Family Magic (36 page)

He reached for Mom, not for support, but with
a wave of love. She threw her new-won power to him—and I blocked
her.

Dad looked at me. My demon looked back. I
reached out to him, to Jared and touched Uncle Frank all at the
same time. Dad’s whole being burned with understanding. Alone, we
didn’t stand a chance.

I was depleted, but I could still be a focus.
As they sent everything they had to me, I found I wasn’t quite so
empty as I thought. My demon mustered her last reserves. Swelling
with this new surge of force, the odd sensation of the different
types of magic flowing through me, I took control of the witch’s
sources of power and slammed Batsheva Moromond into the earth.

With her collapse, the stolen magic recoiled.
The site fell into total silence, a heartbeat of utter stillness in
which I held my breath. The column of blue and amber rose from her
in a rush, entwined with the now familiar green Sidhe and the
ghostly white of the undead. I felt the wind of its rebirth blow my
hair back, crushing my rumpled clothing to me. I squinted as the
gusts rose, sending debris flying. The spinning vortex hummed as it
spiraled higher and higher, winding tightly together until the
whole thing was tinted a soft, sunlit yellow, pulsing like a young
star. It sent its power out to engulf us, restore us. I heard Sassy
cry out but was too wrapped up in the experience to look his way.
My whole body vibrated with it, senses overloaded, and I knew what
it was to be immortal.

It wasn’t to last. Unable to sustain itself
for long, the power began to vibrate, four sources not meant to be
bonded shaking into their diverse parts. Feeling the finality of
the buildup, I covered my face with my hands just as the volatile
core of power reverted and shattered. I felt it pass through me in
a hot rush and knew it returned to those it had been stripped from.
The missing spirits of the twins and the fallen coven members went
back to their bodies, the echoes of their release from the hold
Batsheva had on them touching all of us.

It wasn’t over yet. To my horror I saw blue,
pink, silver and orange magic rise from Batsheva, thin strings,
transparent spirits, fleeing toward the sky. These unfamiliar souls
sang with relief at their freedom. Their tender thanks brought
tears to my eyes. I wondered how far Batsheva’s evil spread and if
her last coven disbanded after all.

The song faded. I found myself on my feet,
once again in the quiet dark, feeling great, fresh, like I just had
the best night’s sleep of my life. My family experienced the same
effects as me. And Sassafras, my fat cat friend, was shiny and
whole, his fur intact, Persian body perfect.

He winked one huge yellow eye at me and
started to groom himself.

I couldn’t help but laugh. Until I saw my
father’s face. A shiver ran through me at the fear in his eyes. He
tried to hide it, but it was too late. I knew what I was able to do
was not only unusual, but it was enough to terrify my demon father
to the point he let it show.

It triggered my familiar barrier, the one I
ignored since the threat to my family forced me to choose magic
over what I wanted. Fear slid up my walls like ice, reinforcing
them, hardening them beyond my old shields. I tried to ignore the
howling of my demon now trapped on the other side. If Dad was
afraid of her, so was I. There was no way I would ever let her out
again.

Quaid made a grab for Dominic when he
attempted to escape. I watched as he manhandled his father into
submission. I caught one last look at Dad in time to see him fade
from his statue, a sad and troubled expression on his face.

I sat on the hard ground and hugged myself.
As much as I wanted to be happy it was all over, I couldn’t shake
the feeling we hadn’t seen the last of big trouble for the family.
The power I possessed was a threat to us, as well, I knew, a power
that could break out and destroy us if I let it. I tried to forget
the feeling of my demon next to me, the knowing I could do
anything, have anything and no one would be able to stand in my way
if I chose it.

That was so it. At the first opportunity, I
was going to make my mother wall up my demon for good, no matter
what it took.

Mom stood over Batsheva, sadness on her face
but a strength in her I recognized. My mother was back and more
powerful than ever, thanks to Batsheva’s meddling. The core of the
coven, the ghost of the Hayle magic, was once more in Mom’s
possession. Combined with it, I could feel the very power Batsheva
tried to steal. I wondered how Mom planned to explain her new Sidhe
undead abilities to the others.

I felt a hand on my arm. Gram grinned, drool
running down her chin, her crazed gaze gleaming in the dim
illumination of the candles.

“Still all here,” she said. “Darkness
loses.”

“Light wins,” I finished for her.

“Light wins,” she said. “Now give it
back.”

Crazy old lady.

***

The wailing started and would not stop. It
was a horrible, broken sound, full of frustration and despair. It
pierced me like a knife.

We all came together over the hunched form of
Batsheva Moromond. I felt Quaid join us, his face expressionless
but eyes soft as he watched his mother, wretched, shattered, shriek
her sanity away into the night.

As she did, they started to arrive, slowly at
first, in ones and twos, then large groups of them all at once, the
coven, our family, come to pass judgment on the saboteur who almost
destroyed us. None of them approached, leaving us alone, keeping
their distance, standing guard over the Moromonds to allow us our
moment together.

By the time the witches gathered, it was
getting close to dawn.

“We should go,” Uncle Frank said to us. Sunny
shone beside him. She brushed my face with her fingertips in
thanks.

“Stay,” Mom said. “You are welcome here, both
of you. From now on, you are always welcome.”

Frank grinned at her. “Thanks, and any other
time, we’ll take you up on it.” He looked to the east and the
growing dawn. “We don’t exactly have much choice at the
moment.”

We hugged them. I closed my eyes as I felt
them dissolve and fly to safety for the day, feeling Uncle Frank’s
energy hug me as he left.

“Love you, too,” I whispered.

I opened my eyes at the brush of fairy magic.
Jared stepped forward. He reverted to his human state. I saw Erica
in the crowd, her face pinched with guilt and anger that he fooled
her for so long.

“I, too, have to go,” he said.

“You are welcome with us, Galleytrot,” Mom
told him. I saw the hope and gratitude that crossed his face. It
faded.

“I can’t, but you are a generous woman to
offer. You have been nothing but kind to me. I need to offer
something in return.”

“You already have,” she said. “I feel your
power in me, now, and I thank you for it.”

We all knew it hadn’t been his choice to make
it a gift, but he didn’t try to take it back, either.

“All I can grant you is a warning,” he
said.

“The others will come,” Mom answered. I
shuddered. I almost forgot about the Wild Hunt.

“I’m afraid so,” he said. “They have been
asleep for so long, but Batsheva and her meddling has brought them
to the edge of waking. When they do, they will know about you.”

“Thank you, Galleytrot,” she said. “I will be
watchful. I will know when they rise.”

He sank into his other form. The coven gasped
as Jared became the huge black dog.

“Know this,” he growled out in his elemental,
gravelly voice. “Whatever advantage you think you have from
knowing, whatever plan you have to stand against them, when the
Wild Hunt wakes, they will come for you, Miriam Hayle, and no
power, not even that you have from me, will be able to stop
them.”

With that, he disappeared.

If it hadn’t been for the perfectly serene
look on her face, I would have been afraid. But, after what we went
through, I figured we’d face it when it came and worry about it
then.

Mom caught me watching her and winked.

My mother turned to the gathered coven,
drawing Meira, Gram, Sassy and I to her as she faced those who let
her down. I shook in fury. I wanted to tell the whole lot of them
off. If they just stood behind her, if they were stronger, Batsheva
would never have been able to come between the family and my
mother.

I felt her hand on my shoulder squeeze
followed by the gentle brush of her familiar power over me. I
recognized how much I missed it, the perfect, warm weight of it. I
was terrified it was gone forever. I calmed under her touch,
trusting her to deal with them and for once keeping my big mouth
shut.

“My coven, my sisters and brothers,” she
said, “my very good friends, what has happened has happened. There
will be no blame placed from this moment on.”

A groan ran through the gathered witches as
they felt her forgiveness and love and her renewed bond to
them.

“What of the Moromonds?” Erica asked. “Surely
they are to be blamed?”

There was a murmur of agreement, an anger
rising as the self-doubt and guilt turned outward. I saw the
greatly reduced Dominic shrink back from them, terror etched in his
pinched face.

Batsheva stayed stubbornly unrepentant. Her
wailing ceased as she listened.

Mom held up one hand, calling for silence. It
came in a breath.

“They must be punished,” she said, “but they
will be treated to the letter of our laws. They will have a fair
and honest trial led by the High Council. There will be no old
world justice here. I will not have its negative energy weaken us
any further.”

I had Superwoman for a mom.

“And the boy?” Celeste said. “What of the
boy?”

My heart dropped. “He is innocent,” I
said.

“You speak for him, Sydlynn?” Mom asked.

My eyes locked on him. He bowed his head to
me with one of his smirks and stepped forward, smile fading as he
faced my mother.

“I seek asylum in the coven,” he said. “I’m
too young yet to leave them on my own. I need your permission to
break from them and be free.”

Mom’s fingertips brushed his cheek.

“Granted,” she said. I didn’t miss the
speculative look she gave me out of the corner of her eye.

“It is done, then,” she said, magic carrying
it to the furthest corner of the crowd. She turned to face Batsheva
and Dominic. The sadness in her face aged her.

“I hereby cast you out,” she said, “and order
you to be taken before the High Council to be judged for your
crimes. Have you anything to say?”

Batsheva stopped wailing. She stared at my
mother with such pure hatred I had to force myself to keep from
putting my body between them.

“Only that I will have my revenge on you,”
she snarled at my mother, “and your family. There is far more to
this than you know, fool. I am not the only one who you must fear.
Do you really think I acted alone in this? You have overstepped
yourself, and you will be punished for it.”

We all frowned. What was she talking about?
My mother showed nothing.

“I pity you, Batsheva,” she said, and meant
it.

She couldn’t have hurt the other witch more
if she kicked her in the face. Batsheva’s whole body shuddered with
fury, wanting to lash out but unable.

“I will have your power for my own, Miriam
Hayle,” she howled, madness taking her. “And when you fall, I will
dance on your shallow grave!”

It was only then I saw she was bleeding. She
cut her hand with a sharp rock. Using her own life force as an
energy source in the charged circle of the site, she threw herself
completely into the darkness of her evil. A dull, shuddering portal
oozed to life next to her. My whole being flinched from the rank
stench blowing outward as it surged to life. Batsheva, her free
hand already gripping Dominic, leapt for the hole and vanished,
taking her groveling husband with her.

No one moved as the wash of her spell
imploded and dissipated, unable to hold shape in the presence of so
much positive magic.

“Mom,” I hissed. “We can’t let them get
away!”

“They won’t,” she whispered. “Not for long.
They will be hunted down by the Enforcers and destroyed.” Mom drew
me to her for a quick hug. Despite her feelings of regret, I was
more than happy they were going to be someone else’s problem from
now on.

Besides, there were other questions needing
answers.

“What was she talking about?” I asked her.
“Who is after you? Are we in more trouble?”

My calm and peaceful mother refused to
answer. I clenched my teeth but held my tongue. I’d get it out of
her sooner or later. Preferably sooner. I was willing to offer her
a grace period, considering.

It was a beautiful morning.

“Come,” Mom said as the sun cleared the
horizon and lit the site, “we have work to do. Samhain is here.
Today we say goodbye to summer.”

The witches broke up into small groups. They
went about their appointed tasks, radiating joy and peace, to clean
and reset the site for the real ceremony. Despite everything that
happened, they felt whole again. Just like that. Could everything
possibly go back to normal? Really?

I was shocked by the very thought, but not so
much by the effortless re-fusion of the magic and the coven as much
as my mother’s intentions.

“You can’t be serious,” I said. “Mom, don’t
you think we’ve all had about enough magic for one day?”

She glowed with happiness. It lit her eyes,
her whole being. I knew I could only ever dream of being as
beautiful as my mother, her jet black hair on fire from behind by
the rising sun, tall, slender body strong and confident, stunning
face creasing with warmth and love.

“Oh, Syd,” she laughed at me, “There’s no
such thing as too much magic.”