Family Magic, Chloe Price [christmas read aloud .txt] 📗

coven to the battle. If I broke her concentration now, the effects could be devastating.

Instead, I returned my attention to the ball of light and really looked this time. I had never seen green power before and yet there was so much about it that felt familiar and even ordinary. Yet, I’d only witnessed the amber and blue of the family. It made me wonder about its origins.

It was then I saw the sphere was only stable if the connection to the origin remained intact. That connection trailed off, the end of it already shattered and fading like smoke. Trouble was, that source wasn’t necessary any longer. The pool of energy was now feeding on the witches around me. Pouring power into it to break it wasn’t helping, it was making things worse. The shunt where the original power focused was the weak link.

I knew what to do. Not thinking or planning or even realizing I was acting, I reached out and brushed the edge of it, my demon magic tearing it open while I absorbed the thin string that remained of the green magic into my own body like it was coming home.

Two very spectacular things happened in that instant.

One, my demon roared to life and tore through the membrane, releasing the Vegas.

And two, the instant collapse sent a huge wave crashing back as all the stolen power returned at once.

Three quarters of those assembled ended up physically propelled into the walls as their magic slammed back into them. The rest ended up collapsing in a near faint from the rush. Mom stood swaying on her feet, face blank with shock. I made it across the room to her side and took her arm, just in time to help support her before she fell.

One shaking hand went to her forehead, pushing her damp black curls back away from her face. She peered up at me, confused, dazed, her fingers brushing my cheek.

“Syd?” She whispered. “What happened?”

I didn’t get a chance to speak.

“That untrained child of yours happened,” Dominic snapped at her, glaring at me at the same time.

Mom pulled herself straighter and frowned at him.

“What are you talking about?” Mom said.

Dominic pointed at me, glaring around the room, drawing the rest of the coven in. “That demon child of yours almost killed us all, Miriam, including you!”

I felt like he physically slapped me across the face. Of all the ungrateful...! I opened my mouth to snap something back. Mom’s hand tightened on my arm. I took the hint.

“Syd did nothing of the sort,” she said, getting her balance back as she reabsorbed her power. “I advise you to watch your accusations, Dominic, when it comes to my family.”

Batsheva stepped forward, silencing her husband with a glare. The smile she offered Mom was weak.

“You were too deep inside of it, Miriam,” Batsheva said, her eyes flickering to me. “You couldn’t see what happened. But we all did.”

There were a great many nods, some shamefaced, but others angry.

I’m not sure how things would have ended up, ultimately, if the coven had turned against my mother at that moment, with emotions running high already and all that magic crackling around us. Fortunately, we were never to know.

Louisa groaned at my feet. I fell beside her, helping her sit up. Martin was a close second. Mom crouched next to me, supporting him. Louisa looked up at me, her skin flawless and unmarked. She hugged me, sobbing.

I sat there on the floor with her, holding her, rubbing her back, feeling a little weird and embarrassed about comforting a grown woman, but her grip on me was so tight I didn’t have much of a choice.

It was Martin who leaned in and kissed my cheek, tears running down his face.

“Thank you,” he said.

Everyone fell silent, as floored as we were.

“For what?” I asked. Louisa pulled back, her mocha skin streaked with tears. She gripped my face in her hands and kissed me soundly.

“For saving our lives,” she said.

A huge sigh ran through the witches. I saw my mother smiling and felt the warmth of the family embrace me like a hug.

I did my best not to wink at Dominic and Batsheva. Chapter Eighteen

I was getting tired of the same argument going around the kitchen, especially since it was about me and proceeded as if I wasn’t even in the room. Always nice to be ignored.

The Vegas insisted that without my intervention and whatever it was I did, they would not have survived and possibly taken the whole coven and half the neighborhood with them. And yet, Mom was still forced to face the challenge Dominic raised about me.

We may not have been talking to each other right then, but my mother was totally on my side. Which was a huge surprise.

“It’s irrelevant,” Dominic said for the hundredth time so even his supporters were getting tired of him. “The child is obviously a menace and needs her power restricted.”

My mother laughed. And laughed. And laughed some more. The family stared at her after a while, even Erica. Dominic’s face turned two more shades of purple.

Mom finally wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand.

“If you can figure out a way,” she said, “to restrict that kind of power, you’re a better witch than I am.”

He scowled at her. “Exactly my point.”

Mom leaned on the counter with her arms crossed over her chest. She finally looked at me, something she hadn’t done since the basement, her expression neutral.

“Maybe we should let Syd tell us what happened before we jump to conclusions about her.”

I was the center of attention while being the center of attention. Crappy.

“I’m not sure,” I said, voice catching. I cleared my throat and spoke up. “I just...” I reached out vaguely, brushing the air with my fingertips, not sure how to explain what I had seen or done.

Dominic snorted and turned away but Batsheva smiled at me so I tried again.

“I saw the coven’s power being... stolen? Used? By the other energy. So I... cut off the connection? I’m not explaining this right,” I shook my head, frustrated.

“You’re doing fine, honey,” Mom said.

“That was how it felt,” Martin said. “Like we were drawing power from all of you and couldn’t stop the drain. Then we felt Syd,” he said, “and her demon touched us, broke the link between us and the other.”

“It was so sudden,” Louisa said, “we didn’t have time to brace ourselves.”

“Dangerous!” Dominic snapped. “Dangerous and impulsive and untrained!”

“The recoil would have happened anyway,” Louisa snapped back. “We felt it building. Miriam,” she turned to my mother, earnest, concerned, “whatever happened, whatever corrupted the spell, it never intended to keep the magic contained.”

“Are you saying this was an attack?” Mom stood up straighter.

Martin and Louisa shared a glance before both shook their heads.

“We’re not sure,” Louisa answered. “But whatever happened, if you fed any more of the coven’s power into it, none of us would be here to have this conversation.”

Not even Dominic had anything to say to that.

“And your original spell?” Mom asked them. “What exactly were you working on?”

“Closing down the garden for the fall,” Martin said. “Clean earth energy, nothing more.”

“Miriam,” Erica said, “if this was an attack…”

“Now, now,” Batsheva waved Erica’s fear away as if she could banish it with such a simple gesture, “no one said for certain it was. Even the Vegas couldn’t tell.”

“No one knows it wasn’t, either,” Erica responded, frowning. She leaned back again. Jared’s arms went around her.

“It could be something as simple as left over magic,” Batsheva addressed Mom. I’m pretty sure she meant it as a snub to Erica. “We have no idea what kind of old power could be under the ground here.”

“Except we check when we move in, Batsheva,” Mom said.

“Of course,” Batsheva said. The frowning Vegas processed the insult. “But sometimes things are missed. By the best of us.”

“We’ll look into it,” Mom said.

“As for Syd,” Batsheva smiled at me but this time I knew she didn’t mean it kindly, “I think we can all agree something must be done. Yes, she saved the day, I for one admit it, but we can’t have her spreading her abilities about willy-nilly can we?”

An unspoken question hung in my mother’s eyes.

I tried to look away but couldn’t. How much did that suck?

“Fine,” I said. “I’ll do what I have to do to control it. I’ll take lessons, learn to keep it quiet. But don’t ask me to participate anymore. And I still want to do everything I can to get rid of it someday. Okay?”

Mom took a big breath. I know she would have agreed to any terms if only Quaid Moromond had kept his stupid mouth shut.

That would be way too much to ask.

“I think we’re past that,” Dominic said, still angry. He had one hand around Quaid’s arm, pulling his son forward. The smirk on Quaid’s face told me he was about to stab me square in the back. The jerk.

“Tell them,” Dominic shook Quaid a little. I couldn’t believe he took it. Inches taller than his portly father and much stronger, I could tell Quaid still toed the family line. When I caught the flash of rebellion in his eyes despite the grin, I willed him to shut up.

His cynical expression slipped. I think he felt bad about what he planned to do to me. But another shake from his father silenced his will. He shrugged, mostly to free himself from Dominic.

“Syd’s been dropping power at school,” Quaid said.

A whisper of air ran through the kitchen as the witches collectively drew breath and held it. Everyone stared at me like I killed their favorite rock star.

“Syd?” Mom made my name a question.

I squared my shoulders under the weight of their disapproval, defiant.

“It’s true,” I said.

The collective breath released. Now the attention focused on my mother.

“Have you hurt anyone?” She was very serious. I felt like telling her to lighten up. Somehow I didn’t think it would go over very well. For once, my mouth and my mind stayed in synch.

“Of course not,” I said. “My aura’s stronger than usual and the normals pick up on it.”

Quaid rolled his eyes at me.

“So you didn’t call your demon today at school?” Dominic challenged me.

I made a face at Quaid.

“Jerk,” I muttered.

He looked away but not before I saw real regret in his eyes. Didn’t make up for it, oh no. But at least I knew he had a soul after all.

And now they all stared at me again. Great.

“I was attacked by a girl in gym class,” I said. “She pushed me and I skinned my knees.”

“So you say.” Dominic was becoming a pain in the butt.

I yanked up my jeans over my scabby knees. “Yeah, wanna see?”

They all checked to make sure I told the truth. This was getting to be too much.

“So what did you do?” Mom asked. Her voice was still quiet, not a scream in sight. I wasn’t sure how to take that.

“I didn’t fight back,” I said, “if that’s what you’re worried about. I never fight back, are you all happy? I take their crap and let them torture me and never once have I used my magic to make my life easier. Not once.”

I was getting really