Chapter 632: Maji Inaction
My woken anger snapped like a cheap bra strap. "You blame the witches for being afraid, for not acting." I crossed my arms over my chest. "I'm kind of seeing some parallels here, if you know what I mean."
Another flash of a grin from Iepa. Okay then. I was really starting to like her.
Why hadn't I noticed before how much we were alike?
Zeon didn't react with anger, just more kindness, and I began to wonder if I could smother in it. The idea of living here, spending eternity here, wasn't as appealing as it had been. If a life of contemplation and inactivity waited for me in Center, I'd be making my home elsewhere, thanks.
"You made this mess." I shifted tactics. Let's see if guilt would help. "The sorcerers you created are trying to take over everything. And thanks to the way you made them, it's almost impossible for the other races to fight back."
Finally, a flicker of answering anger from him. It didn't last. Zeon clasped his hands in front of his belly and sighed. I was getting tired of his sighs. "There are those of our race who do not follow the path of natural evolution," he said. "They are at fault, not we."
Talk about passing the buck. "So because these dark maji didn't play nice, we have to suffer the consequences? While you stand around and moan and whine it wasn't your fault?" Wound up? Getting there. The once delicious feeling of Center now made my skin crawl, Zeon's openness with his magic turning my stomach in its arrogance. "We can't do this on our own. We need you to level the playing field."
Zeon didn't speak, his expression still calm and sad.
Ack.
I reached out to him with my power, let him feel me again. "I'm not asking you to do it alone," I said. "I'm perfectly capable of dealing with things on the ground. But the Sidhe are in trouble, and so are the vampires. Some backup, knowing I'm not alone out there, will mean the difference between success and failure."
He gently raised a shield between our power, the first I'd felt from him, cutting me off as easily as I'd done to others in the past. Weird to be on the other side of powerful magic for once and not be able to fight my way inside no matter how righteous the cause.
"You are not to be," he said. "No maji were ever meant to be born again." His blue eyes met Iepa's. "But now that you are, we will not unmake you."
Whoa. That was an option? I spun on Iepa who ignored me in favor of scowling at Zeon.
"The prophecy is clear." Her clenched fists bounced against her thighs in clear frustration.
"A prophecy only those of the dark heed." Zeon turned away, head down, hands behind his back before turning toward us again. He began to glow, rainbow power spiraling around him as he spoke. "If the magical races fall, so be it. We will be here to start anew. As is the Creator's will." He met my eyes as he began to fade, translucent, the chair behind him clearer and clearer through his form. "I wish you well," he said. "But you will fail."
And then, he was gone.
Oh hell no.
I spun on Iepa, pent-up fury needing to lash at her, but the frustration and answering anger on her face was enough to stop my assault.
She wasn't the enemy. From what I now knew, she wanted to help all along.
"What's to keep you from lending a hand directly?" I paced in front of the circle of chairs, shaking my hands to release some tension.
"I can't." Her words came out in a groan. "They won't let me." She trembled with her own emotions. "I've barely been able to come to you as it is."
"But the dark maji don't have that problem, do they?" I watched Iepa shake her head, golden hair whipping around her. "Will they help us?"
She gasped, stared at me like I slapped her. "We can't go to them."
"Why not?" I stomped off, tired of being there, wanting to go home. The appeal of the maji had worn off. "At least we could have backup. They want to defeat the Brotherhood, too, don't they?"
She grasped my arm, pulled me up short at the bottom of the stairs as both of us began to shrink.
"The only way to gain their assistance," she said, "is to free their daughter."
Ameline.
Why was I not surprised?
"We can't ask?" Yeah, bad idea. I knew it before the words left my mouth.
Iepa started walking, head down. "I already have," she whispered.
I stopped in the street, grabbed her, hugged her hard. For being so brave. I'd been mad at her for a long time, treated her badly because I didn't understand. But I understood now.
"It'll be okay," I said. "We'll figure it out."
Iepa hugged me back before leaning away and nodding.
"I know we will. Prophecy or not, Sydlynn Hayle, I have faith in you."
No pressure or anything.
Iepa parted the veil the moment we left the gates. I basked in the love and warmth of the trip, my room dark and uninviting as we stepped through again. I wrapped my arms around myself and turned to her, wishing I could follow Iepa back into the veil and stay there.
"There are two ways to fight the Brotherhood," Iepa said. "One, we go to war, all the races combined."
"But the races won't work together," I said. "That's been the problem all along. They barely get along with their own kind, let alone combining forces with different powers."
She nodded sadly.
"And the other?" I already knew the other.
"You and she," Iepa said. "Two maji, one dark, one light. Unstoppable."
So no war necessary.
"Why haven't the Brotherhood tried to take me out yet? If I'm such a threat. If Ameline is." Yes, they tried. But not very hard.
Iepa shrugged, suddenly desperate. "I don't know," she said, voice bordering on a musical wail. "I can only guess, in their arrogance, they would never believe two witches could truly become maji. Or that those emerging maji could unravel what they have created. Or that you would willingly allow Ameline to develop into her potential. But once you act, when you free her, they will know, Sydlynn." She touched my cheek, fingers vibrating with tension. "And they will come for both of you."
Good to know.
"Tell me what to do." Damn it, damn it. Was I really going to set Ameline loose?
"You must bring her to the chamber," Iepa said, backing into the veil. "Only there can we find balance."
I winced at the sour taste in my mouth.
Right, so free Ameline, putting my own life at risk, trigger an attack from the Brotherhood while sneaking into the vampire mansion where I'd been expressly told I wasn't welcome all to make sure Ameline had all the power of the dark maji.
Sounded like a great plan to me.
***
