Chapter 218: Gram's Choices
When I stomped into my room, I realized I wasn't alone. Not an uncommon occurrence, except my two visitors didn't offer their usual greetings. Instead, Sassafras crept to the edge of the bed, his ears flat sideways, pupils swollen, almost blacking out the amber of his eyes. Whiskers drooping and tail dragging behind him, he slowly raised one paw toward me. I lifted him into my arms immediately, hugging him as he burrowed his wet nose into my neck.
"It's going to be okay." I stroked his soft, silver fur, speaking directly to the huge black dog curled up in a miserable ball at the foot of the bed. Galleytrot didn't even lift his head, just swiped one giant paw over his nose. "Honest."
"This is very bad, Syd." Sassy looked up, paws resting on my collarbone so we were eye-to-eye. "She could start something we won't be able to finish."
"Gram's way smarter than that." And despite the day I'd had, even through my own worry and guilt and anger, I was absolutely convinced of it. "She would never do anything to hurt the coven or us."
"But what about Ethpeal herself?" Galleytrot's rumbling voice was deep and heavy, triggering a taste in the back of my throat like a pending rain. "What if they catch her?"
"Hurt her." Sassy finished it for him in a whisper. "Syd, they could kill her. Then what will happen to Miriam? What will it do to your mother?"
I sat on the edge of the bed, still clutching Sassy to me with one hand while I scratched Galleytrot's head with the other. The silver Persian finally hopped down only to curl up so close to me he could rest his chin in my lap.
"Then we deal with it when the time comes." Galleytrot's big noggin joined Sassy's until my jeans were entirely hidden from view by a mix of black and silver hair. I let my power out, embracing both of them with it and the absolute certainty everything was as it should be. It felt funny to be comforting them. Galleytrot was a Fey dog of the Wild Hunt after all. He was pretty much immortal. And Sassy was usually the one bossing me around, telling me how things would be.
When had the balance of power shifted? When did I turn into a grown up?
I must have convinced them, because they both relaxed. Enough they retreated, at least, leaving me covered in fur and wanting to change my jeans immediately.
My choice to stay out of sight seemed to be the right one as well. Mom and Dad didn't come hunting for me, to my relief. And I figured staying out of the way until she settled down was the best course of action.
It wasn't until dusk I descended back downstairs, Sassy and Galleytrot at my side. I glanced at Meira's door, saw it open, felt for her. She wasn't home, and probably just as well.
My only reason for facing Mom again had nothing to do with her and everything to do with the two vampires who appeared at our front door the moment the sun was gone from the horizon. There had been a brief time when my Uncle Frank and his undead girlfriend Sunny weren't allowed to enter the house, a concession Mom granted the coven after everything we'd been through. But the restriction was lifted with the events of the past summer.
I'd not seen much of Uncle Frank, not since the near disaster that almost took his life. And while he survived being staked out into the sun, he'd been left with visible proof of the damage. The right side of his face was as flawless as it ever was, his handsome, boyish looks topped off with a brilliant blue eye. But the other side was now melted slag, as if made of overheated wax, gaping red and horrible in places.
I forced myself to look at him every single time and remind myself he hadn't changed. He was still my amazing Uncle Frank.
I just wished he believed it.
"What's happened?" Gone was the gentle, happy, kind person I knew, who treated me more like a little sister, my constant advocate. In his place stood a sullen, angry vampire, antagonism barely veiled behind his words.
Sunny hovered behind him, as poised and beautiful as ever. But when her eyes flickered to meet mine, I saw the pain clearly. Because she let me see it, if only for an instant.
"Mother." Mom handed Uncle Frank the note. He scanned it before shrugging.
"She's gone after them." He sounded like he was all for it. "And?"
Mom let out an exasperated sigh, sharp and angry. "We have to find her."
When he laughed, there was no amusement in the sound, only jagged edges and darkness.
"Good luck." He handed the note back to my mother who hesitated before taking it. "You should know better. Once Mom has her mind on something, nothing can change it. And this last attack by the Dumonts was the trigger she needed to finally ignore you." Was that a slight softening of his expression? An old memory intruding, had to be. Something curving up what remained of his lips. But the moment was gone so fast I almost wished he hadn't showed anything.
Before Mom could argue, however, he had an about face. "I'll go after her." His body jerked as though saying it warred against something inside him.
"We both will." Mom's tone said she wasn't taking no for an answer.
"You can't just leave the coven," he snapped. "Let me handle it."
Mom's jaw ground sideways. "I have to," she said. "You won't be able to stop her."
They faced off like Mom just slapped him. Which she kind of had. After all, the reason Uncle Frank was a vampire was because he couldn't live with the fact he was born without witchcraft.
"Fine." He glared at her. "It's your coven."
"It is," she said, blunt and brutal. "And my decision." She shook her head. "As if I'd trust the two of you out there, chasing the Dumonts."
Uncle Frank flinched, really showing his own anger. "I've been good, haven't I?" A fleck of moisture burst out of the gap in his ruined cheek. "Stayed put, been a nice vampire, not chased down the little bitch and torn her throat out with my bare hands?"
Ah. So not Odette after all, not all the Dumonts. I had no idea his rage was so focused on Ameline, Odette's old heir apparent. But it was Ameline who implanted the fake memory in Page, who in effect sentenced Uncle Frank to his present circumstances and almost death.
I guess the hate made sense. Kinda shared it, actually.
A sudden, selfish thought grabbed my heart and wouldn't let go. "You can't leave." My mother turned on me, gaze flat. "Mom, the coven."
She jerked her shoulders as if settling the weight of her decision. "You'll be fine," she said. "I'm transferring control to you, just for the time being. Erica is already on her way. She'll guide you in the interim."
No. Freaking. Way. A wave of panic grabbed me and shook me like a rag doll. Mom was already on her way to the basement door, Uncle Frank not sparing me a moment's glance. Sunny eased out of his way, head down, while Dad silently reached out for Mom as she disappeared down the stairs.
How did this happen? I found myself in the middle of the pentagram in the gloom of the underground as if in a dream, accepting a part of the writhing, churning tornado of family magic.
"I invest our power in you, my daughter, my successor, and grant you the full power of coven leadership in my absence." I felt the magic flow into me, the twinge from my demon and Shaylee as they were forced aside to make way for the billowing entity that was the Hayle coven energy. The transfer instantly flew down the line to every witch in our family. I felt their shock, their fear, and knew Mom would have to deal with them before she left or it would be an all-out meltdown.
Instead of reaching for them, she spun on Dad.
"You have to be here for her, Harry." For the first time I heard anger in her voice aimed at my father. "You can't just hide down here and wallow in your pity. Syd is going to need you, now more than ever."
Dad flinched, half turned away. "Miriam-"
"I need you." She stayed where she was physically, but everything about her reached for him. "Please, Harry. Your daughter needs you. Your coven."
"Not my coven," he whispered.
The hint of softness in her vanished. "Haralthazar," she said, magic behind her words, the blue power reaching out to wind around his body in a flickering dance. "Do your family duty, even if you won't admit you belong."
Dad slowly nodded. Why didn't I have a good feeling about this?
Probably because the moment she turned away from Dad, Mom headed for the stairs.
Um, hello? Coven to placate. But she was gone, her power passing through the wards in a flash I felt through our combined magic.
Sassy pressed against my legs. Galleytrot let out a soft moan and turned, padding upstairs, my demon cat right behind him. I had no further comfort to offer them, too wrapped up in my own sudden terror. I turned to Dad, knowing my desperate need for someone to do something was clear in my eyes, but he just shrugged once, gaze falling from mine, before he quietly retreated to the far corner of the basement, leaving me alone.
"Syd." I spun around, gasping a breath, near tears. Not alone after all. I'd forgotten Sunny altogether. She embraced me, body chilly. Of course. They'd hurried here so fast, there was no way she had time to eat. I hugged her back anyway, clinging to her as I fought for calm.
I could do this.
Hell no!
Yes, I could. I would.
Crazy talk.
But I had no choice.
Sunny pulled back as I sagged a little, panic subsiding to fearful resolve. Her beautiful smile was sad, but I knew no matter what I could count on her. And it mattered a great deal. I forced a smile back.
"Thanks," I whispered. Cleared my thick throat. Tried again. "Are you okay?"
She nodded once. "We're managing." You'd think an ageless vampire would have learned to lie better somewhere along the line. Just not in her, I guessed.
"I'm worried about him." She sighed, a left over human expression from someone who didn't have to breathe. "He's been so..."
"Different." There was no other word for it. Uncle Frank was gone, leaving a stranger behind.
Sunny didn't even try for one of her gentle smiles. Crystal tears filled her eyes. "Yes. I'm afraid I'm losing him and there's nothing I can do to change it."
I didn't know what to say and after a moment she did smile, even laughed a little.
"I'm sorry," she said. "You have far more to think about than me." She hugged me quickly again. "Your mother has asked me to set patrols around Wilding Springs and to keep watch over this house. So please don't worry about your safety from the Dumonts." That did make me feel slightly better. "I know there's not much I can do beyond that, but if you need me or the clan, please don't hesitate. You know I'll be here as quickly as I can."
Sunny left so fast I didn't get a chance to thank her. Or tell her what I knew already. She'd always been there for me, no matter what.
If only she could help me figure out how I was supposed to fill my mother's fancy witch shoes, we'd be all set.
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