The shower was hot, the steam filling the entire room by the time I stepped out. My skin was tight, but I at least felt clean at last.On the outside.Mom's clothes were a shroud, wrapping me in her protection, as though I could don her skin and shed my own. Her reflection stared back at me, the scent of her all around me, keeping my head straight, my priorities in order.My mother. She was the only one who mattered today.The rest would have to wait.Meira's eyes were red-rimmed, her skin deeper crimson than usual. I sat with her for a bit, more guilt joining the pain I already felt that I'd left my sister out. I'd let Sassy deal with her when we arrived home, stumbled off to the shower and the retreat from reality it offered, the quiet and stillness of Mom's room, Mom's memory.But now I needed to be with my sister, if only for a few minutes."I'm sorry about Alison." Meira sniffled, wiping her nose with the corner of her sleeve in the warm sunlight of the kitchen. I handed he
Today's bound to be hard, Gram sent. You'll be hearing only their side of the story. Try to keep your temper. There was a hint of amusement fueled by satisfaction in her mental voice. But oh wouldn't I love to see you burn them all to the ground?Don't tempt me. I ground my teeth together as the annoying little man gestured like he was ten feet tall at the Enforcers near the main door. The big wooden portal unsealed and Mom was marched inside. Her eyes found me the moment she passed through and though she hid it well I knew then someone filled her in on what happened. Either that or the walls the Council had built around her to keep her from contacting anyone with her power were simply nothing compared to the bond of the coven.I was betting on a combination of both.The secretary read his nasty little list of accusations all over again. This time I listened closely to all of them, though I knew the final one was the only one that mattered."Miriam Hayle," he said, "you stand accus
Morning light woke me, burning my crusted eyes, making me groan. I rolled sideways, snuggling closer to the warm body next to me, feeling Quaid stretch and sigh as his face turned toward me in sleep, breath on my forehead.I clutched at the front of his T-shirt, memories returning in a wash of sadness. I felt him wake as I cried again, wetting the fabric under my cheek, his hand gently, ever so gently, stroking my hair over and over again."You're still here." It wasn't fair of me to say, I knew that, but part of my fear was waking to find him gone again. He tensed beneath me as if I'd poked a wound he'd thought healed."I am." He hugged me then, lips pressed to my skin as his words whispered in my ear. "And from now on, and for as long as you need me, I always will be here."I wanted to believe him. Chose to.Another hot shower, this time shorter, but necessary. I joined the others for breakfast, choked down some oatmeal and toast only after Charlotte stood over me with a spatula
That was my cue. I stood and gestured at the Enforcers near the entrance. "Open the door."Batsheva glared at me, but the two black-robed witches obeyed without even hesitating. The seal retreated, the wooden portal swinging open. Batsheva's magic climbed around it as she fought to keep control. Quaid entered first, Dad's statue floating behind him. I joined my power to his, bringing Dad's effigy forward to stand front and center, right in the Council's faces.Even better? I placed it right in the path of a sunbeam. The light caught the facets of his effigy and turned it into a sparkling star."Behold," I said, letting my magic boost my volume, "the Demon Lord."Dad didn't need my help. I felt him hovering there, waiting for my signal. And, right on time, he seized the moment and tore open the veil, stepping though into his statue.More gasps. You'd think they'd never seen a demon before, the way he flooded the diamond with life, red tinted skin not reverting to human tone. Instea
I was still standing there, staring at the glowing light, when the door behind me opened. I spun, tucking the box behind my back, as Charlotte strode in, fury snapping in her wolf eyes."You're free to go," she said with a snarl."I thought I had to stay in custody?" It was a real relief to know I could escape the room."Evidently not everyone was under the same rules," she said, her accent worse as her temper flared. "What is true for one must be true for all. When I spotted Odette and Benita Santos talking in the hall I told the Enforcers either make them return to their rooms or rescind the ridiculous order. The Enforcers weren't exactly all that willing to listen to reason.""Okay." I found myself grinning at her savage expression. "Obviously the first suggestion didn't go over. Mind telling me what you did to make them listen to the second?Charlotte's eyes tightened, her entire body wound like an animal ready to attack. "I didn't do anything," she said in a growl as her eyes
The coming darkness did nothing to make my battle any easier as the virus fully woke after the sun went down. I was happy to have Charlotte next to me as I stumbled my way to the hall and the Council chamber, only just pulling myself together long enough to make it to my seat before the virus's whispering temptations returned all over again.The Council had marched in while I fought the power inside the gem and I only came back to myself when I heard a familiar name being called.Sunny looked stunning as ever, poised like Mom, though her years were apparent in every inch of her. She held herself like a queen, as though she only appeared before the Council from the goodness of her heart.Her testimony flew by while I continued my battle with the virus. It kept tempting me, telling me how easy it would be to simply sweep all of the others before me away, whispering its lies and hope into my heart. I was startled back to myself to see Uncle Frank standing where Sunny had, his handsome
Charlotte's soft growl broke my shock."Necromancy is forbidden," the weregirl said, fear in her voice humming with her power."It is to ordinary witches. But not to Enforcers." Gram blew out a huff of breath, her impatience clear."Then get the Enforcers to do it." I tried to back away a step only to have Gram snatch my arm and jerk me back. "Gram, you're just going to make things worse." I could see her standing next to Mom, on trial for the second most forbidden crime in our culture."Dominic owns the Enforcers, in case you've forgotten." Gram let me go. "This is the only way. My former status should protect me.""But there is no promise of that." We weren't alone. Charlotte spun with a snarl, crouching between me and the black-robed man at the door. "Your position protected you once, but I can't promise it will do so again." Pender Tremere pulled back his hood, face wreathed in what looked like agony of indecision.Gram didn't seem shocked to find him standing there. "I have
Pender's breath whooshed out as he nodded slowly, though he looked afraid now."Very well," he said. "She will be our anchor."I knew the gist of what they were doing. Necromancy at least had been creepily fascinating enough I paid attention when Mom tried to teach me. Drawing out the soul echoes of the dead was only possible with a minimum of two people-one to do the searching and the other to act as an anchor to the real world. It wasn't the full soul they brought back, only a glimmer of who the person had been in life. The best part, the ghost was unable to lie, as though whatever they did in their time alive was imprinted permanently on the echo.But it had been a creepy lesson in my family basement. This was the real thing in the bowels of a mansion obviously built by those of power, whoever the maji were. Gram didn't give me time to think about it much longer, but wrapped her energy around me and, digging in her mental hooks, flung herself into the dark place between life and