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“It’s not fair!” Tantrum tears spurted from those black eyes. “You’re mean, and I’m gonna tell. We’ll kill you all! You’ll burn and burn and burn.”
“I see you now. I see the dark in you.”
“It’ll eat you up. Chomp, chomp, chomp.” On a scream of laughter, he tried to flash, then looked wildly around when he stayed in place.
To Fallon’s astonishment, he dropped down to kick his feet, beat his fists in the air. “You’re a mean girl, mean, mean, mean. I wanna go home! Let me out, you shitty-head.”
“Christ, what a brat. You’re not going anywhere, so calm the hell down. Who sent you?”
Temper stained his face an ugly red, tears turned it blotchy. But those black eyes gleamed into Fallon’s as he rolled into a crouch.
A little spider, she thought, poisonous for all its size.
“The Princess of the Dark has a message for you. Eat this, Cousin!”
He gathered himself, pulling, pulling power, sucking it in as he might suck in air to blow. Even as Fallon warned, “Don’t,” he unleashed a flood of fire.
She saw his face, the shock and fear on his face, before the flames struck the barrier, flew back, and consumed him.
“Oh my God.” Rachel, still kneeling beside a shaken Hannah, scrambled up.
“No.” Fallon gripped her arm. “He’s gone. There’s nothing you can do.”
“He—he was just a child.”
“Age doesn’t change it. He was a Dark Uncanny cloaked in innocence.”
“There’s nothing left, not even ash.”
“Hellfire doesn’t leave ash. You’ll want white sage, salt, a cleansing ritual.” Digging for calm, she turned away, helped Hannah to her feet. “I’m sorry I knocked you back so hard. I had to get you clear.”
“What happened? What was that?”
“What do you remember?”
“I . . .” She pressed a hand to her temple. “I was just finished with an exam. I heard my name. Somebody calling me, and there was a little boy, crying, then . . . nothing.”
Hannah pressed her fingers to her temples as if to push out the rest. “I don’t remember anything. I was on the floor, and he—that thing—was screaming.”
“He had you in a trance. He had power, and skill, despite his age. He wanted you to go with him. He told you his mother was sick in bed, needed a doctor.”
“I— Yes, I think. It’s foggy. He was going to kill me.”
“I don’t think so. I think he was sent to take you to her. To Petra. A bargaining chip.”
“To get to Duncan and Tonia, to you, but absolutely to them.” The shock and confusion on her face shifted, instantly, to cold rage. “That little bastard.”
“How did he get through security?” Rachel demanded.
“I think that’s why she sent a child. Small enough to slip through the security posts, and she’d shielded him. Even I couldn’t see into him at first. And that’s when I knew. She’s not as clever as she thinks. In any case, we’ll fix that. You’re okay?” she asked Hannah.
“Yeah. I feel it.” She winced as she rubbed her ass. “Small price to pay.”
“Have Duncan and Tonia make you a charm. They’ll know what to do. Wear it, twenty-four-seven.”
“Right now, we’re going to exam so I can look you over.”
“I’m fine, Rach. I landed on my butt. But maybe a little something for the headache.”
“It’s from being pulled out of the trance abruptly, and not by the one who put you in,” Fallon explained. “The herbal remedy’s better for that than the chemical.”
“Got it covered. Come on, Hannah.”
“Okay, okay. Thanks, Fallon.”
Rachel led her away, glanced back. “So much for the quiet morning.”
Fallon went directly to Will to report the breach, left it to him to work out how to tighten security. Then she went to her mother to work together on a magickal overlayment.
That left her little time to check on the prisoner transfers and the progress of the delegation to Quebec. She spent the evening trying various locator spells, searching the crystal, but could find no trace of Petra or Allegra.
“I’ll get through,” she said aloud. “Sooner or later.”
By the time she dropped into bed, the two hours in the woods, the simple kiss, the quiet, seemed incredibly far away. And very precious.
She’d just drifted off when she felt a snap in the air.
“Just me,” Duncan hissed before she hurled something nasty at him.
He lay down beside her, wrapped around her. “Hannah. I’m stupid grateful you were there.”
“She’s okay, right?”
“Thanks to you.” He kissed the nape of her neck. “I can’t stay. I want to stick close another night.”
“You made the charm for her.”
“Yeah. Had to be pretty—she insisted.” He nuzzled Fallon again. “Tonia handled the design so it would be. So it’s pretty enough for Hannah, and effective.”
She shifted around to nuzzle back. “Mom and I worked out an overlayment for security. I think it’s effective, too. We thought we had enough already, but—”
“Kid demon from hell. Who expects that? Fucking Petra.”
“I can’t find her, Duncan. I looked, but I couldn’t find her. I will.”
“We will. Nobody messes with my sisters.” He kissed her cheeks, her lips. “I can’t stay. But I could take an hour.”
Her lips curved against his. “This is a really good way to spend an hour.”
__________
Fallon spent time with her maps, huddled with her father, Will, Eddie, and others over battle plans. She worked with her mother on potions, with Kim on herbals.
To keep her hand in the game, she visited the barracks for some sparring, the academy to monitor a class on spell casting.
And while she continued to search for Petra through the crystal, she roamed through it to mark other areas, study, consider.
When her mother came in, Fallon sat with her maps at the dining room table. “Back at it?”
“Yeah.”
“Want some tea? After a morning in the community kitchen I’m ready for some.”
“Sure. Thanks.”
“It’s wicked cold out,” Lana continued as she moved to the stove to put on a kettle. “I think it’s a night for beef stew. Will you be here for dinner?”
“Should be.” Fallon rose as Lana ran her hands over a teapot to warm it. “Mom, I have something to ask you.”
“All right.” Lana opened a cupboard, considered her teas. Chose a ginger spice.
“I’ve pinpointed the area where Lucy and Johnny came from—the segregated community I told you about.”
“Mmm. Some people never learn, do they? We’re all in this together. Working, living, loving together makes us whole.”
“It’s that, how you’re an example of that, know how to communicate that—it’s why I want you to go.”
“Go?” Lana glanced back.
“To what Lucy calls Riverbend. There are at least a hundred people, and they’ve managed to defend themselves against the occasional raid. Some, on both sides of the river, will fight if they’re given a reason. I need you to give them one. You and Dad.”
“You want me and your father to go, try to convince people who refuse to mix together to fight together.”
“It won’t be the first time, and I can’t think of anyone better suited. You, Dad, and Ethan.”
“Ethan.”
“A family. A blended family.”
“The One’s family.”
“That’s a factor,” Fallon agreed, and moved in to measure the tea. “A witch, an NM soldier, a young animal empath. Two people who survived the Doom and made a life. The son who’s grown up in the world they’ve helped build and protect.”
“Have you talked to your father about this?”
“You first. It’s harder for you because I’m asking you to take Ethan. I’ve seen what you gave up to
leave New Hope, and I know what you gave up to leave the farm and come back here. You did it for me, but not only for me. You did it because it had to be done. I need you to show these people what has to be done.”
Lana stood back while Fallon poured the boiling water into the pot.
“That’s not all.”
“No. There are two more settlements. I’ve mapped them. Every person you can rally to fight increases our numbers. I’m asking you to go, talk to strangers, without being sure of your reception, and convince them to put their lives on the line, to send their sons and daughters to fight.”
“When would we . . .”
