Chapter 253: Prom Date
I paused at the bottom of the stairs by the heavy wooden bookcase and reached for Shaylee. She came slowly, unhappily, her Sidhe power sliding over the carved oak. The Gate's magic responded instantly, the whole structure swinging gently aside to let me in. I understood her dislike, but it was getting a little old. It's not like the Gate was going to spring open and Thalion, prince of the Seelie, would rush through and kidnap us or anything.
At least, I was pretty sure that wouldn't happen. She wasn't so much. And I guess she had the right to worry. He'd almost tricked us into crossing over, after all, into giving up our life here out of pure Sidhe selfishness. And yet, I was pretty tired of her love quadrangle with Seelie and Unseelie alike, not to mention the worry she felt every time we came to visit Liam. I walled her off a little so she could sulk in peace as I strode through the open entry, careful to close it behind me before making my way further into the stone lair.
Hard not to call it a lair, like some kind of Sidhe Batcave, though as tall and handsome as my friend was, I had a hard time picturing Liam in any kind of spandex suit. Well, without blushing. I knew now the attraction I'd felt to him the first day we met was fed by our mutual Sidhe power calling to one another, but it didn't make me feel any less guilty about the whole thing.
I peeked into Liam's bedroom. Filling the place with the scent of green was the coolest bed ever, made from a gigantic tree.
"Study, Syd." His voice sounded muffled, distant. I crossed the stone hall and entered the archive. I tried not to look down the center aisle, because doing so always gave me a headache. It seemed to go on and on forever, an illusion my brain refused to process past impossible. . Liam's head popped out from behind one of the tall stone and wood racks, an easy smile on his face as his blonde hair threw glints of red from the lights above him.
"Hey." He emerged the rest of the way, white T-shirt gleaming. I had no idea who did his laundry, since his Unseelie mother was taken away by the lordling who owned her, but he was the neatest person I knew. A large book balanced on one of his big hands, fingers spread wide across the spine, his other holding his place on the open page. "You look beautiful."
I blushed immediately. He had this innocent way of saying things, with nothing behind it but pure honesty I absolutely loved.
Adored. Adored. Enough with the l-word.
"Thanks." A self-conscious touch to my hair made me grimace. "Photos."
He nodded with a wink. "Miriam's still all grad all the time, huh?" Liam set down the book on the wide, massive table, stained almost black, Sidhe figures painted in glowing colors all over its surface.
"Something like that." I sighed and sank into one of the bulky chairs, my butt happy for the lovely, deep velvet seat. "What are you working on?"
Liam shrugged, sitting himself. "Just research. There's so much I don't know, so much Daddo never told me." I wished I could take his sadness away at the loss of his grandfather. But at least Fergus was happy and healthy with the Sidhe on the other side of the Gate. Considering he'd be dead from the Unseelie bullet wound he'd taken had he stayed in our world, we both knew it was the right decision.
That and his crossing resealed the Gate against the return to earth of Sidhe magic so I didn't have to make that particularly difficult choice. I was personally incredibly grateful, considering no one, especially me, was ready for the consequences if I'd said no. Or yes for that matter.
"There's so much here." As usual, Liam's face lit up as he talked about the library, his favorite place in the whole world it seemed. "I'll spend my entire life studying it and never read it all." He sounded infinitely happy about it.
I heard a soft pad of feet and felt a huff of hot breath on my hand. Galleytrot, the Fey hound of the Wild Hunt I'd freed from his slavery, dropped his big head in my lap as way of greeting. He was clearly sleepy, probably just up from a nap, black eyes half lidded.
My fingers dove into his fur, giving him some nice deep scratches. "Hi, stranger," I said. "Miss you."
He sighed deeply, tilting his great head toward the attention. "Hi, Syd," he said.
"Sorry," Liam sat back, lacing his fingers over his flat stomach as he smiled at us. "I seem to have stolen your friend."
It was true. Galleytrot, once my sworn protector, abdicated his responsibilities, taking up almost permanent residence here with Liam. I guess I understood. Being close to the Gate made my Sidhe magic happy if not the princess who commanded it, so I could only imagine the black dog found it comforting.
"No problem." I kissed the soft fur of Galleytrot's snout. His eyes blinked slowly, power wrapping me up in the feeling of springtime and fresh earth.
"Just here for a visit?" Liam's eyes were already drifting to the book I'd interrupted. I really had to make sure I stopped in on a regular basis or I was sure he'd never leave.
"No," I said, a little more firmly than I'd intended. That caught his attention.
"What's up?" There was the total innocence again. He always amazed me, how he wore everything he felt on his face, in his stance. As if guile or the need to hide his true feelings had never been something he practiced. Born with both Seelie and Unseelie blood, dragged around the countryside by his Unseelie mother to protect him from those who wanted to control him, it was incredible he managed to hang onto that purity of spirit. I could only guess it was the Gate itself and the influence of the Sidhe who gifted his family with the guardianship of it which kept him so sweet.
"Prom." I found myself smiling, happy I'd finally made my decision. Really happy. "I'd love to go with you."
He blushed, the sweetest expression. I could just kiss him.
Hug. I could just hug him.
Damn it, Syd.
"You finally decided." Liam sounded a little guilty. "Are you sure? Quaid could still come back in time."
I shook my head, heard and felt Galleytrot's sigh through our contact. "I'm absolutely sure," I said. "Thanks for being so patient. And for asking."
"Just as friends, I promise." He grinned over it though, beamed really. "Awesome." Liam laughed. "I don't know why I even care, you know? We've both spent years running from school to school, never really fitting in."
"That's it, isn't it?" I sat up, elbows on the desk as Galleytrot lay down on the floor next to me, resting my chin in my hands. "That chance at a heartbeat of normal?"
Liam smiled. "Yeah," he said. "I guess it is."
Over the last nine months, we'd talked about my whole normal issues, my need to be ordinary. In fact, I'd told him literally everything, even stuff I'd never told anyone else. And Liam returned the favor. We led such parallel lives, only he had it the other way around.
All his life, he just wanted to be special.
Maybe if I hadn't had a crazy witch's power trying to work its way out of me, I'd have felt the same way.
My smile vanished as I felt my demon perk up. And not in a good way. The touch of magic was subtle, most of it blocked by the power of the Gate. Which was exactly what caught her attention. In order to reach through the wards, something really huge had to be going on.
"I have to go." I was on my feet, moving for the door before Liam's concern could register.
"Syd." Galleytrot was right beside me as I ran to the exit, panic growing. "What is it?"
"I don't know." The exit slid aside, letting me out. The moment I crossed over to the library basement, my demon howled, my stomach clenching so tight I could barely breathe.
Demon magic all right. The most powerful and crushing I'd ever felt. Coming from home.
I scrambled for my keys, Galleytrot leaping into the back seat of Minnie, using his power to slam the door shut just as I hit the gas. It was a short drive, but I swear it was the longest ride of my entire life.
Pain knifed through me as I threw the car into park. I clutched at my stomach, still behind the wheel, my head flying forward to press into the horn. The sound startled me, enough I was able to use my witch magic combined with the now willing Shaylee's earth power to block off some of the pressure. Enough I managed to stagger out of the car and to the kitchen door.
The feeling was worse, if that was possible, on the other side of the wards. Amber fire colored my vision as I cried out in agony. I spotted Sassafras, my demon silver Persian, scuttling down the basement stairs and knew then whatever caused my pain came from there.
Every step jarred the wrenching hurt inside me. I almost made it to the basement door when Mom appeared beside me, carrying my little sister Meira. She looked terrified as I shuddered and sagged against her, Galleytrot holding me up.
"Mom," I whispered, jagged, raw. "Where's Dad?"
Meira moaned, near unconsciousness. Mom shook so hard I worried she might drop her. She didn't answer me, instead turning and running down the basement stairs. I followed, using the black dog for locomotion as he practically carried me down the long, narrow flight.
I staggered to my knees at the bottom, feeling the arc of demon power slice through me the moment my feet touched the concrete floor. I didn't even have the strength to scream, the sound of my demon's pain instead echoing inside my head. My eyes flickered around the basement, taking in the sight of Dad, surrounded by amber wards, his eyes glowing with demon fire, the power pumping out of him, feeding the swirling magic surrounding him.
Fed by the blood flowing from his right hand.
I could barely comprehend it, or the silver blade held in his left hand, the edge shining crimson. Not while blue family magic lashed at him repeatedly, over and over, the pain lurching through me at every strike. Our coven's power attacked Dad, protecting us from the negative magic he performed, while he stood there, locked in the embrace of what he'd done.
I reached out without thinking, trying to get to him, as a silver flash of fur raced around the coiling blue magic, puncturing the amber power and reaching Dad's side just as the strength of our family energy gathered in force and slammed down over the bubble of demon magic.
The force of impact and following shockwave lifted me from my knees, threw me back into the staircase, my body cushioned from the impact by the black dog. Mom and Meira flew like rag dolls, though a flash of Mom's power protected them from serious damage. I gasped for breath as the near sonic boom passed over and through me, lungs collapsed of air from the pressure. Choking, near to throwing up everything I'd ever eaten in my entire life, I sagged forward and stared into the smoke-filled darkness.
Glass softly tinkled to the ground, the single bulb over the pentagram shattered, the shards previously suspended by power now free to fall to the concrete. My demon snarled inside me, shuddering as she struggled to recover. But it was Shaylee who offered me vision, softly showing me a sight I wished I could then erase.
Dad lay crumpled on the floor, looking pale as death. If it hadn't been for the slow, shallow rise and fall of his chest I would have sworn he'd left us forever. I coughed on some drifting smoke still remaining, falling forward to crawl toward him, gaze flinching from the still-wet redness of his right palm.
I'd almost reached him when I realized he wasn't alone. Someone else stirred in the pentagram. I hacked briefly on another whiff of smoke, lungs aching, chest burning from the taste, the taint of it making my terror rise as I accepted why it felt so foul, like death, as I focused back on Dad.
Blood magic. Now I was close to Dad, I could practically feel the pool spreading around his flesh. No. Way. My brain would not process though my heart died a little at the sight.
Again that flicker of motion caught my eye, distracted me. A stranger sat up suddenly, a guy about my age, amber gaze glowing, black hair shaggy around his temples.
"Syd," he whispered, those amber eyes huge and staring as he met my gaze before looking down at his hands, those fingers rising to touch his face, the demon fire fading to deepest brown.
Everything froze-time, my pulse, emotions, life. When it all started up again, I could only gape and gasp one word.
"Sassafras?"
***
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