Family Magic (8 page)

Totally not like my mother.

“We weren’t,” Frank rolled his eyes. “I know
you’re careful. Now get over here so I can suck your blood.”

He was kidding, of course. Neither of them
drank human blood from the source. Still, the thought always made
me queasy.

Mom crossed out of the pentagram to hug her
brother.

“Are you all right?” He asked her almost too
quietly for me to hear.

“I’m feeling a little weak,” she admitted,
pressing one trembling hand to her forehead. “I think I’ll go
upstairs and lie down.”

“Feel free to use my cupboard,” Frank winked
at her.

My mother laughed. “You will never get me in
that thing, Jonathan Francis Hayle.”

I snickered at his full name. He made a face
at me.

“Go rest,” he shooed her off.

“Sydlynn,” Mom turned to me, “thank you for
being here.”

“You almost blew up the house,” I said,
wincing inside. “I’m glad you’re okay,” I added.

She smiled a little before leaving us.

Sassafras stalked to my side and smacked my
leg with one heavy paw.

“That was productive,” he snarled. “Honestly,
Frank, the girl is a walking disaster. Deal with it.”

With a flick of his tail, the fat silver
Persian ran after my mother.

I turned to Uncle Frank, expecting some kind
of sarcastic comment, only met by a worried expression.

“Did something happen?” Uncle Frank
asked.

“Like Mom trying to marry me off to some
witch without telling me then inviting them to join the coven?” I
told him. “You could say something happened.”

Frank exchanged a glance with Sunny.

“Tell me everything,” he said.

I went to them on their side of the basement
and filled them in. Despite Uncle Frank’s usual flair for amusing
comments, he was silent, which made me nervous.

“I don’t like it,” Frank told me. “I wish
Batsheva hadn’t been invited to rejoin. Miriam always thought they
were so close, best friends. But we could all see she was only
using your mom for her position and influence.”

“You wouldn’t know it by the way Batsheva
tells it,” I said. “Chum city.”

“You know your mother would never make you
marry this boy,” Sunny said, her flawless face concerned, clear
green eyes earnest. I loved Sunny. She was the nicest dead person I
knew, aside from Uncle Frank.

“I know,” I told her. “Anyway, you guys
missed the fireworks, lucky you.”

“Not exactly,” Frank said, brushing at some
imaginary dirt on his shirt. “After all, your mother almost blew up
the house, remember?”

I made a face and laughed.

“Honestly, Syd,” Frank said. “Your Mom told
me about the other night.”

“Naturally.” I didn’t feel like having that
particular conversation, not even with my understanding uncle.

“I can see you don’t want to talk about it,”
he said. “But you need to get your stuff figured out, kiddo.”

“And why is that?” I challenged him.

“Because,” he said, “if you really intend to
leave this life forever, it’s probably a good idea to figure out
why you want to leave in the first place so you have a good
argument for them.”

“I just do!” I cried. “Isn’t that
enough?”

Uncle Frank laughed and hugged me. He smelled
of wood polish and fabric softener. I felt Sunny’s arms slip around
me from behind, adding her comfort and the scent of roses. As much
as I loved them both, I was eager to let go. The silk of Sunny’s
blouse did nothing to shield me from her and Uncle Frank’s t-shirt
wasn’t much better. Trouble was, neither of them had eaten
anything. Their cold bodies made me shiver.

“Just because isn’t good enough,” Uncle Frank
said. “Trust me. From one rebel to another.”

I knew he attracted a lot of trouble with the
family when he came home a vampire with an undead girlfriend in
tow. And I knew he was right.

“I don’t know why,” I admitted in a whisper
to his white t-shirt.

“Then figure it out,” he answered, “or make
something up. Because otherwise, they’ll never let you go.”

Uncle Frank and his brutal honesty. I
couldn’t be mad at him for it.

“I’ll see what I can do,” I said. “Now if you
two don’t mind, it’s a little chilly being the center of a vampire
sandwich.”

Sunny laughed in my ear and let me go. Uncle
Frank took a little longer.

“I’m here for you, anytime,” he
whispered.

“I know,” I whispered back. “Thanks.”

Uncle Frank stretched. “I love a happy
ending,” he winked at me. He looked over at Sunny and grinned.
“Hungry?”

“Starving,” she said back.

Totally creepy.

Sunny kissed my cheek in passing as they spun
into mist and disappeared.

I was wrong.
That
was totally
creepy.

***

I lay in bed for a long time, struggling with
my thoughts, shying away from taking the real steps I needed to
figure out what my problem was. For some reason I probably should
have been aware of, I didn’t want to know. I wanted out! Why
couldn’t that be enough?

As I sprawled there torturing myself, I heard
my door creak and the soft pad of little feet. I watched Meira as
she picked her way on tiptoe across my floor and to the end of my
bed. She twisted a handful of quilt in her tiny fingers and peered
up at me through her silky black bangs, eyes wide and almost
completely black in the darkness.

“Are you awake?” She whispered.

“Nope,” I answered. “Come back later.”

Meira giggled. She had the cutest giggle,
clean and fresh and genuine. She always made me feel way younger
than I was.

I giggled back.

Meira made her way further up the bed,
twirling her slender body, her pure white nightgown flaring out at
her ankles as she half-danced, half-tiptoed to me. She leaned over
the bed and touched my forehead with one little finger, face
solemn, eyes glowing in the light from the street outside.

“You are
blessed
,” she
whispered.

I choked on a snort and started writhing on
the bed in mock agony.

“No, I can’t take it! Please, don’t make me
be like you!”

She crossed her little arms over her chest
and smirked at me.

“I’m not that good,” she said.

I grabbed her and dragged her onto the bed.
She squealed, covering her mouth with both hands, tears brimming
with mirth. I tickled her. She shook her head, lips clenched
together, snorting laughter escaping.

“Nasty little ruggers,” I continued the
torture, “say it!”

“No!” She tried to whisper. It came out a
little louder than she intended. We both laughed, glancing at the
partially open door.

“Say it!” I demanded in a whisper when no one
came to shush us. “Say uncle!”

Meira giggled silently, her red-tinted face
even more crimson from the effort of holding it in. She squiggled
and squirmed underneath me, trying to catch her breath.

“Never,” she hissed.

I sat up and whacked her with my pillow. She
squealed for real this time. She grabbed one of the decorative
throw pillows Mom insisted accompany the stupid chandelier.

“Cheater!” She shrieked, smacking me with the
satin monstrosity.

I popped her a good one, sending her tumbling
across the bed.

“Brat!” I retorted.

Meira lunged with her pillow, but missed and
ended up on the floor. We both froze at the heavy thump. I heard
quick steps come to the bottom of the stairs.

“You girls better be in bed,” Mom called up
to us.

We giggled.

“If I have to come up there…” The threat was
an empty one. She hadn’t come up to stop us in years.

Still, we held silent, as much a part of the
game as the rest of it. Finally, Mom’s footsteps retreated back to
the kitchen. Meira gazed up at me from the floor and laughed.

I scooped her up and planted her on the bed
beside me. She stretched out facing me. I flipped the covers over
us. She snuggled into my neck.

“That was fun,” she said.

“So I can blame you if Mom decides to come
check on us?”

Meira batted her lashes, Miss Innocence.
“She’d never believe it was my fault.”

I didn’t mean to but with everything that
happened in the last few hours, I took her words personally.

“Right. Of course. It’s always me screwing
up. I forgot.”

I rolled over onto my back, focused fury
settling on the stupid pink chandelier. I jumped up, stood on the
bed and grabbed onto it. I pulled, but nothing happened. Meira made
a noise, something sad and afraid, but I ignored her completely.
Mad, beyond frustrated, I gave it a good yank. The whole thing let
go. I hunched on the bed covered in pink crystals, stars, wires and
a large chunk of ceiling. I’m surprised my mom didn’t come running,
but I guess it wasn’t as noisy as it looked. Dust hovered
everywhere. Meira stared at me, tears pouring over her cheeks.

“Syd,” she cried. “I’m sorry! Don’t be mad
anymore.”

She covered her little face in her hands and
sobbed. The giant heel I turned into reached out and grabbed her. I
pulled her into my lap amid the mess I made and hugged her
hard.

“It’s okay, Meems, it’s
okay,” I rocked her and stroked her hair until she fell quiet. She
pushed tears from her cheeks. The fear I saw in her face made me
cringe, even though I knew she was less afraid
of
me and more afraid
for
me.

“Why don’t you love us anymore, Syd?” Meira
went limp against me, her hurt a physical thing that made me want
to take everything back.

“It’s not that,” I told her, stroking her
hair back from her cute little horns. “Of course I still love you.
What’s not to love, huh?”

She slid her hair over her horns to hide
them. “That’s not what you said before,” she whispered.

I ran back over the conversation in the
basement and winced. Oops.

“Meems…”

She sniffled and wiped her nose with her
sleeve. “You hate us.”

“No I don’t.”

“You think we’re monsters.”

Oh crap. “Meira, look at me.” I forced her
face up and stared her in those huge, demon eyes. “I don’t hate
you, okay? Nothing you could ever do would make me hate you. And I
don’t think you’re a monster.”

“I have horns,” she whispered. I flinched.
How much damage had I done to my little sister? How had she gotten
into the middle of my battles with our mother? For the first time I
was painfully aware Meira probably suffered way more than Mom and
I. She was going to carry our garbage with her for the rest of her
life if I didn’t do something about it right then and there.

I scooted her further into my lap, pushing
the remains of the ruined pink horror away. I held her tight and
opened up my power to her, only a bit, as I spoke, happy and
surprised when my stomach stayed quiet.

“You are the most wonderful, sweet and
perfect kid ever,” I said. “I’m sorry you had to hear me lose my
temper with Mom and Dad. Sometimes when I get mad I say stuff that
isn’t quite the way I mean it.”

“You didn’t mean it?” She snuffled.

“Not that way,” I said. “I didn’t mean
monster as in demon. I meant monster as in me turning into a bad
person because I’m being forced into something I don’t want, that I
never wanted.” Part of me whispered a denial but I shoved it aside
to deal with later. “It has nothing to do with you or Mom or Dad.
Just me. Okay?”

“How come, Syd?” Meira asked.

“I wish I knew,” I said. “I don’t want to be
a witch. Is that really a bad thing?”

She thought about it for a second. “I guess
not.”

“But?” I poked her. She managed a little
giggle before getting serious again.

“Well, it’s just…
you
are
a witch,
Syd. How can you not want to be what you are? And how can you stop
being it, either?”

Meira's sharp perception scared me sometimes.
I let her go and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead, closing off
with some relief.

“That’s my problem to figure out, Meems, not
yours. But,” I stroked her hair back from her horns, “I want you to
remember no matter what happens, no matter where I go or what I’m
doing or who I become, I love you and I always will. Okay?”

Meira threw her arms around my neck, kissing
me on the cheek.

“I love you too, Syd,” she said.

She sat back and made a face. She fished
around under her and pulled out a pink crystal. We both
laughed.

“Guess I have some explaining to do in the
morning,” I squinted up at the ceiling. “I could always blame it on
Sass.”

Meira winked and waggled her fingers. I tried
not to squirm as I felt her power gather like a web around her,
tickling me. She was very careful, most of the magic shielded, as
she sent out the force in delicate fingers, reassembled the
chandelier before our very eyes. I watched as sparkling shards and
glittering stars repaired themselves, wires twisting back into
shape. The whole thing, now reattached to the chunk of plaster,
rose toward the ceiling, settling into place. The seam faded and
finally disappeared altogether. I knew if I turned on the light, it
would be as though the whole thing never happened, right down to
the last speck of dust.

Better her do it than me. My luck I’d slip or
screw up and the whole ceiling would come down and the roof with
it.

“Thanks, Meira,” I said.

“Anytime,” she grinned. She settled on my
pillow and yawed. I lay down beside her, poking her to bring out a
giggle.

“Don’t you have a bed?” I said.

“I like this one,” her eyes drifted
closed.

“Meira…”

A silent plea lived in her gaze. I
relented.

“’Night, Meems.”