Chapter 140: Safer With Normals
Their beautiful faces are masks of anger as Cydia points at me and declares, "Death."
"Death," comes the echo.
"Death," my beloved says.
The skies darken at once, the rage of the elements called down on me for the most hideous of crimes, the very one I did not commit.
"My love," I whisper as thunder rumbles, chasing giant forks of lightning across the sky.
"Befouled one," he snarls, no joy or happiness in his face, his love for me gone. "Death is too good for you."
Of all of them, he is the last I would believe could order my death and yet there he stands, Cydia beside him now, her hatred twisting into a secret smile as she calls down the lightning, guiding his hand, my darling Gwynn, to deliver the killing blow.
I feel it strike my body, the sudden rush of agony cut short as I rise above my body, my soul free of its substantial form. As I rise I hear them gasp, see their horror, his most of all. In my love, I see the understanding in his face, in his eyes, that I am innocent of the crime. For, as my soul rides the now calming air, it does so in perfect harmony with the elements, something impossible if I were, indeed, a blood mage.
His cry of agony chases me upward into the sky and out of this life.
"SHAYLEE!"
***
You'd think I'd be used to waking up in tears by that point. Not so much. I lay there for a long time, listening to the howling wind rattling my windows, the drum like thud of rolling thunder as lightning struck again and again.
It was a long time before the storm faded. I snuck down to the kitchen and watched from the darkness of the hall as exhausted witches emerged from the basement and quietly left the house.
In their faces I saw nothing to bring me comfort. Only fear and weariness.
I waited for Mom, even letting Dad pass me by, so tired he didn't notice when I slid into a darker patch of shadow so he could pass.
When the basement door opened for the last time, I stepped out into the light and confronted her.
I'd never seen her so tired, her face aged from her weariness. For a moment she looked so much like Gram I shuddered. The magic she was using took a massive toll on her body. And while I knew she would recover her more youthful glow with rest, I also knew that kind of rebound only worked so many times before the signs of strain became more permanent.
No time for concern for her. I had my sister to think of.
"I've changed my mind." I didn't give her a chance to protest. "I'm going with Meira instead of Alison. I need to watch over my sister."
Mom didn't say anything for a long moment, swaying slightly, her long shadow cast by the single small light over the stove looming like a threat.
"That won't be possible now." The edges of her words were ragged, throat raw as if she'd been screaming for hours.
"Anything is possible." I refused to back down. This was too important.
Mom's sigh came from so far inside her it was like her body crumpled in on itself by the time she'd finished. "It's been requested that you not accompany the other children."
Just punch me in the gut some more, why didn't she? "Requested." Credit to me I stayed so calm when I really wanted to confront the entire coven and call them cowards.
"I agreed." She passed one hand over her face. "You'll be safer with normals."
"And if this goes bad," I said, "which both you and Dad seem to think it will... Mom, you're really going to let Meira and Sassy go off alone?" I didn't voice the rest of it. To die. I couldn't. The words wouldn't come out. But Mom nodded slowly, clearly knowing what I was thinking.
"I have no other choice. And neither do you." She looked away before pinning me with her gaze. "The full force of the storm will hit here, in Wilding Springs. Everywhere else should be safe. For a while."
"But not for long." I knew the stories about the Wild, the natural disaster designed to destroy the world when it was time to end, a magical cleansing so nature and the Sidhe could start again. Nothing would remain, no sign of civilization or that we had ever been on earth. There would be nowhere to run or hide, not for me, not for Meira and Sassy.
She shrugged. "It's the best I can do." Heat in her words at last, the dead, flat tone giving way to her rising anger. "What else do you want from me?"
I shook my head and took a step back, knowing she wasn't herself, but still holding it against her. "I want you to trust me enough to let me stay."
Instead of answering, she stormed past me, actually shoving me aside. I heard her footsteps pause at the end of the hall.
"You're going," she said, "and I will do what I can, what I must. Stop making this harder than it has to be." I stayed where I was, heart pounding as my own rage built, listening to her make her stomping way up the stairs and the final slam of her bedroom door.
I stood there for a long time in the near dark, letting my anger seep out of me until only sadness was left. I slunk back to my room, pausing at my door, not wanting to be alone. In the end, I crept down the hall to Meira's door. Unlocked this time.
Unashamed and needing the comfort now more than ever, I slid into bed beside my sister. She sighed softly in her sleep and snuggled up to me while Sassy's golden eyes eased open a crack. His tail flicked once when I stroked his fur ever so softly before he went back to sleep.
I wished it was that easy for me.
***
