Chapter 403: Meems At Odds
I left shortly after, unwilling to talk to my grandmother any longer, dragging my sister out with me. She allowed us both to go, though I felt her eyes boring holes in my back as I retreated, head spinning with new knowledge and the fear I really was trapped here forever.
Meira jerked free of me the moment we were out of sight of the guards. I turned to her, not meaning to be angry, and certainly not mad at her, but my anxiety had the best of me.
"We have to go see Dad." Man, was I going to ream him a new one.
She glared at me, rubbing at her arm where I'd held her. "Says who?"
This was no time for back talk. In fact, the expression on her face reminded me of the brat she'd been after returning from a summer at witch camp, turned to the dark side by the evil of the Dumont family. No way was she regressing to petulant child on me, not with so much at stake.
"Meems," I said, "what the hell?"
"Don't tell me what to do." She turned away from me, face set in a pout.
If she said I wasn't her mother, I was going to scream.
"Fine," I snapped. "I'm going to see Dad. You stand here and act like a child."
I turned my back on her, frustration driving me to take a step away, though I had no intention of really leaving her behind, when a ball of demon power struck me between the shoulder blades, staggering me.
It wasn't a very big ball. And thanks to my training I had lots of shields built up anyway. But still.
She was so dead.
I turned, rage flaring, to see Meira sobbing silently, face in her hands. Okay, crappy big sister moment, obviously. I rushed forward and hugged her while she struggled to be released, though she didn't fight me too hard and ended up hugging me back after only a moment.
"Meems," I said. "I'm sorry. What's wrong? What did I do?"
She shook her head, face pressed into my shoulder. "I love Mom and Gram and everyone," she whispered. "But I love it here, too." She looked up, eyes wide. "Even the fighting." Like she was saying something bad. "I feel whole for the first time in my life." She sagged against me. "I'm a terrible person."
I rested my cheek on the top of her head and sighed. "No, you're not," I said. "You're allowed to be happy, you know that, right? On your own terms?" I shoved aside the image of her so aged and tried to just be there for her without my own fears spilling over and making things worse.
"It's just... you get everything." Meira backed away, face contorted as she struggled with what she was feeling. "I don't mean to be jealous of you, Syd," she said, more tears flowing down her cheeks, "I really don't. But I can't help it sometimes."
Jealous? Of me?
"You're the coven leader," she said, shoulders sagging. "You have two guys in love with you, both amazing." Okay, kinda true. But way off base, if she knew how I struggled with them. "You're beautiful and don't have to hide it." Sigh. "And now you get to live forever and be Ruler and everything." She threw her hands up in the air. "And I get to stay home and die. That's just great." She stared at me with her heart in her eyes. "Can't I just have one thing?"
I'd done everything I could, or thought I had, to make sure Meira knew how important she was to me, how much I loved her. I always thought I'd done a good job, was a good big sister. But obviously there were things I'd missed, perceptions she had I couldn't begin to fathom.
"Meems," I said, opening my arms as she rushed to me again and held on. "I never, ever want you to feel like you're second best."
"I am," she said, almost a wail.
"No way," I shot back. "No. Way. You are amazing and beautiful and unique. No one is like you and never will be. I love you so much, you know that. And I only ever want for you what makes you happy."
She snuffled. "Even if that means I want to stay?"
"Absolutely," I said, heart breaking. What would I tell Mom?
Oh, right. Trapped. Problem solved.
"I love fitting in here," Meira said as she pulled away, wiping at her cheeks with both hands. A little smile emerged. "No one stares for the wrong reasons and those demons I fought, they were scared of me after." She went a little pale. "That's bad too, isn't it?"
"Not here," I said. "You want them to be afraid. And they should be. You kick ass."
She giggled. "I do." Her amber eyes glittered with almost evil glee as she shed the last of her upset. "So do you."
"Not according to Mr. Bossy Pants." Meira giggled again at the nickname for our demon cat.
"I'm a really good fighter," she said, "and I know I'd do well here. Make it to Second Plane someday, I'm sure of it."
"You should be there now," I said.
Meira hesitated before blurting, "Grandmother offered me an advance in status to match yours if I stayed."
The bitch. As much as I understood my grandmother's political motivations, it pissed me off to no end she manipulated my sister and her need to feel like she belonged-and now to keep herself from a human lifespan-in order to get what she wanted.
"She said I'd have a place at her side, be royalty. Second to no one." Meira blushed. "But that's not true, is it? The only way I could be first is if I was Ruler."
My stomach clenched. "I'm sure she was just trying to help."
Meira nodded slowly, face falling. "She's been playing me, hasn't she?"
"She's really good at it," I said.
My sister had always been sheltered, acted younger than her age for a long time, loved and coddled by the coven. But the last few years had undone most of that. The mature young woman who met my eyes, despite her mere ten years, made me feel old.
"Let's go talk to Dad," she said.
As we headed for the platform and Dad's quarters below, I knew we had to find a way to get home even more now. Before my sister took her new knowledge out on someone.
I reached for Dad as we stepped onto the platform.
Coming your way, I shot at him, not pulling my anger.
What's happened? He reached for me, but I shoved him aside.
You have some explaining to do, I sent. No more secrets.
He pulled away and severed the connection, but not before I felt the sadness in his mind.
So it was true, then. He already knew what I was going to confront him about.
Wonderful.
When the elevator slammed to a halt, I was so wrapped up in my thoughts I almost didn't catch myself, falling to one knee instead of flat on my face. Meira cried out, keeping her feet, but swaying like she'd been struck.
Fear grasped me by the throat and shook me as my mind went immediately to falling. Something was very wrong and all I could think of was plunging, the useless platform underneath us, the mile or so straight down to the street below.
The sight of four masked figures landing in our midst drove the fear out and let my anger take over. I welcomed it, surging to my feet, my demon emerging full throttle, roaring in rage, leaping for the first one who slid sideways and went over the side with a cry.
No shields. The fear fought my fury, trying to crawl out my throat and scream itself to death, but I couldn't fall apart, not with my sister fighting a masked assailant, two more coming toward me.
I drew in my power, calling on all of my magic, Shaylee and the vampire coming to my call just as the two entered my personal space. Vines of magic snaked out, taking first the female, then the male around the ankles, jerking their feet out from under them, sending them sprawling. In that moment I knew who they were, but the information did me no good as the girl, recovering first, dove for me while her partner shot at me with a bolt of amber fire.
It was easy to block his attack, but I was too slow to avoid her completely. She tackled me, pulling me down, rolling over on top of me, so close to the edge I could barely breathe. I heard Meira scream my name just as the male side of their little team pounced, the girl sliding away, his feet impacting my hip and sending me spinning over the edge of the platform and into open air.
My fingers caught the lip, just barely, power of earth burrowing deep into the stone as Shaylee caught and held me with her energy. Panting, terror slowing everything down like a horror movie, I couldn't scream because I couldn't breathe.
I had to pull myself up. Use magic. Do something. I felt my demon energy roar, the pooling of my witch power, reaching, pulling, shoving me back up.
Only to have my link to the platform severed as the wards came back on.
I had one final glimpse of my sister reaching for me, screaming my name, before I fell.
***
