Chapter 16
Therian Palace, Tuesday, January 22, 2013, Dawn
Luca woke shortly before the sun peeked over the horizon. Ash was still asleep, so he got up carefully to avoid waking her. Vague unease gripped his mind, and he stretched his awareness to locate its source. It didn’t take long to find it. Viktorija was deeply upset, and her unhappiness blazed through their family bond.
Luca followed it like a beacon and found his younger sister atop one of the palace’s towers.
Without turning around, she groaned when he stepped onto the roof and stopped next to her. “What are you doing here?”
Luca smirked. “Your mental bitching woke me up. Are you okay?”
Viktorija snorted. “Sure. I’m great.”
Luca bumped her shoulder with his, drawing her gaze away from the misty horizon in the gathering dawn. “Seriously, Vik. What’s wrong?”
“It’s nothing. I said I’m fine,” she growled.
Luca chuckled. “You know, that’s super believable when you say it all growly like that. Come on. I’m your big brother. You can talk to me.”
She finally faced him, and he was shocked to see tears in her eyes. “You want to hear what’s wrong? Fine! I overheard Sasha and Anya talking about what a monster I’ve been in the past and speculating on how long it would be before I tried to kill you or Ash. I can usually let shit like that slide, but this time…”
Luca’s smile faded. “Oh, shit! Vik, I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
“Why would you? They aren’t likely to express that opinion to you, are they?” she muttered bitterly.
“Do you want me to talk to them?”
“No, I don’t want you to fucking talk to them! I can handle those petty bitches, and I don’t give a shit about their opinions. That’s not what got to me.” Viktorija’s face crumpled.
Luca felt helpless. “I can feel your distress. What is it?”
“Yebat menya,” she muttered, whispering something else.
Luca grinned. “What was that?”
“I said, ‘Eat a bag of dicks,’ brother,” Viktorija glared at him. He’d heard her perfectly, and they both knew it.
“Look, Sasha and Anya will back off as time passes and they see things are different now. Even if I can’t fix whatever’s bothering you, I’m there for you if you’ll let me be. I see that you’re struggling, but you’re not the same person you were a few years ago. You’re not even the person you were a few weeks ago. You have changed, and part of keeping that going is opening up and letting other people in.”
Her dark eyes sparked with emotion. “I just need to open up? Throw the doors to my soul wide? It’s that easy, huh? Do you have any idea what I had to do to survive at his side?”
Her tone reflected her inner torment, and Luca’s stomach dropped. He’d known that this reckoning was coming, but he didn’t know how to help. Maybe silence was the best route for the moment. His sister needed to express the feelings she’d repressed.
“Everyone thought I was the loving and obedient daughter, just as sick and twisted as he was. I wasn’t, Luca!” She lowered her head and whispered, “I wasn’t.”
He nodded to show that he was listening but didn’t interrupt.
“My entire life, I suffered at his side, but I did so in silence. I kept my horror to myself because I was terrified of what he would do to anyone I asked for help. You were the only person I could count on, and I couldn’t ask you. He would have used it as an excuse to kill us both. I fucking knew that.
“Then you left. You left me all alone with him. The others, they all think…thought I was scary and hated them, and they stayed away from me.”
Her voice broke. Luca offered her a hug, but she flinched away. “Don’t. I need to get this out. Part of me hated you for leaving. Gods, did I hate you. I only recently realized that most of it was jealousy. You were exiled to the human world without protection, but you were free. You didn’t have to watch him sink deeper and deeper into insanity. You didn’t have to kill innocent people and justify it by telling yourself that one day, you’d stop him. You didn’t have to lie to yourself day in and day out to survive your guilt for the horrible crimes you committed.”
She turned away and fixed her gaze on the brightening horizon but continued speaking, “Even our mother changed. She went from loving humans and believing in them to thinking they were cretins. I think it was just how she coped because she’s back to her old self again. When you left, we all fell apart. I’ve been closed off for so long that I don’t know any other way to be. Tonight, when I overheard them talking about my greatest shame, it was too much. I know people think I’m a monster, and maybe I am.”
Viktorija’s admission overwhelmed Luca. He hadn’t considered how terrible things must have been for his sister. She always seemed so strong. He rested a hand on her shoulder, and she didn’t stiffen or back away, so he turned her to face him. “I’m so sorry I had to leave. I hated abandoning you and our other siblings. I regretted it every single day.
“There are so many things in this world I can’t pretend to know, but I need you to hear and believe me. You are not a monster. You are a survivor and every bit as much a victim as the others he hurt. Did you ever enjoy the things you were forced to do?”
“No!” she cried, unable to hold back a sob as her guilt overwhelmed her. “Never.”
“What would have happened if you had refused?” Luca asked.
“More would have died. His rampage would have come earlier.” Her voice was flat, as if the meaning of the words hadn’t registered.
Luca grabbed her other shoulder and shook her gently. “Listen to yourself. If you hadn’t been there, who knows how many more innocents would have died? It was a rotten, terrible role to be forced into, but you stood between the people and his whims. We will all spend centuries trying to fix the many things Nadya broke. You’re no more a monster than I am, or Ash, for that matter. We’ve had to do monstrous things, but we are not monsters.”
Some of the emotional weight she carried seemed to slip from her shoulders. “The best I can promise is to try to accept that. Things happened as they did. If you hadn’t gone, there would have been no one to rise against him. I hated what he made me do, but I survived by knowing that you would come home to claim the throne one day.
“Now, you’re here, and we can finally move forward. Just because I don’t often talk about my feelings doesn’t mean they don’t exist. I do have a heart.”
“Of course you do. You’re not as evil as you pretend to be. It sounds empty, but adjusting and processing your repressed emotions takes time. The most important thing is that you aren’t living like that anymore. You never wanted that life anyway. Give yourself some credit. You’ve grown so much. We could not have talked like this a year ago.”
She took a deep breath and glanced at him. She still looked troubled. “Thanks for coming to check on me.”
“You’re welcome. I’m sorry it took me so long to do it,” Luca apologized as they watched the sunrise.
Ash awoke in the royal chambers when Dani dropped on top of her. “Oof! What the shit, Dani?”
“I have vampire news for you. Shit’s going down in Paris. Is the vamp squad ready for another mission?”
Ash looked at the hazy dawn light streaming through the windows. “What time did you get up?”
Dani laughed. “Haven’t been to bed yet. Couldn’t sleep and needed to be useful.”
“You know we don’t have to live on a vampire schedule, right?” Ash asked, amused. “You’re useful merely by existing. Since I’m awake, what’s going on in Paris?”
Dani winced. “It’s nasty. There have been multiple reports of desiccated corpses completely drained of blood. Police have labeled the deaths as animal attacks, but I’m reading it as vampires.”
“You are shockingly good at this.”
Dani grinned. “You got the fangs. I got the brains. Your dragon introduced me to some of his government contacts via the ever-efficient Niletean, and the CIA has access to far more effective search methods than Google. They helped identify problem areas and added me to the task force contact list as an American consultant.”
Ash nodded. “That’s fantastic! I haven’t even had the meeting yet. They’re not giving you any problems?”
“Nope. I get the feeling they’re happy about having a human liaison. Oh! I don’t have to give up my American citizenship. Neither do Mom and Dad. We can’t do much for you legally, what with marrying a king, but they said, ‘Uncle Sam will always claim Ms. Mosier.’ They hinted that they are eager for you to get the cooperative task force going. They are offering your team access to a shit-ton of resources to help. It’s the hot gossip around the palace. Tons of people want to volunteer.”
Ash smiled. “That’s great news. The first item on today’s to-do list is to get with Eiko and figure out how to contact the witch families. We need representatives to speak to the humans. I would like them to join the task force, too. Ugh, we can’t keep calling it that. We need a name.”
Dani looked thoughtful as she considered it. “How about Supernatural Unified Protection and Enforcement? You can call it SUPE.”
Ash shook her head. “Nah. If we’re creating an alphabet agency, it has to have a cool name.”
Dani’s face lit up with excitement. “SPARK. That has to be it. It’s perfect!”
“I love it! Now, what does it stand for? Supernatural Protection Alliance and Response Knights.”
Dani smirked at her sister. “You’re going to resurrect chivalry, aren’t you?”
Ash shrugged. “It doesn’t hurt to try. I think the Gaia Trianon nations should bestow royal titles on the SPARK members. Knight for the ones who go out and fight and chevaliers for those who work in headquarters doing all the Winchestering.”
“Like me?”
“Yes. You’ll be the first Chevalier inducted into the Royal Order of the Spark if you want to.”
Dani beamed. “Thank you! I accept! Come on, get dressed. Let’s go see Eiko.”
Ash groaned. “It’s barely dawn!”
“She’s awake, and you know it. I bet we can catch her for morning tea,” Dani cajoled.
“I hope so! I’ve been dying to try the tea now that I can eat again. It tasted bad with vampire taste buds.”
When they knocked on Eiko’s chamber door twenty minutes later, she immediately asked them to come in. The Japanese witch was seated on a pillow, pouring tea at a low table. “Good morning, girls. Please join me. What brings you to my door so early?”
“I need to know about the different witch bloodlines, Eiko-sensei. The world’s governments will expect someone to represent the witches’ interests in the global arena. I want to invite witches to join the international response team and help us manage rogue attacks. Particularly those capable of creating portals.”
Eiko smiled. “Thank you for the consideration, Ash-sama.” She levitated two more teacups to the table and poured them all tea. “Witches don’t have a unified structure, and there are many magical bloodlines, some purer than others. We are aware of each other but don’t usually interact without cause, though we have a communications network. I can arrange meetings with the heads of each family to elect representatives.”
“How does the power of the bloodlines play into a family”s strength?” Dani asked.
“The magic becomes more diluted with each generation, and it grows weaker the longer it isn’t used. When witches take a human spouse, they use their gifts less and less, losing more of their powers each year and further weakening the bloodline. My ancestors took another path.”
Dani grinned at Ash. “Eiko storytime is the best.”
Eiko looked fondly at the younger women, appreciating their eagerness to hear an old woman tell tales. “After Maghda’s supposed death, she fled to Japan and started a new life there. Nadya knew enough of the story to hunt witches as relentlessly as the dragons. She lived in constant fear that Nadya would discover she’d cast the curse that had made her a vampire and took steps to protect her bloodline so the secret wouldn’t die with her.
“She married again and had another daughter, Alyona. Alyona never married, but she gave birth to three children, identical twin girls and a boy later in life. Swayed by her mother’s insistence that their bloodline must survive, she raised the twins as one child, always leaving one home with Maghda, who taught both girls to use their magic. Curiously, the boy did not have power.
“When the twins were old enough to have children of their own, Alyona and Maghda used their magic to create a tonic that would guarantee conception and that each pregnancy would be identical twin females. The pregnant twin remained hidden until after the birth, and they told everyone the child was an adopted orphan. Over the centuries, my family took in many ‘orphans.’”
Ash’s mouth hung open in shock. “Do you have a twin, Eiko?”
She nodded. “I do. Her name is Keiko. She stayed behind to raise her children and continue the family tradition. It was a huge scandal when I left.”
The old witch smiled as she remembered the audacity that had driven her from her home. She’d been such a headstrong young woman. Not much had changed since then, and she didn’t regret the path that led her to the two extraordinary women across the table. She wasn’t young anymore, but she’d earned those years.
“How many witch families are there? Do I need to find a venue for everyone to meet?” Dani asked. “How long will it take everyone to get there?”
Eiko laughed. “We don’t need magic for everything. I know thirty families, though new bloodlines sometimes emerge. I figured we could hold a video call on Skype. The logistics of getting everyone here make my head hurt, and some of the matriarchs don’t travel anymore.”
Ash guffawed. “I’m sorry, but picturing it tickles my funny bone. I’m not sure why.”
“Oh, hush, child.” Eiko kept grinning. “I know how to use the internet. I’m not that old.”
“Aren’t you over a hundred?” Dani asked.
Eiko scowled. “It’s rude to ask a lady her age.” She retrieved her laptop and pulled up a list of email addresses and phone numbers. Eiko typed a quick message and sent it to the thirty heads of the witch families.
“How long do you think it will be before we get a response?” Ash asked.
Eiko shrugged. “Give it a few hours. We should be able to arrange something for later today or tomorrow. We all monitor these emails closely in situations that affect witches. They will be watching since I sent out the news about revealing ourselves alongside the vampires and Therians.”
Therian Palace, Early Evening
The witches had a magical equivalent of video calling in the form of a miniature portal that opened a small window between speakers, regardless of location. It was a simple spell that didn’t require much power, and it had been their standard communication method for centuries. Unfortunately, while it hovered at face level and offered instant communication, it only worked one-on-one.
Eiko arranged a video call with the witch families, but she was expecting issues. Many of the matriarchs had never used a video call with a more efficient method available. They hadn’t gathered like this for nearly a century and had no procedures for a remote meeting. One of the witches lived deep in the mountains near the fae lands and actively shunned technology because it disturbed her cats.
“Thank you for joining me, ladies. Earth’s blessings upon you all. I know this is not how we’re used to communicating, and I appreciate the assistance of our technically-minded witches as we get everything working. We have never been a particularly structured group, but I believe we can navigate this new territory together. Before we proceed, can everyone hear me?” Eiko began.
“Marcelene, you have to hit the microphone button. We can’t hear you, darlin’,” a witch said in a syrupy Southern accent.
“There. It’s working now. I’m making a magic equivalent for this as soon as possible. This is so inefficient,” Marcelene grumbled.
“Clementine, for Gaia’s sake, if you’re not going to wear pants, please sit,” another witch requested.
She smiled and sat down without a hint of embarrassment. “I’m in my own home and will sit in my skivvies if I want to. You’re lucky I was wearing those. I didn’t realize it was such a wide angle, though.”
“Bathsheba, honey, it’s a video call, not a portal,” the first witch added.
Everyone heard the yowl of an agitated cat. Then Bathsheba’s screen tilted sideways. They watched a younger witch run into view, pick up the laptop, and set it back into place. Bathsheba sat back in a wicker chair as a horned mountain lion nuzzled her leg.
“Grandma! You promised you wouldn’t let them break my stuff!”
Bathsheba shook her head, and a second cat joined her. “No, I promised to try. You know Sebastian and Amadeus don’t like electricity. They say it makes the air too spiky. It’s a good thing the cubs aren’t here.”
The younger witch hit a few buttons and looked at the screen. “I will stand guard, so her stupid fae cats don’t break the connection. Grandma really does want to be part of this. Her social skills are…let’s call them rusty.”
“I heard that, Stari!”
She grinned at the camera before turning away. “You were supposed to, Grandma. Now, tell your furballs to behave so we can get started.”
Ash and Dani sat out of sight, stifling their giggles at the witches’ technical difficulties. The spectacle was as funny as Ash had pictured. Something about a group of such powerful people struggling with a simple video call got to her. The reality of magic and how it was going to change the world for everyone struck her at odd times.
Maerlin gave them a stern look for making noise, but her lips were turned up.
Eiko waved her hand and sent a ball of white light at the blank wall across from her. It spread and formed a rectangle the size of a projection screen. With another wave, Eiko mirrored her computer screen for the others to see.
Maerlin raised an impressed eyebrow as she examined Eiko’s magic. The witch was spectacular and had an inherent grasp of the nature of magic she’d seldom seen in a human. She made a mental note to find time to get to know her better.
“Ladies! If you’ll quiet down, we can get started. Most of you have other members of your families present, and I have some non-witches with me, so this conversation is not strictly among witches. I trust these women unconditionally, and I consider them family.”
She turned the camera to show Ash, Dani, and Maerlin. Maerlin had agreed to be introduced to the witches on the condition that they kept her existence a secret from the humans. They had decided not to reveal Ash’s lineage outside their inner circle.
“Ash is the queen of Gaia Vampira, an exceptionally gifted witch, and the bearer of a spark brighter than any I have ever seen.” Eiko’s voice rang with pride. “Next to her is Dani, her sister, and her right hand. Finally, it is my great pleasure to introduce you to Maerlin.”
There was silence for a full minute. Eiko grinned smugly. Then, the witches bombarded them with questions and exclamations.
Several of the boxes representing witches went black as they lost connection, and many looked confused by the loss of sound or their video feeds.
“Chikushou,” Eiko muttered. “This is a disaster.”
Maerlin cleared her throat and came over to stand next to Eiko. “Ash mentioned a different method that didn’t work with a group. Will you show me?”
“Of course, Maerlin-sensei.” Eiko opened a communication portal to Ash. Maerlin studied it for a moment and nodded. “May I?”
The witches went silent again, anticipating seeing Maerlin do…whatever she planned to do. Eiko waved her forward. “Please do. You can’t make it worse.”
Maerlin chuckled and touched the laptop, envisioning how she wanted the call to work. Around the world, a two-foot magical screen hovered over the device each witch was using to communicate. The image and sound were crystal-clear and didn’t rely on an internet connection.
“Let’s see if that works any better,” Maerlin stated.
The witches watched the screens in amazement. Seeing a spell that spanned the globe created so easily stunned them into silence once more.
Ash grinned at Eiko. I guess magic can fix anything.
Eiko shook her head in amusement and looked at Maerlin in awe. “Better than the best IT team in the world. Thank you, Maerlin.”
Once the communication issue was eliminated, it took little time for the witch matriarchs to unanimously elect Eiko as the public representative for Gaia Magika.
Eiko bowed her head respectfully and smiled. “Thank you, ladies. I will take this honor to heart, and I will not disappoint you. We must discuss what we want humans to know, fact versus fiction. Like the vampires, we have a great deal of lore working against us.”
The group was adamant about keeping the reality of black magic hidden. None of these witch families practiced it, and those who did were considered rogues, as the traitorous Therians and evil vampires were. When Ash explained SPARK and asked for volunteers, a number of young witches said they were interested. After their family heads approved, Eiko took down their names and contact information for Ash.
The call continued for several hours. The witches decided how to handle essential issues and chose to forego having an official witch stronghold if Ash would dedicate a compound at her new location to serve as an embassy. The witches had been independent for too long to desire a formal hierarchy, but they wanted to have a place to gather to discuss important matters and meet with world leaders.
The meeting devolved into catching up socially and chatting while they had a reliable connection, so Ash and Dani retreated. Maerlin stayed behind to teach the witches a version of the communication spell they could all use.