Family Magic (28 page)

“I’m fine,” my mom repeated, same expression,
same words, same treatment. Erica’s face fell.

“I’ll get her now.” She left, Jared leaning
on her. He caught my gaze as they walked out the door and I saw
regret there.

Weird.

It wasn’t until she was gone that Mom
released my hand. I turned to my mother.

“Syd,” she said, her anxiety on the surface
where I could see it. “Oh, Syd.”

“Mom?” I said, echoing her fear with my newly
pounding pulse. I didn’t know if I could take much more, but I told
myself I would be there for her and I wanted to know. She was
taking me up on my side of the offer. Time for me to suck it up and
be strong for her for once.

“Syd,” she choked. “Dad…”

My heart skipped a beat. “Is he… is Dad
okay?”

She sank into a chair, tears welling. She
shook her head at me.

“I have no idea,” she admitted.

“But, your link,” I sat next to her. “You and
Dad are connected. You can feel him whether he’s on this plane or
not. Can’t you?”

“That’s just it, Syd,” she said. “I can. Dad
made sure of that.”

“So,” I prodded. “Why are you so worried
about him? Is he okay or not?”

“I wish I knew,” she whispered. “I can’t feel
him anymore.”

***

I held Mom’s hand as she cried for a time
before pulling herself together. When my mother looked up at me
again, there was more strength there than ever before.

“Syd,” she said to me, as serious as I had
ever seen her, “I need you to do something for me.”

“Anything, Mom,” I said, and I meant it.

“I need you to take care of your sister,” she
answered. The urgency in her voice did nothing to slow the pounding
of my heart. “No matter what happens, no matter what you see or
what I do, please make sure you keep Meira safe. Promise me.”

I thought I was afraid before. “Mom,” I
started, but she shook her head.

“Promise me, Syd.” Cold blue flames filled
her eyes as she called her power. I felt it crawl across me as she
cast a spell of intention and protection.

I knew what I was doing. I was allowing her
to bind me to my word, a binding that would even survive her death.
Potent magic that made me shudder from it while I hoped I’d never
need it. “I promise I will do anything to keep Meira safe.”

Gold and blue energy flashed between us,
blinding me for a moment. I blinked away the spots floating in my
vision.

“I would have done it without the magic,
Mom,” I said.

“I know, Syd,” she said. “But I needed to
bind her to you and it was the best way.”

“Why?” I demanded as she pulled back, tired
and drawn, hugging herself. “Mom, what is going on?”

We heard the crunch of tires in the driveway.
Mom leaned toward me, intense.

“Whatever you do,” she said, “in the next few
days, keep your sister safe and don’t trust anyone, Syd.
Anyone.”

She sat back as Meira ran through the door
and into her arms. I wanted to ask more questions but the look she
gave me over Meira’s curls told me she said all she was willing to
say.

Fine. I was on my own, then.

Mom sent me upstairs with Meira to put her to
bed. I didn’t argue. I tucked in my worn out sister and kissed her
goodnight, not surprised she was asleep by the time I turned off
the light. Spending a day playing can do that to a kid.

Wish I had the same excuse.

I almost went to my room, but I was lured by
the sound of voices in the kitchen. I snuck downstairs, stopping in
the hallway so I could sort them out. I eavesdropped, knowing it
was the only way I was going to get any information from my mother.
Not like they left me much of a choice or anything.

I heard Uncle Frank. “Miriam, are you sure?”
His voice was quiet, tense. I had to strain to hear.

“Positive,” Mom said. “I know what it feels
like to be taken, Frank. The fuzzy wall, the distortion, dizziness,
the missing time.”

I frowned hard. Mom thought I was taken by
someone? My very being suppressed, taken over by another witch and
used for some horrible, hideous purpose? No way! Until I remembered
the night Sassy went missing. I felt a cold thrill of fear. Someone
took me over, someone who wanted to use me to hurt the family. Mom
was totally right not to trust me. I couldn’t even trust me at that
point, could I? And after I’d been taken once, it was way easier
for the witch who did it to do it again. In fact, I had no way of
knowing how many times it happened. Maybe I was responsible for
Gram’s escapes after all… I shook my head in the quiet dark of the
hallway, wracking my brain for proof that I hadn’t. I came up with
nothing.

Oh, crap.

“But if you don’t know who…” Sunny’s voice
trailed off. “Can we help?”

“You’re the only ones I can trust right now,”
Mom answered with gratitude in her voice. “Thank you, Sunny.”

“Don’t thank me,” the blonde vampire
answered. “I owe you so much. It’s the least I can do. Tell us what
you need.”

“Not here,” Mom said. “I want the coven left
out of this and the house is too connected to them. There could be
ears here.”

I shuddered. Mom was talking about a traitor.
I assumed whoever attacked us was an outsider, a stranger. The
thought it could be a family member terrified me. Someone I knew my
whole life rifled around inside me, using me against the people I
cared about. There were no secrets here. The traitor knew
everything about everyone and could be anyone.

My mind flashed to the Moromonds, but I knew
I was being uncharitable. It could have been Erica or Celeste or
the Vegas. I thought about Louisa and Martin. They were the first
to be attacked. Could it be a set up? A way to make them appear
innocent? I shook my head. Stupid Dominic Moromond made me doubt
people I’d known since childhood.

“What about Harry?” Frank was saying. I held
my breath. I heard Mom’s voice catch and knew she struggled with
tears.

“I can’t reach him,” she admitted. “Whatever
happens will have to be without him. Hopefully once this is all
over we can not only free the twins but reconnect with Harry at the
same time.”

And if we couldn’t? The very thought I might
never see my dad again made me want to cry right along with
her.

I heard the scraping of a chair on the floor
and a soft creak as someone sat.

“Frank,” Mom said and I guessed it was her,
“the girls…”

“We’ll take care of them,” Frank said. “In
fact, if you want them out of this, we have friends who will take
them for a little while.”

No way! There was no way I was leaving! I
think Mom knew what my reaction would be because she laughed.

“You can be the one to tell Syd she can’t
stay,” she said.

Sunny laughed too.

“Then what?” Uncle Frank wanted to know.

“Just… keep an eye on them, please. You two
are immune to all this. If something happens maybe you can keep
them safe for that very fact.” She sounded so worn out. I knew how
tired she must be. “I only wish…”

“Miriam, don’t you dare blame yourself,”
Sunny said.

“I’ve let this happen,” Mom answered. Her
voice hushed with failure. “I allowed this evil into our coven,
invited it in, no less. I am supposed to shield my people from
harm. Instead I have welcomed it with open arms. What kind of
leader does that, Sunny? What kind of witch fails her family?”

“An honest one,” Sunny said. “Who trusts and
loves unconditionally. But no matter what, Miriam, you are the
stronger. You’ve gotten this far, figured this much out, more than
the evil ones hoped or expected. Don’t judge yourself until it’s
all over and they are defeated because you beat them.”

I wanted to hug Sunny so much for saying
exactly what I wanted to say to my mother I wrapped my arms around
myself and squeezed.

I heard the sound of movement and the brush
of cloth and guessed Mom hugged her for me. Perfect.

“We’ll see what we can find out,” Uncle Frank
said. “Where do you want to meet?”

“The site,” my mother answered, referring to
the formal meeting place set up for ceremonies. “It's been warded
already for Samhain so it should be safe.”

“We’ll meet you there. Let’s go,
Sunshine.”

I heard the door open and close. I hesitated
in the hallway, still hugging myself. I thought about sneaking back
upstairs, but Mom had other ideas.

“Please come in, Syd.”

Don’t ever try to sneak up on a witch. I
walked into the kitchen and saw her sitting at the table. She held
out her hands. I went to her.

“You heard,” she said, knowing I had.

“Most of it,” I answered.

“So you understand why we can’t do this
here,” she said.

“Mom…” I trailed off, wanting so much to talk
to her, to talk to Dad, to try to make sense of what was happening
to our family, wanted to convince her she could trust me even
though I knew we had gone way past that. She already understood
what I was trying to say, though. She kissed me gently on the
cheek.

“I know, honey. We’ll be okay.”

I begged for it to be true, wanting to
believe her. She radiated confidence and strength and despite the
fact I knew she was as scared as me I believed her as I always
believed her. Once again I was grateful she was in charge instead
of me.

As we sat there holding hands, a stray
thought crossed my mind. I was amazed my whole Sunday was gone yet
again, wasted, but this time not because of anything I did,
whatever the coven chose to think. I made a face.

“Syd?” She squeezed my hands. “What’s
wrong?”

I hung my head, kicking myself but knowing
there was nothing at all I could do about it now. “I missed soccer
practice,” I said.

“I’m sorry, honey,” she said.

I realized how stupid that was considering
the day we had. Screw soccer.

“I’m not,” I answered.

We went to bed and I didn’t argue when Mom
offered to tuck me in. She kissed me goodnight and touched my hair
before turning off the light and closing the door.

Despite my paranoia I would be taken against
my will in my sleep, I was so tired I passed out pretty much right
away. I’m not sure what woke me, but the clock said I was out a
couple of hours. I tried to turn over, but there was a familiar
presence tucked in behind me. I managed to catch a glimpse of my
sleeping mother over my shoulder. She held me as she slept,
something she hadn’t done since I was very small. Despite the fact
I was uncomfortable and wanted to shift around, I stayed still and
managed to go back to sleep with the steady presence of Mom to lull
me to slumber.

When I woke the next morning, she was
gone.

I missed her.

***

I tried talking to Mom that morning, but she
seemed very preoccupied with Meira so I let it go. I left her with
some reluctance, carrying unfinished homework and a whole load of
anxiety about the coven. But as much as I wanted to play hooky, Mom
insisted I go to school, so to school I went.

I was bummed about soccer but brushed it off.
After the disaster the week before the coach would have benched me
for the last game anyway. The way things were going in this town
the chances of us being around for the spring season were slim to
none.

In that confused and worried state of mind,
trying not to jump at shadows and keep my cool as well as my
shields, I entered my high school and headed to my locker. I
glanced up before I made it there and spotted Brad coming toward
me. I flashed him a smile, remembering the warm, fuzzy feelings
from the day before.

He glared at me like I did him some horrible
injury and kept walking.

I felt like I’d been slapped. I almost turned
around and went after him, but I was in too fragile a state as
things stood to even deal with the fact Brad was mad at me.
Besides, did I do something to him while not myself? Did the
traitor who took me over screw up my budding social life too?

It took me until I reached my locker to have
the
ah ha
moment. I cursed under my breath, banging my
locker door against its neighbor over and over as I admitted soccer
wasn’t the only thing that slipped my mind.

I missed our date. No phone call to
apologize, no note to say I wouldn’t make it, nothing, nada, zippo.
My fault and mine alone. I would have preferred it if the traitor
did it so I wouldn’t have to feel so guilty.

Despite the fact I had a really good excuse,
it didn’t help me feel anything less like a total and complete
idiot.

I hunted for him during first period break.
He hung out on the front steps with a pack of football boys. I was
surprised to see it. Wasn’t he cutting his ties to them? He laughed
with them so I guessed he changed his mind. When I approached, his
face turned cold, beautiful eyes shutting down completely.

“What?” It came out so harsh I felt
breathless. His friends all laughed at my expression.

“Brad, I…”

He made a rude sound. The boys all laughed
again.

“Brad, I,” he mocked. “Spit it out, Hayle.
What do you want?”

By this point we collected quite a crowd,
including Suzanne. I watched in disbelief and horror as she went to
his side and slid herself under his arm. She grinned her evil
little grin at me.

“Maybe there’s something wrong with her,”
Suzanne said. “Like a brain thing.”

“Maybe you’re right,” Brad said, the hurt in
his eyes no excuse for being a bully.

Everyone laughed. I, on the other hand,
snapped.

“How are you feeling, Suzanne?” I hissed at
her. “Any more tummy troubles?”

The group fell silent with a few snickers.
Problem was, most of the crowd were at the party. Only the ones who
hadn’t found it funny.