Demon Child Read online

  “Do you know where he is?” Mom wasn’t talking about Sebastian.

  Anastasia stepped away, her old arrogance returning. “We will deal with him,” she said, “and return your daughter to you. The honor of our blood clan demands it. And Sebastian would expect no less. The alliance stands, as long as you’ll have us.”

  Mom was in her face immediately. “You are threatening the very alliance we’ve created,” she said. “I won’t tolerate being left out of this, Anastasia. I want my daughter back.”

  “And you shall have her.” The vampire stepped away from Mom, arms spreading wide as she warped to shadow. “You have my word.”

  Mom’s magic slammed into the ground, forming a domed shield around the vampire. Anastasia’s power fluttered against it. “Let me go,” she said. “You must.”

  “No.” Mom’s pain was winning again. “Not until you tell me who he is.”

  Uncle Frank came to my mother’s side and gently tipped her face toward him. His fingers stroked away her tears while his blue eyes locked with hers. “It’s all right,” he said. “I’m going with her. She’s my niece, Mir. I won’t let anything happen to her.”

  Mom looked like she wanted to protest further but Uncle Frank’s gentleness was just enough to weaken her hold on the shield. Anastasia flew off into the night.

  “Frank,” Mom said, “if anything happens to her, I’ll kill every single one of you.”

  He looked very hurt, but nodded and left without saying a word.

  “Miriam,” Celeste surged forward out of the dark. I cursed myself for not checking if she had really left. “You can’t leave it at that.”

  “I’m not.” Mom's power snapped out and put the woman in her place. She focused on Erica who waited with tears in her eyes. “I want those vampires watched. And I want to know who Anastasia is protecting. And most of all, I want my daughter found.”

  Erica nodded quickly, turned to give orders to the others. I stayed with Mom and Gram and the grimly guilty Sassy.

  “Mom,” I said when we were finally alone, “they’ll find her.” Wow, so pathetic.

  Mom just nodded. Tried to smile. Failed. Hugged me so hard suddenly I gasped for air.

  “I love you,” she said. “Sydlynn, I love you so much.”

  I hugged her back and tried not to think about my sister while Mom sobbed on my shoulder.

  ***

  Chapter Seventeen

  Mom drove home. I almost didn’t give her the keys. But even worried about my sister to the point of distraction, my mother was a better driver than me.

  We were all quiet on the way, piling out of the car in silence. Gram followed Mom into the house, presumably to her room. It wasn’t often my grandmother went willingly into her four-poster prison.

  I carried Sassy inside and set him down on a kitchen chair. I needed something normal to do. The drive to be ordinary was very strong right then.

  “Hungry?” I went for his bowl, measured out an extra large portion of his favorite wet food, set it in front of him. But Sassy just turned away from it, ears hanging low, whiskers almost touching in the front. His pushed in little nose nearly brushed the chair as his tail sagged off the side.

  I crouched next to him and offered him a pet. “It’s not your fault. Sassy, it’s not.”

  If a cat could cry, Sassy was doing it. “You can say it all you want.” His voice hung in the air, thick with emotion. “I let the family down. I let Meira down. If I had just told Miriam about the nightmares...”

  “Me too, remember?” I sat on the floor, wincing as the action re-opened the cut on my leg. I had to see to that. In a minute. I propped one arm on the seat of the chair, resting my chin on it. The scent of cat food was pretty strong from my position, but Sassy needed me close. “I was so wrapped up in my own stuff I forgot completely.”

  He shuddered, silver fur almost dull in his despair. “It was my job to take care of her.”

  “It was all of our jobs,” I said. “Sassy, stop.”

  He wouldn’t listen. I sighed and sat back as he slunk from the seat and disappeared down the hall into the dark.

  My demon stirred in sympathy.

  He’s not the failure he thinks he is, she said.

  I know that. Wait, was she talking about Meira?

  There is another failure there, she said. I’m surprised you missed it. Something to do with the fat demon.

  His father. Of course. What had Sassy done to be punished like this? He obviously cared about us. Was that a bad thing in a demon boy?

  We have to find Meira. I was a little startled she brought it up.

  I know. But how? The vampires won’t tell us anything.

  Our demons are linked. That was true. I had a surge of hope.

  Can you find her?

  My demon grunted softly. I’ve been trying. But I think she is being warded.

  There went that idea.

  I was so tired of fighting with her. We need to have a truce or something. Until Meira is safe. Are you okay with that?

  She grumbled and growled but finally spoke up. Yes.

  Phew.

  But the moment this issue with your sister is resolved, we need to do the same for ourselves.

  She was right. And I was okay with that.

  Fair enough.

  It felt good not to be at war with myself anymore.

  I left Sassy there, finally dipping into his dinner, and limped upstairs.

  Mom spent Saturday and Sunday ignoring us, in and out, mostly out, with the rest of the coven.

  When I volunteered to help she turned on me like I’d suggested she kill me herself.

  “Absolutely not,” she snapped, “under no circumstances are you to even consider looking for your sister, Sydlynn Thaddea Hayle.”

  When Mom used my full name I knew she meant business.

  “I want you to say out of this,” she said. “No matter what. I couldn’t bear…” she turned away again, her voice full of emotion. “Just let me handle it, please. I can’t do that if I don’t know you’re here and safe.”

  So frustrating. And the thing is, she didn’t make it an official coven order. Which meant it was just a Mom order. I could ignore it if I wanted to without being kicked out of the coven for betraying my leader.

  Part of me wanted to rebel, but the rest of me chose to do as she asked. My demon wasn’t very happy with me, but a simple reminder of our truce was enough to make her quiet. Especially since she was also witness to Mom’s overwhelming emotion.

  Saturday went slowly by in a haze of TV watching and massive junk food consumption. I was up and down so many times to listen in when family members arrived and left I barely remember watching anything.

  That night, when Mom came home, I cornered her.

  “The vampires?” I was like a junkie in need of a fix, jiggling up and down, nervously chewing a hangnail while I pinned her for answers.

  Mom just scowled and shook her head. “I told you to stay out of it.”

  She really expected me to do that? I followed her when she dodged me and headed for the basement.

  “Are Uncle Frank and Sunny coming over?” Someone had to talk to me.

  My only answer was the slamming of the door in my face. Fine. I slumped to my room where Sassy lay curled into a miserable ball.

  “Any news?” He barely lifted his head. I stroked his ears and wished I had more to tell him.

  “Mom’s working on it.” My attempt at brightening my voice failed utterly.

  Sassy whimpered and covered his face with his tail. “Poor Meira,” he said.

  There wasn’t much I could say to that. And as much as I wished I could do something to make him feel better, I was all out of ideas. Kind of hard to cheer up someone else when you’re feeling like crap yourself.

  Sunday was a horrible repeat of Saturday. By the time the sun set I knew I was about to break out into one massive zit from all the chocolate and crap I ate, but I just couldn’t help myself.

  My fi
nal attempt to wrangle anything out of Mom ended in her leaving during a shouting match that pretty much boiled down to,

  Mom: “Mind your own business!”

  Me: “It’s not fair!”

  Constructive. I did finally notice I had an odor and dragged my dirtiness up to the shower. The water and soap helped a little, but I still felt wrung out from all the emotion floating around the house.

  I heard Mom’s car and the doors slam. I went downstairs and into the kitchen on the hunt for more chips, hoping I hadn’t cleaned out my stash. I stopped in my tracks when I saw Gram sitting at the table. How did she escape her room? When I spotted Erica struggling her way into the house with a load of groceries, I rushed forward to help.

  “Thanks, Syd,” she said, tossing back her shining hair. She was growing it out and it was just long enough to fall past her shoulders. Her cute yoga outfit was perfect, as usual, but she looked tired.

  “Gram?” I carried the bags to the counter.

  “I’m taking care of her for your mother.” Great. So I wasn’t even good enough for that job.

  I mentally slapped myself before my demon could do it. This wasn’t about me.

  “Erica, what’s going on?” I started putting the groceries away. “Do we know anything?”

  She sighed and took the milk from me, sliding it into the fridge door before swinging it shut with a thud. “No,” she said. “Nothing. Anastasia won’t talk to Miriam. And no sign of Sebastian. It’s horrible, Syd.” Her eyes met mine. “There’s nothing any of us can do and it’s killing your mother.”

  I stopped what I was doing and leaned against the counter. “What about Dad?”

  “Tried that,” Erica said. “We’ve tried everything.” She must have realized what she said because she instantly perked. “But it’s okay,” she said quickly. “We’ll find her, I know it.”

  She had the good grace to look embarrassed. Then, she laughed for real. It was the first genuine laugh I’d heard from her in a long time and it made me feel better.

  “I keep forgetting you’re not a little girl anymore,” she said. “I keep trying to shelter you, protect you like I did when you were small. But you’re seventeen. And way smarter than I give you credit for.”

  Erica practically raised me along side my mom so what she was saying made sense. It was nice to see her understanding it at last. I liked genuine Erica much better.

  On impulse, I leaned forward and hugged her. She hugged me back immediately.

  “It’s going to be okay, Syd,” she whispered.

  “I know,” I whispered back.

  We smiled at each other.

  “Hungry!” Gram smacked both palms against the kitchen table. She must have put power behind it because the whole house shook.

  It startled us so much we both broke into giggles. Gram spun on us, her scowl turning into an impish grin. She pointed at us and snickered. We pointed and snickered back.

  It would have been nice to hold on to that feeling. But the door swung open and Mom came in and her powerful worry knocked the happy right out of us.

  Erica left shortly after feeding Gram and putting her back in her room. I hung around, tried to make Mom eat. She was in and out of mental communication with the coven and refused to stop. When I pushed her, she finally snapped.

  “Just go to your room,” she said.

  I didn’t want to over react. I knew what she was going through. But I’d been through a lot too and her anger with me was just too much. Especially since it triggered my guilt. Wasn’t that what I said to Meira just before she disappeared?

  “Make me.”

  Oh dear. I thought I’d broken the baiting habit. Mom spun on me. “Sydlynn. I said go to your room. I don’t have time for your childishness right now.”

  “Maybe you should go to yours,” I shot back. “I’m not the one being childish.”

  Her face turned very red, finally focusing on me completely. “This isn’t a game.”

  “No,” I said, “it’s not. My sister is missing and you won’t let me help. Or take care of yourself so you can find her. Which is forcing me to take care of you. Only you won’t let me. So who’s being childish?”

  The color drained from her face. She paused a moment, looked down, then back up at me. “Syd…”

  She didn’t finish. We both felt the touch of Sunny’s mind, the gentle but urgent summons to the back yard.

  I didn’t care what Mom wanted. When she reached the back door, I was right beside her.

  ***

  Chapter Eighteen

  Sunny hovered at the edge of the light. She was her usual stunning self, but there was something so vulnerable about her I just wanted to hug her. I didn’t stop to think about it, just rushed forward and wrapped my arms around her.

  It took her a moment to hug me back, but when she did it was with the same old enthusiasm and adoration she always showed me.

  “I love you, Syd,” she whispered. “Thank you for the hug.”

  I pulled away, startled to hear her so choked up. She was actually crying, crystal tears on her perfect face. She lifted her gaze and met Mom’s eyes. “Miriam,” she said, “I’m so sorry.”

  Mom’s face crumpled a little when she stepped forward to embrace the blonde vampire. “Thank you,” she said.

  Sunny let her go before looking back and for between us. “There are things you need to know,” she said. “Things Anastasia won’t tell you. I couldn’t stand it any longer. I had to come.”

  Mom grabbed her hand, fierce and eager. “Who took Meira, Sunny?”

  She held onto my mother as she spoke. “His name is Nicholas DeWinter,” Sunny said, “Sebastian’s twin brother.”

  Whoa. That floored me for a second. Vampires had brothers? Then I shook myself. He was human once. It clicked together rapidly after that.

  “Meira said he felt familiar.” I looked at Mom. “No wonder.”

  “He would have done his best to convince her he was Sebastian,” Sunny said.

  “But why take my daughter?” Mom clung even tighter to Sunny’s hand.

  “The brothers have been feuding for centuries,” she told us. “Even before they were both brought over. Sebastian’s sponsor was Pannera Stohl, a good woman, a great vampire leader. He was dying and she saved his life.”

  “Let me guess,” I said. “Nicholas tried to kill him.”

  Sunny nodded. “When Nicholas discovered Sebastian survived and more than that, now had the power of the night, he sought out Pannera’s enemy and had himself brought over.” She sighed and shook her head. “I don’t know the reason for his hate for Sebastian, nor has he ever told me enough to venture a guess. Though Sebastian is the older twin and their father was a duke of Austria. So perhaps jealousy or succession issues drove him to it.”

  “That still doesn’t tell me why he took Meira.” Mom’s impatience was visible.

  “Forgive me,” Sunny said. “You need to know it was Nicholas who brought me over and it was he who was my master for many years before Sebastian found me.”

  That was a shocker. Sunny, a bad vampire? No way.

  Mom tensed. “What does that mean?”

  Sunny let Mom go. “It means I’ve been feeling him for over a week now, coming closer to us. I knew he was coming and didn’t tell anyone. This is my fault, Miriam.”

  Mom let out a big breath. “No, it’s not.” She took Sunny’s hand again. “You left that life a long time ago, my dear.”

  Sunny’s tears started again. “I should have said something, but I assumed he was coming either for me or Sebastian. I was wrong, obviously. He’s been trying to worm his way into my mind, to find out information about you and your family. I didn’t realize it until Meira was stolen. It was his goal all along.” Her eyes shone in the low light. “He must have felt Sebastian’s instability, been watching us, knew when our leader left us open and vulnerable. Nicholas knows about your vampire power, and the others. And he wants it for himself.”

  Mom nodded, no
t surprised at all. I guess I wasn’t either.

  “And with Sebastian gone…” I left it hanging.

  Sunny nodded. “He knows he now has a chance to take it.”

  “Which means it wasn’t Meira he was after,” Mom said softly. “He took her to get to me.”

  Sunny nodded again, clearly miserable.

  “So it’s actually my fault,” Mom told her. Sunny tried to protest, but Mom just smiled a little. She looked like all the tension had run out of her, as if the information Sunny gave her had brought her focus. “You’re afraid of him.”

  Sunny trembled, I could see it now that Mom mentioned it. I took her other hand and felt the subtle shaking running through her.

  “I am,” she said. “I fought him once and won, but my blood is his blood. It is a powerful tie I will never sever. Not until one of us is dead. His call is almost impossible for me to resist.”

  I wanted to wrap my arms around her and protect her. I’d never thought of Sunny as vulnerable before. She was a vampire, ancient. This was a very human side of her I’d never seen and it made me love her even more.

  “Let the family protect you,” Mom said. “We can ward you against him. I can ward you against him.”

  Sunny didn’t answer. “You must be careful,” she said. “Do not underestimate him. He is truly evil, Miriam. And now that he understands what Sebastian has inside him… he will stop at nothing to kill his brother and seize the blood of Cesard for himself.”

  “I will gladly trade myself for Meira,” Mom told her even while I gaped at her. No way I was going to let that happen. “If it comes to that.”

  Sunny looked so distressed Mom let her hand drop.

  “I can’t let this happen.” The blonde vampire backed away from us, her fingers pulling free of mind. “I need to stop him, one way or another.” She met Mom’s eyes again, her anxiety coming from her in waves even I could feel. “I had a chance to destroy him a long time ago. But I let Sebastian talk me out of it. He still loves his brother, even after all this time and everything Nicholas has done.” She shook her head, long, glossy hair rippling in waves around her thin shoulders. “This time I won’t let him stop me.”