T*Witches: Split Decision (13 page)

Thantos nodded carefully.

She paused, let her gaze slide to the window. “There
are worse places to be. Who knows? Maybe I could learn to feel a part of it, to love it even.”

A muffled sound rose from the floor. “Don’t trust him!”

Cam focused on the round mound at her feet. She’d almost forgotten poor Epie, trapped under the cape. She made no move to help the hapless Fury, only noted, “I am his niece, Epie. It might be okay for me to trust him. At least give him a chance to earn my trust.”

Alex started to speak, but Ileana knew enough to stay quiet and to telepathically warn her charge to do the same. The moment of reckoning had come, and to her credit, Camryn was not telegraphing her real intentions or feelings. Aron’s sun princess daughter was playing this close to the vest, playing it out. Ileana could only hope she’d do the right thing.

Cam continued thoughtfully, “In another year or so, my life as I’ve known it is going to change, anyway. My friends will all be gone, off to college — and I guess I will be, too. So why not come here? I could get used to living in the lap of luxury, either here at Crailmore, or more likely, at LunaSoleil, where I was meant to grow up. Be with my real mother, among my blood relations.”

Michaelina couldn’t hold back. “Are you a bigger dupe than your sister?”

Cam whirled on the short, stupefied Fury. “Hang on,
Mike. Put yourself in my Manolos. If I stay here, I’ve got money, power, popularity, fame. Think of all the good I could do, the position I’d be in to really help the world’s people. And, ooooh, bonus! I’ve got Shane.” She gazed at him, cowering on the floor, trying to fend off Sersee’s fiery blows. “Coventry’s best catch,” Cam added, struggling to keep the sarcasm out of her voice.

Sersee growled, “I wouldn’t bet on any of that.”

Cam rolled her eyes. “Puh-leeze, Sersee, as if you ever posed any threat to me. Like you said, I am an heiress.”

Thantos blinked — uncertain now.

Cam circled him. “Kudos, Uncle Thantos. You really know me well, after all. My loyalty can be bought — the currency being my superficiality, my superiority complex, my absolute comfort in life at the top. Like niece, like uncle, that’s what you figured, right?”

Alex was totally stunned. Not at her sister — at Thantos! He was lapping this garbage right up! Quickly, Alex scrambled her thoughts, so he wouldn’t hear her.

He didn’t. Too engrossed in the possibility he’d get all he wanted after all, close enough to almost taste victory, Thantos ventured, “DuBaer blood runs through you, Apolla. Untainted DuBaer blood. You are heir to much more than you ever dreamed possible. Make the right
choice, Apolla. It’s what your father would have wanted for you.”

He’d almost done it. Mentioning Aron would have been the one thing to set her off, but Cam would not play. She’d gotten this far; her real feelings weren’t getting out of the box now. She dug into her pocket, and then quietly, evenly, she said, “My father would have wanted me to trust you. Yes? Well, in that case …”

She fell to her knees, bowed her head in a worshipful pose. She could sense, rather than see, the grin forming on her uncle’s vicious face. He reached for her, to take her hand.

She extended her right hand, “I guess I could give you the chance, try and trust you.” In the split second before they actually touched, sealed the deal, Cam sprang up out of his reach. “On the other hand? Nah. Think I’ll bust you instead.”

Buried deep inside her pocket, she’d found the amulet, the DuBaer family heirloom that Ileana had given her. Alex was by her side in a flash.

Thantos’s jaw set dangerously. He acted swiftly, but again, unpredictably. He did not go for the amulet, and try to harm Cam, Alex, or even Ileana. His first act was to level the battlefield. The dried leaves he’d fisted were fragrant and powerful herbs, used to confuse and disorient
those forced to inhale them. Thantos opened his palm and blew on the leaves, sending airborne flakes toward the Furies. In midair, the dried leaves fused together and formed rings, curlicues that found their victims, coiled around them like a lariat, and pulled the three together tightly. They looked like three unwilling participants in a three-legged race, one limb from each practically fused to that of her friend. One move, together or separately, and their unwieldiness would bring them down. Just in case they tried, however, Thantos made sure searing pain would result. His chant boomed like thunder:

      
Every day has its dawn, and every rose its thorn —

      
Every dawn is dusk, every Fury her trust.

      
Wayward witches three, like wildflowers may you be, sticking together, pricking one another as you twist and turn in the wind.

Even as he cast the spell, sharp thorns poked through Sersee’s skinny arms, Michaelina’s diminutive legs, and Epie’s chubby hands. The Furies broke into an instant shrieking chorus of “ouch!” And “get away from me!”

The combination of pricking pain, petulance, and
being ticked off rendered the Furies neutralized. A non-threat.

By immobilizing the turncoat Furies, Thantos had eliminated three enemies. But he’d also wasted valuable seconds giving the T*Witches a golden chance to advance on him. They snapped to it.

Cam held the DuBaer family amulet high. It would act as a protective shield against the terrible power of their uncle. Forcing him to hesitate, at least for a moment, they worked double-strength magick on him. Powers that previously had been the domain of only one of them worked in tandem. Two pairs of extraordinary gray eyes now stunned and pinned Thantos, froze the giant warlock to the spot, his mouth locked in an O, his beady eyes stuck in shock-reaction. Telekinesis-times-two double-knotted his hands behind his back with the velvet rope from his own robe. He couldn’t move, couldn’t speak, and couldn’t strike them. Cam wanted to make sure he could see what was happening. She lined up the mirrors in the room so all Thantos could see, over and over again, was his own paralyzed image.

“We did it! Ileana!” Alex raced over to her still-blinded guardian. “Wait until we lift this spell, you’ll see! He can’t hurt us now.”

Cam caught a flash of indigo. Blue-robed Shane had
witnessed a dose of double DuBaer and made his decision. He was outta there! “Not so fast,” Cam growled, advancing on him. “I’m not finished with you! We’ll help Ileana, and then it will be my pleasure to deal with you.”

“You’ll do neither,” Ileana said forcefully, her unfocused eyes burning brightly. “Your mother is your priority. Let the coward flee, and leave me be. Miranda’s already waited too long. Go to her.”

“But it’ll just take a minute —” Alex started, unable to stand by while Ileana remained sightless.

“What if he hurts you?” Cam meant Shane, but the boy had already sprinted toward the door.

“As long as I am your guardian, you’ll do as I say. Leave me, get Miranda!”

CHAPTER TWENTY

MIRANDA’S GAME

Cam led Alex through the door-hatch, and together they scrambled down the dark tunnel. Alex marveled at Cam’s agility, how her twin so swiftly and economically negotiated her way down the narrow twisty stairs, while calling out to Miranda. This is what Cam had been dealing with while Alex had been — what? Letting Michaelina take her for a fool? Pouring her wounded heart out to Sersee, disguised as Sara?

And don’t forget your friend, the dark-haired boy, and the hours you spent with or wanting him.

Alex’s eyes widened. Through the gloom she saw Miranda, frozen in place. But how could their mother
have known … standing there now, her white robes draped stiffly as a Greek statue’s?

My body may be immobilized, but my mind is as active as ever. More so,
came the reply.
The powers I thought were gone forever have been reawakened more quickly than I’d hoped. I’m your mother. And fate has seen fit to return the most precious of all my lost gifts — the ability to know my children; know their minds and hearts — and, yes, even their whereabouts.

“Close your mouth,” Cam advised her sister, whose jaw had dropped. “Let’s do this thing. There’ll be plenty of time for Mom to rag on you later and out loud.”

The twins sandwiched Miranda, linking their arms around her slender waist. It was almost as if the warmth of their touch melted Miranda’s frozen body, but more likely, it was the right combination of herbs, that crystal of Alex’s, their moon and sun necklaces working together, and the unbreakable bond of love between mother and children.

Once Miranda was free, the threesome wasted no time: catch-up could come later. Ileana had waited long enough. She needed them now. Jubilantly, they raced up the stairs. But their joy faded with the sight that greeted them back in Thantos’s room.

Thantos was no longer captive. No ropes bound his wrists together. He glared menacingly at the sight of
Camryn and Alex, their arms protectively wrapped around their mother’s waist.

How Thantos had gotten free of their spell was a no-brainer. He’d borrowed the brains of others — not only had Shane returned, the stupidly loyal boy had brought backup: Amaryllis. Thantos’s servant had been imbued with extra powers, along with the mission to spy on Cam. With Shane, she’d been able to undo the T*Witches’ spell.

Two times three: The trios faced one another. Shane, Amaryllis, and Thantos on one side, Miranda and her twins on the other. In the middle of the battlefield? The untethered Ileana, sightless, and for now, speechless. A hostage, should Thantos so decree, Alex realized immediately.

Don’t worry about me!
Ileana shouted telepathically.
Get them!

Miranda acted so quickly and unexpectedly, she threw the entire room off balance. She freed herself of Cam and Alex, shooed them from her side.

A step toward Thantos was deliberate and risky. She looked kindly at him. “May I speak to you now? I have my voice back, as you can see, and with it, my reasoning.”

Thantos’s thin lips pressed together to form a straight line. Almost imperceptibly he nodded at Miranda. He took in, Cam could see with horror, her
mother’s diaphanous beauty, her pale skin, her pure heart. His own icy countenance
could
be melted.

“If you would call off your dogs for one moment, we would all be best served,” Miranda said.

“What is it you want to talk about, Miranda?” Thantos asked, his voice a combination of hope and fury.

“The things I’ve only just found out. You never told me your true feelings for me. My daughters only just did. This changes everything.”

His eyes were so hard to read! Alex tapped into Cam’s brain — could she see what was inside those mirrors to her uncle’s soul? But Cam was mute, either shocked into silence or quiet by calculation. Alex knew only to trust her.

“It isn’t too late, Thantos,” Miranda was murmuring. “You haven’t done irreparable damage yet. Let us forget the past and focus on now. And our future. I won’t hoodwink you. I don’t love you — not yet. But I am a fair woman, you have always known me to be so. I offer you this: Come, let me hear your side of everything.”

Thantos stood rock still. He did not give away his emotions.

Miranda continued as if he’d made up his mind, “But first, you must free your daughter of the hateful curse she’s under and unglue these three girls. We will send them away, Sersee, Epie, and Michaelina, as well as your
loyalists, Amaryllis and Shane. This is neither their battle nor their business. This is a family matter. Our family.”

Miranda said it sweetly and sternly, a woman in such control, at this point, not even her daughters knew how sincere she really was. Her mission was accomplished, though: Thantos was willing to chance it.

Miranda assured him, “I will ensure that Ileana and my daughters do not interfere with our talk. You have my word. Do I have yours?”

No one had to break into the great tracker’s skull to know what was going through it. Maybe he really did love her. His body language gave it away. He was on the brink of allowing himself to be led.

Miranda gently coaxed him forward. “Will you do that, Thantos? Will you trust me?”

Still, he made no move, until Miranda came out with it. “If you don’t trust me, you can’t possibly love me.”

It was done practically before she got the words out. Ileana was finally restored of her sight and her faculties. The Furies were dethorned, unglued, and sent packing — Shane and Amaryllis left, too.

Miranda allowed herself a wide smile. It dazzled Thantos. She took his hand. “Come, let’s have some privacy. We’ll talk next door.”

Aron’s room. She was leading her vile brother-in-law into the childhood room of her husband, where his
spirit, his magick, could be keenly felt. But Thantos was too far gone to resist. He was like putty!

Miranda turned to her daughters and her niece. “I’m asking you to stay put. Do not follow us, and please, do not eavesdrop. You must not.”

Cam was nervous, unwilling to capitulate to Miranda’s request. Alex shared the concern that Thantos could still hurt her. It was Ileana who found her inner rationale, her calm, and her trust. “Your mother has to make up her mind on her own. It’s in her hands now. And whatever decision she makes is the one we’ll all have to abide by.”

Miranda led Thantos through the door — and closed it.

“Okay, then, we won’t eavesdrop,” Cam agreed. “But we don’t have to shut off our senses, either.”

“Excellent.” Alex high-fived her, while Ileana shrugged her consent.

“What do you see?” Alex pressed her sister.

Cam closed her eyes and opened her mind “Ugh,” she grunted as the foggy image began to grow crisp. “She just sat down on that little couch —”

“The divan,” Ileana informed her.

“And she’s patting the place next to her, inviting him to sit beside her.”

Alex tensed. The deceitful trickster was too close
for comfort. Like her sister, using her inner senses, she strained to hear what was being said.

Miranda’s voice was softly soothing. “I’ve known you since you were a child, Thantos. And though I’ve admitted that my feelings are unclear, I can tell you how your brother felt: He loved you. Unconditionally. You were his blood.”

Alex rolled her eyes. Her mother was playing the big heel. She could hear it — and so, she realized with awe, could Cam. Her sister’s mojo was on Miracle-Gro! And Cam was smiling smugly, thinking exuberantly,
How cool is our mom?

Thantos was so not. Like a stammering teenager, he urged, “Then you believe that Aron would want us to be together? To have a family of our own, to have a son.”

“Let’s ask him,” their mother proposed. “My powers are too diminished, but will you call up Aron’s spirit, Thantos? Let us find out what he would have wished.”

There was a pause. Despite herself, Ileana strained forward.

“What’s happening?” Alex asked.

Cam shut her eyes again. “He’s freaking,” she said.

Suddenly, Alex could see it, too. Hazily, to be sure, but she could see her mother and the tracker facing each other on the … divan … and that the color had drained from their uncle’s ruddy face. “No,” he was pleading, “it’s
too dangerous. I mean, I don’t think it’s wise. Because — let us settle this together, between ourselves, without disturbing poor Aron’s restless spirit —”

Ileana gasped. When Cam and Alex looked at her, she whispered, “He’s afraid of your father! Afraid of what your father will say! Miranda has won the game. He can’t have her without Aron’s permission and he is too fearful to ask for it.”

“Yesss!” Alex cheered, beginning to giggle. Cam and Ileana looked at each other and nearly choked. It took all their self-control not to laugh and snort like children.

“He is so done,” Cam reported. “Look at him, he looks more deflated than Sersee —”

“The bigger they are, the harder they fall,” was Alex’s gleeful opinion.

“He can’t even look at her!” Ileana reported, too intrigued with what she was seeing to realize that yet another of her lost powers had returned. “She’s waiting —”

“But he’s got nothing to say,” Cam whispered.

“Shhh, they’re getting up.” Alex heard the rustling, saw the misty figures standing. Miranda, tall and regal; Thantos checkmated by the queen.

By the time Miranda reentered the room, her daughters had plunked themselves onto Thantos’s bed and were raptly listening to Ileana as she drilled them on spell-casting.

The man who followed their mother was a shell. Head bowed, massive shoulders hunched dejectedly, he was running on empty. No ropes bound him; no blows had knocked him over. Miranda’s wit had triumphed over Thantos’s iron will.

He glanced at them as if disinterested. “If you will excuse me,” he murmured, hurrying past them, making his way to the door.

“You were brilliant!” Ileana hurried to hug Miranda. Alex followed close on her guardian’s sandaled heels.

“Way to go, Mom.” Cam joined the huddle.

Miranda embraced them enthusiastically, realizing with gratitude that she alone had read her brother-in-law’s parting thought as he’d looked at her children.
This is not over!
he’d warned.