Chapter 18: Grandmother, How Could You?

The moment Liander and his sorcerers leave, closing the door behind them, Sibyl releases her grip on me. I stagger to one side, away from her, hands rising to clasp my cheeks, an almost physical need to hold myself together pressing the palms and fingers tight against my own skin.

I shall start screaming at any moment and I'll never be able to stop.

"You had to act out now, of all times." Sibyl paces in front of me, anger cold and sharp. I can't speak, not yet, but I'm growing accustomed to this empty feeling, enough my own temper can rise. It's so wrong not to feel the fire join my anger, but that only makes my rage heat up worse.

"He's using us." I don't recognize my own voice. I sound like an animal, a creature, not a girl. "He's draining power directly from Gaia." She spins on me, scowling. "But you knew that, didn't you, Grandmother?"

Rena suddenly looks less sure of herself while Sibyl snaps her fingers in my cousin's face.

"Out," she barks. Rena looks like she's going to protest, but one peek at my grandmother's face and she runs for the door. As soon as she's gone, Sibyl spins on me with a hiss.

"You're lying," she says, intensity in her eyes almost as animal as mine.

"I'm not." I still have access to my sorcery, but it's weak and thin. The fire feeds it, normally. Without sustenance, it's simply darkness looking for food. I let it go looking, skimming over my grandmother, under the floor, dragging her with me to the chamber below. To the main chapel and the altar.

Sibyl tries to pull away, but I can't allow her to retreat, not now. I touch the thread that is Liander and force my grandmother to feel it, too.

There is no shock in her, not really, telling me everything I need to know.

"You let him do this." I sag, releasing her. "Grandmother, how could you?"

She doesn't answer, or look at me. Neither of us moves for a long moment, not until the door opens and my aunt Ash walks through.

I'm shocked to see her, surprised enough it shakes me loose of the last of my despair over the absence of my power. Ash takes one look at me and scowls, stalking straight to Sibyl who tries to collect herself in time. Too late, she rocks back from Ash and the blow the younger Oracle delivers. My grandmother might have slapped me, but Ash isn't so careful, the punch strong enough to send Sibyl to the floor.

Instinct and training drive me forward, to my knees where I cradle my grandmother's head on my lap. She's stunned, suddenly sad, tears pooling in the corners of her eyes as Ash crouches next to her, shaking out her fist.

"You stupid old bitch," she says.

Sibyl's face hardens, her body stiffening as she struggles into a sitting position. Her power lashes out at Ash, who easily holds her back. Fire erupts between them, my aunt's calm demeanor level and flat while Sibyl hisses and writhes. When my grandmother collapses back again, I catch her, Ash shaking her head, lips twisted in contempt.

"Try that again," she snarls. "You're nothing without all of us and you know it."

My grandmother's hands flutter in her lap. "I've done my best for this family."

"You've lived like a parasite from this family," Ash says. "How old are you now, Grandmother? Four hundred? Five?" My aunt might as well have punched me, too. What is she talking about? "You just can't live with the fact we're outgrowing you in power. So you sold our souls to sorcerers to make sure you would never lose control." She snorts, stands, stares down at Sibyl like the woman in my arms is an insect she'd like to crush under her boot. "How's that working out for you, then?"

I don't know what I expected, the reaction I waited for, but the thin wail rising from Sibyl's chest wasn't it. I stare down at her with growing unease as her face crumples and she sobs once.

"I tried my best!" She's not convincing either Ash or me, and probably not herself. "I've led this family with honor and fortitude. Given up everything to ensure our survival." She jabs a shaking finger at Ash. "You should be grateful!"

Ash laughs in her face, a cold and horrible sound. "Grateful." Her eyes meet mine. "What about you, Zo? Feeling particularly grateful right now?"

I shake my head, pushing back away from Sibyl, letting her fall to the floor. I stand, circle toward my aunt, while my grandmother-or whoever she truly is to me-struggles to rise, her robes tripping her up.

"Behold," Ash says, arms crossing over her chest, "the mighty Sibyl, last of the Delphic Oracles. So power hungry and desperate she stole the magic of the Helios family who came after her to sustain her life and lead us far after her expiry date."

Sibyl manages to make it to her feet at last, gray hair coming loose from its perfect coil, a dark stain on the front of her white dress. "None of you would exist without me." She spits the words at us, a venomous old snake without the courage to strike.

Ash's magic crushes hers, drives her to her knees again. "I used to fear you." There is wonder in my aunt's voice. "We all did. Except Leyea."

"Do not speak her name in my presence." Sibyl's words don't hold the crackle they normally do.

"I only wish I'd believed her long before now. Had paid attention when she first came to me, told me what you were." Ash's arm drapes over my shoulders. "Did Zoe tell you?" She grins down at me. "They finally got to see each other again."

Sibyl wails one more time, groaning as she falls forward, forehead to the floor. "You will bring the end to us all."

"So you seem to think," Ash says. "Your precious vision of old, the one you claim keeps you in power. To prevent the destruction of the Helios Oracles." My aunt pauses, thoughtful. "Maybe it's time we were done, have you thought of that?"

Sibyl reaches out for me, eyes wild. "Don't listen to her, child. She is deceitful and wicked. She will encourage the last days of our family."

What does that mean? Fire singes me, flares in my mind, and though I have no control or magic of my own, a vision forms-

-You are chained, enslaved, thin and starving, your power spluttering as the laughing group of witches prod you and demand you show them their future, as though you are some parlor game to be played-

"That is our future!" Sibyl's words drag me from the foretelling. "A life of slavery and waste."

I know better than to trust her, though there is real fear in the old woman's eyes. Ash doesn't give Sibyl a chance to keep talking.

"That is your future." Ash's brows are tight together, though she's still smiling. "Yours." I see it again, outside it this time, as Ash exposes the truth to me, her fire simmering with anger. She's right. It's not me at all. I see Sibyl's face clearly from this side of the vision. "And I believe you'll have earned it." Ash's arm tightens around me. "We're going now," she says. "And we're not coming back. Sibyl." She's suddenly serious, almost threatening. "If you come after us, I'll burn you in your own flames."

Sibyl just stares, sullen, broken. I pull Ash back as I reach for my power.

"She's taken my fire." I hurry to Sibyl's side, disgust spinning with growing hate as I search her dress and find my lighter in her pocket. Eyes locked on hers, I flip open the cap and turn the wheel. The instant the fire comes to life, I feel my magic return, flooding me with joyful, leaping flames.

I back away, Ash taking my hand and leading me to the door. We leave the wilting woman there on the floor, my aunt sealing it shut behind us. Her fire licks over the edges, sorcery molding to the seams.

"It won't hold her for long," Ash says, now in a hurry, hand on my elbow. "Once she pulls herself together, they'll be on us for sure."

I don't ask why we didn't just kill her, then, though I want to, savagery rising with the flames returned to me. "Where are we going?" We need to rescue Gaia, to break the control Liander has over her. But when I think suddenly of Piers, I gasp so loud Ash jumps. "They have him!" And, though guilt rides me, I feel the need to put him first.

Forgive me, my Goddess. He's a mere mortal and I love him.

Ash grins at me, jerking me around a corner and into shadowed nook. Her lighter is already out as we step inside.

"The handsome young sorcerer is a friend of yours, I take it?" She winks. "Feel up to a rescue?"

***