Chapter 422: Iepa
-I'm in the dream again, watching the two armies face off, the ghostly specter of the maji woman hovering next to me. Only now the battle has engaged, power slashing between combatants, death and life coming together in a mix of screams and the discharge of opposing magicks.
I want to help, reaching for them, but the maji holds me back.
Iepa. I turn to her, see her face more clearly with contact, and know I'm right, it is she, the author of Liam's book, who has brought us together, to this place, with purpose. I have to stop it.
You will have your chance. Her voice is liquid in my mind, gentle and soft. I hope. But not in this moment, Sydlynn. This is but an image of what could be, a possible future. If we were to go elsewhere in this place, you would see far different outcomes than this one. And yet, the possibility of its coming to pass is enough to bring us worry.
Us. I turn back to the battle, heart pounding. The maji.
She doesn't answer, just watches with me for a moment. This future is terrible, she sends. One which could mean the end to magic on your plane, spreading outward to others until it consumes the Universe.
Then what do I have to do to stop it? My hands have clenched into angry fists at my sides, beating against my thighs over and over. I feel the impact, though barely, as though my body is far away.
Be open, Iepa sends. And say yes to them when they come to you. Their safety is paramount.
I'm about to ask her who she's talking about when the image changes, a large, jagged cut appearing through the battle scene as though I've only been watching on a big-screen television. The two edges jerk aside, the stuff of the veil parting to show me what I need to see.
Two kids run toward me, a girl, tall with dark hair, glasses, her hand clutching the boy beside her, shorter, younger, with the clearest, most intense blue eyes I've ever seen. They are in darkness, fleeing through trees, heading toward me, but never reaching the veil.
The light and her shadow, Iepa sends. Remember.
I lunge for them, the compulsion the maji has placed on me pushing me forward, the need to protect them so powerful I can barely catch my breath. My fingers brush the edge of the veil, almost, almost-
"Syd."
I leaped back, away from Liam as he touched me, my hand lifting from the slab, the vision over, though my need to reach the kids hadn't gone anywhere. I stared at the empty air above the pedestal, searching for a glimpse of the kids, some way to reach them, but they were gone.
"Damn it." I pulled free of Liam as he tried again, rubbing my hands together while they tingled, the iridescent magic of the maji still clinging to me. "I have to find them again." I touched the slab with my fingertips, but nothing happened. It wasn't until I pressed both palms to the plate I realized I'd lost whatever connection I'd had.
Hard not to be angry at Liam for breaking it.
"Syd, what's wrong?" Sassafras hopped up on the slab and came to my side. I resisted the urge to lift him free of the stone, feeling as if his presence there was some kind of sacrilege. I really had to get my crap together. At least, from the way my friends were looking at me, I did.
"I saw something." I told them in a halting voice, about the battle, the conversation and the two kids. I shook myself a little as I spoke. The girl had to be near my age and I was calling her a kid? Something about going through all the life-changing events I'd been through made me feel like anyone else my age was still just a child.
Not fair of me, though. For all I knew, those two had seen as much trouble as I had.
"None of you saw any of it?" I wasn't really surprised, though I hoped I'd have some backup in case I was accused of looking for trouble. Funny how Quaid's reaction from months ago still clung to me and made me feel guilty.
"I'm sorry," Liam said. "I shouldn't have touched you. But you were shaking and looked like you were in pain."
Charlotte hung back, her breath coming in soft pants. I turned and went to her, taking her hands in mine. "What is it?"
"You were gone so long," she said softly. "If Liam hadn't broken the spell, I would have."
I spun back on the others. "How long?"
"At least a few hours," Liam said. "We were going to let it run its course, but then you became so agitated."
Wow. It felt like minutes to me.
"Okay," I said, trying to pull my thoughts together through a burning need to find the two kids in my vision. "So here's what we know. It seems the sorcerer's sect is prepping for some kind of war against all other magic races. But they aren't ready yet. Unless we find a way to stop them, magic as we know it could be destroyed."
Sassafras shook, his fur standing on end. "And the children you mentioned?"
"According to Iepa, they have something to do with the light and the shadow, whatever that means. I do know they are both important in the war." I ground my teeth together and crossed my arms over my chest. "You know what? I'm getting mighty tired of all this crap. Just for once, couldn't something be easy?"
Galleytrot snorted. "I'm sure the powers controlling this are most contrite about their methods," he said. "I'm sure if you ask the maji to just come out with it, they'll be happy to oblige."
I scowled at him, but couldn't hold it, a grin winning. "And here I thought Sassafras was the smartass."
The big dog bowed his head, tongue hanging out as his tail wagged a few times in answer.
"There's not much more we can do here," Liam said, looking around. "I did as much study of the family lines as I could without equipment to log the information."
"Unless you think you can reconnect with the maji?" Sassafras finally hopped down on his own and I found myself breathing a sigh of relief he'd done so.
I shook my head. "For whatever reason, our time was up." Yeah, Syd, like you'd over-used your broadband or something. Right. Still, it felt like I had what I needed.
I just had to find the kids and... what? Protect them? Help them? Lock them up?
Okay, so I didn't have everything. But maybe once I had them in my grasp they would be able to tell me more.
Shadows flickered, the room taking on a cold edge just as the air seemed to part and Sebastian appeared beside me. I turned toward him, the pull of his nature calling to my vampire core. The moment I did, he moved as well, all tall, dark and deliciously undead of him hovering over me, eyes full of something reminding me I hadn't had dinner yet.
"Sydlynn." His cold hand touched mine, skin temperature telling me he hadn't stopped to eat either before coming to see what we'd uncovered.
"Sebastian." Grrrowl. I'd always had a crush on the devastatingly handsome blood clan leader, even before my brilliant idea to rescue him from the essence threatening his life and now residing inside of me. Even more so now I knew what his broad, strong body looked like mostly unclothed. But the feeling of wanting to be with him was much stronger than I remembered. While I blamed my vampire core, I couldn't help the grin lifting the corner of my mouth or the naughty urge to stroke his hand with my thumb while I imagined stroking other parts of him-
Yeesh. Okay, down, girl.
I think Sebastian must have had the same reaction to me. And the exact understanding of why in the moment I did because it seemed like we pulled apart in the very same instant, his body, once curved toward me in sensual offering now rigid as he took a step away and clasped his hands behind his back.
There was just enough of my awareness left to register the flash of jealousy on Liam's face.
Like the poor guy needed another rival to worry about.
"Incredible." It was probably a good thing Sebastian was instantly fascinated with the chamber. Otherwise, I wasn't sure I'd be able to show as much restraint as he did. Part of me was sad when he walked away, eyes locked on the carvings on the walls, to think we'd used to be as close to friends as we could get, and now this thing between us could only end in disaster. I knew he'd been avoiding me since the fall, the only time I'd seen him since then an awkward and uncomfortable moment of him standing across the room muttering platitudes. He'd felt the vampire inside me when I'd asked for his help looking into the Star Club, so he was forewarned. But this was the first time we were actually in contact with each other and I fully understood why he held his distance.
Sucked. I'd have to talk to my vampire about it and see what we could do. Because now that I knew I was immortal, Sebastian and his blood clan were the few people in my life I could have a very long relationship with.
Liam lost whatever anger he'd been feeling, or at least found a way to hide it, because he eagerly joined the blood clan leader, the two muttering over the find before Sebastian turned and fixed me with his very blue eyes. I felt my cheeks heat, and not from embarrassment. Rather, the desire to run my hands over his face, to find out what he tasted like so strong I had to look away.
"This must be studied," he said, kindly not mentioning my moment of weakness. "I would be honored to assist you, Liam, in any way I can."
My Sidhe friend laughed a little, almost nervous. Was he afraid of the vampire? But no, not Sebastian, after all. "I'm not much of a scholar," Liam said. "But I'd really like to explore this further."
A few more flickers and three vampires joined us. I recognized Anastasia immediately, the cold, blonde vampire one of Sebastian's most trusted clan members. Her face twitched as she met my eyes, hunger burning in her gaze before she shuddered and crossed to Sebastian, staying away from me. The other two did the same, eyes looking everywhere but at me. My vampire core acted like a repulsion beam, though I knew part of the reason they avoided me was because they felt the opposite and struggled with the need to have access to her again.
All of a sudden I didn't feel so welcome anymore.
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