Chapter 589: Return of Demetrius
Emptiness echoed from the kitchen. The touch of it pulled me from the sleep I'd finally managed to wrangle, harsh and unforgiving rest filled with endless stone corridors and Ameline's laughter.
I leaped from bed, raced down the stairs, while my heart skipped beats and adrenaline raced through my system. My power gathering, maji surging inside me. Only one thing felt empty like that.
Sorcerer.
In my house.
I skidded to a halt, iridescent power rippling around me, hands fisted and ready to attack. Gram looked up from the bubbling pot of oatmeal she stirred with a wicked little smile on her face.
"You look chipper," she said.
Someone cackled. I turned, still prepared to defend my home. My family.
Only to come face-to-face with Demetrius's cherubic grin.
"Pretty," he said, pointing at my rainbow aura.
Gram's giggle joined his. "Think there's a pot of gold in there somewhere?"
Ha freaking ha.
I let the magic fade, the creation power easing, the many parts of me separating and falling quiet, though my demon snorted her irritation at being teased. That didn't mean I wasn't ready to turn the pair of them into something unpleasant.
Nice to know my work was paying off, though. That my maji power came out in reaction to sorcerous threat.
Shenka pounded down the stairs, running right into me, Sassafras leaping with his usual silver grace onto the table while the chuffing growl behind me told me the whole house was awake. Charlotte spotted Demetrius and heaved a sigh before turning and going back upstairs, tiny sleep shorts and midriff tank top barely covering her golden skin, muttering to herself in her Eastern European language. Swearwords. Had to be.
Shenka simply smiled, as cheery as ever, and went right to Demetrius.
"It's so nice to meet you at last," she said, holding out her hand, power dancing across her skin.
His eyes flew wide, two huge tears forming before spilling down his cheeks. When Demetrius, facial scar pulled sideways by his grimace, leaped to his feet and wrapped his arms around Shenka, I almost laughed.
Would have if I wasn't so damned choked up. Seriously, how pathetic could he get?
And when was the last time someone treated him like a person?
Present company included.
I sank into my chair, hand drifting over Sassy's soft coat. His purr wasn't audible, but I could feel it rumble under his skin and despite its silence, his power had the desired result. By the time Gram set a steaming bowl of porridge in front of me, my mood improved from homicidal mania to grumpy.
Charlotte reappeared, dressed in her normal jeans and tight button up, sliding into a chair next to me, to my surprise. Not that I was complaining. Whatever triggered her decision to have breakfast with us, it was nice to have her there. I stopped petting Sass long enough to squeeze her hand and caught the same startled look of wonder I usually did when I treated her like she was welcome.
Jeeze. I really had to work on my people skills.
Gram served Shenka and Charlotte, a bowl of milk appearing for Sass before she sat herself and dumped half the dish of brown sugar and cinnamon on her porridge before letting me have any.
Weird, this quiet family breakfast. I didn't ask questions, not yet. Wasn't sure why. The calm, the happy smile on Demetrius's damaged face, the way he glowed when he looked at Shenka, who kindly didn't look creeped out, even Charlotte's willingness to eat a meal with me, all added to my sense of what was right with the world.
Considering I knew what was wrong perched around the next conversation, I'd take a few minutes of happy.
I finally sighed and sat back, digging my fingers into Sassy's mane and giving him a good scratch as I focused on Demetrius. The diminutive sorcerer once freaked me out solid. As the distorted and misguided leader of the Chosen of the Light, he tried to burn me at the stake, took my magic away, kidnapped me and stole my demon. Not exactly my favorite person for a long time. But when the time came to step up and help me against the Brotherhood, Demetrius kept his word. Not to mention how hard he tried to assist me when the vampire queens had me arrested.
His smile almost gleamed, bright white teeth so perfect they looked fake as his blue eyes met mine.
"I have news," he said.
The happy bubble burst, but I didn't regret it. "Hit me," I said.
His frown made me giggle. Honestly, I'd gone from hate to tolerance to a rather odd affection for the poor man. Now that I understood how badly he'd been used, treated, just how insane he was and that there was far more to his story than Gram ever let on, I felt my heart soften further toward him as he registered I'd been kidding and bounced happily in his seat, clapping his hands together before squeezing his own cheeks between them.
Fish lips wiggled at me as he spoke. "Bet I know something you don't." It was kind of hard to make out his words, what with the whole squishing thing. But I managed.
"Let's see," I said, holding up one hand to tick off what I knew. "The Brotherhood stole the Dumont family magic." That was my index finger. "They've been testing their method on small covens to perfect it." Middle. This one sucked. I'd spent my whole life in the protected center of a powerful coven. The thought of living with such vulnerability every day made my oatmeal churn. "Mom knows what's been happening and hasn't done anything about it." Yeah, churning confirmed as my ring finger dropped. "Ameline knew all about it and I ignored her." All kinds of wrong. "And now that the Brotherhood has managed to steal one large family's magic, they'll be coming after all of us." My thumb closed around my fist just before I dropped my hand. "Am I missing anything?"
He slumped in his chair, eyes dropping to the table top, hands clenched into trembling clubs on either side of his empty bowl. "Yes," he said. "Yes, so much. Burnings and ashes and crushed bones."
Everything went still inside me. All of my alter egos froze, listened with all of our senses as a chill like the grave raced through me.
"What?"
Even Gram looked shocked, Shenka covering her mouth with one hand, eyes brimming with tears. I listened to Charlotte growl as Sassafras joined her while Demetrius bobbed his head, finally meeting my eyes again.
"Little families, so little." He tilted his head to one side, almost completely sideways, reminding me of an owl. "Such tiny magic, but it was all they needed, wasn't it? To find out. To use the machine."
"What machine, Demetrius?" I kept my voice low and as calm as possible while the phantom scent of burning flesh tickled my nose.
He hugged himself, rocking in his chair. "They took it all, all of it, right down to the bitter bits. Right down to the nasty nits." Demetrius let out a thin wail before he settled again. "Killed and butchered them, watched it all, I did, I really did. Then the fuel and the fire. And finally, the hammers and the bones in tiny little fragments." He fished in his pocket, pulling out a shard of something stained gray. I flinched back as he tossed it at me, the chunk of porous material sliding across the table to stop in front of me.
Bone. Shattered around the edges, the surface filthy with soot.
Shenka sobbed once, softly before her whole body went rigid. Charlotte bent over the sliver, snuffling while Gram sank deep into her chair.
I didn't want to touch it. But I needed to.
The moment my fingers slid over the bone, my perception slid sideways-
-a screaming child runs from a man in a suit while fire burns behind her. A woman shrieks, voice lost in the roar of flames, arms reaching for the girl. A deep voice chuckles, strong hands lifting the weeping girl, no more than three years old before tossing her to her mother.
To the fire. Where they both light up, their family's screams fading as the crackle of the flames devours them-
I jerked free of the vision to the sound of someone throwing up. Gram stood over Shenka, holding her hair while my second puked into the kitchen sink. Charlotte's low, hurt whining bit through my horror while Demetrius rocked and rocked.
The bone fragment slid from my fingers, rattling on the table. Sassafras hissed and spun on Demetrius.
"That wasn't necessary," he snarled.
Oh, but it was. It really was.
This family was gone. Gone forever. With the shattering of their bones, even their echoes were destroyed, their magic lost to witchdom forever.
I shoved my chair back so hard I heard wood crack. "I have proof now," I said, not recognizing the sound of my own voice, deep and harsh. "And she damned well better listen."
Gram nodded as Shenka rinsed her mouth, turning, face ashen gray, brown eyes huge.
"What are they doing with the power?" Gram's words vibrated with emotion, but she managed to hold herself together. Better than any of us.
"Don't know," Demetrius said in a sweet tone, wiping at a river of tears running down his face, tracing along the edges of his scar. "But I've seen the machine. Touched it, yes I have. Felt the magicks they keep in it." His blue eyes blinked once, slowly. "You know they went after her for only one reason."
He sounded almost sane.
"Who?" But I knew who.
Demetrius stood up. "Mia. She's weak. Always has been. The perfect test, she was, you betcha." He slid back into crazy as if his moment of lucidity never happened. "Now they know, don't they? Now they can do it and no one can stop them." He cackled, a sad, tragic sound as he bent in half and choked. "No one."
We'd just see about that.
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