Children of Poseidon: Rann (26 page)

“I think he’s going to take control of the coven.”

“Well someone has to.” Jewel didn’t want to discuss it, but Maya looked really angry. “You don’t want to do it, do you?”

“Well . . .”

“Maya. You’re twenty-seven. The elders find you threatening. There’d be a split in the coven.” Jewel sympathised, but Maya was far too young to run a major coven.

Maya breathed between clenched teeth, making a sound like an angry cat. She ran her hands through her fiery hair. “I suppose so. But I don’t like being told what to do.” She swung round and stalked over to the window.

Rann draped his arm over Jewel’s shoulder and pulled her against him. She didn’t even try to fight. Her attention focussed on Maya.

“I guess no one’s had control for the last year. Kara’s been out of touch. And even before that, she was distant. I suppose for the last few years I’ve made decisions, and now . . .” Maya’s voice trailed away. “I might move on.”

“Things are bound to improve here.” Jewel shook her head. “Give it a while. He’s your father. You should get to know him. Lila loves him.”

“He’s yours, too.” Maya swung back to face them. “Are you still going to look for another coven? After all, your mother’s out of the picture now.”

Rann’s hand tightened on her shoulder.

Jewel glanced sideways at him. “I don’t know.”

Uncertainty swamped her. She still didn’t want to stay in London. It held too many bad memories for her, and Rann had said he had changed. When Alberic held his sacrificial knife above her, and she’d been certain she was going to die, she had thought of Rann. The idea of never seeing him again, never telling him how she really felt had washed over her, penetrating the fear.

“I might come with you,” Maya said. “Even if I bond with Fergal, I’m not going to want to hang round here for much longer.”

“You’re welcome to stay on the island.” Rann told her.

Maya pursed her lips in thought. “What about taking Damnam’s offer? We can both go. Set up a new coven.”

“Not on your life.” Those swirling blue eyes and the odd sense of repulsion and attraction tugging at her made Jewel want to give Damnam a wide berth. “He’s seriously scary.”

“I can handle him.” Maya pushed her mass of hair away from her face and continued pacing.

“Well, I can’t. And I don’t intend to try.” Maya was making her dizzy. “And Fergal?”

“You should get to know him, too. If I have to, then I don’t see why you should escape.” Maya stalked out of the room.

“I think she’s upset.” Jewel stared at the door. Maya had closed it very carefully behind her.

“Come home.” Rann placed his hands on Jewel’s shoulders and pulled her round so she faced him.
She has to return with me. I need her. She must see that.
All he could see was the top of her head, as she stared at the ground.

“I—”

“I need you.”

She still didn’t look at him. “You don’t need anyone.” Her words were directed at her feet.

“How can you say that?”

“You—”

“Look at me, Jewel. Please?”

She looked up, but her blue eyes were wary. “I want to come back. But is that just because all this is too much for me to cope with? Am I just being feeble?”

Rann took a deep breath. “You think far too much. Maybe you want to come home because it’s what you want. It’s the right thing to do.”

“Rann—”

“Just think about it.”

“I want to be useful.”

“You are useful.”

“Anyone could run your house. The seasprites did it for years before I turned up.”

“That’s not what I meant.” Rann inhaled impatiently.
Why is she being so difficult
? “There’s trouble brewing in the ocean. I’m sure of it. All that talk of Dark Masters. And Seawitch—”

“Meryll.” Jewel interrupted him.

“Seawitch,” he continued, “and Fergal and Alberic, all came from the Horn of Africa. That’s far too close to my kingdom.”

“I don’t understand?” Jewel’s forehead wrinkled.

“If there’s trouble, you’d be a great help.” Rann stroked the creases from her brow. “Whatever your mother told you, you have power. You’d be an asset to me.”

She gave him a doubtful look.

“Why do you think Damnam offered you a place?” Rann made a conscious effort to quell the rage that rose in him. “He knows the value of having witch allies. Or servants.”

Jewel opened her mouth. Rann kissed her briefly, stopping whatever she had been about to say.

“But none of that matters.” He held her gaze. “I want you to come back because I love you. Not as one of my people, but as you.”

Her eyes widened, but he couldn’t tell what she thought.

“When you disappeared, it was like a knife in my heart.” He stroked the smooth curve of her cheek. “I’ve never felt like that in all my long years. I was afraid.”

“Afraid?”

“For you. If they’d killed you, I don’t think I could have controlled my anguish. I’d have thrown the seas at the land, raised the winds—”

Jewel pulled away and examined his face. “For me?”

The door banged, and Maya stalked back into the room, throwing herself down on the sofa.

Rann focussed on Jewel’s uncertain expression. “For you.”

In the end, Jewel’s circle consisted of herself in the leadership position, Maya, Fergal, and Lila, together with Maria and Charles, and Fergal’s old friend, Bill. The ceremony was deliberately kept low key. Two of the coven mages led Kara out of her cell, her wrists bound with nullsilver. She bared her teeth at the circle of witches, a parody of her former self. Her normally pristine appearance had suffered; dark red hair spilled in a tangled mess across her shoulders, and her ceremonial robes were crumpled. Her face was a mask of despair.

“Alberic.” Her voice trembled. “You killed him.”

No one responded. The mages hurried Kara along the corridor and into the meeting room, where a circle had been drawn in white chalk on the platform. They pushed her into the centre, and Jewel stepped forward, bending down with her chalk to complete the circle. She stood up and joined the other witches on the perimeter.

“You’ve brought the coven into disrepute.” Jewel braced herself for the task. “Your magic has slipped from your control.” She tried not to feel sorry for her mother, who muttered Alberic’s name, her face twisted with anguish. “You are no longer of sound mind.”

Kara lunged forward, but the power of the circle dragged her back to the centre. She didn’t notice. “You killed him. You brought the murderer here. Into my house.”

The demigods were waiting upstairs while the witches performed the ritual, reluctantly, but it had nothing to do with them.

“You welcomed a practitioner of the dark arts into the coven.” Jewel shut out her mother’s moaning. She’d learned the words she had to say by heart. “You have failed to protect your people. On the orders of the council, you must make payment.”

The circle assembled behind her.

“You have practised forbidden magic, offered forbidden blood, and played with forbidden ritual. At the request of your coven, your magic is forfeit.”

Fergal stepped forward, reached into the circle, and with a smooth movement, he removed the nullsilver bracelets.

Kara’s power swirled into the room, but before it took hold, Jewel reached out to her helpers and, in the way she had been taught, pulled their magic into one single entity. It hit the storm front emanating from Kara and absorbed it. With a mental twist, Jewel severed the connection with Kara and released her hold. The power dissipated. Jewel’s vision blurred; she wobbled, blinked hard, and pulled herself together.

Kara howled. “You will pay for this.”

Jewel averted her gaze. Her mother raged incoherently, only a few words making any sense. Most of them invoked Alberic’s name. The mages took her arms and led her back to the cell. The circle followed. Jewel trailed reluctantly along at the back.

Fergal peered through the bars. “Her mind’s damaged. There’s more than one reason those rituals are forbidden.”

Kara crouched against the wall, arms wrapped round her body, rocking on her heels.

“How long has she been heading for this?” Maya leaned on the door of the cell.

“Probably from the day she moved against Fergal,” Lila said. “Maybe even earlier. Her father was pretty scary, and she was under his thumb in those days.”

Jewel risked a quick look. The sight made her stomach cramp. Pity mixed with hatred, and she averted her eyes. “Can’t you do anything? She looks like she’s in pain. Give her a sedative or something?”

“She’ll be cared for. We’re not savages.” Fergal turned away from the cell. “When she’s given birth, things might change.”

“The baby.” Jewel couldn’t believe she’d forgotten the baby, her sister. “What about the baby? I request custody of the child.”

“On what grounds?” Fergal raised an eyebrow.

“I’m the only relative.” Jewel gestured at Kara. “Even if she was judged to be sane, you can’t leave a potentially powerful witch child to be brought up by her.” She didn’t wish her mother on anybody, let alone a vulnerable infant.

“Mmm.” Fergal glanced at Maria, who frowned with disapproval.

“It’s an abomination,” Maria said.

Charles nodded. “It shouldn’t be born.”

Jewel took a deep breath.

Fergal touched her shoulder in warning. “We aren’t murderers. The child exists now. Better if it didn’t, but the world is as it is.” He nodded at the other coven members. “Once it’s born, we’ll consider. That energy transfer from Alberic to Kara worries me. What it might have done to an unborn child.”

What energy transfer?
“I don’t understand.”

“When Alberic was sucked into the vortex, a pulse of green light flashed from him to Kara,” Fergal explained. “We don’t know what it means, but it centred on her womb. We need be wary.”

“What gives you the right to decide?” Maya’s voice was controlled.

Fergal gave her a thoughtful look. “I’ve been asked to take on the role of coven leader.”

Maria smirked at Maya. “Charles and I talked to him on behalf of the senior coven members last night.” She headed for the exit, back rigid with triumph.

Charles and Bill nodded at Fergal before following her.

Maya took a deep breath. “Good. With your permission,” she nodded at Fergal. “I will take the child out to Jewel when it’s born.”

“I hope that’s possible.” Fergal’s expression was grave. “Maya. You’ve been leader of the junior coven for a while?”

Maya nodded suspiciously.

“I hope you’ll continue.” Fergal held out one hand to her, and after a moment, she took it. “You know we have to be very careful. This child isn’t natural.”

She nodded again. “Jewel? I promise to witness justice for your unborn sister.”

“Thank you.” Jewel supposed that was the best she could hope for, but she planned to be present when Kara gave birth. She trusted Maya, but she wanted to be careful.

“You don’t intend to wait?” Fergal asked her. “Stay here for a while?”

“No.” Jewel shook her head. He might be her father, but he was still a stranger to her. “I’m going back to the Indian Ocean.” The words had come out of her mouth without thought, but they sounded right. She loved Rann, and life was too uncertain not to accept that love.

“I would like to get to know you,” Fergal said. “Even though you were made from me, without my agreement, you are my daughter.”

“Come and visit.” Jewel had no intention of delaying her return to the island she called home, not now that she’d decided. And her experience of parents didn’t make her want to hang around. Maybe Fergal would be a better father than Kara had been a mother, but she wasn’t holding her breath.

“We’ll make you welcome.” She glanced back at Kara, who huddled, unmoving, in the corner of the cell.

“Lila?” Lykos strode to meet them at the door, plucking Lila out of the group and tucking her under his arm.” We’re leaving now. There’s a plane in a couple of hours.” A hint of thunder rolled through his voice.

Lila rolled her eyes but laughed. “Looks like I’m going.” She hugged Jewel, then Maya. “See you soon. Come and visit.”

Lykos steered her towards the door. “Yes. Whenever you like.” He pulled the door closed behind them.

Jewel glanced round the room. Rann and Damnam were still there. Rann half sat on the arm of one of the sofas, his eyes locked on Jewel. Gold flickered in the depths of his gaze, and her skin prickled with awareness. She pulled her attention to the other demigod.

Damnam crouched in front of the sofa, studying Micael. The mage twitched and whimpered in the corner of the sofa. The immobility spell must have broken with the destruction of Kara’s magic, but he didn’t look well.

“Fuck.” Damnam straightened. “I’m going to have to do something. I can’t leave him like that.”

Jewel inhaled sharply.

“Kill him?” Maya sounded mildly interested.

Damnam shot an amused blue glance at her. “Don’t be silly, Maya.” He took a handful of Micael’s stringy hair and jerked on it, pulling his head back. “Sedation.”

His eyes flashed blue fire.

Micael squealed before relaxing into the cushions.

“I’ll take them both back with me. My car’s waiting outside.” He pulled Meryll to her feet. “Ready, little witch?”

“Yes, Master.” The seawitch nodded eagerly.

“See?” Damnam raised an eyebrow at Maya. “Some are easy to train.”

Meryll frowned, bewildered.

Maya sneered.

“Are you sure you won’t come with me?” His dazzling smile flashed.

Maya stepped backwards. “Master? I don’t think so.”

“One day, I’ll have you.” He took Micael’s arm and helped him stand.

The mage wobbled, before limping after Damnam and Meryll. Damnam turned at the door. “Rann?”

“Yes?”

“This dark practitioner? The one who used my seawitch?”

“Yes?”