Eva like a challenge. “It was mine. Feel like coming at me, Eva?”

  “I was afraid of this,” Zoe whispered in my ear while the rest of the room stared in rapt and fearful attention at Gram and Eva where they faced off over Piers. “He told me long ago he won’t fight his mother, Syd. His heart is broken.”

  We’d see about that. Piers, you dumbass, I sent sharply at the wall of black he had erected. The Steam Union needs you and your mother is making a huge mess here. Fix it or I will.

  Stay out of this, Syd, he sent, mental voice cold.

  Like hell I will, I sent. Either you take care of this or I start breaking people. I sighed in frustration. You are the only one who can save them. Look around you, damn it. They are falling apart, Piers. And your mother is letting it happen. No answer. Fine, I sent. Maybe I was wrong. Your people deserve better than the Southways, obviously.

  That got a reaction. He glared at me with a flash of fury behind his darkened eyes. But he held still while his mother, oblivious to our conversation, finally stood down from Gram.

  “At the very least,” she said, “he will have his power taken, his sorcery silenced. That is the way of our order.” Wasn’t going to happen. “And he will be imprisoned for the remainder of his life.” Would no one else speak for him?

  Really, people?

  To my utter shock, Clover darted forward, arms going around her brother. While I knew she adored him, I also understood how deeply her fear of her mother ran. It amazed me she had the fortitude and courage to stand against the woman who trod on her for her entire life. But Clover did.

  With anger ringing in her voice, Piers’s younger sister took her stand.

  “You won’t touch him,” she said. “I won’t allow it.”

  Casually, as though swinging at a troublesome insect, Eva lashed out at her child and struck her hard. I wanted to stop her, needed to do something, anything, but the pressure of Gram’s mind on mine held me back.

  Watch, she sent.

  I didn’t have long to wait. The moment Eva’s power struck Clover, Piers’s head snapped up, a burst of black erupting between his mother and his sister. Eva staggered back, Clover weeping as she fell to her knees beside her suddenly furious brother.

  “Enough!” His bark of fury echoed through the room. “You swore to me you wouldn’t hurt her, Mother. You promised me you’d leave Clover and Father out of this if I stood down.”

  Eva retreated from his anger, sullenness crawling across her eyes, but she was too late.

  “Very well,” he said, voice cold. “You asked for it. Challenge accepted!”

  ***

  Chapter Seventeen

  From the sudden terror in Eva’s eyes, she knew she’d finally pushed him too far. Piers’s power roared to life, filling the room with the rumbling growl of a starving animal. Eva back pedaled, tried to combat him, but his magic was stronger, his storehouse of reserves rising from far within him. The Steam Union watchers swayed as Piers strode toward his mother, literally battering her to the floor with one pummeling blow after another. The entire house shook from the titanic effort, books falling from the shelves, dust clogging the air.

  Eva finally sagged beneath the onslaught of his rage, arms over her head, weeping in fury and frustration and, for a moment, I feared he would go too far as the old wood flooring cracked beneath her with a sharp, explosive sound like the strike of lightning. As much as Eva needed to be taken care of, I knew my friend would never survive killing his own mother.

  Piers. I gently, so gently, pulled him back.

  His mind panted in mine, animal rage swallowing him. He’d been through so much, I could only guess, and when he snapped… he snapped.

  But he responded as I continued to coax him, retreating from the crumpled ball of sobbing anger who pounded the damaged floor at her feet with both fists, a child having a tantrum. Piers’s shoulders straightened, body vibrating with power as the majority of the Steam Union looked up to him, their hope shining in their faces.

  Eva spit on the floor boards, meeting her son’s eyes with so much hate I readied myself to take her out personally so he wouldn’t have to. “This isn’t over,” she snarled in a voice like grinding steel. “Not by a long shot. I declare myself the leader of a new order, the Sorcerer Guild.” Okay, that came too easily. Had she been planning this all along, a safety net in her back pocket?

  No time to find out. Eva leaped to her feet, shaking, gestured around her. Before anyone could stop her she attacked her own people, siphoning off a portion of their power while the small group I’d taken note of filed in beside her, smooth and precise. Just as if they’d had this in mind and made prior plans to ensure escape. Piers roared in fury, lunged for his mother, but she was already disappearing into a tunnel of black, faithful followers joining her.

  It snapped shut as he came to a halt before the spot, teeth bared, hands clenched, shaking all over. No one said a word, too shocked to react. When Piers finally turned his face was closed and dark, jaw tight, dust settling around him.

  “Eva Southway is a fugitive from our justice,” he said. “By stealing our power—forbidden to our order—she has declared herself no better than the Brotherhood we oppose.” Murmurs of angry agreement met his words. “She and her Sorcerer Guild will be hunted and destroyed like the animals they’ve become.” Louder now, their support. A people reborn, though I knew it would take much more than just an impassioned
speech from a furious man to change things. “I have been asked to lead you. Would you have me?”

  Their cry of acceptance brought tears to my eyes because it wasn’t just the people in the room offering their support. Waves of sorcery hit all of us, coming from the Steam Union members who watched and listened from elsewhere. They’d seen everything and Piers was their only choice.

  “Then,” he said, bowing his head, “I accept. And I will do my very best to lead you.”

  Clover, back on her feet, rushed to his side and hugged him. His father joined her while Zoe quivered at my side. I gently urged her toward him, holding back as she took a few tentative steps in his direction. The grief ridden look on his face when he saw her forced me to clamp both hands over my mouth to stifle the sob trying to escape. Gram’s arm went around my shoulders as Piers engulfed Zoe in his arms like it was just the two of them in the room.

  Now, Gram sent, to help him heal. She’s done a lot of damage to that boy.

  You’ll keep me posted on the pursuit of Eva? I knew she would.

  Don’t worry, Gram sent, grim but oddly gleeful. If I’m the one who catches her, and her mental tone told me she intended just that, I’ll invite you to the show.

  I hugged her back, leaned in to kiss Demetrius’s soft cheek. When I straightened, it was to Piers staring at me, one arm draped around Zoe, the other his sister.

  “The Steam Union thanks Coven Leader Hayle for her assistance,” he said.

  “Coven Leader Hayle is happy to see Steam Union Leader Southway take over,” I said. “Anything I can do, please, don’t hesitate.”

  When I tried to touch his mind past the formalities, he fended me off again.

  I just need some time, he sent. “Thank you,” he said out loud. “But we can take things from here.”

  I knew a dismissal when I heard one. Tried to convince myself it didn’t hurt.

  Liar.

  I backed away, leaving the Steam Union members to close in on Piers. At least I knew they were in good hands at last. Before I could leave, someone grabbed me, turned me around. Zoe hugged me tight, lips against my ear.

  “I’ll take care of him,” she said before leaning away, smiling and blinking back tears. “He’ll see you soon. We both will.”

  I raised my gaze, met Gram’s. She smiled, too, lopsided. And I felt a whole lot better.

  The veil welcomed me as I skimmed for home, heart sore for my sorcerer friend. It couldn’t have been easy for him to challenge his own mother. I should know. Though my mother raised me to stand on my own two feet while Eva, it seemed, did her best to smother Piers and Clover. I was happy to know maybe the two of them finally had a fighting chance.

  My high heels tapped on the stairs as I emerged from the basement, just wanting to take a hot shower and maybe make a bowl of popcorn, gorge on some chocolate, watch a TV show and veg the hell out. But the moment I stepped through the door at the top and into the kitchen, I fell into a maelstrom of fury so powerful I almost fell back down into the dark.

  “Sydlynn. Thaddea. Hayle.” Mom stood in the middle of the space, fire crackling around her, vibrating with fury as she threw out each one of my names with such violence the dishes in the cupboard rattled in tune.

  Um. What? “Mom.” I gasped a breath, pushed back against her power enough I could enter the kitchen. “What the hell?”

  “My question exactly.” Her magic retreated, the young power of the Council heated with her rage, as angry as she was. “When exactly were you going to tell me you were chosen to undermine my authority?” Undermine… oh. Damn. Oops. “And that you accepted the job?”

  Craptastic on a crap stick. “Mom,” I said, shaking my head, hands up to ward her off. “I’m sorry, I tried to tell you, I swear.” The stupid, wretched, dumbass shadow council. Why didn’t I make time to fill her in? “But there was so much going on and I didn’t get a chance—”

  “A rather important piece of information, Syd,” Mom snapped, though her power finally retreated the rest of the way. I caught a glimpse of a nervous Shenka in the corner and wondered who told Mom in the first place. Surely not my second. She’d been opposed to such a thing. “Considering everything that’s happened, we need unity, not division!”

  “I know!” I didn’t mean to shout back at Mom, but I’d been in too many fights over the last few days, my temper on a hair trigger and my mother knew just what buttons to push. “I’m not an idiot!”

  “You could have fooled me,” Mom said, drawing herself up, black robe swirling around her as blue fire crackled. “You’re lucky I don’t have you arrested, do you know that? I still might.”

  “Just try it.” I was done fighting, sagging against the table. “Go back to Harvard, Mom. We’ll talk later when you’re reasonable.”

  Oh, dear.

  Mom left, sure did. And the house shook with her passing.

  I glared at Shenka who shook her head. “I swear,” she said. “I didn’t say a word. And I have no idea who did.”

  Not like it mattered now. I turned away from my second and retreated upstairs. From the quiet, the kids were still with Dad in Boston. Probably a good thing. I stepped into the shower, shedding my suit, and spent a good ten minutes or so crying into my hands as the hot water poured over me.

  The release of emotion made me feel better, though it left me worn out. I really had to find time to go clean up some of my messes. As I sat on the edge of the bed and looked out into the street outside my house, at the happy, playing kids, the parents with strollers living their quiet lives, I realized how much of an ass I’d been with the people I loved.

  Okay, so they’d been asses back, and sometimes first. But, still. I knew better. I’d grown past my temper, or thought I had. I guess the pressure of all of it happening so fast just got to me, blow after blow building until I just couldn’t take it anymore. Which didn’t mean I couldn’t do the right thing and be the bigger person.

  Yeah. Attitude again. I’d do better.

  The sigh of a sorcery tunnel opening turned me around. Gram exited, coming to sit next to me, Sassafras in her arms. He glared at me, amber eyes snapping, tail thrashing.

  “Forget someone?”

  I reached out and hugged him to me, more tears spilling over onto his fur. “I’m sorry,” I choked out the whisper.

  Sass’s irritation fled in a rush. “Me, too,” he said.

  Gram’s hand settled on my shoulder and I looked up, Sass and I both turning to watch her as she smiled at me.

  “Sucks, doesn’t it? The leadership gig?” I shrugged at her questions. Gram’s grin was heartfelt, but there was old hurt in her eyes. I knew she’d had her own struggles, though we’d never talked them completely through. “Feels like no one understands, sometimes. That their problems are more important than the big picture. And the older you get, Syd, the harder it is. The more you want to just say screw it and walk away. To just be selfish and not care what happens to anyone else.”

  My whole body clenched against her words, though I had to admit there were times I’d thought that way. “I can’t,” I said.

  She laughed. “Of course you can’t, you ninny. You’re a Hayle witch. And we never quit, no matter the obstacles.” Gram sighed, fingers sliding over Sass’s fur. “Right, cat?”

  Something passed between them, a feeling of irony I didn’t understand.

  “You didn’t quit, Ethpeal,” he said, indignant. “She kicked you out.”

  What was this?

  Gram shook her head, winking at him, fixing her blue eyes on me. “A long story about the woman who gave birth to me,” she said. Funny how she worded it that way, instead of just saying her mother. “Ask me again sometime.” She stood, then, waved at the air before her, tunnel forming. “Emotions run high in times of crisis. You know that. You have to be the strong one, as unfair as that is. They don’t have the experience with the massive stuff like you do.” Gram waved, fingers wiggling. “Now, stop being a baby and go mend hearts, girl.” With a grin to take t
he sting from her words, she stepped into the tunnel and vanished.

  ***

  Chapter Eighteen

  I followed through with my plan to hide from the world for the rest of the day, despite Gram’s suggestion. I just needed time away from everyone, to gather my thoughts, get some emotional rest. The last thing I wanted was to encounter something that would set me off again. I knew better than to jump into trying to apologize or talk to anyone right now.

  Bad to worse in 3, 2, 1… good thing I knew myself well enough to lay low.

  Sassafras waddled downstairs with me, staying close at my side as I peeked into the kitchen. Shenka was gone, a relief, to be honest. I wasn’t prepared to deal with her yet, either. Sass hopped up on the counter and watched with cat fascination as the microwave did its thing to the bag of popcorn while I poured him a dish of milk and myself a tall glass of ginger ale. The smell of buttery goodness instantly softened my mood, mouthwatering. I rarely got to eat popcorn in peace, usually cornered and surrounded by demanding children and Galleytrot’s begging eyes, so it was a treat to empty the hot puffed kernels into a big bowl in anticipation of keeping it all to myself.

  I almost made it to the living room when Apollo’s voice in my head brought me to an abrupt halt. With a twinge of irritation at the interruption followed by a kick of guilt for being mad about it, I greeted him back.

  Syd, he sent, excitement and worry all bubbling in his mind. I found Simon.

  Okay, had my complete attention. I set the bowl on the end table by the sofa and turned for the kitchen again. Sassafras cocked his head to me as I mouthed Simon’s name.