Anya Bast: Witch Heart

"Can you be sure of that?" Thomas growled without looking at her.

"I lived with the Ytrayi my whole life. Yes, I can be sure."

Thomas pushed a hand through his hair and turned to her. "I trust you."

She smiled. "You should."

"Let's go," said Adam. "I want that crap out of you, Claire. I want us back at the Coven so we can finally relax a little. Take a fucking vacation. Go to Disneyland or something."

"I want that, too." She glanced at him. "Give me a minute."

Claire walked to Jack, a lump growing in her throat. Jack watched her approach with curiosity on his face. "I think I'm your half sister," she said with a quaver in her voice.

"What?" said Mira. Soot smudged her chin and forehead.

Claire raised her voice so it would carry across the room. "Rue, what did you say my mother told you my last name was?"

"She said she'd wanted it to be Crane. But she said it wasn't legal, since she'd never… mated… no, married … your father."

"My mother was in the Duskoff, Jack. I think she had an affair with your father." She halted, swallowed hard. "I think I was the result."

Jack watched her carefully, shock clear on his face. He said nothing.

"Oh, my goddess," Mira breathed beside him. A smile broke out across her face. "If it's true, that makes you my sister-in-law." She gasped and held up Eva. "You're her aunt!"

Claire let out a sound that was half-laugh and half-sob. "I know! I can't believe it!" She pressed a hand to her mouth and forced herself to not dissolve into full-fledged tears. She closed her eyes against a sudden swell of emotion.

She'd thought she'd had no family, but maybe she did.

Jack pulled her against him and hugged her hard. "I would be so proud if you were truly my half sister," he whispered huskily.

She pulled away from him and wiped her eyes. "Yes, we can be the two Coven witches with Atrika genes." She laughed.

"Yeah," he said conspiratorially, "I'm not sure I'm buying that one."

"Claire." It was Rue. The sound of his voice made her jump. "We should go now."

She turned and followed Micah and Rue out of the library. Adam walked behind her, protective as always.

In the Coven foyer. Rue muttered a few words in Aemni and a doorway shimmered into view. It disturbed the magickal currents, rubbing up against their skin like a cat, and quivered through the air around them. Claire gasped at the vibrational frequency of the doorway as it quavered and then stabilized. Rue's magick was incredibly strong. It was why he was the Cae .

"How is it you can do that?" asked Micah in awe. "How can you just open a doorway when it's so difficult for the Atrika to do it and it's impossible for us to accomplish it?"

Micah was already asking questions and they hadn't even stepped through yet.

"I can only open this doorway because its mirrored on the other side. I am one of a few Ytrayi able to open them, but even for me it's not easy. It takes time and many resources to create a passageway like this one."

"Interesting."

"It's an important part of how the universe works, Micah. If it were easy to open these doorways, there would be utter chaos. War, rape, and pillage. Much death. Much destruction I keep one established portal in Yrystrayi . All doorways are forbidden."

Without another word, he stepped through. Micah glanced at them, shrugged, and followed.

Adam took her hand. "Are you ready?" "To get back here, yes." He smiled. "Then let's get this over with. Together, they walked through."

ADAM PICKED HIMSELF UP OFF THE FLOOR AND realized he could remember nothing from the time he'd entered the doorway hand in hand with Claire until now. He shook the fuzziness from his head and glanced around, finding Claire near him. He sighed in relief and reached out to lay a hand on her arm.

When Erasmus Boyle had jumped Isabelle through his unstable passageway last year, it had made her sick. His trip had not been pleasant, but he wasn't retching on the floor the way Isabelle had been.

Micah was already up and examining the room.

Claire got to her feet and Adam struggled to stand, too. They stood in the middle of a darkened chamber. Symbols were etched into the veined marble floor, and tables, interspersed with tall, carved armoires, lined the room. Bowls and cauldrons sat atop the tables, along with bound sheaves of plants Adam couldn't identify hanging from hooks. Eudae plants, he guessed.

Gods, he was on Eudae.

"This is some kind of spell-casting room, right?" asked Micah turning toward them. His eyes were alight.

"It is," answered Rue. "As a goodwill gesture from my people to yours, I intend to offer you a gift, Micah."

The door opened and a tall, robed man… demon… entered. He had a thick head of black hair, blue eyes, and a long face. In his hand, he carried a thick book.

The man nodded at Claire and she nodded back.

"That's Domin," she said under her breath to Adam. "He's a Syari . One of the keepers of the Ytrayi records."

Domin handed the heavy tome to Micah who looked ready to cry tears of joy. Domin spoke in Aemni.

Claire translated. "It's a book of our history, he says. He thinks you'll find lots of interesting information in it."

Micah could only sputter his thanks.

Domin spoke a few more words in Aemni to Rue before he turned and left the room.

Rue turned his gaze on Claire. "I don't want you to leave, Claire." His voice shook.

Claire walked to him, took both his hands in hers. "It's time for me to go back, Rue. It's time for me to go home, to have the life I should have had."

Rue averted his gaze, looking down. He removed his hands from hers. "It will be done quickly, but it will hurt." He flicked his gaze at Adam. "You will need to hold her."

Adam made an irritated sound as he walked to her. "What's a little more pain, right, Claire? You've already had plenty trying to get this stuff out of you. You've had a lot of practice." Anger surged through his veins.

Domin reentered the room with a bowl of a concoction that made Claire wince and wrinkle her nose. The combination of Eudae plants filled the room with a bitter yet Sickeningly sweet scent.

Micah approached with interest. "What is that?"

Rue took the bowl from Domin, who left the room again. "It's a paste made of herbs only found on Eudae. The scent of them will aid Claire in releasing her hold on the elium."

"The only thing it's making me do is want to throw up," she answered.

"Please, sit on the rug in the center of the room. Adam, please sit behind her and hold her tight."

They moved to do as he requested while Micah peppered Rue with questions. The Coven's scholar appeared oblivious to the fact they could all be in danger here. He acted like he was on some school field trip.

"I tried to take the elium from Claire twice without success," said Micah. "Are these herbs necessary to accomplish it?"

"There are other ways," Rue answered. "But you would have been extremely lucky to find one without the help of a Syari ."

"You said that when Claire pulls the four threads of her magick together and uses it, it acts like demon magick, right?"

"Yes."

"Is there any way for the threads to bind within her seat in order to force her to release the elium?"

Rue stopped short and looked at Micah. "You are very intelligent for an aeamon ."

"Rue!" Claire said disapprovingly. "That's a backhanded compliment."

Rue let out a rough chuckle. To Adam's ears it sounded like the Cae had broken that slight laugh out of a thick coating of rust. "I like this new you, Claire. I will miss you." He turned his attention to Micah. "In order to take the elium from her in that fashion, you would have needed this." Rue motioned to the bowl.