Family Magic (35 page)

Batsheva turned to Jared who refused to look
at her either.

“I think it’s time Miriam saw your true form,
don’t you,
Jared
?” Batsheva stressed his name like it was a
joke.

He jerked his head in a nod. A silent apology
filled his face.

“Jared?” Mom looked at him without
judgment.

As an answer, he started to change. His tall,
lean body compressed in height and expanded in width as his
clothing faded away. His body swelled as he fell forward onto his
hands, his skin filling in with hair thickening into the shaggy
black coat I was familiar with. Jared’s true form solidified into
the massive black dog that haunted me all week.

“Galleytrot,” Mom said. His tongue lolled out
in answer. Part of me was relieved she knew what he was
already.

“Fay,” she went on. “Black dog of the Wild
Hunt, welcome.”

“Thank you,” he said. I jumped at the rough
wildness of his voice. There was a weird call to it, a pull and a
passion that spoke of ancient elements and a very old magic.

“Very good,” Batsheva said. “And now, with
his help, I have all of you and can finish taking your power for my
own.”

The Wild Hunt! Batsheva was insane. Even I,
uneducated and unwilling, knew of the fury of the ancient Sidhe
hunt that had torn apart the known world for centuries. It was a
thing of elemental force with a lack of empathy for the plight of
those that crossed its path. The Wild had been quieted, sent to
sleep by the ruling Fairy council before their own departure from
the mortal world a millennia ago. And Batsheva stirred them up
again? Might as well try to control a hurricane or tame a tornado.
The implications of the waking of the Wild on the normal world were
terrifying.

I heard a hiss from behind me. Gram lunged
from where she huddled. I hadn’t even been aware she was with us,
she was so quiet.

Quiet no longer.

“Evil!” She shrieked at them. “Darkness!
Betrayers! You will burn in fire and drown in blood and we will
dance in your ashes!”

Batsheva recoiled from Gram, but didn’t lose
her nasty smirk.

“Silence, crazy one, or I’ll do it for
you.”

Gram’s eyes rolled in her head, her wild
white hair waving around her as if alive.

“Bitch!” She went on. “Coward! I will tear
out your heart and feed it to the cleansing flames!”

Batsheva gestured, an ineffectual motion,
small and careless. Gram flew back as though struck by a freight
train, collapsing in a heap in the center of the circle. Mom went
to her, knelt beside her, bringing her mother’s head into her lap.
I could hear her crying.

“With the oldest magic, I call you,” Batsheva
said as her power swelled, seizing on Jared’s and using it to feed
the domed shield around my family. “With the ancient power, I claim
you and make you mine.”

The draw from my energy turned to a pull. I
knelt next to Mom, joined by Meira, still clutching Sassy. My
mother reached for my hand over Gram’s still form. We huddled
together while she drained us dry, knowing we were doomed and
helpless.

***

It wasn’t until Sassy cried out and I felt
the presence of my father I grasped the full extent of what
Batsheva planned. She floated the granite effigy of Haralthazar
into the circle before closing it tightly behind him. His statue
settled in the pentagram, cold and lifeless, but an open vessel for
his presence.

Sassafras cried out again, ending in a
hissing, snarling growl. He pulled himself free of Meira’s arms and
dragged his horribly damaged cat body toward the statue, useless
back legs lurching along behind him. He worked his way forward with
his front paws, claws tearing at the dirt as he went. I wanted to
cry at the trail of fresh blood he left behind, to throw a fit,
curl up in a ball and make it all go away. But I didn’t. I watched
our brave and broken Sassafras as he gathered the last of his
strength and used it to get to Dad.

The statue warmed, the stone becoming flesh,
real, and I knew why they kidnapped Sass. They needed a demon
focus, someone to channel the unfamiliar power through, to bring my
dad across, unknowing, trusting the feel of Sass, so they could
trap him. I knew I was too late to stop that, a whole day too late.
He had clearly been under their control since the twins were
attacked. That’s why Mom hadn’t been able to feel him anymore.
Batsheva probably used that very surge to fuel what she was doing
and form the cage that now held my father prisoner. I wracked my
brain as he grew more and more real.

There must be something I can do
, I
thought.
Anything!

As Dad’s face became mobile, it twisted into
a mask of pain.

I’m not sure what Quaid thought he could
accomplish, but I was very grateful to him for trying. He spun and
threw his power toward his mother, but not at her. He sent a
focused beam through the connection between her and the statue. If
he was stronger, had a little more time, I know he would have
succeeded.

Two things happened at once. Dominic, in the
background, struck Quaid in the back of the head with his fist,
knocking him to his knees while Batsheva siphoned the homeless
energy into herself.

She had the nerve to laugh.

“Bad boy,” she said to Quaid who lay groaning
on the ground. “You will be punished later.”

Because of Quaid’s sacrifice, I now had the
seeds of an idea but no way to carry it out. From Mom’s face she
knew what I was thinking. She wasn’t any better off than me. I had
to find a way to make it work.

“Can you feel it, Miriam?” Batsheva glowed
like a small star, her whole body swelling and retracting with the
flow of it. “Can you feel my victory at hand? With Haralthazar’s
magic and that of the Hayle family at my disposal, I am far more
powerful than you ever were. But wait,” she laughed, “do you know
why I chose your precious brother and his aberration to seal the
circle?”

“So you could access that source, too,” Mom
whispered.

Batsheva laughed.

“Oh, but that’s not all,” Batsheva went on.
“No, not nearly. There is one other kind I need, one more type of
magic to make me complete, all powerful, immortal.”

The big black dog that was Jared Runnel let
out a sharp yelp and collapsed.

“Batsheva!” He howled at her, twisting in
pain on the ground as her power wrapped around him and started to
feed. “What are you doing?”

“What I intended all along, dog,” she hissed
at him. I knew it was true as much as he did. No time for
I told
you so
. She never meant to free him, only to absorb his life
force like she was taking ours and keep it for herself. He howled
like a wounded wolf and continued to struggle.

“The token of the Sidhe,” Mom said. “This
cannot happen.” She pulled herself to her feet. I knew she was
about to try something, anything, to stop Batsheva. She would fail
and most probably die in the process.

“You cannot,” Mom said. “I will not let
you.”

Batsheva laughed again, the light so bright I
had to squint to see her.

“You have nothing, are nothing. I have taken
everything you were, Miriam. It’s all mine now, mine and you will
never be able to stop me!”

Mom gathered her remaining power. It felt
pitiful compared to what she once commanded. I was amazed she was
still able to tap in at all. I fed my own waning strength to her
but she pushed me away. She threw what remained of her at the bond
holding the vampires in thrall.

I knew she was right, knew our best bet was
to break the circle, to escape. Still, I couldn’t help trying to
come up with another way. Maybe it was wishful thinking in a
terrible time of impending doom.

I met my grandmother’s eyes. Ethpeal Hayle,
unbowed witch who defeated the Purity coven and saved her family,
looked back at me. She reached out and touched Meira’s
forehead.

“Your sister,” she whispered, “looks like a
demon but feels like a human.”

I bent over her as I felt my mother struggle
above me, trying to understand what Gram was saying. She touched my
forehead.

“You look like a human,” she said.

I was confused and desperate and wondered if
she was really in there after all. But her stare held so steady, so
full of intent, I knew she was expending the very last of her own
energy to keep herself present long enough to get her message
across.

I was just a little slow on the uptake.

“Gram,” I whispered. “I don’t
understand.”

“How do you feel?” she asked.

It seemed like such a weird question I
focused on it. How did I feel?
How
did I
feel
?

It hit me like a ton of bricks. I felt like a
demon. As the struggle for reality left her, I hugged her and
whispered, “thank you” in her ear. Gram dissolved back into
insanity.

She tried to warn me all along and I didn’t
listened. She wanted me to pay attention, but I was too busy or too
angry with Mom or too wrapped up in my own crap to get it. But I
understood it now.

I felt like a demon and she was pissed off
big time.

Mom collapsed, spent, her efforts wasted. She
crumpled to the ground, still alive and conscious, but barely.

Batsheva laughed again. Jared, Galleytrot,
writhed next to her, the light fading from his huge red eyes. His
met mine. There was desperation there, and, finally, a promise.

Time to act.

The demon roared her approval.

***

I found standing easier than I thought it
would be. In fact, now that I understood the rules, I was calmer,
more centered, ready to do what I had to do to save my family.

I reached out for Dad and touched his power
with mine. He was in agony but shielded me from most of it. I knew
it cost him. I pulled back and reached for Jared. I touched the rim
of the circle and the vampire blood magic holding me back. I
struggled to understand and opened up to let my demon have a look.
Through her, we were able to see how we were different, how
combined we could break the hold on us. If we only had a source big
enough to feed from. That very power source gloated in a ball of
light on the other side of the barrier.

“You can’t, Syd, can you?” Batsheva goaded
me. “Your demon is tied to your father and he can’t defend himself,
either. It’s over and you know it.”

She focused her drawing on me. I staggered as
she starting pulling my power away. I reached out with my demon. We
sliced a thin hole in the circle and managed to get to her. I
pulled myself up straight and hit her with everything I had,
driving the demon into her.

She laughed at me.

“Found a way through, did you?” She taunted.
“But, oh so sad, too weak to do anything about it.” Her laugh was
more cackle than humor. I could see the insanity the buildup
brought to her mind.

It was no use. I may have been able to reach
her but I couldn’t affect her. At least, I knew, not as I was.
Being half human and half demon gave me the ability to sense Jared,
to worm my way through his green fairy magic now I knew what it
was. Why hadn’t I sensed before the subtle touch of nature, the
scent of leaves and fresh tilled earth? I still held back, keeping
my human self in control while trying to use the demon within me to
defeat Batsheva. It was then I understood the only way I would ever
have a chance was if I gave myself over totally and completely to
the power inside me and let the demon act.

The very thought of it made me cringe, curl
up and want to hide, to run, the sheer terror at the chance of
losing myself to her battling with my need to save my family. I
struggled against her as she fought for control, coming to the same
realization as I did at the same time. I pushed at her, but she
wasn’t having any. I was left with a full-blown war on my
hands.

That is, until I felt Dad and Sass in my mind
and their gentle, steadying presence. Knowing this was the only
hope for my family, feeling them around me, their weakness, I
shuddered past the compulsion that blocked me all my life. My will
to help them was stronger. I dropped my defenses and let my demon
go.

How silly. Why had I fought for so long? The
demon within me stood next to me in my body. We merged like we were
meant to be one. I felt calm, detached. The barrier wasn’t a wall
to me anymore. In fact, I could see now the lines feeding it like
slender strings connecting the vampires to the circle. I knew
exactly what to do, saw the weakness that would defeat Batsheva and
with the strength now to do it. I felt a gentle pang of guilt as I
reached out and severed her connection to the power from every
source at once.

The circle imploded. I felt the magic from it
rush past me in a wave, saw the light disperse in a flare of lost
energy. Everything in me collapsed. I fell to the ground, spent in
that one massive union with my demon. I was left there on the
ground, exposed and helpless as the shrieking Batsheva, now normal
again with her source cut off too soon, attacked me.

I didn’t even have the presence to be afraid.
She lashed out with enough hatred left to end my life if not rule
the world. I felt her magic lurch toward me to be blocked and
dissipated by a solid wall of gold. My father, monstrous in his
fury, lashed out and brought the witch to her knees.

The black dog was free. He dragged himself to
his feet, shaking his shaggy head to clear it. I watched as my
sister’s power freed the two vampires and lowered them softly to
the earth. Uncle Frank’s body settled next to me. As he touched the
ground his eyes opened.

“Syd,” he whispered.

“Hi, Uncle Frank,” I said.

I looked up to the hateful sound of
Batsheva’s laughter. She was back on her feet, glowing. I was too
late. She absorbed enough, it seemed, to stand against even a
full-blown demon lord. She lashed out at him. Dad staggered,
already weakened by the siphoning that gave her strength. She hit
him again and again. I saw my father crumple under the force of her
attack, fighting a losing battle that would mean the end of us all
if he failed.