Family
I looked up from the book I was studying when I heard footsteps on the stairs. Mom smiled over a tray with a teapot and a couple of cups. We'd been back at Merry's for nearly two weeks while I finished recovering physically. I still tired easily, but Merry had made me a little concoction I could add to my coffee or tea to give me some pep.
I had taken to spending the afternoons in the basement, trying to learn everything I could. While the purges of blood witches in the past centuries had pretty much decimated any books that would teach me how to use those gifts, I wanted to at least get some basic magic under my belt. I hadn’t yet graduated to the tomes I had taken from the Kourt, all of which went well beyond my meager knowledge.
“I thought you two could use some afternoon sustenance,” Mom said as I cleared a space at the table for the tray. She set it down revealing more than tea, but a plate with sandwiches as well.
She poured the tea and handed a cup to Ciara who sat across from me cutting up herbs she'd gotten from Merry's gardens to brew something. She had probably told me what, but I'd been more focused on the spells I was learning for defense and combat. I’d bet things would have gone much better for us if I'd known some of these, and since we didn't know what was coming next, it would be good to learn.
“Thanks.” She took half a sandwich and settled back on her stool. She’d been quiet since we came back, but I’d learned that she had only discovered her specific gift at fourteen and that it made her a pariah to her family.
“What book do you have your nose in today?” Mom asked before tipping it aside so she could see. “Oh, yeah, that one is... very dry. There's another one that is probably better for you to start with. That one's all theory, which is nice if you're an academic, but not so much for practical use. I'll see if Merry has a copy.”
I put the book down and rubbed my eyes in agreement with her assessment of the book’s dry theoretical approach. I'd been reading it for hours and couldn't tell you much about it. “I heard from Cambious this morning,” I offered as I took my cup of tea from her. “They found Reyansh's clan, and are staying a few days to help him settle in. Then he said he’d head back to the gate.”
“It will do Reyansh good to be back with his people, even if he would have rather stayed with you.” She took the only empty stool and poured her own cup of tea. “And Merry thinks she may have found your aunt, Ciara. It looks like you might be related to Thána, on her father's side.”
Ciara made a face. “Aunt Greta? She won't want me. Dad's side of the family is very anti-blood witch. They might even be the reason the Brotherhood found us.”
My mother frowned deeply. “You can't believe your own family would... do that?”
Ciara shrugged. “Mom thought so. That's why we moved around so much, hoping Dad's side of the family would lose track of us.” She chewed for a minute, then swallowed. “Honestly, I'd rather stay where I'm wanted. And Merry has a great book collection. I could learn a lot here.”
Mom smiled. “Yes, you could. Since you're nearly eighteen, we probably won't even need to do any legal paperwork to keep you, but I'll have Merry's daughter do some checking.”
Peter’s family had been easier to find, and his parents had traveled to come take him home. He’d been so happy to see them, and they were beyond grateful that we brought him back to them. They believed he had been killed.
I sipped at my tea, then reached across the table for the tablet Zo had loaned me, swiping the screen to the last thing I’d been looking at. I turned it to Mom. “So, it looks like Patoras died of his injures yesterday.” When he had been found in the ruins we left behind, his body was covered in third-degree burns, bringing the last of the prophecy to fruition. We found Peter and he helped us find my mother. My blood had spilled when I’d slammed into the torn-up cemetery and now, Patoras had died by phoenix fire, said to be sacred to Apollo.
Mom took the tablet, her eyes scanning the news story. “Good riddance.”
There was a lot about the destruction that sat sick in my stomach, the number of men and boys who had died was high among them. Not a single one of the youngest men had survived. We had no idea how many did make it out, but we were fairly certain no one was coming after me, at least for a while. Still, the loss of life was too much to think about.
“Meanwhile,” Mom turned to look at me, “I hope you’re ready for the madness that will descend on us tomorrow.”
I nodded, even though I wasn’t sure that what I was could be called ready. Anxious. Nauseous. Sort of terrified? “As much as I can be, I suppose,” I said, trying to keep my tone neutral.
“It will be nice to see my brothers and sister,” Mom said, “but I worry about the rest of them. I’m hoping they won’t be too much for you.”
Her hand caressed mine until I pulled it away. “Yeah, me too.” I was uncomfortable whenever the word family was used. I’d gone a long time believing I had no family, and now I was being asked to participate in some sort of family reunion. I had no context for how to feel or what to expect. “And they all… know?” I asked, glancing at Ciara before looking Mom in the eyes.
There was a sort of apology there, in her eyes. “At this point, I think the whole family knows that we have a blood witch in the family again.”
I licked my lips and swallowed. “How do I… navigate this?” I had spent some time with Zo who had warned me not to let myself be sucked into playing savior, that there were bound to be family members who would want to see me demonstrate my powers, including a few who might be expecting miracles.
“Merry’s told everyone to not expect you to be some sort of super-witch,” Mom said. “But I’m told that there is at least one who could use your help. He doesn’t have long, and the cancer is too far spread for any magic but yours.”
I flushed and my stomach sank. I still had no idea how to control those gifts, or if I could rely on them. “I don’t want them all staring at me.”
Mom smiled sadly. “I know. We’ll get through it.”
The earthy scent of what Ciara was cutting up smelled strong and reminded me of the inxbane that Cambious had brought me. I found the absence of the big man strange. So much of my life since arriving in California had involved him. I had given up trying to figure out exactly how much time had passed since that first meeting.
The spot in my side where the fence had ripped me up was still tender and the stretch for a book near Ciara’s elbow made it twinge. The ache in my shoulder from the gunshot wound made itself known at least once per day as well, but back home, I’d likely still be in the hospital, if I had even survived.
I snorted. Back home, none of this would have happened.
***
“Stop fussing, you’re beautiful.”
I snorted and turned to look at her. “You’re biased, Mom.” My hair was shiny and clean, the curls more defined than I had ever allowed, thanks to some product Mom had given me. Part of me was starting to like the look.
I finger-combed a little more, turning my head to see the side in the mirror. “People have started to arrive,” Mom said, touching my arm.
“Lovely,” I muttered, my tone only mildly sarcastic.
“Best to get it over with.” Mom’s hand slid down my arm and into my hand, tugging lightly to get me moving. Voices drifted down the hall as we moved toward the kitchen Merry was positively beaming as she was swarmed by small humans. Mom led me through the kitchen and into a room I had never seen before. It was spacious enough to hold fifty people comfortably. At the moment, there were maybe ten.
“Anna!” Mom let go of my hand and pulled a woman into a hug. She was my height, her hair dark and pulled up to show a graceful neck. She pulled off a soft yellow coat, and handed it off to a man beside her as she smiled at my mother.
“Alana!”
They hugged like long-lost sisters before my mother pulled me in. “This is Thána, my oldest.”
Anna’s dark eyes met mine and I held my breath for a moment, unsure how my newfound family would feel about me. Anna smiled and hugged me tightly. “We’ve been worrying over you for years, Thána. Welcome home.”
“Thank you,” I managed to say, looking to the man she was with as she touched his arm.
“My husband, Guntar.”
He nodded to me, and I returned the gesture. He was the opposite of his wife, his hair so blond it was almost white, his eyes a pale ice blue. “We heard you were injured, Thána. I trust you are recovering?” Guntar said, his accent thick and somewhere between German and Russian, at least to my ears.
I nodded a little uncomfortably. “Better every day.” My hand went to my side involuntarily, as if I could feel the scar through my sweater. A door opened on the other side of the room and cold air blew through along with the sound of rain. A crowd of people entered, and my mother left to go greet them.
Over the next half hour, I met an impossible number of relatives that included my mother’s siblings and their offspring, various and sundry great aunts and uncles along with third and fourth cousins. I was dizzy with introductions. As Mom settled in with her brothers and sister, I withdrew to the kitchen where Ciara was helping Zo and Merry move the trays and trays of food into the large formal dining room.
Helping them gave me a reprieve from the large group of people who were all far too keen on knowing me. It reminded me of Christmases in foster care, where I was the odd one out and everyone felt the need to make awkward small talk. The table was overfull by the time we were done and Merry went to call everyone in to eat. I grabbed a plate and filled it before the crowd could block me into a corner and took it to the other room.
Ciara joined me, her eyes skipping over the others. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen this many people in one place.”
“Unsettling, isn’t it?” I asked. “How are you doing?”
She shrugged and picked at her food. “You know… I’m dealing.”
I wasn’t sure how to talk to her or give her what she needed. An awkward silence fell, until it was broken by a tall, lanky cousin who came and plopped herself on the floor in front of us. I knew I’d been introduced, but her name escaped me. She grinned, clearly reading the loss on my face. “Helen. And you must be Ciara.” She balanced her plate on her lap and reached out a hand. Ciara took it with a tight nod.
Helen was the daughter of one of my uncles, I couldn’t remember which, somewhere in her early twenties. She wore her hair shaved close on the left side, the rest of it flopped over to the right in a thick blanket of black. “My mom always said that there were no blood witches left, and here I sit with two of them. That is awesome.”
“Sure,” I replied dryly. “Awesome. As long as you don’t count the people who want you dead because of it.”
“There is that, for sure,” Helen agreed. “But the things you can do! I’ve been fascinated by blood witches my whole life. Did you know that at one time they were practically revered as gods? And some of them became so powerful that they could raise the dead.”
I chuckled a little. “Merry says that’s hogswallop, that the patient was declared dead prematurely.”
Helen shrugged. “There are stories, not just family stories either. There was a blood witch from Frenko who specialized in curing the blind, back around a thousand years ago.”
“Yeah, and she was probably bled to death by the brotherhood as a reward,” Ciara said bitterly.
Helen frowned. “I don’t know, I’d have to look it up.”
“While I appreciate your enthusiasm,” I said, “you have to understand that both of us have suffered very recently for being what we are. Not quite ready to embrace the history just yet.”
Helen accepted that with a nod. “I can understand that. My family is sick of me talking about it. Even as a kid I’d wished I’d been born one.”
Ciara stood abruptly and left the room, leaving Helen gaping after her. “The brotherhood killed the only family that accepted her for who she was,” I said softly. “She’s alone in this world.” Not unlike I had been all those years.
“I didn’t mean to upset her.”
“I know, just give her some space,” I replied. I nibbled on the hot potato dish that Merry had made. Not for the first time, I wished I had her skill in the kitchen.
“So, what about you, then?” Helen asked.
“Me?”
“I hear that you’ve used your gifts. What is it like?”
I inhaled deeply, not sure how to answer. “Scary. Weird. And not knowing what I am capable of makes it worse.” My mind flashed back to the day my father died, how the pain called out to me, begging me to ease the agony, then to the day I had taken the illness from my sister. I had been led by instinct. The one book I had on blood witch magic said I shouldn’t have been able to do it at that age. But those limitations didn’t seem to apply to me. “Mostly just instinct.”
“Helen, I told you not to bother Thána,” a voice said from the doorway. I looked up to find Uncle Christophe which meant Helen was Emily’s sister. “She’s been dying to talk to you since we found out you were here. Please forgive her impertinence.”
I smiled a little. “It’s okay. I like her curiosity. It’s a refreshing change from people wanting to kill me.” I stood to take my plate to the kitchen, hoping to find a quieter spot to hide out without actually going into hiding. Two boys went running and slid past me on the tile floor, laughing. I moved back out of the way, which was when I nearly stepped on a third boy I hadn’t seen behind me.
He was maybe thirteen, but small for his age and painfully thin. His face was pale and his eyes dark. I apologized and his gaze met mine. I could instantly tell he wasn’t well. Something inside pushed me toward him. “Are you okay?”
“Devin, there you are.” A woman only slightly younger than me bustled up to the boy. “I told you not to wander off.”
“He’s okay,” I said, touching his shoulder. The sense of disease intensified. I wanted to help him. More than that, I knew that I could help him. “Do you…” I pressed my lips together as she looked up at me. “You’re Adria, right?” My mind was climbing back through introductions and trying to place her in the family tree, but this was definitely the boy Mom had told me needed my gifts.
She flushed a little, pushing red-brown bangs out of her eyes. “Yes, and this is my son, Devin.”
“Is he… he is sick?”
Her eyes were wide, and she nodded. “Yes, you can tell?”
“I can smell it.” I bent so that I could look into his eyes. “I think I could help, if you’d let me?”
Adria was holding her breath, a spark of hope in her eyes. I was suddenly aware of other eyes as well. “But how about we go someplace quieter?” Adria nodded and followed me as I led the way upstairs to the bedroom I had claimed as my own.
I closed the door on the others that had followed us. I did not want an audience. “I’m not promising anything,” I said cautiously. “I’ve only done this a few times.”
“Anything. The doctors cannot cure it.”
I nodded and gestured toward my bed. “Why don’t you sit down here, Devin, and I’ll try to explain what I’m going to do.” Adria pulled him into her lap, and I sat next to them. “Okay, Devin. I’m going to put my lips on your lips, kind of like a kiss, but I need you to keep your mouth open a little bit, okay?” His eyes grew wide, but he nodded. “Then I’m going to take a deep breath, and your body should let me pull the sickness out of you.”
“Will it hurt?” he asked, his voice barely above a squeak.
“I don’t know, I’ve never asked anyone what it felt like.”
“What happens to it?”
“What, the sickness?” I asked. He nodded. “Well, I take it from you and then I get rid of it.”
“You won’t get sick?”
I shook my head. “Do you want to give it a try?”
He looked up at his mother, then back to me. He nodded and I offered him a smile. “Okay open your mouth just a little. Good.” I set one hand on his cheek and guided his head back, then leaned in, barely touching my lips to his. I took a second to center and reached inside myself for that spark of magic. The cancer was riddled throughout his small frame, I could almost see it attached to his organs and even along his ribcage. I thought for a moment it might fight me, but as I breathed in, it leaped out of him, as though it had been waiting there for someone to come for it.
I swallowed and took a second breath, then a third, gulping it down as fast as it would rise up out of him. It was more than I had ever attempted, and by the time I could no longer sense the disease, I was starting to gag. I dashed out the door and across the hall into the bathroom, dropping to my knees as the cancer came roaring back out of me.
My head was filled with white noise as I vomited up black masses of gunk, retching until my stomach hurt. When I could finally raise my head, I felt drained and as I stood up, my body began the other process for ridding itself of the illness I had taken from Devin. I took my time getting cleaned up and brushing my teeth to get rid of the terrible taste. I was only shaking a little as I opened the door, just as my mother had been about to knock. I smiled weakly and gestured toward the bedroom. Her arm slipped around me, and she helped me to the bed.
“Are you okay?” she asked as I sat gingerly.
“I will be. How is Devin?”
“A little shaky, but already so much better. Adria’s got him out there eating.”
“Good, he needs it. He’s also probably going to need a good night’s sleep.”
“So do you.” She patted the bed to encourage me to lay down. “I’ll let everyone know that you’re okay, but that you need some rest.”
