Family Magic (18 page)

I’m not sure how things would have ended up,
ultimately, if the coven had turned against my mother at that
moment, with emotions running high already and all that magic
crackling around us. Fortunately, we were never to know.

Louisa groaned at my feet. I fell beside her,
helping her sit up. Martin was a close second. Mom crouched next to
me, supporting him. Louisa looked up at me, her skin flawless and
unmarked. She hugged me, sobbing.

I sat there on the floor with her, holding
her, rubbing her back, feeling a little weird and embarrassed about
comforting a grown woman, but her grip on me was so tight I didn’t
have much of a choice.

It was Martin who leaned in and kissed my
cheek, tears running down his face.

“Thank you,” he said.

Everyone fell silent, as floored as we
were.

“For what?” I asked. Louisa pulled back, her
mocha skin streaked with tears. She gripped my face in her hands
and kissed me soundly.

“For saving our lives,” she said.

A huge sigh ran through the witches. I saw my
mother smiling and felt the warmth of the family embrace me like a
hug.

I did my best not to wink at Dominic and
Batsheva.

***

I was getting tired of the same argument
going around the kitchen, especially since it was about me and
proceeded as if I wasn’t even in the room. Always nice to be
ignored.

The Vegas insisted that without my
intervention and whatever it was I did, they would not have
survived and possibly taken the whole coven and half the
neighborhood with them. And yet, Mom was still forced to face the
challenge Dominic raised about me.

We may not have been
talking to each other right then, but my mother was totally on my
side. Which was a huge
surprise.

“It’s irrelevant,” Dominic said for the
hundredth time so even his supporters were getting tired of him.
“The child is obviously a menace and needs her power
restricted.”

My mother laughed. And laughed. And laughed
some more. The family stared at her after a while, even Erica.
Dominic’s face turned two more shades of purple.

Mom finally wiped at her eyes with the back
of her hand.

“If you can figure out a way,” she said, “to
restrict that kind of power, you’re a better witch than I am.”

He scowled at her. “Exactly my point.”

Mom leaned on the counter with her arms
crossed over her chest. She finally looked at me, something she
hadn’t done since the basement, her expression neutral.

“Maybe we should let Syd tell us what
happened before we jump to conclusions about her.”

I was the center of attention while being the
center of attention. Crappy.

“I’m not sure,” I said, voice catching. I
cleared my throat and spoke up. “I just...” I reached out vaguely,
brushing the air with my fingertips, not sure how to explain what I
had seen or done.

Dominic snorted and turned away but Batsheva
smiled at me so I tried again.

“I saw the coven’s power being... stolen?
Used? By the other energy. So I... cut off the connection? I’m not
explaining this right,” I shook my head, frustrated.

“You’re doing fine, honey,” Mom said.

“That was how it felt,” Martin said. “Like we
were drawing power from all of you and couldn’t stop the drain.
Then we felt Syd,” he said, “and her demon touched us, broke the
link between us and the other.”

“It was so sudden,” Louisa said, “we didn’t
have time to brace ourselves.”

“Dangerous!” Dominic snapped. “Dangerous and
impulsive and untrained!”

“The recoil would have happened anyway,”
Louisa snapped back. “We felt it building. Miriam,” she turned to
my mother, earnest, concerned, “whatever happened, whatever
corrupted the spell, it never intended to keep the magic
contained.”

“Are you saying this was an attack?” Mom
stood up straighter.

Martin and Louisa shared a glance before both
shook their heads.

“We’re not sure,” Louisa answered. “But
whatever happened, if you fed any more of the coven’s power into
it, none of us would be here to have this conversation.”

Not even Dominic had anything to say to
that.

“And your original spell?” Mom asked them.
“What exactly were you working on?”

“Closing down the garden for the fall,”
Martin said. “Clean earth energy, nothing more.”

“Miriam,” Erica said, “if this was an
attack…”

“Now, now,” Batsheva waved Erica’s fear away
as if she could banish it with such a simple gesture, “no one said
for certain it was. Even the Vegas couldn’t tell.”

“No one knows it wasn’t, either,” Erica
responded, frowning. She leaned back again. Jared’s arms went
around her.

“It could be something as simple as left over
magic,” Batsheva addressed Mom. I’m pretty sure she meant it as a
snub to Erica. “We have no idea what kind of old power could be
under the ground here.”

“Except we check when we move in, Batsheva,”
Mom said.

“Of course,” Batsheva said. The frowning
Vegas processed the insult. “But sometimes things are missed. By
the best of us.”

“We’ll look into it,” Mom said.

“As for Syd,” Batsheva smiled at me but this
time I knew she didn’t mean it kindly, “I think we can all agree
something must be done. Yes, she saved the day, I for one admit it,
but we can’t have her spreading her abilities about willy-nilly can
we?”

An unspoken question hung in my mother’s
eyes.

I tried to look away but
couldn’t. How much did that
suck?

“Fine,” I said. “I’ll do what I have to do to
control it. I’ll take lessons, learn to keep it quiet. But don’t
ask me to participate anymore. And I still want to do everything I
can to get rid of it someday. Okay?”

Mom took a big breath. I know she would have
agreed to any terms if only Quaid Moromond had kept his stupid
mouth shut.

That would be way
too much to ask.

“I think we’re past that,” Dominic said,
still angry. He had one hand around Quaid’s arm, pulling his son
forward. The smirk on Quaid’s face told me he was about to stab me
square in the back. The jerk.

“Tell them,” Dominic shook Quaid a little. I
couldn’t believe he took it. Inches taller than his portly father
and much stronger, I could tell Quaid still toed the family line.
When I caught the flash of rebellion in his eyes despite the grin,
I willed him to shut up.

His cynical expression slipped. I think he
felt bad about what he planned to do to me. But another shake from
his father silenced his will. He shrugged, mostly to free himself
from Dominic.

“Syd’s been dropping power at school,” Quaid
said.

A whisper of air ran through the kitchen as
the witches collectively drew breath and held it. Everyone stared
at me like I killed their favorite rock star.

“Syd?” Mom made my name a question.

I squared my shoulders under the weight of
their disapproval, defiant.

“It’s true,” I said.

The collective breath released. Now the
attention focused on my mother.

“Have you hurt anyone?” She was very serious.
I felt like telling her to lighten up. Somehow I didn’t think it
would go over very well. For once, my mouth and my mind stayed in
synch.

“Of course not,” I said. “My aura’s stronger
than usual and the normals pick up on it.”

Quaid rolled his eyes at me.

“So you didn’t call your demon today at
school?” Dominic challenged me.

I made a face at Quaid.

“Jerk,” I muttered.

He looked away but not before I saw real
regret in his eyes. Didn’t make up for it, oh no. But at least I
knew he had a soul after all.

And now they all stared at me again.
Great.

“I was attacked by a girl in gym class,” I
said. “She pushed me and I skinned my knees.”

“So you say.” Dominic was becoming a pain in
the butt.

I yanked up my jeans over my scabby knees.
“Yeah, wanna see?”

They all checked to make sure I told the
truth. This was getting to be too much.

“So what did you do?” Mom asked. Her voice
was still quiet, not a scream in sight. I wasn’t sure how to take
that.

“I didn’t fight back,” I said, “if that’s
what you’re worried about. I never fight back, are you all happy? I
take their crap and let them torture me and never once have I used
my magic to make my life easier. Not once.”

I was getting really pissed off, the urge to
hit something rising.

“Syd,” Mom said again. “What did you do?”

“I think my eyes changed,” I said. “For a
second.”

“Did she see?” Erica sounded disappointed.
They had no idea, seriously.

“Yeah, she saw, there was nothing I could do
about it. I’m sick of being pushed around.”

I slumped with my hip to the counter, arms
crossed over my chest, scowling at the tile floor, my whole body
screaming for someone, anyone to get it. I couldn’t take it any
longer.

I felt Mom’s hand as she slid her arm around
my shoulders.

“Does this mean we have to move again?”
Sandra Crossman, eight months pregnant, slid her hands over her
huge belly, worried hazel eyes fixed on my mother. She glanced over
at her young husband, James. He placed his own hand over hers.

“I don’t know if I can go through another
move right now, Miriam,” James’ expression grew anxious behind his
glasses, “not with the baby due...”

Mom held up her free hand. Silence fell.

“No one is moving.”

“She flashed power in
public!” Dominic was determined to ruin my life. “In front
of
normals
!”

Part of me wondered what was in Mom's eyes
that silenced him so fast.

“I highly doubt a change of eye color
constitutes a move at this point,” Mom told the group. “And since
Syd has agreed to work with us to learn to control herself, I see
no reason why we can’t go back to life as usual. That being said,”
she turned to me, “Syd, it is now your responsibility to make sure
you keep yourself in control at all times.”

“I know,” I said.

“And if we don’t trust her?” Dominic
snapped.

Mom turned on him so fast I felt her nails
dig in to my shoulder for support.

“You are welcome to sever your ties with the
Hayle coven and move on,” she said.

That was the end of that.

The kitchen emptied of all but Erica and
Jared. I glared at Quaid as he left. He had the nerve to flash me a
wave on his way out. I was so going to figure out a punishment for
the traitor, involving acute embarrassment and a couple of days in
the hospital.

“First thing tomorrow,” Mom said to Erica,
“we dig into the Vegas’ property and see if we can find what
triggered today’s incident.”

Erica agreed while Jared winked at me.

“So Syd,” he said, “what would you like me to
teach you?”

I stuck my tongue out at him, annoyed at the
whole thing, wanting to retreat to the solitude of my room for some
peace and quiet.

“I think her dad and I can handle Syd’s
education,” Mom said.

“If you change your mind,” Jared grinned,
“I’ll do my best to whip her into shape.”

Hmmm. The possibilities of working with
handsome, hot-body Jared actually appealed. And, no, I had no
interest in Erica’s boyfriend. Not only was he taken, he was 32.
Way too old for me. But, still, eye candy for a teacher? I think I
was lost in the thought for too long, because Mom and Erica both
laughed. Jared wiggled his eyebrows at me.

I
hated
it when I blushed.

After they left, I stood in the kitchen with
my mother and fought the urge to run. She very slowly approached
me, but didn’t touch me. When she spoke, her voice came soft and
hesitant. I tried my best to not take anything she said the wrong
way.

“You did very well today,” Mom said.

I was shocked. A compliment? From my mother?
Where were the flying pigs?

“Thanks,” I said.

“You have no idea, do you?” She pushed a
stray piece of hair away from my face. “How powerful you are? How
much potential... Syd, do you realize you single handedly did what
the entire coven couldn’t?”

“I just did something different,” I said.

She laughed and I saw pride in her eyes. Wow,
would wonders never cease.

“Syd, with only raw power and no training,
you examined the problem, decided on a course of action no witch
would ever consider and saved the day. That’s pretty amazing, demon
child.”

Demon child. She hadn’t called me that since
I was a little girl. She always used it like it was a term of
endearment but I stopped taking it that way a long time ago so she
stopped using it.

“I guess,” I said.

She very gently took my shoulders in her
hands and shook me a little.

“We’ve said and done a lot of things to each
other in the past few days, haven’t we? Some hurtful. Some not.
Syd, I feel like I’m making a mess of everything with you.” She let
me go and sank into one of the kitchen chairs. “I want things to be
different but I don’t know how.”

I sat next to her.

“Stop trying so hard,” I said, and meant
it.

“What?” She didn’t get it.

“Mom,” I said, struggling to explain, “you
try way too hard. The cookies, the battles, the soccer mom clothes,
the girly stuff. I’m not any of that. Except maybe the cookies,” I
said.

She laughed a little and I did too.

“Look,” I said, “I know I’ve spent most of my
life blaming you and Dad for what I am but I think I’m finally
realizing I’m just as responsible. If I stop fighting so hard and
do what I can to control the power, I can do whatever I want, even
if that means leaving you.”