Chapter 9: Evolution Potential

I sat back and bumped shoulders with Sebastian as the long evening wound down into late night. Alison leaned in, chatting with Mom about something that made them both giggle while my husband and father played a magic game of chess, pieces floating in the air between them. Shenka, busy as usual, cleared the table though I waved her down into her seat.

"Well?" I prodded the handsome vampire with one elbow. "What were you two up to?"

He shrugged in his casual, sexy way, big shoulders pulling at the fabric of his expensive dress shirt, suit coat draped over the back of his chair. The sleeves were rolled up, the thick muscles of his forearms jumping as he leaned forward and retrieved his wineglass. The white lights strung around the table reflected in his eyes, deep, dark wells unfathomable, black hair falling over his forehead in a sultry wave.

Dear elements, he was scrumptious.

Down, girl.

"As you know," he said in his velvet voice, one big hand settling over mine in casual camaraderie that made parts of me twitch in old longing, "I've been doing everything I can to understand this change which has come over me since you brought me back from the brink."

Twice. But the first time didn't count, I guess. It was the most current that had the biggest impact. I tried to forget the wasted, dusty shell I'd found, sealed by the Brotherhood, leaving Sebastian to be drained and left for dead. My maji power was a little too enthusiastic that night, and whatever it was I did to him when I pulled him back from death gave him powers unlike any other vampire, as well as life he'd lost centuries ago when he was brought over into the undead. Since then, he'd been experimenting, not only with his own clan, but with Sunny's as well, with her blessing.

"You've been hitting a wall," I said. Sunny kindly kept me updated on each failure, though she never seemed angry or upset. Still, I was sure Sebastian blamed himself for his lack of progress.

But, from the tightness of his grin and the happiness exuding from him, I knew he had to have made a breakthrough.

"So far," he said. "But we may have stumbled on something that could make all the difference." He turned his head to look at Alison and, for the first time, I realized just how much he cared for her. No, Syd. Loved her. Admit it. The adoration flashing over his face made me sigh and swoon.

Just a little. I was allowed.

"With Alison's help," he said, oblivious to my reaction, "I may have uncovered a different means of helping all vampires evolve to their full potential."

A blessing, my vampire sent. My people have been too long in the darkness.

She'd spent about a thousand years trapped in a crazy magician herself, so she knew exactly what she was talking about.

"Keep me posted," I said. And winced. "By the way..."

I was really tired of talking about this. But the way Sassafras watched me from his perch on the end of the table made me speak up yet again. He had to be worried, and I wouldn't let him down or leave any stone uncracked if it meant keeping the family safe.

Sebastian paused a long moment before setting down his wine glass and gently touching Alison's shoulder. She turned toward him with a glowing smile, that same look on her face he had when he looked at her, though hers faded as she blushed a bit.

And I realized then and there neither of them had told each other how they felt. A sudden surge of irritation made me want to knock their heads together.

Leave it alone. Mom's voice cut through my frustration.

But! I glared at her. You knew?

It's theirs to work out, she sent, blue eyes glittering with intensity. Do not interfere, Sydlynn Thaddea Hayle. Ever.

I wrinkled my nose at her and crossed my arms over my chest. But I did as she asked.

Meanwhile, Sebastian and Alison shared a whispered conversation. The both turned to me the exact moment my mother's mind released mine.

"We have noticed something odd," Alison said, leaning partially around Sebastian, blonde hair brushing over his bare arm. I bit my tongue to keep from saying anything about how he looked at her, or how he seemed to inhale her scent as though in secret. "Like my curiosity was taken away or something."

Sassafras grunted. "Precisely," he said.

Mom and Dad nodded, Quaid, too. Shenka, just taking her seat again, stroked the silver Persian's fur gently, eyes worried.

"I take it this is a widespread phenomenon?" Sebastian's frown tightened soft lines around his eyes.

"But only here," I said. "I talked to Fergus and Meira and neither of them noticed anything."

"It's odd, definitely," Mom said. "But none of us have been able to find a reason for it."

Sebastian nodded slowly. "Perhaps a concerted effort," he said. "As a group?"

Excellent idea, my vampire sent. I expected nothing less.

He's so smart, Shaylee sent with a girlie exhale of adoration.

Finally, someone's making sense, my demon sent.

Sigh.

Just how much of my old attachment to Sebastian was their fault?

I reached for his power before they could say anything further, the smooth, almost buttery feel of him delightful. And I knew why. He shared my magic now, it was part of him and integrating was simple because of it. Alison was the same, though colder, more distant. She might have physical form now and be something entirely new, but she was still, at heart, an echo.

Mom and Dad felt familiar, heat and bright blue warmth, followed by Shenka and the power of the family. Sassafras's magic bubbled beneath us all, touched by the power of a century and a half of Hayle witches and ancient demon magic.

Together, we reached, examined, explored everything we could. Spreading like a blanket over Wilding Springs and outward, to the border of our territory. I felt brief resistance when we came in contact with the Council magic marking the edges of our home, but it faded away quickly.

At last, we retreated as one, separating ourselves when our power returned to pool around us. I rubbed at my temples, a faint headache burning behind my eyes while the others shook off the connection.

"Sassafras," Sebastian addressed the demon cat directly, "I'm afraid there's nothing to find. But, if there is more to this than we have been able to uncover, I'm certain you'll be the first to know about it. I would appreciate contact if something were to come of this."

Sass bowed his head to the vampire king, though I could tell from his frustration he felt embarrassed by the lack of discovery.

The vampire and his companion left shortly after, with hugs and kisses all around. I embraced Alison tightly, missing her more than I ever had and, when she pulled away, there were tears in her blue eyes.

"Let's do a girl day," she whispered. "Just you and me. Soon."

I nodded, grinned. "That would be awesome."

I said goodbye, stayed in the back yard while Mom and Dad waved goodnight and drifted through the hedge and to their own home. Quaid kissed me, went inside, probably to check the kids, while I sat and stared at the twinkling white lights.

"Syd, I'm sorry." Sassafras's tail thrashed as he fretted. He hadn't moved from his spot, ears flat to the sides, whiskers curved under, head down. "I worried everyone for nothing."

It wasn't much of a reach to gather him into my arms and pull him close. Sass shivered in my embrace, his anxiety palpable.

"You never have to say you're sorry," I said. "You know the safety of this family comes first. And you of all people I trust. Even if it turned out to be nothing."

He nodded. "Still. I feel like an idiot."

His fur was soft under my lips as I pressed them to his forehead. "A million times better safe than running and screaming and panicking," I said.

He hopped down, waddling into the house with his tail down. Considering he raised me, added his power to mine when I was still inside my mom, it was no wonder I was so much like him. I wouldn't have let someone else's assurances make me feel better, either.

Poor cat.

I sighed, pushed back from the table, unplugging the lights. Looked up at the stars and the rising moon. Drew a deep, cleansing breath and let go of my stress.

And went to bed.

***

I woke in darkness, feeling something tweaking under my skin. Nothing like an attack or anything, but a sensation of unease. After a few minutes tossing a bit, trying to shake off the restlessness driving me from sleep, I gave in and slipped out of bed. Quaid had no trouble staying in dreamland and I wasn't about to ruin his night.

As I thumped softly down the stairs, I kicked myself as I realized what the problem was. All that sleep earlier today must have thrown off my clock.

I didn't bother with lights, my demon's vision guiding me-along with long experience in this house-down to the main floor and around the corner to the hallway leading to the kitchen. I stood in the glow of the refrigerator, staring at the milk for about thirty seconds, feeling kind of dazed. Shaking it off only worked with a big gulp right from the carton. I grinned at it as I put it back, knowing Shenka would be pissed if she caught me.

The itchy, tingling feeling making me restless didn't fade. But when I reached out to the family, everything felt perfectly fine. The whole coven slept, for the most part, the odd couple up for personal reasons that made me blush as I skimmed over them, a couple of new moms dealing with hungry babies.

Nothing out of the ordinary. And yet, I couldn't shake the feeling something was off.

Paranoid. All the talk with Sassafras, asking the same questions over and over, obviously affected me. I finally forced myself to cross out of the quiet kitchen and back down the hall to the stairs.

I'd barely set one foot on the bottom step when something hit me in the gut, hard. I gasped for breath, clutching at the hand rail, before I realized it wasn't a physical blow.

Foreign power I'd never encountered before had just broken through the family wards.

A burst of fire blazed in the corner of my eye, jerking me around toward the back door. I barely remembered moving, feet flying over the hardwood, hands slamming against the glass and throwing it open, hurtling out into the dew-wet grass.

Fire climbed from a curled up ball of humanity, near the edge of the hedgerow leading to the park on the other side of our property. I staggered to a halt, power reflexively tightening around me, ready to attack, when the figure unbent, half sitting, half lying on the ground, her face turned up toward me.

"RUN!" Her scream pierced me to my soul, froze my magic in place before it could harm her. Flames burned her, devoured her, dark hair and eyes on fire, but she managed to stagger to her feet, eyes pure gold as she gestured toward me. "Sydlynn Hayle, if you love your family, run and don't look back!"

I stared at her, mouth gaping open, even as she rose in a gout of thermal pressure and light, into the dark night. Vast wings of flame spread out from her, sending gusts of superheated air toward me, heat even I could feel. With the anguished cry of an injured eagle, echoing so loudly my heart broke, the strange girl disappeared in a flash of brilliance and was gone.

There was no time to wonder, to go after her. Because the moment she was gone, I finally felt it. Past the tingling in my skin that woke me earlier, past the numb dullness Sassafras worried about. Between one heartbeat and the next, I understood everything in a rush of darkness that swarmed over Wilding Springs and tried to smother me.

The Brotherhood was coming for us. Were already here.

There was no thinking involved. Just action. I reached out to my family-to everyone in Wilding Springs I loved-and shifted them to the only safety my unconscious mind could come up with.

And in that precise moment, the souls of all of my loved ones in my hands, I blacked out.

***