by Patti Larsen
Which meant… “But how?” I spun in a frustrated circle, shaking with building rage. Someone was tracking us. Max. Me. Or Gabriel. All three? Damn it. “How did they come here in the first place?” It shouldn’t have been possible. The only way for other races to cross the veil into foreign planes was through things like demon effigies. With the kind of power I possessed. Or—
“Gabriel!” I almost ran right then and there, but Max grabbed me.
“He is safe,” he said, cooling my jets with those three words, though he had no proof, did he? “Your family would have called for you if Gabriel was missing.” Okay, heart, you can start beating again. “They had assistance. The Brotherhood has obviously been gifted the ability to cross planes by Dark Brother. And Trill is as much a maji—if human and mortal—as you are.”
Damn it. What was she thinking?
“Trinol did warn us,” Max said, the silver ribbon pooled in his free hand. He slowly released me, one finger stirring the silent drach soul. “That there were others seeking the pieces, not just us and the Brotherhood. Trill must be working for one of them.”
Not for long she wasn’t. Not when I was through with her.
“Forgive me, my brother,” Max said, a single tear falling to splash on the ribbon. “I’ve failed our people yet again.”
Compassion found a way to win over my anger and I hugged Max for mutual comfort. “I’m sorry.”
“As am I.” He sighed heavily, as though releasing some old hurt through the exhale. “We should go, Sydlynn. We have other pieces to find. Now we know how to do so. But next time we will be better prepared.” There was enough anger in his voice I pitied the one who got in his way.
I pulled free of him, kicking myself as I made a connection. “The heart,” I said. “That’s who took the heart.” Of course. And I’d given Trill free access to the Stronghold. Trusted her, if not her new friends. Not Belaisle after all—mystery solved. The Stronghold did his job, as I asked him to. Couldn’t counter her when she snuck into the chamber and stole Creator’s heart to prove me a fool.
“I’m going after her.” I pulled Max along into the veil, leaving the quiet, abandoned plane behind. It felt good to move, to escape the deathly, fresh silence of that place once bustling with life. The veil welcomed us, drew us along. I turned to look back at the soft, sucking sound I’d never heard before.
And watched as the plane behind us collapsed and disappeared, the veil tightening in around it.
This is worse than I feared, Max sent. The very Universe is dissolving, Syd. If we don’t do something soon, I worry it will be too late to stop a complete collapse into each other. One Universe, controlled by the winner of this contest. We have to succeed.
Now he tells me.
***
Chapter Twenty Nine
Max dropped me at home, winging off on his own to consult with his people. I let him go, though it would have been nice to have him with me when I confronted Trill. Not that I expected to find her right away. But he’d come running when I tracked her down and I knew where to start looking, at least.
Loud music shook the windows of the boy’s kitchen, hitting me with the deep percussion of heavy bass as I stepped through the Zornov’s door uninvited. Apollo, Owen and Simon all froze in mid-chomp, a half empty pizza box sprawled open between them. They must have guessed from my expression I wasn’t in the best of moods because all three set down their dinner, Owen gesturing at the stereo on the counter, silencing it.
“Where,” I said through grated teeth, “can I find your sister?”
Owen swallowed audibly, the last of his bite of pizza going down hard. “What happened?”
Apollo stood up, faced me, wary but curious. “Your guess is as good as ours, remember?” He shot a look at his brother who shrugged while Simon sat back and resumed munching the thick crust. The scent finally got through to me, making my mouth water and I realized I hadn’t eaten in ages. But there was no time for pizza.
“Is there any way to track her she wouldn’t be able to trace back to us?” I could just run off on a tangent and make tons of magical noise, throwing my weight around looking for her. The younger me would have, and made a mess and sent Trill scrambling for cover long before I caught up with her. I knew better now. Stealth, then attack. As much as it would be more satisfying the first way, only the end result of catching her really mattered to me right now.
Apollo’s curiosity turned to real concern. “Syd,” he said. “What did she do?”
I shook off the need to smack him. “She stole something very important,” I said, shaking a little from the strength it took to just stand there and not beat the crap out of him for not answering my question. “Two somethings, if my guess is right. She betrayed me. And I want her and what she took. Right. Now.”
That got a reaction from the brothers. Owen joined Apollo with real fear on his face, brilliant blue eyes snapping anger. “It’s Cable,” he said.
I cut him off with a sharp gesture. “I don’t give a sweet freaking damn who is responsible,” I said. “Nor do I want to discuss it. I need to find Trill with minimum fuss in a way she won’t know I’m hunting her. And I expect you two to help me.”
Both nodded.
“Cold, Hayle,” Simon muttered from behind them.
“You have no idea,” I shot back. “And, until you do, mind your damned business, Simon.”
He just shrugged and focused on his pizza.
“She’ll be expecting one of us to try to reach her,” Owen said, while his brother nodded, gnawing on the side of his thumbnail in anxiety. “But there’s one person she might react to.” He snapped his fingers. “Nona.”
“Your grandmother.” Why didn’t I think of that? Probably because I was still wound up from the theft. The betrayal. Why, Trill? Why? I latched onto the two brothers with power and my hands. “Where?”
Owen showed me, a rickety old RV parked in a quiet corner of a trailer park. I pulled them along into the veil, leaving Simon behind. We emerged in the tree line, covering the last of the distance to the RV on foot. Owen beat me to the door, knocking softly. It opened almost immediately, a lined and inquisitive face peeking out, thin hands tucking her pink fluffy robe around her. The Zornov matriarch I knew best as Nona smiled at the sight of her grandson, though when she looked up and saw he wasn’t alone, her face tightened.
“Sydlynn,” she said. “What’s Trill done now?”
“You knew,” I said, entering behind Owen as his grandmother retreated. Apollo joined us, the RV rocking with our entry. Nona sat on the long couch that hid the kitchen table and sighed, head bobbing on her scrawny neck, hair as black as a teenaged girl’s without a trace of silver despite her advanced age. Her dark eyes glittered with anger as she gestured for me to take a seat next to her.
“I knew she was up to something I wouldn’t like,” Nona said. “Though from the anger I sense in you, she’s gone too far at last.”
I told the Zornovs everything as we sat there in the closed space of the RV, the scents of cinnamon and over cooked onions mingling with faint traces of candle wax burning. Nona held silent and still, her old face crinkled in a scowl so deep her lips disappeared into a thin line, dark eyes mere pinpoints of sparks under her heavy brows. Owen and Apollo stared with their mouths open, as though having trouble absorbing the massiveness of what I was telling them.
Frankly, I was having a bit of a hard time myself and I was in the middle of it.
“That damned păcăli,” Nona snapped as I finished. “What is she thinking?”
“She claimed from the beginning she’s not my enemy,” I said, unable to stop the disgust and chill in my voice, “but I’m having a really hard time believing her right now.”
The old woman bobbed her head, thin, wrinkled hands clutching at the soft fluff of her robe.
“Nona,” Owen said, tone filled with hurt, “can you find her for us? Make her talk to Syd? There has to be an explanation. Maybe Trill took the two pieces to give to you?” He focused o
n me in his last sentence. There was a desperate need in him to believe in his sister, and I could hardly blame him for that. It would be like Meira turning on me. I’d had it happen, briefly, but she was under the influence of the demon power boosting drink, nectar. She was purposely hooked on an enhanced version of the drug and controlled by demons out to destroy me and Dad. This was something far worse. The entire Universe was at stake.
“Trillia would never betray you or her bloodline.” Nona shook her head at last, though it didn’t sound as though she believed her own words completely. “There must be an explanation.”
“Trill is the only one with access to the heart,” I said, shoulders slumping as the truth finally hit me. Yes, I knew, intellectually. But this was heart sureness, down to the depths of my soul understanding. My friend, who I trusted, did this terrible thing. And I allowed her access, left the Stronghold vulnerable because I believed in Trill.
“We will uncover what’s what,” Nona said, sitting suddenly forward, spry for a woman her advanced age. “Now.”
Her maji magic felt of mine, but more fundamental, fed by her blood. Creation power, long reviled by witches as evil and punishable by death was the stock and trade of the human-born maji. They understood the incredible power in blood magic, the very reason the Brotherhood used witches so long ago to create an overwhelming revulsion against its use. Blood magic was almost strong enough—pure creation power—to counter sorcery.
Trill’s magic tied directly to her darker power had to have consequences. But I didn’t care about that right now. Or, even, who she was working for, though I wouldn’t turn down the information if it landed in my lap. All I wanted was the maji woman and the two pieces she stole from me.
The rest would wait until I beat some sense into her.
I hovered in the background as Nona reached out to her granddaughter. Trill answered her immediately, so trusting.
Nona, she sent, a faint hint of relief in her voice, backed with grief I didn’t understand.
Trillia Elderia Zornov. Her grandmother’s mind lashed against hers. What have you done?
I didn’t give Trill a chance to answer. My maji power leaped out after her, netting her with energy, holding her tight. Don’t fight me, Trill, I sent. I don’t want to hurt you. Not exactly the truth. A little hurt might be in order. But if she gave me what I needed, I’d consider letting her go.
Consider.
I’m sorry, Syd. Trill’s mental voice slipped from sad to determined. You don’t have all the information. And I’m doing what I need to do.
Get your ass back here, I snarled, with the pieces. Then we’ll talk. And you can fill me in on what I don’t know. Sarcasm much?
Trill’s power flexed, twisted against mine, and, as though I had no hold over her at all, she slipped through my net and out of my grasp. The greasy feeling to her combined power refused to be contained, no matter how hard I tried to catch her and pull her back.
You just have to trust me, Trill sent. Syd, I’m on your side, I swear. But I have to do this my way.
Fine, I sent. Do whatever the hell you want. But turn over the heart and hand. I reached for Max, felt him coming for me, his power roaring toward me, but knew he’d be too late as Trill’s mental voice grew more distant. Why did I wait so long? Still, for all I knew,he wouldn’t be able to hold her either.
I’m sorry. She whispered the last. This will all be over soon. You’ll see.
The outside of the trailer shook violently, the door jerking open, the giant form of my drach friend’s entry making the RV rock so much I had to hold on. His magic flooded the room, poured after Trill, joining with mine and, for a moment, I thought we had her.
Protect the gateway, drach lord, Trill sent, spinning free of us both. I will see you soon.
And, just like that, she was gone.
TRILL! I screamed after her, rage erupting from utter frustration. I will hunt you down if it’s the last thing I do!
No answer. I stormed to my feet, power lashing out between the Zornov’s searching for the touch that was Trill. And cut her off, completely.
Nona gasped, hands over her mouth, tears flooding her dark eyes, but I shook my head, relentless, refusing to back down.
“If she tries to contact any of you,” I snarled, “you will tell me immediately. But until Trill is caught, she will get no support, no protection. She’s on her own. Is that understood?”
They all nodded, Nona dropping her hands, trembling as Owen crossed to her, sat next to her, hugging his grandmother gently in his arms.
“We’ll find her, Syd,” Apollo said, voice angry and cold, but not aimed at me. “And we’ll bring her in.”
***
Chapter Thirty
Max and I left the Zornovs with their grandmother, Apollo promising to drive her to Wilding Springs and park her RV in their backyard until the mess with Trill was sorted out. I knew how independent Nona was, but she seemed relieved by the offer and I was happy to hear she’d be safe and sound with us.
The veil welcomed my drach friend and me, he keeping his human form, crossing over to the empty plaza on Center, the burbling fountain the only activity in the place. Again we were met with silence on our visit instead of aggressive rejection, and it had me wondering what the maji leader, Zeon, was up to. He’d threatened my son, threatened me along the way. And though I honestly considered the old maji a coward at heart, I was on a knife’s edge waiting to see what he would do when he finally made his move.
Max didn’t seem to worry about it, entering the main temple and crossing to the private room at the back. I joined him, finding it hard to kick the depression settling around me at the realization of Trill’s unfaithfulness. She could claim to be on my side all she wanted, but the proof was in the theft.
“My love!” I hadn’t heard that much excitement in Light Fate’s voice in a long time, the sun in her tone bringing my head up and awakening a bit of hope inside me. As blind as her brother, she stumbled toward Max, falling into his arms, but the smile on her face brought me instant relief.
“Tell me, dear one,” Max said. “What has you so bright today?”
“We saw,” she said, stressing the second word. “Both of us.” Tears trickled down her cheeks as I looked past her to her twin, Dark Fate, who nodded with a delighted smile of his own from where he sat with Iepa on the edge of the pool. “Only for a moment, but we saw, my love. Our power can come back again.”
Was it Max and me finding the hand that triggered it? “What did you see?”
She turned her head toward my voice. “I don’t know,” she said. “All we caught were flashes of planes, whipping past us as though we traveled the veil at great speed.”
Gabriel. “When the gateway opened,” I said, not really meaning to speak out loud.
“So it would seem,” Max said. And gently sat Light Fate down to explain to her and her brother what happened while Iepa listened with a soft frown of anxiety pulling her brows together.
“He is well, after such an ordeal?” Light Fate fumbled for my hand and I took it, squeezed it gently in gratitude for her asking.
“As far as I know,” I said, my old friend guilt reminding me I hadn’t seen him since we left him with Mom at Harvard. “He’s a strong boy. But seeing the Order scared him.”
“Scared all of us,” Max said.
Light Fate shivered delicately. “As they should,” she said. “We, too, saw them before our vision died, felt the malevolence of their presence. The pure need in them to devour and nothing more.” And I thought the Brotherhood were bad. “They must not be permitted to cross to our Universe.”
I almost said “duh”, but held off because, well, she had gone from all-knowing, all-seeing to a blind girl without much hope. I was willing to cut her some slack.
“There is nothing we can do,” Max said, “but hunt for the next piece of Creator. And guard well the path we take to get there.”
“How did Belaisle find us?” That rankled.
“He must have had us followed,” Max said. “While he may not be aware of Gabriel’s ability to track the pieces—something we must shield from everyone from this point on,” he wasn’t kidding, “he must know we have better odds of locating Creator’s lost parts. Perhaps he simply is waiting for us to find them after all. So our fearful drive to locate them is founded in nothing.”
“Except both Belaisle and Trill found us,” I said, hating them with a passion so powerful I tasted bitter bile in the back of my throat for a moment. “So did he follow us and she followed him?”
“No way of knowing,” Max said, gently enough it softened me so I could unclench from the need to immediately hurt the both of them in permanent and painful ways. “At least, not until we investigate further. But we now know we are traceable. And that is something we need to deal with.”
“And you now know there are other players in place,” Dark Fate said. “While it’s likely you’re correct, I would say assuming only you have the key to finding the pieces could lead you to trouble.”
“Unless the other hunters are all waiting for us to lead them right where they want to go,” I said, bitterness a given. That would be just peachy.
Or, my vampire sent, gives us an advantage further than Gabriel.
Why hadn’t I thought of that? You’re brilliant, I sent to her before speaking out loud. “What if we used that to lead them on a wild goose chase or two?”
Dark Fate’s grin was nasty. “I love how you think, Sydlynn.”
“You can thank my vampire,” I said as she shifted inside me with a faint touch of modesty. “We just have to work out the logistics.” Would be nice to stick it to Belaisle for once.
Take it a step further, even, my demon sent. Set a trap. For all of them.
Even if we can’t hold them, my vampire agreed, we would at least see exactly who else we have to deal with. For, surely there are other players we have, as yet, to uncover.
