The Brotherhood Read online

  This is business, Mom sent. I need you.

  I finally nodded while the girls inside me calmed down, my vampire sighing at last.

  We’re all in pain over Shenka’s loss, she sent, resigned and with weight to her words. But there must be a reason she left, Sydlynn. Shenka would not simply abandon us lightly. Perhaps there is more here that needs exploring than even your mother is aware of.

  Fine, I sent, directly to my mother and Sass, though I knew my vampire understood she was the tipping point. I’ll do my best to be civil.

  Mom’s hand took mine, squeezed gently as she led me after the Council members and Varity toward the wide deck. The wood stairs thudded under me, the scent of the surf bringing back memories of vacationing here. Of liking Tallah once, seeing her as an ally. Of my best friend and former second and all we’d been through. The way we parted.

  I paused at the open patio door into the open concept living room/kitchen. After all the horrible, terrible, wrenching things I’d endured over the years, I actually wondered in that moment if I was physically capable of crossing that threshold.

  I’m with you, my vampire sent, Shaylee and my demon joining her encouragement. We will never leave you.

  I exhaled the breath I was holding and took the final step.

  It was almost as bright inside as outside, giant skylights letting in the dazzling afternoon sun. The time change always threw me for a loop, considering we’d just left early evening and the Dumonts behind. I stayed in Mom’s shadow, out of the way, as Tallah rose from a stool at the kitchen island and approached. She didn’t close the full distance, instead leaving a few feet between her and Mom. Her gaze flickered over me but I ignored her in favor of the short, muscular woman who joined her.

  I knew her face, had met her once before. My mind fished for a name as a slim woman covered in tattoos, ears gaping with three giant holes, bowed to Mom with an almost professional manner.

  “Miriam Hayle,” Tallah said, silky, black hair swinging over one shoulder as she gestured to the woman my power identified as werewolf. I made the connection the moment she spoke her name. “Nina Dillon, leader of the California werepack.”

  Mom accepted the werewoman’s small hand. Nina’s eyes met mine and she smiled quickly.

  “Sydlynn Hayle.” She sounded more like a lawyer, crisp and professional, than the rough-around-the-edges biker chick she appeared to be on the surface. “How are Charlotte and Sage?”

  “Very well,” I said, warmth in my tone. Their old leader, Cicero Caine, might have been a jerkwad who deserved the fate Charlotte handed him—no pun intended. I could still see his pumping heart beat its last in her clawed fist. But the rest of the pack seemed to be rather decent. “I’ll let them know you asked.”

  “Thank you.” Such a dichotomy, excessively polite for someone so tattooed and I kicked myself at last for judging her by her appearance.

  “And you know my second, of course.” I couldn’t look as Tallah spun, gesturing behind her. I already knew Shenka was in the room, felt her familiar magic hiding from mine. A rustle of fabric and she moved forward, though I kept my eyes locked elsewhere. On Anna, as it turned out. Tallah’s best friend and former Hensley second wasn’t looking at me. She stared with anger at her leader and I wondered if it was jealousy at the fact she’d been replaced or something different.

  Maybe I should pop by later and ask her personally.

  “Council Leader.” Even the sound of Shenka’s voice cut me to ribbons. I held tight to Sassafras as Mom murmured a greeting. There was silence a moment before Shenka spoke again. “It’s good to see you, Sassafras.”

  “I’m sure.” He sniffed, turning his head away, startling me so much by his coldness I switched focus from Anna and met Shenka’s eyes. Hers widened before she cast her gaze away, staring at the floor at her feet, hands clenched in front of her.

  Mom’s sympathetic magic wasn’t helping. “We won’t keep you,” she said. “We’re just checking in to make sure everything is going well.”

  “Thanks for the visit.” Tallah sounded a little cold and I bristled, but held myself back from commenting. “We’re doing just fine.”

  “The coven is growing,” Shenka spoke up, kind and quiet. “And the assistance of the Steam Union in accessing our sorcery has been a boon. Thank you.”

  Mom nodded. “You can thank Syd,” she said, a bit dry. Was that irony in her voice? “And Piers, of course.” My friend, the leader of the Steam Union, had agreed to help witches and I couldn’t have been more grateful. Especially considering Piers Southway had his own issues to deal with.

  “We have our own ideas about what the future of our coven looks like.” Tallah felt like she was ready for a fight, her magic bristling under a sullen layer of resentment. Against what? The Council generally or my mother specifically? She gestured again to Nina. “We’ve welcomed the werepack to join us as official family members.”

  Mom flinched slightly, though I’m sure I was the only one who saw it, knowing her as well as I did.

  “A bold decision,” Mom said, ever so carefully. “You do know such a choice goes against witch law?”

  Did I know it. Her own brother and his vampire wife had been held apart from the family for as long as I remembered. Uncle Frank and Sunny had never been officially part of the coven, though Mom and I both made sure they were included in family activities and were welcomed, no matter the law.

  Tallah had taken things to a whole new level.

  “A law I intend to challenge,” she said. “As outdated and short sighted as the rest of the rules keeping us small and controlled by a few who have led us to near disaster.”

  Mom, I sent before she could respond. It’s a great idea and you know it. “I’ll vote with you, given the chance,” I said openly while my mother continued to hesitate. “All paranormals should be welcome. Diversity and cooperation will mean the survival of our races as a whole. I’m tired of standing alone.”

  Tallah looked startled at my agreement. Some of the bluster went out of her as she nodded.

  But it was Nina who sealed the deal. “Council Leader,” she said, her wolf rising to shine in her eyes, “we are a small pack, but loyal to the family who have adopted us.” She smiled at Tallah, at Shenka. “And we will die to protect them, to a lychos, with our last breath.”

  I’d been hearing that term lately, from Charlotte and Sage, and now here. Not mere werewolves any longer, developed past their brutish creation and fully embracing their power. The lychos were an entirely new breed, it seemed. Evolved to the full potential of weres thanks to their unusual creation. Not controlled by sorcery, but able to use it to their advantage along with the power of elements tied to demons and witches alike.

  It made me happy, oddly, Nina made such a distinction. They were free weres, though I wondered what that meant for their connection to the werenation.

  Mom finally nodded. “We will broach this with the full Council,” she said, “but I will support altering the law. The time for segregation is long past.”

  Tallah seemed relieved, Nina gently punching her in the arm with a satisfied grin before crossing her arms over her narrow chest.

  I risked a glance at Shenka to catch her watching me again. Before she could look away, on impulse, I reached out to her with magic and hugged her.

  “It’s good to see you,” I said, surprising myself with the level of emotion behind my words.

  Instead of answering me, Shenka let out a low cry, eyes blurred with the sparkle of tears, and ran across the room, slamming her bedroom door behind her.

  Kindness, Sassafras sent with more gentleness than I’d heard in a long time. You might as well have hit her.

  When I turned back, Tallah’s scowl did its best to make me feel guilty.

  Not this time.

  ***

  Chapter Nine

  Mom sat next to me in the dark kitchen and sipped her tea with a slight frown between her eyebrows. I reflexively rubbed the line between my own i
n sympathy while Sassafras lapped at a cold bowl of cream, amber eyes flickering back and forth from my mother to me.

  We’d wrapped up our little tour of North American witchdom with the Hensley family. Rather than go back to Harvard with Varity and the Council members, Mom opted to stay put and share a cup with me while the quiet house settled around us. The kids were still at Harvard with Dad, since it was a school night. I’d intended to visit but wasn’t sure I wanted to burden them with the way I was feeling just now, not to mention I’d have to wake them at this late hour. Though I was more and more an absentee Mom than an actual parent these days, it did make sense for Gabriel and Ethie to stay with Mom and Dad at the college where they were safe. Then again, was anywhere safe? There were times I wondered if they would be better off with me, and other times keeping them as far from me as possible seemed the best choice. Seeing Shenka, feeling Tallah’s resentment and anger against me and my mother, made me think of my kids and wish they were here for me to hug.

  Maybe it wasn’t too late to see them, after all.

  Mom hadn’t said much since I filled her in on Sonja’s request to see Gabriel. That little talk wasn’t making things any easier for me either. The suspicious and angry part of me was prepared to march up to Hilltop and kick her ass halfway across the continent just to protect my baby from her influence. But every time I considered the option, Liam’s gentle, smiling face bobbed into my head and I couldn’t bring myself to do it. As much as I disliked and mistrusted Spaft and Sonja, I owed it to my son to allow him to form his own opinions about his father’s side of the family.

  And to trust him enough to make the right choices.

  Mom finally sighed and set her cup down on the table, the soft sound of ceramic on wood. “I’d like nothing more than to handle this for you,” she said, grim, blue eyes dark. “I could, you know. Legally. One word from you and the Council could make her leave your territory.”

  That felt wrong, like she was asking me to be some kind of tattletale whiner. “Thanks, Mom,” I said. “But, no thanks.”

  She nodded, fingers tracing wet patterns through the ring of spilled tea that pooled on the table around her mug. “I knew you’d say that.” Her lips twisted into a wry grin. “I taught you better.”

  I smiled back. “And I want to teach my kids the same lessons.” I never thought I’d say such a thing. There was a time, really not so long ago, I swore when I had children things would be a lot different. Funny how maturity and time prove otherwise.

  “Gabriel is a wonderful boy,” Mom said, straightening in her chair. “Smart and compassionate. But he has enough of you in him I’m not worried she’ll succeed in lying to him successfully.” Thank the elements for that. Though my insides bristled against the comment. Everyone underestimated Liam, thought him too soft, too weak and kind. I knew better. My oak tree would have seen through his mother, and did in many ways. But he also understood and refused to judge her for her failings.

  That was true strength, a far cry from the temperamental woman sitting in my seat who threw a fit and asked questions later. Who was the more powerful, then?

  “He’ll make the choice that’s right for him,” I said, standing. Mom joined me, hugging me, though with some hesitation. Whether because she sensed my irritation or out of worry I was angry about our trip to California, I didn’t know. When she pulled away at last, I had my answer.

  “You have more access to Tallah than I do,” Mom said. “Through the Shadow Council. Please, watch over her. Something is going on that worries me.” She bit her lower lip. “Her magic felt…”

  Sassafras grunted, winning our focus. “Off,” he said. “I assumed it was the inclusion of the weres, but that’s not it, is it, Miriam?”

  Mom shook her head. When she met my eyes again, hers brimmed with concern. “I have no idea what Tallah is planning, or what the loss of her family’s strength has driven her to do. But I hesitate to bring the Council into it unless I have to, Syd.” Because that would mean an official investigation which could end up in a very bad place.

  “But,” I said, “if she’s up to no good, Mom, she can’t be allowed to continue.” We’d had enough sneaking around and secrecy in the past to prove inaction was far worse than waiting to see what might evolve.

  “Agreed,” she said, stepping away from me. Her hands squeezed her upper arms, the silk of her dark blue blouse bunching in wrinkles under the pressure of her grip. The pentagram around her neck sparkled as blue fire erupted at her feet. “I’ll kiss the kids for you,” she said. “Just do your best and I’ll do mine.”

  I waved to her as she left, sighing heavily before sinking back into my chair. My head ached from all the emotion and thoughts and speculation, the constant weight of the fate of the Universe in the backdrop of the minutia of my not-so-normal life. Sass’s paw gently settled on my hand where it rested next to my mug and I looked up with a weary smile.

  “Sorry,” I said. “Just a little tired.” Probably for the best the kids were at Harvard. I just didn’t have the emotional energy for them right now.

  “Don’t be,” he said, tingle of power passing between us. “I, of all others, understand.”

  I gathered him into my arms and rested my cheek between his ears. “I really should go kiss my kids goodnight.” Waffle? Who, me? Actually, the more I thought about it, the better it sounded, tired or not. A little dose of Gabriel’s sweetness and Ethie’s enthusiasm would go a long way right about now. And I hated the thought of being one of those mothers who lost sight of the everyday in favor of the big picture.

  Selfish to wake them. Selfish to stay away. How much did that suck?

  But, as I stood to step through the veil, the wards shuddered, preceding a soft knock on the kitchen door. I held still as the door opened a heartbeat later and a blonde werewoman stepped through.

  Charlotte’s beautiful face pinched with distress, the mirrored worry from her mate, Sage, dashing my hopes of a kid visit. The pair of lychos almost vibrated as they stood just inside the door, Charlotte’s wolf, now fully integrated and with her whole power at her disposal thanks to her evolution, surfacing a moment, proof of her agitation.

  My heart pounded painfully once or twice before I could settle myself and grit my teeth. “What’s wrong?”

  “My brother,” Charlotte snarled. “We have to do something about Danilo.”

  Sassafras hissed softly. “What’s he done?”

  Sage’s hand settled on Charlotte’s shoulder, fingers sliding through her thick, blonde hair. His own dark locks had grown out past his ears, sea green eyes flaring with power as he gently pulled her to his side and tucked one arm around her waist.

  “Nothing we can prove,” Sage said. The martial arts instructor turned lychos sounded calmer than his mate, as though he disagreed with this visit, but I knew him well enough to read the tension in his face and shoulders.

  Charlotte looked like she wanted to shrug him off. “Yet,” she said. “But I had to speak up.”

  I thought of Simon and the information he’d handed me earlier and nodded. “I have proof of illegal activity, for all that,” I said. “What do you know?”

  Charlotte hesitated. Damn it, she came to me. It hadn’t been long since, but the death of Yana Moreau, Danilo’s wife and queen, had to be laid to rest.

  “Charlotte,” I said, grim as Sassafras hummed his own anger, “if you know something and you’re not telling anyone, I’ll kick your werewolf ass.”

  She shivered just a little, eyes flickering from angry to sad and back again. “He’s my brother,” she whispered. “But I’m here, aren’t I?”

  Darkness flooded the kitchen as I tried to find a way to respond, a tunnel of black forming, a tall, blond man with pale gray eyes and a long, gray coat stepping through. Piers Southway’s grin of greeting disappeared as he looked first at me and Sass, then to Charlotte and Sage.

  “My timing,” he said in his crisp British accent, “appears to be as perfect as ever.”

 
; A hastily ordered pizza served as dinner while the five of us huddled around the kitchen table. Charlotte picked at her toppings, silent while I carefully chewed the crust of my second piece and did my best to be patient. She’d talk when she was ready. For now, I couldn’t stand the silence.

  “How’s the Union?” I tried for chipper. Piers winked and swallowed a big drink of soda to chase his bite of pizza before answering.

  “Progress is being made.” I loved the sparkle in his eyes, something that had been missing for a long time. I just didn’t notice until it came back. Though he’d been forced to depose his own mother, ever since Piers took over as leader of the Steam Union he’d been an entirely different person—the one I’d met years ago in Ukraine.

  Simpler times. Straightforward enemies and, if I was willing to admit it to myself, a whole lot of fun, honestly. Kicking ass and taking names, letting the girls out to play. Cut and dried, black and white.

  I missed those days.

  “We’ve lots of new, young recruits,” Piers went on, “though many were Brotherhood initiates.” He grimaced at my frown. “Don’t worry,” he said. “I’m not the fool my mother was. We’re housing them separately and training them away from those we’ve tied to Steam Union sorcery.” Poor Piers. He’d watched Eva Southway almost destroy his beloved Steam Union by welcoming Brotherhood sorcerers into the fold out of her need to show everyone she was a power to be reckoned with. That led to the near destruction of not only the Steam Union, but left the door open for Liander Belaisle to keep his base of power ready, willing and able when he tried to take over our territory.

  Tried? Succeeded. That still rankled.

  “You’re testing each of them, I take it?” Sassafras nibbled a piece of pepperoni I’d set before him.

  “Of course,” Piers said, bowing in his seat toward the demon cat. “We’re mostly hunting new blood, those freshly wakening. Why should the Brotherhood have all the fun?” I hadn’t thought of it before, not until Piers brought it up. But it made sense—where did new sorcerers come from? They woke, on their own, usually in their early teens. And the Brotherhood were usually there to scoop them up.