Chapter 234: Sonja O'Dane
When the knock came on the kitchen door, it made me shudder. The echo of the Gate was fresh enough I hated the sound, as shallow and real as it was compared to the booming of the Sidhe magic. I went to answer it, distracted, wondering why anyone in the coven would bother to knock.
Sonja O'Dane stood on the other side, and she didn't look happy. In fact, Liam's mother's dark brown eyes flashed with barely suppressed anger, whole body trembling with it.
"I'm here to talk," she snapped without preamble, "and you're going to shut up and listen. You are to stay as far away from my son as you can and not say another word to him ever. Is that understood?" She backed up a half step before surging toward me again. "I mean it. If I find out you've been filling his head with more lies..."
"Mrs. O'Dane," I said, reaching for her, but she snatched herself out of my reach, still shaking.
"You'll be sorry," she snarled, "I swear it."
Before I could say a word, argue, try to convince her further, she spun and marched off. Swearing softly to myself, I started to go after her, only to have Erica's anxious and angry arrival block my exit.
There was more to Sonja's opinion of this town than simple dislike. What drove her to drag her son all over the country in an effort to keep him from home after his father's death, and why did she suddenly return now? It had to be connected to the Gate and the knock. But if she was shielding him from his history, if she knew what he was and hated it that much, why bring him back at all?
There was no time to speculate. The coven gathered and I had to focus on them.
Once they were all standing in front of me, the whole family together, eyes locked on where I stood in the center of the basement pentagram, my panic started taking over again. I struggled with it, felt Erica's growing anxiety and jumped in with both feet before she could screw me up again.
I tapped into the power under the house and it rose to greet me easily, sliding up through my feet, traveling up my legs, flooding my whole body from the ground up until I vibrated with it. So far so good. The nervous energy in the basement shifted to more calm. This part went very smoothly, nice and easy. I just had to keep it together long enough to finish the family greeting and I was golden.
Teeth clenched against the happy, bubbling power so I didn't hurt anyone with its enthusiasm, I slowly opened myself to them and let it flow from me into each and every one of the family. They sighed as it touched them, filling them up with the love and welcome composing our coven's power core. Perfect, I was doing it right. I was doing it right!
Which was, of course, when everything went wrong.
Something nudged me, a subtle touch, but inside the circle. The power turned toward it, distracted, even as I tried to lure it back. Like snapping rubber bands, the magic feed snapped free from each of the members, like a huge bungee cord of blue energy recoiling right at me. I grasped for it, managed to wrestle it back under control, but the damage was done. No one would meet my eyes anymore. I let the power flow back into the ground as though it was sad to go and did what I could to keep my poise.
And my anger in check. That was on purpose. Someone was trying to undermine me and I had a shortlist of people capable and willing. Celeste stared directly at me, one of the only ones who would, and I knew then, without a doubt, it had been she who caused me to fail.
Okay then. We do it the hard way.
I gestured at Galleytrot who'd been hiding in the darkness. He padded forward, through the quickly parting coven, to sit at my side. Celeste frowned instantly, but I didn't give her or Erica a chance to speak.
"Were facing a situation." I mentally kicked myself as the family shifted, and not toward me. The last thing they wanted was another one of those. But they had to listen. I boosted my words with some power and went on. "We've all been aware there is something odd about Wilding Springs. Something supernatural."
A few heads nodded and Celeste remained silent. Fab.
"There's a reason for that." I quickly sketched out the threat, telling them about the Gate, the missing Keeper and the fact we had two nights left before the Sidhe broke through into our world.
"It's vital we find the Gate," Galleytrot said in his rumbling voice. "But we can't do that without the Gatekeeper."
"Then fetch the old man," Celeste said. "Make him answer it." She looked around at the others who seemed to agree with her.
"It's not that simple," he said. "If the old man doesn't know how to answer it any longer, and there's reason to believe he doesn't, we're still in trouble."
"Can we find another Gatekeeper?" Erica at least offered a suggestion that might help. "From another Gate?"
That was actually a good idea. Or at least I thought so until Galleytrot shook his head. "Each Gate is keyed to one family and only they can answer the knock."
"I called this meeting to warn you all," I said, feeling more confident now that they knew what was up and with the huge dog beside me. "I'm going to try to bring Mr. O'Dane to the Gate and see if he can fix this. But the trouble is, without knowing exactly where the Gate lies, dragging a senile old man around Wilding Springs could attract attention from the normals and I want to avoid that if possible."
"Where is your mother? Does she know about this?" Celeste's frown deepened, the weight of her disapproval hanging over everyone.
"She knows," I said, "and she trusts me-trusts us-to deal with it."
"Typical Miriam," she snapped. "Off chasing after her insane mother who could bring ruin to us all while her child brings us to the brink of destruction."
"Miriam's absence is necessary," Erica said, injecting herself when I honestly wished she would just back off.
"I'm sure," Celeste huffed. "And we're to believe your little story about this, are we, Sydlynn?"
"I'm sorry?" Was she really that much of an idiot? Who would make something like this up?
"It seems rather convenient. Of the only two witches in our coven with Sidhe magic one is missing and the other a girl known for her troublemaking."
I felt it, the subtle shifting, as the coven turned toward Celeste. They were tired of conflict, weary of all that happened to us and they were willing to believe her if it meant their normal lives could go on even for a little while longer.
Pull this together or I'm ending it. Erica's words slapped my mind.
Like I needed her antagonism to make me feel worse about the total and utter disaster this was turning into.
"How dare you waste our time?" Celeste snorted and drew herself to her full height. This was pure personal, her way of getting back at me for kicking her out of the house. Her way to prove to me I wasn't even close to keeping up with her in this twisted game. "This is nothing more than a case of overactive imagination."
"I'm not imagining things," Galleytrot said.
"You're not exactly trustworthy either, are you?" James's voice held an edge he'd gained after enough time spent with Celeste, I guessed. "For all we know, you're the one putting these thoughts into Syd's head."
Celeste turned away from me. "I've had enough of this nonsense. Don't ever call another coven meeting unless you have a real issue to discuss. Or better yet, don't call one at all."
She left then, back straight, all of her self-righteousness wrapped around her. And one by one, then in a trickle, and finally in a flood, the coven followed her out.
Just the fact she left without permission was a huge insult. But taking everyone with her... I was screwed. And I knew she was right. I might be able to make her stand down one-on-one, but she had the manipulation thing down to a science.
Louisa and Martin Vega paused on their way, the sweet woman offering a gentle squeeze to my hand, but I neither wanted nor appreciated their pity, it was just too awful. And so they left without a word.
As the basement door closed on the last of them, Erica spun on me, whole body shaking with anger. But not at Celeste.
At me.
"This was your idea," she snapped, "and I trusted you to keep things under control. And what did you do? You let Celeste walk all over you." Erica's frown was so deep I could see the wrinkles developing on her normally smooth skin. "I knew I never should have trusted you to handle this on your own."
"That's exactly what I was," I snarled back. "On my own. Thank you so much for the fantastic effort at backup."
"You don't get it, do you, Syd." She shook her head, long blonde hair swinging. "That's your job. The leader has to maintain control and you blew it. Worse than blew it. I have no idea how we're going to fix this without your mother." She turned away from me, headed for the stairs before spinning back for another blow. "This is the last time I clean up one of your messes and I'm telling your mother so."
She stomped her way out, slamming the door behind her. I just stood there, fuming, fingers twined in the fur on the top of Galleytrot's head.
"I'm sorry, Syd," he whispered. "I wasn't much help."
"You," I said, bending to hug him, "were awesome." I sighed all of my anger and fear and frustration into his warmth before pulling myself up straight. Mess or not, coven disaster or not, I had to do something.
Erica was wrong about that. Being on my own, that I was used to.
"Come on," I said to the big dog. "Let's go talk to Liam."
***
