Supernal Dawn Read online

  “I don’t care,” Lee said. He rolled another stone in his hand but didn’t throw it. “I might’ve, a few years ago, when I still wanted everyone to like me.” Now? It’s too late. “From what mom said, you guys need me. To be a conduit or whatever.” He almost laughed at the absurdity of it. “But you were too afraid to teach me how, to let me be a part of it.”

  “Not me,” Ember said defensively. At least she believed she was telling the truth. “It was never my decision. I’m not afraid of you. Being a warlock didn’t make Dad a bad person. You’re still my little brother. Being a warlock won’t change that.”

  Ridiculous, he thought. All this time, I could’ve been learning magic, been a part of the family instead of always looking in from the outside. He looked sidelong at his sister. Would she teach me? Can I learn it on my own?

  “I don’t want to be a warlock,” he said, as if he were playing a character in a video game. “It’s a pet class, and damage over time spells suck. I’d rather be a mage.” He grinned and added, “Glass cannon, baby.”

  Ember rolled her eyes but laughed with him.

  “You and that stupid game.”

  “I never understood why you didn’t like role-playing games,” Lee said, “with all the magic and monsters. I get it now. You’re already living one.”

  “I wouldn’t go that far,” she said, “but yeah. After you deal with some of the stuff we do, the video game version is less than entertaining.”

  Lee sensed them approach before the car turned onto the street. A black sedan pulled up and parked directly across the way from them. Two people got out, a middle-aged man in a dark suit and Agent Taylor from the police station. They walked over and stood a few feet away.

  “Mind if we talk?” the man asked.

  He was taller than Lee, but then most people were, looked to be in his late thirties and in good physical shape. He had short brown hair, receding at the temples, and eyes that seemed to take in every detail. Lee could sense the man’s emotions but got the impression he was practiced at keeping them in check.

  Emily smiled at Lee. She then frowned, as if recalling she was angry with him, and purposely looked away.

  “It’s your funeral,” Ember said. “If my mom sees…”

  “She knows we’re here,” he said. “Besides, I’ve seen the two of you in action. You can handle yourselves. I’m only here to talk.”

  The way he spoke, calm and measured, in an even tone of controlled emotion, it was as if he’d given careful thought to what he said—and what he didn’t. He looked like someone who spent all day behind a desk, but Lee sensed in him the confidence of someone unafraid of physical conflict.

  “I’ve got nothing else to do,” Lee said.

  “Good. I’m Will Bailey, Deputy Director of Cerberus. But before we start,” he said to Lee, “I’d like you to undo whatever it is you did to my agent.”

  Lee looked over at Emily, confused.

  “You want me to unheal her?”

  Will said, “One of our surveillance algorithms noticed a change in her behavior shortly after her encounter with you. Testing shows Agent Taylor’s body is now comprised of over three percent xenohuman microorganisms.”

  Ember stood and wiped the grass from her jeans. “What’s a xenohuman?”

  “The Affected,” Will replied, hands crossed in front of him, “people biologically altered by the sound waves and vibrations caused by the Pillars. I prefer superhumans,” he added with a slight shrug, “but I don’t get to make that call.”

  Lee climbed to his feet as well.

  “Oh,” he said and withdrew his cells from Agent Taylor. She took in a deep breath, her shoulders more squared, and gave Will a nod. “Sorry about that,” Lee explained. “I was scared…”

  “And you needed an ally,” Will finished for him. “I get that. It was a tactical decision, and a good one. Why didn’t you do it to everyone?”

  “Wait,” Ember said, “do what?”

  “I did,” Lee replied and amended, “not on purpose. Well, not entirely on purpose. I just didn’t do it to the same degree.”

  “Right,” Will said. “That’s how you keep track of those around you, get a sense of their emotions. You gave her more than the others, because you wanted to heal her. But that means you can control how much you spread and to whom.”

  Despite the even tone, the lack of accusation, it felt like an interrogation. Lee looked back to the house, wondered why no one had come out yet. He was keenly aware of Ember’s stare but didn’t answer her questions. It was petty but felt good to leave her in the dark.

  “Why are you here?” he asked Will.

  “And you,” Will said to Ember. Her eyes widened a little, as if surprised by the attention. “Magic aside, you can cancel out powers, or at least dampen them. That was quite the teamwork taking down that Xeno at the station.”

  Ember crossed her arms. “I don’t like that word. Labels make it easy to dehumanize others. And like you said, superhuman sounds better. Anyway, what’s your point? What do you want?”

  “People are afraid,” Will said, “of you and others like you. And they should be. Without proper training and direction, you’re potentially dangerous.” He let the words sink in before continuing. “But I see more than that. I think you could be the greatest assets this country, the world, has ever seen.”

  “You’re here to recruit us,” Lee said.

  “Yes,” Will agreed, “and no, not for Cerberus anyway. Look, the president is being adamant about quarantine. There’s no way around it.”

  “Quarantine?” Ember’s tone suggested he may have meant something else. “Like for sick people who might be contagious? Or did you mean internment?”

  “I say what I mean,” Will assured her. He sighed, and his features seemed to soften. He looked to Lee, as if he was the rational one. “All the data we’ve collected shows the only thing strong enough to stop a Super,” he said, using the word for Ember’s benefit, “is another Super. Without help from you and others like you, a lot of innocent people are going to suffer.”

  “Nice,” Ember said and smirked, “trying to make us feel important and like we’re just as bad as the others if we don’t help.” She elbowed Lee, expecting his support, but he found himself agreeing with the Deputy Director. “Besides, I already work with Cerberus.”

  There was a fear in her tone that made the situation all too real for Lee. They were going to have to leave home, go to this quarantine, and there was nothing his mother or her magic could do to stop it. He’d learned all their secrets just in time for them to mean nothing.

  “I’m sorry,” Will said. “I wish there was some other option. I can promise you’ll be treated with respect, but it’s in everyone’s best interest if you come with us now.”

  “Or what?” Ember asked, with the hint of a threat.

  Emily had remained quiet this whole time, watching but not moving. Suddenly, she switched her stance. By her attention to Ember and the sense of caution rising in her, it felt like the agent was getting ready to attack.

  “You said it yourself,” Will went on in that calm voice, though he knew Ember was up to something, “you already work for Cerberus. This is just the next level.” To Lee, he said, “You can tell when someone’s lying. What’s your sense of me?”

  “You’re not lying,” Lee said, “but you’re not telling the whole truth, either.”

  “No,” Will said, “I’m not. I know you have issues with secrecy, but it comes with the job.”

  “Secrets suck,” Ember said.

  For the first time since he learned what was going on with his family, Lee felt his sister’s side of the story. It was like she was trapped, held down against her will. Maybe she’d wanted to tell him but couldn’t, witch’s oath and all that. He only knew what she was feeling, and it was just as bad as him.

  He
could see her trembling, knew she didn’t want to leave. Lee, on the other hand, didn’t seem to mind after all. He didn’t want to go back inside anyway, to face all their stares, to be confronted with the years of lying, to act like he somehow understood or even forgave them.

  No, leaving was just fine with him.

  “Let it go, Em,” he said. He wanted her to come with him. “What’s keeping us here, anyway?”

  He could see and feel her consider it. He began to wonder if their mother had treated them all that different after all.

  “Do we get to say goodbye?” Ember asked.

  “Of course,” Will said, pleased, and motioned toward the house. “You won’t need to bring anything. In fact, it’s better if you don’t.”

  Ember started toward the house but stopped to look at Lee. She must’ve assumed he’d want to say goodbye.

  Lee only shrugged.

  “I have nothing to say to them.”

  - Ember -

  “Incoming!” Ember shouted down the basement stairs. “Where do you want him?”

  Her mother appeared at the bottom landing. She eyed the man and shook her head. “Possessed?”

  “Sluagh, looks like.” Ember gave the man a prod as his footsteps slowed. “You don’t like me when I’m angry, remember?”

  He grunted and tromped down the stairs, his steps awkward and ungainly.

  “Put him in the safe room.” Mom stepped back and waved them past. “I can’t deal with him alone and your Aunt Gwen is out shopping.”

  Ember herded the man to a room at the far corner of the basement, opened the door and pushed him inside before slamming it shut.

  He let out a roar, pounding and kicking at the door. The hollow banging of fist and foot dimmed to a muffled rapping as her mother invoked the magical containment and sound dampening spells that had already been set around the room.

  “New trigger canto?” Ember asked.

  “With all the fresh activity, I decided we needed to up the prep work to save time on the back end.” Her mother waved her off and headed back into her office.

  “Mom, wait up.” Ember said. “We need to talk.”

  Her mother paused. “About?”

  “You’re kidding me, right?”

  Her mother faced her. “Ember, now is not the time.”

  Ember threw up her hands. “Now is not the time? Really?” She ran her fingers through her hair. “Lee? The Rumbling? All the new activity you just mentioned? If now isn’t the time, then when, Mother? When is it a good time to talk about all the shit that’s going on?”

  “Lang—”

  “Screw my language! This is not nineteen-fifty-two, Mom. People curse. All the fricking time. Get over it.”

  “You want to have a conversation? Then act and speak like a civilized adult.” Her mother crossed her arms in front of her chest.

  “Fine.” Ember crossed her own arms. “Things are changing. I’m changing.”

  “And your point?”

  “My point,” Ember said, unfolding her arms and holding out her hands, creating a sizzling power orb the size of a baseball.

  Her mother let out a small gasp, then nodded in approval. “You’ve gained control?”

  “Some,” Ember said. With her new strength, no longer fearful of burning her hands to a crisp, she was able to balance the energy as if it were as harmless as a baseball. She released the thread of power and let the orb fade out.

  “Good.” Her mother nodded. “Is that all?”

  A tight knot twisted itself inside Ember’s gut. Not that she’d expected overwhelming approval from her mother, but she’d hoped for more than this. “Really? That’s it?”

  “What is it you want from me, Ember? A pat on the head for finally obtaining some finesse at something you should have mastered years ago?” Her mother let out a tired sigh. “You are too old to coddle. And I’m too tired to stroke your wounded ego.”

  The rebuke stung more than Ember had expected. She suddenly knew how Lee must feel. How he must have felt every day of his life being around Aunt Gwen and the Grannies.

  “I’m not the only one who’s changed. Lee is different now, too.”

  “Lee is not your concern.” Her mother’s tone was sharp.

  “He’s my brother. And he deserves better.”

  “Better than what?” Her mother’s eyes narrowed. “What are you insinuating?”

  Ember heard the warning in her mother’s voice, but she pushed on. “He deserves better than to be forced into an arranged marriage to someone he doesn’t love!” There. She’d said it.

  Her mother’s face flushed. “As long as you are under this roof, you will not speak against Coven law.” Her voice rose as she spoke, not only in volume, but in power.

  Ember felt the Nexus vibrating, the ley lines growing taut as violin strings. Her mother’s aura became visible and Ember found herself backing up a few steps.

  “Out.” Her mother closed her eyes and let the power flow back into the earth. Her voice had dropped to a whisper. “Now.”

  “Fine.” Ember set her jaw and stomped up the basement stairs, taking them two at a time.

  Seanna was in the kitchen, baking bread. She punched the dough down as Ember walked into the room. “What did you do to piss her off this time?” She locked eyes with Ember and pushed the sides of the dough together.

  “Where’s Lee?” Ember asked.

  “Where else?” Seanna frowned, her fist thudded into the swollen dough

  “Seanna—” Ember tried not to look guilty, but she knew Seanna could sense her emotions. “You know I’m right about this,” she said.

  “Don’t say it,” Seanna cut her off, angrily wiping her hands on her apron. “I have lived my entire life knowing what I am destined for. It’s my rightful place in this coven—”

  “Rightful? Don’t you think Lee has any say? Any rights?”

  Seanna held up her hands, thumbs crossed, palms facing her cousin. “It is Coven Law. So mote it be.”

  She turned back to her dough, picking it up and slamming it down onto the counter in a cloud of flour dust.

  Ember shook her head. “It may well be,” she muttered, “but we live in a modern society.” She left the kitchen by the side door, thudded down the porch steps, crossed the yard and sat on the curb in front of their house to wait for her brother.

  His step was light as he exited Jen’s house, but his demeanor changed when he saw Ember. He walked over and sat next to her.

  They sat in silence, the only sound the evening song of crickets and whir of distant cars passing by. Cars taking people places. Places far away from the coven and the Nexus. Ember felt sweat trickle down her back and realized that this was their reality.

  And reality sucked.

  “She tell you everything?” she finally asked, her voice barely more than a whisper.

  “I doubt it,” Lee said, “but more than enough to piss me off. Magic is real, you’re all witches, big surprise, especially Aunt Gwen. Oh, and I should have been a girl. That pretty much the sum of things?”

  Ember turned to stare up at the darkening sky. “Pretty much,” she said, choosing not to add to his new burden of knowledge just yet. How much more pissed off would he be to know he was ‘betrothed’ to his own cousin? That bit was almost too much for Ember to deal with most days. Besides, with everything changing around them, not to mention within them, who was to say what else might change before Seanna’s birthday?

  “They made me promise not to tell. Once I swore...” It sounded lame, even to her. “Sorry,” she said and finally looked him in the eyes.

  “Whatever.” Lee picked up a rock and slung it sideways. It skidded and bounced off the pavement, finally ricocheting off someone’s car nearly a block away. “Screw Aunt Gwen,” he said. “She’s a total bitch.”

  Ember
laughed, glancing over her shoulder to make sure no one could hear them. “Agreed.” She shook her head, then lowered her voice. “They’re afraid of you. Afraid what you might become.” She sighed. “You know, because of Dad.”

  “Like I give a crap.” Lee used the hem of his t-shirt to wipe the sweat from his forehead. “I might’ve cared a few years ago, when I still wanted everyone to like me.” He let out a small laugh. “Suddenly, after years of being treated like crap by almost everyone in the family, Mom tells me you guys actually need me, to be a conduit or whatever. Only everyone was too afraid to teach me how, to let me be a part of it.” His jaw tightened. “They locked me out, Em. And you went along with it.”

  “No.” Ember brushed away an errant gnat. “It was never my decision. I’m not afraid of you. Being a warlock didn’t turn Dad evil. You’re my brother. Being a warlock wouldn’t change that.”

  “I don’t want to be a warlock,” Lee said. “It’s a pet class, and damage over time spells suck. I’d rather be a mage.” He grinned and for a moment it was like old times between them.

  “You and that stupid game.” Ember gave him a mock eye roll and grinned back.

  “Well, that’s one mystery solved. I never did understand why you didn’t like role-playing games, with all the magic and monsters. Makes sense, now. You’re already living in one.”

  “It’s not exactly like that, but yeah, after you deal with some of the stuff we’ve had to...let’s just say the video version, less than entertaining.”

  A black sedan pulled up and parked across the street. The car’s doors opened and two people got out, a middle-aged man in a dark suit and the female agent from the police station. Warily, they walked over and stood a few feet away.

  “Mind if we talk?” The male agent stood with his feet apart, hands folded in front of him. Ember was suddenly alert, that tunnel vision effect kicking in as she focused in on him. The almost imperceptible tic on the left side of his face and the tension in his jaw, told her he expected a fight, but he covered it well.

  The woman smiled at Lee, frowned and then looked away from him, drawing Ember’s attention. The tight focus fell away and the world came back to the fore.