Chapter 155: I Need You
This couldn't be happening, not now, not after everything I'd gone through to rescue her. I stood there, feeling like she'd hit me physically, unable to act or react.
Luckily, Dad spoke up for me.
"You must return," he said, voice soft and low. "You need to be whole."
She snarled at him. "You should talk."
Dad flinched. "I'm trying at least," he said. "I know how important it is to return to where I belong."
She looked away from him, a deep scowl on her face. "I'm tired of being told what to do," she said. "And I'm tired of her not wanting me around. I saved all of you and gave her what she wanted. And what thanks did I get for it? That man used my power, just like she did, kept me a prisoner. And no one came for me."
"I came for you." I took a step toward her. "We did." I gestured at Quaid and Sunny.
She shrugged. "Took you long enough."
Seriously? There was no making her happy. Now I really knew how Mom felt.
The wards around us shook. I could feel the vibration, had a jab of terror sharpen my resolve.
"Please understand," I said. "I searched for you because I realized how much I needed you. I never gave up."
She glanced at me, glowing eyes softening around the edges. "You just want your power back. Not me."
Was she right? I made sure she saw I was thinking about it. Was it just my power I longed for? I looked at her, stared at her, felt around inside myself and realized the gaping hole wasn't just from my missing magic, but the fact that I really was nothing without her.
"I need you," I said, meaning every word, each coming from the depths of my heart, "more than anything. Even if we never use our power again, if you coming back means letting you have control too."
Her arms uncrossed, amber eyes staring into mine. "I don't want to disappear." It came out in a whisper I barely heard over the sudden baffle of the shields as the wind slammed against them, but I understood her fear. "You say all this now, but as soon as I return you'll force me behind those walls again and never let me out." She looked away. "Or worse. You'll absorb me at last and I will be no more."
How could I convince her when I had no idea what would happen?
She shook her head, scowl returning. "I will live this life I've gained, as crippled as it is." That was the first time I realized she suffered from my loss as much as I did from hers.
"And the family?" I only had one card left to play. "Without us, they could fall." Again, I didn't know that for sure and was actually more than certain we'd fail anyway. But it was all I had left.
She turned away from me. "You should have thought about the family a long time ago."
I heard a soft snort and looked down, seeing for the first time that Sassy sat at my feet. He caught my eyes, everything in him telling me he told me so. I stooped and picked him up, hugging him, knowing he was right.
"You have to be sure." Sassy's paws touched my cheeks. "She feels your indecision, we all do."
I looked around me at the coven, my parents, Quaid and Sunny. It was the first time I really paid attention. The vampires of the DeWinter blood clan were there as well, filling out the perimeter, Uncle Frank and Anastasia holding the line. And as much as everyone's focus was on supporting the shields, every pair of eyes was on me.
I shuddered. There wasn't time for this. The crystal gave me enough access to the Sidhe magic I could feel the pull of the Wild, the surges of power the riders threw out as they struggled to wake at last. And yet, this was the only time I had left.
I let the thin thread of power under my control reach for my demon and touch her, put all of my need and hope and fear into it. As soon as the magic encountered hers, I felt a surge of rightness quickly smothered by the protective spell struggling to keep her out.
She spun back to me. "There, you see?" She pointed at my heart. "You don't want me, even now."
Tears welled. "That's not me." I knew it now, as much as I'd privately doubted at times. The part of me resisting her was foreign, a piece of the protection wrapped around my mind. "Please, it's not me."
She glared before slamming her power into me. I tried to accept it, to welcome it home, but the net jerked tight and shoved her back. She howled in rage, smoke curling out between her lips.
"I swear to you," I choked on tears as I struggled to speak, "whatever is keeping us apart has nothing to do with me."
She paced around me, fury pouring out of her in waves even I could feel. I heard the family groan as the pressure above them increased, felt them sway as one.
"Syd," Mom whispered, face red from effort, "if you're going to do something, you need to hurry."
I was trying. But there was nothing I could do.
Before I had another chance to act, the coven shuddered around me, shuddering as the magic thread connecting them shattered. Only for a moment, but long enough to allow someone through.
And that someone wasn't the girl I knew, wasn't my friend Pain any longer.
Fury in every inch of her, Cydia entered the coven circle with murder in her eyes.
***
