Chapter 455: Family Front
Life, as life was wont to do, went back to (ab)normal.
Thanks to Gram's constant vigilance and training the rest of the coven, we were covered on the watching for sorcerers department, at least in Wilding Springs. And with no sign of them over the next little while, I felt the coven relax and accept this disaster as they had all the others.
I just wished I could be so blasé about it.
When I finally managed to corner Mom and talk to her, it was by her choice. She and her Enforcers swept into town to pick me up before winging off to the Brotherhood's mansion, Mom refusing to speak to me about it or even tell me where I was being taken until I found myself standing in what was once a garden, staring in horror at the smoking pile of ash and melted glass that had been the huge house.
Belaisle made sure to leave behind a little gift as a further warning not to pursue him. Mom ordered the white cat nailed to the stake taken down and the upside down pentagram erased from the top of it.
At least the shaken look on her face told me she wasn't going to let him get away with it. Followed by her very firm orders to track and locate every single sorcerer on the continent and report back to her.
Okay then.
When Mom started muttering words like "infiltration" and "task force", I figured my part in the mess was done.
Well, until I could figure out how to bypass her orders not to engage any sorcerers in battle until she gave the go ahead.
Quaid had been silent. I could only hope he was able to keep an eye on the kids, though it was doubtful. He had his own responsibilities and it was unfair of me to ask him to toss everything aside to do me a favor. Even one as important as their survival.
They weren't my problem anymore. Weren't. Iepa made that clear.
So why did I worry about them every day?
Discrete inquiries into finding their grandmother got me nowhere and I didn't trust myself past initial probing with magic not to do damage-like accidentally turning her over to the Brotherhood with my snooping-so I left well enough alone and tried to focus.
Liam was so into studying the maji he thought, breathed and talked about nothing else. I found myself avoiding him and his obsession though I felt bad about it, considering everything he learned was really for me. And his own driving need for knowledge.
He was such a geek, I couldn't help but adore him.
I had a lot to figure out, after all. Like how to use the crystal Demetrius made me. Last time had been trial by fire, desperation. Now I had time to focus and play around, it seemed impossible to understand what I was trying to do. The little vampire soul inside the crystal adored me, that much was awesome. It cooed and hummed and sang to me sometimes. But when it came to drawing out my ability, I was lost.
I needed a teacher. Not likely the enemy were going to oblige. Besides with so much power inside me, it was hard to tell what I was doing and with which at times, especially with the sweet voice of the crystal distracting me almost constantly.
I'd just have to wing it.
Demetrius was long gone and the miserable little apartment Rosetta and her fellow Chosen lived in long empty. I knew I could have chased them down. Galleytrot was more than willing to try. But for the time being I'd be better off finding a teacher who didn't want to either sacrifice me because I was evil or kill me because I wasn't part of the company line.
Go figure.
On the family front, Gram wasn't easing up on her pressure for me to find a second. Yeah, I had tons of time to think about something like that. I kept putting her off, though I knew it wasn't fair.
I just needed my grandmother around me for a while longer.
Meira was still a little cold with me, even after we both went downstairs together to call Dad and I let her have most of his time and attention. Guess there were things she held against me no matter how hard I tried to let her be her own person.
Wasn't looking forward to her teens.
At least Uncle Frank and Sunny's wedding wasn't being pushed back because of my recent dive into disaster. Their joy was enough to distract me from the feeling I was being drawn away from everything and everyone I loved by fate or destiny or some such tripe that made me nuts in the middle of the night and wouldn't let me sleep.
Being Sunny's maid of honor was a lot of fun, though I could have done without the endless dress fittings. And if she brought me one more pair of shoes to try on, I'd have to kill her.
School. Really? Sigh. I had two months before I had to think about it, yet. But Sashenka hadn't given up on having me come to visit, so that was something to look forward to.
Charlotte refused to even discuss pushing the limits of her bond and gave me the icy shoulder every time I brought it up. So my little plan to work out some freedom died before it even had a chance to breathe.
One cool thing came out of all this. Feeling drawn to the maji cave, I returned there with the crystal. The slab waited for me, glowing softly. I hesitated to touch it this time, not wanting to have one of those waking dreams Iepa seemed so fond of. But this time, when I did, the most remarkable thing happened.
In slow and lazy lines, the glow of maji power flowing like ink, each of the family trees updated themselves until I was staring at my name, now in English, Meira's beside me, space left yet for the families we would have.
Keeper of the family history? Couldn't be more connected than that.
End of Book Eleven
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