Chapter 6: Time For Training

The kids ran out to play, Galleytrot plodding along behind them, but I noticed Sass remained behind, hunched over his place setting, eyes half lidded. I pushed back my plate, stomach groaning from eating far too many of Shenka's delicious pancakes and gulping way too many cups of coffee.

Dad's blue eyes meet mine, sparkling with good humor. I sometimes miss the glow of his amber gaze, the tint of red to his skin, his shining black horns, all given up for a human appearance since he abdicated the First Seat of Demonicon to spend the rest of his now mortal life with my mother. "The kids are getting so big." He said that every time he saw them and I grinned, but this time, there was an edge to mine.

"Are they ever." I sighed and shook my head before telling them all about Gabriel and Ethie's inquiry about his father. Mom's lips tightened, but she held her peace. She wanted Quaid and me to tell Gabriel long ago, but I wasn't interested in hearing her say it again.

Even her eyes widened when I shared Gabriel's experimentation with the gates.

"I thought you made sure he couldn't access that power," Mom said.

My teeth ground together, but I did my best not to react with anger. There were still some old buttons Mom and I were really good a pressing in each other and I was having too nice of a morning to let my temper ruin it.

Imagine that.

"So did I." I toyed with my fork as Mom sat back in her chair and smiled.

"It was bound to happen," she said. "The most important thing now is getting him instruction."

"Are you volunteering?" I wasn't an idiot. In fact, I was well aware of my failings. I'd make a terrible teacher, especially for my kids. I just didn't have the patience or the skill. All of the things I did, all of the lessons I learned, were done through trial by fire and I preferred my children not go through the same ordeals.

"Of course, sweetheart," she said. "I was going to suggest it when you thought the time was right." She turned to Dad and patted his hand. "In fact, we'd both like to share the job."

Relief washed over me. I had no idea I was this worried about what I was going to do about training the two little munchkins. "You have to go back to Harvard," I said.

"I think they can do without us for a semester or two," Mom said so primly I wondered if she had this planned all along. Dad grinned at me over his coffee mug, pretty much answering my question. Maybe I should have been irritated my mother continued to meddle in my life, but I was too grateful for her offer. Besides, her meddling was often the only thing that actually went right.

When I shut up and let it.

"It's settled." Mom's smile told me she was delighted by my yes.

Quaid nodded and shrugged. "Better you than us, Miriam."

She winked at my husband, leaned forward to pat his hand. "Considering your children are very powerful magic users," she said, "and since I have experience teaching the single most stubborn witch ever born," her eyes flashed to me as I groaned and rolled my eyes, "I think we'll manage."

"Thanks, Mom," I said, laying on the sarcasm before sending her a magic hug. "Really, thanks. But I want to make sure their sorcery is woken at the same time."

Mom's head tilted to the side, the line between her brows reminding me of mine. "All right," she said. "But why?"

"No more holding back." I took Quaid's hand and he squeezed it.

"We agreed long ago," he said. "Full potential for our kids. We don't want them hobbled by outdated rules and old fears. Everything they have access to, we want them to know how to control."

Considering using sorcery meant understanding how to destroy rather than create, I needed the kids to grow up respecting all forms of power at their command and what consequences could come from misusing those powers.

"An excellent idea," Dad said. "Miriam, we could ask Ethpeal for help in that department."

I laughed out loud, shaking my head. "You both know how much I love my grandmother," I said. "But can you see her teaching Ethie?" Mom snickered and Dad grinned while Charlotte and Sage laughed openly. Even Shenka hid a giggle behind her hands, Sassafras snorting as he cleaned his paws. Gram was an amazing woman, a powerful witch and now an equally powerful sorcerer. But. There was a reason we named our daughter after her.

"Yes, I agree," Mom said. "Who did you have in mind?"

"Piers Southway." I'd thought about it long and hard. He was a good friend, a former member of the Steam Union, the branch of good sorcerers opposing the dark sect I'd fought. Though no real match for the Brotherhood, the Steam Union weren't bloodsucking asshats who wanted to own the world. They understood the balance of power and sided with us on many occasions. Though I knew Piers parted ways with his old organization, partly due to a falling out with his mother, their leader, he was still my number one choice.

Charlotte shifts in her chair. "I haven't heard from him," she said, probably knowing I'm about to ask. "He's been spending all of his time in California lately. With the Oracle girl we met."

Right. And though I had no right to feel jealous, he and I were kind of an item once upon a time. Silly Syd. But thinking about Piers and the girl who could see the future reminded me about the past. And a pair of sorcerers I wished would just curl up and die already.

Supposedly, my old friend Rupe wasn't the bad guy he used to be. There was a time he and I were really close, when he called himself Blood and dressed like a Goth, boyfriend of poor, lost Mia. We reconnected briefly at Harvard my first year, but circumstances led him to uncover his sorcery and turn against me.

And into the arms of my enemy, Liander Belaisle. Just picturing his goateed face and pale yellow eyes gave me the shivers. While I'd beaten him long ago, stripped him of his magic and sent him scrambling-with help, mind you, and Fate on my side-I'd failed to kill his ass.

I really needed to get around to correcting that one of these days.

"You two been to the coast lately?" Both Charlotte and Sage shook their heads. "I'm wondering if it might be time to do another search." They both knew for who, as though they'd followed my train of thought with mental wolf noses. Though, I supposed, it went without saying.

"Considering the fact Piers has been seeking Belaisle," Charlotte said in her calm and infuriatingly blasé manner, "I would think our bumbling around in his way would do little to assist. But I'm willing, if Sage is."

Her husband nodded quickly, but it was Shenka's turn to interrupt.

"Don't forget Tallah is out there," she said of her sister. The Hensley coven leader and I had our issues in the past, mostly over my supposed poaching of Shenka for my second. "There's no way Belaisle will be able to poke his nose out and not get noticed."

I disagreed, but didn't argue the point. Belaisle was notorious for his sneaky, subtle maneuvers. I wouldn't put it past him to be working on something right now that could blow up in our faces.

Syd. Mom's voice broke through my dark thoughts. You're worrying again.

We'd had this talk years ago, shortly after my wedding to Quaid. About me trusting the people around me, about not taking everything on myself. And I'd done well, if only because of Max and the distractions he offered.

I shrugged off her soft criticism and let it go. Time to stop letting the memory of Belaisle ruin my perfect morning.

I left the family chatting over more coffee and retreated upstairs. The loss of sleep last night was hitting me at last, no matter how much caffeine I put in my body. Quaid let me go with a gentle mental hug and I was soon curled up under the covers-fresh sheets magically applied-and closed my eyes.

I expected to sleep for a few hours, but when I finally roused the room was darkening and the clock read after seven. As I tried to turn over, I realized I was pinned by a pair of little bodies, Ethie tucked up against my front and Gabriel snoring softly behind me. Sassafras perched on my hip, eyes closed, tail tucked over his nose and a peek over the edge of the bed revealed Galleytrot stretched out next to us.

I held still, the sweet scent of my little girl in my nostrils as I tipped my face down and kissed the top of her head. Ethie murmured something in her sleep, little hands clenching a moment before she spun slightly sideways, one foot kicking me.

My jaw ached as I yawned and let out a deep exhale. I'd been burning the candle at both ends, as the saying went. Trying to help Max and be here for my family at the same time. I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised I slept the day away. As much as I admitted to myself I really did love working with the drach, using my power to its capacity, moments like this were just as precious. Just lying there, listening to the sound of my kids breathing, the soft pops and crackles of the house settling, made me wonder which I preferred.

Gabriel stirred behind me and I turned half way over, careful not to wake his sister or drop the sighing cat on his head. My son blinked sleepily at me, chin on my shoulder, his fair hair mussed around his sweet face.

"Mom," he said. "I know who my father was, now. I've met his father, haven't I?"

I wanted to choke on the answer, but nodded. "Not quite," I said. "You're talking about Fergus, aren't you?"

Gabriel's eyes sparked with green. "He's so nice," he said. "He's always happy to see me."

"Fergus was Liam's grandfather." I sighed softly, with regret. "He has to stay in the Sidhe realm, now, and can't come here." Or risk dying. Only shifting into the Sidhe realm saved him from perishing from a bullet wound. That was so long ago, and yet I remembered it like it just happened. "Your father was amazing, you know that?" I was suddenly crying, but I didn't care. He needed to know. "He was sweet and kind, like you. Had a huge heart, Gabriel. He would have loved you so much."

He nodded against my shoulder and I felt Ethie shifting next to me, her breathing leveling off, a sign she was awake.

"Mom," she whispered. "Why did you marry him and not Dad?"

Oh dear. Such a long and sad story, full of pain and death and longing. I looked up at the ceiling, knowing Sass was also listening, Galleytrot, too.

"Sometimes," I said at last, when I was able to speak again past my tight throat, "we are forced to make choices that we wish we could change. But, Liam wasn't one of them." He truly wasn't. When I was forced to choose, to marry according to coven law, though I loved Quaid and knew we were meant for each other, he wasn't willing or able. And though it hurt me to make Liam second choice, he never cared. He loved me anyway and I loved him.

"If he hadn't died," Ethie whispered, "you wouldn't have had me."

I hugged her gently. "I know," I said. "And this conversation, I think, should wait for another day."

Ethie sighed. "Until we're older."

She made me laugh. "Yes, silly," I said, kissing the top of her head. "Until we're all older."

I scooted the kids out, sending Sassafras and Galleytrot with them. But as the door closed behind them, I had a thought. And acted on impulse.

The veil parted before me, the shining green and blue of the Sidhe realm appearing on the other side of the rift. I realized then my ability to travel from plane to plane was the partial source of my son's ability, tied to Liam's Sidhe-souled control of the Gate he'd guarded. But where I was able to pass between planes using tears in the membrane and take people with me, my son's power created gateways, passages anyone could use.

The idea was mind-boggling, made me shudder. Most planes were protected from the incursion of other races thanks to the veil. Only those such as the drach and the maji had the ability to pass over, or those, like Charlotte, who have blood ties to other races. Her ability to travel to Demonicon in another form told me long ago the werewolves had demon heritage. But planes like Demonicon were protected from human interference-and vice versa-because of the veil's restrictive magic. Safeguards, I realized when my son's power came into being, that fell away when he built gates. That terrible night when he breached the way between Universes, when Ameline almost allowed Creator's Dark Brother to pass through, it took me a while to work the truth out in my mind. I'd been a little busy at the time. But when I discovered my son in his crib, happily pitching toys through portals he'd made, I understood at last the true implications of what he was able to do. Felt the shift in the magic of the veil and realized then and there if I didn't do something to shield his power, whole armies of who-knew-what could come waltzing through his bedroom door and invade Wilding Springs.

Though the last thing I wanted for Gabriel was to make him fear his power, we would have to work carefully to ensure he understood just how dangerous his ability really was. Still on that train of thought, I reached out for the familiar power of the one I sought. And the moment I called for him, the view shifted away and to the one I knew so well.

Everything I'd been thinking fell away the instant our eyes met.

"Syd," Fergus said in Liam's voice, with Liam's face and Liam's hand raised in hello.

My own hand rose even as I burst into tears.

***