Chapter 277: Kidnapped (Again)
Mom crumpled a little, but I refused to let the news affect me.
"How?" But I knew already, before Galleytrot said it out loud.
"The same way the Chosen masked his magic before." A soft whine of complaint escaped my friend. "I'm sorry, Syd."
It wasn't his fault and I wasn't about to let him think it was. "We'll find him," I said with far more conviction than I felt.
Mom visibly took a firm grasp on herself, her body vibrating with the effort it took. "Yes," she said. "We will."
Sunny had backed away, so much sadness in her face I knew I was losing her. "I'll leave the family to handle this," she said
I reached for her the same instant Mom did.
"Sunny," she pulled the undead woman toward her, embracing her, "please forgive me. There has been so much loss and I am weaker than I expected." Mom pulled away and met my gaze. "I've always thought I could handle anything. I've been proven wrong."
I hated hearing the failure in her voice. "No," I said, "you've just reached the place where you need to ask for help." I hugged both of them before reaching for Galleytrot and giving him a good scratch. "We just have to work together. They can't beat us on our own territory."
"There's no promise they are still on our territory." Mom's voice cracked slightly as she watched the coven members come forward to gather up the moaning, limp forms of the Chosen. "They could have taken him away by now."
I shook my head. "I don't think so. This isn't about Sassy, remember?" Mom nodded slowly.
"You're right, sweetheart." She looked off into the distance, lost in thought. "They won't stop until they've destroyed us all."
"I need to return to my clan." Sunny stepped back. "We may be able to track the werewolves. And the night grows short." I could feel it when she mentioned it, the coming of dawn, and knew she had to more keenly than I. "The moment the sun sets again I'll have the whole clan searching for them."
"Thank you, Sunny." Mom pulled me against her, one arm around my waist as the vampire flickered into shadow and vanished.
"I'm going after them." I pulled free of her, distancing myself. "If they are still in our territory we have every right to hunt them down."
Mom was about to answer when I heard a familiar cackle. I spun, rage returned, to face down Rosetta as two of our coven members tried to restrain her. She looked skeletal all of a sudden, face sunken, as if what she'd done had diminished her body as well as her power.
"Your kind will suffer an eternity of damnation." She wrenched herself free, but didn't try to escape or attack. She spit at my feet, the light of insanity in her eyes all I needed to know. She'd completely cracked. "Fire and ashes will carry you on to the suffering of ages."
"Listen up, crazy lady." I closed the gap between us, practically pressing my nose to hers as I got in her space. "If you or any of your little friends come near my family again, you'll be the one with a fire under your ass." I let my demon out, heard her growl, saw Rosetta first scowl back then flinch. It wasn't until I felt her heart flutter under the pressure of my demon's magic I understood fully what she'd given up using all of her power the way she did. Funny, but I think she came to the same realization at the same moment.
The wail of horror that escaped her made my ears ache, but I refused to pull back, to show even a moment of empathy for her plight. She'd brought it on herself, used up so much of her sorcery, burning out the core of what gave her power to the point where she was empty.
Her power was gone. I could only hope, like Dad was suffering, so would she suffer.
She slumped then, dejected, mind completely shattered. I walked away from her, from the chorus of horrified sighs and cries coming from her people, knowing the Chosen were done once and for all, and they had been their own undoing.
I wished I was in the frame of mind to enjoy the victory.
As the sun crested the horizon, I took Mom's hand. "Meet us at home." Galleytrot nodded, turning and loping off without a word. I spotted Erica, saw her coming our way, a worried look on her face. But I wasn't in the mood to deal with her or anyone else. "Hang on, Mom."
Concern mixed with curiosity flickered across her face as I leaned into my demon magic and found the veil.
It was a short trip home, almost instantaneous since I didn't need to stop and check for others. Mom gasped a breath of air as we emerged in the kitchen. I held her up as she wobbled, but recovered quickly.
"You'll have to show me how you did that." A brief, ghost of a smile drifted over her face as she gently kissed my cheek.
"Sorry," I said, "you have to be a demon, I think."
Mom sighed softly. "Just my luck." Her smile was stronger, if only for a moment. "I'm calling the coven," she said. "Go get your sister."
That's how I found myself standing in the pentagram next to Mom, Meira tucked against my legs while she yawned over and over again, the majority of the coven huddled around us. A few were off still dealing with the Chosen while the twins sat with Dad. I was just as happy to have the creepy old ladies out of the way. I wished Celeste was absent too. But she'd come when called, just like always. I could feel the animosity coming from her in waves and wished there was something I could do about her.
Something permanent.
But that wasn't my job. It was Mom's. And she was focused on other things at the moment.
"My coven," she reached out to each and every one of us, the touch of her magic as strong and gentle as always. I didn't know how she managed it, even under so much stress. The cracks I'd seen in her normal veneer of strength and calm were only temporary, I guessed. "Our family is once again under attack."
"The Chosen of the Light are no longer a threat." Celeste stroked her thick brown braid like it was some kind of pet she adored, empty brown eyes locked on Mom, horse-face unreadable.
"Thanks to my daughter Sydlynn." Mom stressed my name strongly enough, both with words and with magic, Celeste backed down. "With help from Galleytrot and Sunny, the Chosen will never again be a problem for witches." She shook her head, sadness taking over. "I wasn't referring to the Chosen, but to the Dumont family and their clear hatred toward this coven."
A few murmurs. Not like Mom's open announcement was a huge shocker. We were all very well aware of the way the Dumonts felt about us.
Or some of us, anyway. "How dare you malign another coven like that?" Celeste's voice boomed through the basement. "You have no proof of any kind of wrong doing-"
"They attacked Syd twice tonight," Mom said through clenched teeth, "and kidnapped Sassafras."
Her words won some gasps. "Miriam, you're certain?" Erica stepped forward, still with the hand wringing going on. I was getting sick of seeing her show of nerves in front of everyone. "They returned?"
I didn't wait for Mom to answer as my mind clicked over and the memory of the Dumont brothers letting the Chosen go, allowing them to pass without a fight, finally came together and made sense. "They were there," I said with power and the clear memory behind it, "but there's more to it. They were working with the Chosen of the Light."
Mom's gaze met mine, she as shocked as the rest. "Syd..."
"It's true." Galleytrot growled low, shaking his huge head. "I witnessed it as Syd did, how the Dumont brothers seemed to treat the Chosen as those not to be harmed and how the same Chosen were unafraid of the Dumonts."
The bastards. How long had this alliance been going on? My heart stopped beating before pounding back into action. Who was really behind the Chosen? Oh. My. Swearword. Were the Dumonts somehow connected to the creation of the order? Were they part of the conspiracy to kill witches?
My mind boggled while Mom pulled herself together. "Their evil can not continue." She lifted her head, back to being my proud and powerful mother, but this time full of fire and vengeance. "We must stop them."
Celeste's power lashed out at Mom as the rest of the coven gasped at her. "You have absolutely no proof." She snorted in anger. "You stand here, ordering your coven to attack another and claim to follow the laws of the Council? You would taint this entire family with your evil."
Mom paused. Damn it, Celeste got to her. The only thing besides us, her immediate family, that Mom put first was the coven, and sometimes they came before her own blood. I watched her face twitch, the hopelessness return in increments. I had to do something.
"Miriam," Erica spoke before I had the chance, "Celeste is right. We can't just go charging into a fight with the Dumonts. The Enforcers would tear us apart."
A flicker of understanding passed over Celeste's face. All of a sudden her energy shifted. I wouldn't have felt it if I wasn't focused on her when Erica spoke.
Now what was she up to?
"Not likely." Celeste sniffed. "They've ignored us before, I'm sure they would again. Especially if it was a personal disagreement and didn't involve the whole family."
Oh, the bitch. She was baiting Mom. No freaking way.
Mom's body twitched. Fish on a line, she was taking the worm. "You're right, Celeste," Mom said. "This must be done quickly and privately. I will not endanger the family over something that has nothing to do with the coven."
"But it does." Erica glared at Celeste. "If you act, it will come back to us, Miriam. There's no way it won't."
Mom refused to meet her eyes. Erica caught mine, pleading with me.
Come on, Syd. Do something.
But it was unraveling faster than I could think, though I could see the threads of Mom's decisions, her thought process winding out as if from a spool. "There is only one way to ensure the safety of the coven."
"There is no way." Erica's anger finally emerged. "The Enforcers will descend on this family and punish every one of us for being part of your plan. You know it, Miriam. This will be the end of the Hayle coven. Are you willing to be the witch, the leader, who destroyed it after all this time?"
I wanted to slap Erica as much as I wanted to hug her. She had no right to talk to Mom like that, but at least she was talking. I still hadn't managed to wrap my mind around what I was going to say.
"Now you're being melodramatic." Celeste returned her full attention to Mom. I felt her lean on my mother just a little bit, was sure Mom would shake her off and was shocked when she didn't. "I take it back, Miriam. You must act. This cannot go on any longer."
Her total turn around should have been enough for Mom. She had to hear the manipulative tone in Celeste's voice, figure out the woman was trying to influence her. When Mom met my eyes, I saw she understood completely. But despite the fact it was what Celeste wanted, it was what Mom wanted too.
She turned to Erica, the family magic rising around her. "Erica Plower," Mom said, "I hereby proclaim my intention to abdicate my position as leader of the Hayle Coven and offer you my place."
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