Idols and Enemies (Amplifier 4)

by Meghan Ciana Doidge

  No.

  The other members of the Collective would never have agreed to any such programming, not if it didn’t also include them. And I had killed Silver Pine — twice — without a second thought. I could have killed Chenda the same way, if not for Christopher.

  No. I was behaving like a normal person who cared for her lover, her friend. And that was good. That made me happy. Because that was the person I wanted to be — not what the Collective had bred me to be.

  Turning slightly as I stepped over the threshold into the house, I brushed my fingers against the back of Aiden’s hand. He met my gaze and smiled. Truly, joyfully.

  “Yes,” he murmured. “Completely. Utterly.”

  My chest warmed at his understanding. Perhaps the empathic connection didn’t need to go both ways. Maybe I didn’t even need to know the right words to say.

  I crossed through to the kitchen, leaving Aiden waiting on his brothers and cousin.

  “If it’s that same old dressing you’ll be making,” Aiden drawled behind me, “it needs way more pepper, Isa.”

  Isa snorted in response. “Add pepper yourself, Aiden.”

  “I always do.”

  Leaving their barbed conversation behind, I crossed into the kitchen. The white tile was cool under my feet as I pulled the casserole out of the fridge and set it on the counter to warm while the oven came up to temperature. Then I went back to slicing cookie dough for baking a new batch of ginger snaps.

  Khalid and Grosvenor quickly holed up in the study, undoubtedly pawing through Aiden’s books and looking over the research he’d done after trying to break the spell on his father.

  Isa made a salad with lettuce Aiden harvested from the garden, along with other ingredients excavated from the fridge — including apple, cucumber, and green onion. He then dug through the pantry, finding pistachios, which he shelled and chopped.

  I worked alongside him, adding a leaf to the kitchen table, scouring the house for extra chairs, then setting the table. During the time that Opal had been with us, I’d added to my collection of stoneware, finding the same local potter who had crafted the first pieces and building a set of eight.

  Isa and I didn’t exchange a single word, though I felt the sorcerer’s gaze on me multiple times.

  Just before seven o’clock, I made a last-minute decision to try to make some garlic bread. Isa winced as I sliced the loaf unevenly, but I ignored him as I pulled garlic powder out of the cupboard and butter from the fridge. He then grimaced, pretty much shouldering me away from the cutting board to start mincing raw garlic himself. Then he whipped the butter by hand.

  I ceded to the bossy sorcerer without comment, pulling the foil-wrapped casserole from the oven so we could broil the garlic bread.

  Aiden, Khalid, and Grosvenor wandered into the kitchen. All three were reading from thick books as they walked, though the curse breaker tried to steal a ginger snap as he passed by the corner of the island. Isa viciously lashed out with the chef’s knife. The young sorcerer dodged the blade, abandoning his attempted thievery.

  Khalid settled in the chair at the foot of the table without ever looking up from the red-fabric-bound book he held. His hands were scarred. He’d kept them in his pockets before, so I hadn’t seen the old wounds crisscrossing his fingers, puckering his darkly tanned skin all the way past his wrists.

  I found myself wondering what the scars meant. There wasn’t much that magic couldn’t heal. Eventually. Though even I still bore the scars from being disemboweled by Silver Pine’s greater demon.

  Aiden set his book on the opposite corner of the island, pressing a kiss to my temple as he took the water pitcher from me and began filling up the glasses already set on the table.

  I pulled the foil off the casserole. Grosvenor skirted the island, leaning over my shoulder and inhaling deeply.

  “Wow! That smells amazing.” He grabbed a potholder, lifting and carrying the steaming dish to the table and setting it at the center, on top of the two other potholders I’d placed there. Aiden stepped around me, refilling the water pitcher. The curse breaker stepped back for the salad bowl, set it on the table, then sat at Khalid’s right, facing the open doors to the patio.

  With nothing left to do, I followed Aiden to the table, taking the seat at the opposite end from Khalid. Isa grabbed the garlic bread from the oven and dumped it into a stoneware bowl. I’d commissioned three of different sizes, with the largest currently holding the salad. Then he joined us.

  I found it odd that the previously squabbling sorcerers could settle in for a meal with each other so easily, so effortlessly. As if doing so was just an ordinary, everyday occurrence. Even though I now referred to Christopher as my brother, the Collective had made it very clear we weren’t family while growing up, so I really didn’t have any comparative experience.

  Khalid put down his book. Aiden glanced at the clock over the oven. It read 7:02. He reached for my plate, serving me a generous scoop of the casserole — large shell pasta stuffed with a mixture of Dungeness crab, peas, and leeks in a creamy sauce, topped with a layer of breadcrumbs and garlic.

  Two seats remained open.

  Aiden set the plate in front of me, then served himself. Isa did the same from Khalid’s left. Grosvenor grabbed a piece of garlic bread, quickly dropping it on his plate and shaking his singed fingers.

  Isa snorted.

  “Is Paisley joining us?” Aiden asked.

  “I’m not sure.” I glanced at the other three sorcerers, all of whom were filling their plates and pointedly ignoring us. “She’s wandered off again.” Gone to check in with Christopher and Samantha, I presumed, since I couldn’t feel her magic on the property.

  Kader Azar stepped up on the back patio. I hadn’t felt him approach. I still couldn’t pick up the full tenor of his magic.

  Every sorcerer in the room went on alert. Shoulders stiffening, backs straightening. But no one stood, no one greeted the head of the Azar cabal. Kader crossed into the kitchen through the open French-paned doors. He smiled at me, then Aiden, pulling out a chair to my right and sitting down.

  Without speaking, Isa took his father’s plate, serving him a scoop of casserole and a piece of garlic bread.

  “Thank you,” Kader murmured without otherwise acknowledging his eldest son. “The sun sets late in this part of the world.”

  No one answered him.

  Inwardly cringing at the prospect that I was going to have to endure small talk, I simply said, “Yes. Sunset is still a couple of hours away.”

  Kader took a small bite of the casserole, chewed, swallowed, and smiled at me. “Delightful. Thank you for inviting me to your table, amplifier.”

  Isa frowned slightly.

  All the other sorcerers started eating, as if Kader’s approval of the food had given them leave to do so. Even Aiden. I wondered if the dark-haired sorcerer would even recognize the deference he was showing his father.

  “I didn’t make it,” I said stiffly.

  “No?” Kader glanced around, but no one else owned up to cooking dinner. “The crab is local, though. Yes?”

  I nodded. “A friend of ours bought a small boat this spring. She sets traps.” Lani Zachary had taken up crabbing and fishing, and supplied a bunch of us with her fresh catch since she lived alone.

  The younger sorcerers cleared their plates, taking seconds, and then digging into the salad while Kader was still nibbling on his first small serving. Though they had been chatting fairly easily, mostly about Aiden’s books and collected spells, prior to Kader entering the house, no one made any further attempt at conversation. That was fine by me.

  Eventually, Kader pushed his still half-full plate slightly away from himself, and Grosvenor stood to begin clearing the table. When he’d worked his way around to Kader, he took hold of the elder sorcerer’s wrist and paused.

  Kader sighed heavily. “Nothing’s changed.”

  “You didn’t sleep enough,” the curse breaker said mildly.

  “I’m
in a completely different time zone.”

  “We all are.”

  Kader twisted his wrist, and Grosvenor let go of him. The younger sorcerer crossed to rinse the plates in the sink, then began to load the dishwasher.

  Khalid picked up the book he’d been reading.

  The sorcerer Azar finally deigned to look at everyone, twisting slightly to level a glance at Isa on his far right. “Why are you here?”

  “You dying isn’t a strong enough motivation?”

  “No matter what Grosvenor told you, I’m not in immediate peril.”

  “It was serious enough for you to pull him from school,” Isa snapped. “And to come to Aiden, of all your sons, for help.”

  “Perhaps I’m simply visiting my youngest child and his lovely … partner.”

  Isa bared his teeth. “I’m surprised Emma even let you onto the property.” He stood abruptly, stalking over to grab the kettle and fill it with water.

  Kader swiveled to look at me, eyebrow raised. “And why is Isa allowed to refer to you by name?”

  Paisley appeared beside the open dishwasher.

  “Jesus bloody Christ!” Grosvenor shouted, jumping back and losing hold of a stoneware plate.

  Paisley lunged, snapping at the sorcerer playfully while catching the plate in one of her tentacles, right before it hit the tiled floor.

  “Holy mother of God,” Grosvenor breathed, hands raised, fingers flexed as he readied some curse.

  Paisley gave the plate a long lick, then set it within the dishwasher.

  Inexplicably, Kader threw his head back and laughed — a full-bellied, deeply amused chuckle.

  Mouths agape, we all stared at him.

  Paisley chortled as she lumbered over to the table, situating herself between the elder sorcerer and me. Tentacles tucked away, no hint of red in her eyes. She looked at Kader, then looked pointedly at the almost-empty casserole dish at the center of the table.

  She tilted her head, blinked slowly, and displayed her teeth.

  Kader, still chuckling, reached over, retrieved the dish, and held it out for the demon dog. Two tentacles flicked out from her otherwise invisible mane, one taking the casserole, and the other caressing the exposed skin of Kader’s wrist.

  The elder sorcerer, still grinning, murmured something that sounded like an endearment in that arcane language the Azars used.

  Paisley took the casserole and headed back into the kitchen.

  Isa, Khalid, and Grosvenor were staring at Kader as if they’d never seen him before. Aiden’s expression was purposefully blank.

  “Delightful creature,” Kader said, smiling at me.

  “All the better to eat you,” I murmured, reflecting on Paisley caressing Kader as if tasting his magic. As if acting endearing was a new hunting technique she was trying out.

  “That’s a wolf,” Kader corrected, his tone stiff.

  “What’s a wolf?” I asked.

  “The fairy tale you were quoting.”

  “What fairy tale?” My tone was suddenly smooth, like velvet darkness. “And when do you imagine I had the opportunity to read a fairy tale while growing up under your care?”

  Tension ran through Kader’s jaw, but was gone as quickly as I’d spotted it. “I made you powerful. A tsunami —”

  Isa stepped away from where he’d been preparing the tea tray, the kettle still coming to a boil on the stove. Khalid set his book aside. Grosvenor slowly closed the dishwasher with his foot, keeping his hands free.

  Aiden just regarded his father steadily.

  “A force of utter destruction,” I said coolly. “Of utter annihilation.”

  “Peace can be achieved only after the chaos ensues, amplifier.” The elder sorcerer matched my cool tone. “Change is the only constant.”

  My magic was leaking, loosened in anger and quickly fed with a sharp need for vengeance. A need that had been present, just under the surface, ever since Kader arrived.

  No.

  Ever since Isa had delivered the letter to Aiden.

  I didn’t bother trying to pack my power away. I would let Kader Azar see what he’d created.

  The elder sorcerer didn’t drop my gaze. Not even a hint of fear flickered in his almost-black eyes.

  “I could change your circumstances, sorcerer,” I said in that same velvet tone. “Ease the magic consuming you from the inside, slowly, painfully killing you … with a brush of my fingers.”

  “As I well know. You forget, I’ve felt your gentle touch before.” He paused, then smiled. “Both ways.”

  I had amplified Kader to get him up to the roof on his own feet in LA over eight years ago. I’d also absorbed a spell from him, amplified it and cast it, to clear our path to the helicopter, carrying him across my shoulders at the same time.

  I slid my hand across the table. Deliberately. Slowly.

  Kader’s smile widened.

  I wrapped my fingers around his wrist. His skin was warm and dry.

  Khalid darted wary, questioning glances at Isa and then Aiden. But no one else moved.

  “I don’t think you have felt my touch,” I purred. “Really, truly felt me. Not outside the context of being a mission, a package I was tasked to retrieve. You have no idea what it’s like to face me. To fall before me. To be consumed by me.” I leaned a bit closer, relishing every word dripping from my mouth. “And not one of your sons will step forward to save you, Kader Azar. You’re gazing at your legacy right now. Shall I put you out of your misery?”

  His smile widened, delighted. Intrigued. As if I hadn’t just threatened him. As if I wasn’t capable of murdering him with a mere touch. But before I let him goad me into proving him wrong, his gaze shifted to my left — from me to Aiden.

  Right.

  Aiden.

  “Don’t let me interrupt,” the dark-haired sorcerer said with a flash of white teeth. He was leaning back in his chair, tone low and unaffected. But I knew that if I touched him, I would feel all the same frustrated and confused emotions churning under that facade. A facade he hadn’t needed to erect in months, brought forth by his father’s appearance.

  I loosened my grip on Kader. “Killing you would be too easy.”

  The elder sorcerer nodded. “For both of us.” Then he glanced around. “Dessert?”

  No one responded, each of us watching Kader silently. Then Paisley jabbed Grosvenor in the back of the knee with the now-licked-cleaned casserole dish. The kettle began to whistle. Isa turned off the burner, then poured to fill the teapot.

  Only Khalid kept his attention on his father, his scarred hands pressed flat on the table. I saw some sort of calculation behind that look as he glanced at me, then back to Kader.

  Aiden shifted forward so he could rest his hand on my knee under the table. I pressed into the touch. Then the dark-haired sorcerer cleared his throat and spoke. “No matter what Kader has done to her, to all of us, I don’t want my mother to be a murderer. I don’t want her soul sullied.”

  Kader smirked.

  Khalid shifted back in his chair. “Cerise Myers? A witch laid this curse?”

  Grosvenor grumbled under his breath. “How many times do I have to say it?”

  “This spell, then,” Khalid snapped. “What the hell does what word I use matter?” He looked at his father. “Why haven’t you just killed her? That would dispel any sort of ongoing working.”

  Aiden’s grip on my knee tightened. “Try it, asshole.”

  Khalid waved a hand at his younger brother. “I’m asking why Father hasn’t. I’m certainly not going to kill a coven witch myself.”

  “The fact that you have no idea why the proper word or term matters,” Kader said smoothly, “is exactly why you won’t progress any further in life, Khalid.”

  “You’re a massive asshole,” I said dispassionately. “For someone who needs his sons’ help not to die.”

  “One son,” Kader said smartly. “I requested help from one son.”

  “What the hell am I?” Grosvenor asked Kader,
shutting the dishwasher again. He’d finished loading it, but had been forced to wait until Paisley inspected all the plates for remnants. “You snapped your fingers three weeks ago and I missed midterms. Then you just disappeared!”

  “So you contact Isa and Khalid, crossing continents to chase after me?” Kader’s tone was cool, dispassionate. But he curled his lip as he eyed Isa approaching the table with the tea tray. “You tagged the letter yourself. To let you know when Aiden opened it.”

  “Did you expect anything less?” Isa set the tray at the center of the table. The tea was steeping, mugs set around the teapot. A plate was piled high with ginger snaps. “Did you think I was just your dutiful messenger?”

  Kader didn’t answer.

  “I couldn’t figure out the why of it all. Until Grover told me that not only were you dying, you’d disappeared.” Isa took his seat. “You thought Myers blood could break a Myers witch spell. And?” He looked at Aiden questioningly.

  “Not on first attempt,” the dark-haired sorcerer said.

  Khalid grimaced, drawing his book closer but not opening it. Grosvenor leaned back against the island counter, head bowed thoughtfully.

  Paisley trundled over to the table, butting my arm lightly with her head. I stood slightly, snagging two cookies from the plate. I passed one cookie to Aiden and the other to Paisley.

  The demon dog took my offering gently — but managed to make a show of her double row of sharp teeth at the same time.

  Aiden shifted in his seat, holding the cookie. “I hesitate to suggest it …”

  Isa was already shaking his head. “Our power is too discordant.”

  “For a mutual casting?” Khalid asked.

  “What if you were all amplified by me?” I asked. “Bound by my magic? Grounded by … by the copper of the pentagram?” I looked to Aiden for clarification. That level of spellcasting was way, way beyond my own expertise.

  Khalid’s mouth dropped open. “All of us … at the same time?” His voice was hushed.

  Isa snorted. “And just like that, she’s got a new devotee. It must be so difficult, amplifier, to keep them all from dragging you down. Draining you.”