Twenty

Eli jumped as Bas gasped and sat upright on the wheeled bed that had been brought in for him. Maria was at the witch’s side stroking his face and hair in an instant.

“Bas, what-”

“Sibbi. She pulled me to her.” Bas got unsteadily to his feet, looking around at the shelves of books in the underground room. “We talked as privately as she could manage. She’s letting them think she’s the Sibyl of Mesny. The less they know the less they can hurt her. The Bathim… The Sibyl insists they be protected. She thinks they’ll come here, it will be after dark. I need to meet them.”

“Are they safe, Genevieve and Grace?” Eli frowned as the man started toward the door.

“No. There are two witches, I know one of them. And Grace and my sister are being kept without clothes. They want the Sibyl vulnerable, Grace is only there to keep my sister calm and to use against her. She’s going to get hurt, Eli. They both are.”

“If you know one of them…” Eli chased after him as he stalked out of the room with Maria. “We can find them if you know one of them. Who is he?”

“The Grey. Lloyd Fitzgerald. His family disowned him and as rare as our kind of witch is, for one of the lines to disown you, you have to have done something egregious. That he’s found someone else from another line who’s willing to help him is a problem.” 

Bas made his way outside purposefully. The sun was starting to set and the wolves that had been told to guard him eyed the trees, making a tight circle around him.

“I need the Alphas to be here and I need all of you to step back. Form a wide circle.” 

Eli started to protest but the grim certainty on the witch’s face didn’t seem like something he should argue with. As the circle widened, Bas bit his finger and Maria did the same, touching hers to his before stepping away and allowing him to begin some strange muttering and gesturing. The dust at the edges of the circle billowed and the wolves all took another step back.

The Alphas arrived soon after and stood at the edge studying him. “What did you just do Bas?” 

“Madam Cate, when they land they’ll be stuck here until I release them. It’s a different version of the spell Father used. I have the Sibyl’s permission to hold them until I’m satisfied. They told the witch her name and the Servant is permitted to address that wrong.” His eyes gleamed gold as he spoke. “Even with what they’ve done, the Sibyl would rather die than have them shattered. Their purpose is to protect the Sibyl but my father tried to break them with spells and cruelty. The Bathim are alive, but their understanding isn’t like yours or mine. That the lines they’ve served might not be trustworthy is baffling to them and they’ve now been betrayed twice. They don’t know you, all they know is your justifiable anger.

“You will need to have an answer when I ask you. Are you willing to bend once more and put it aside for the sake of the Sibyl? What will you ask of the Bathim? They have been tortured, enslaved, and murdered, and there were never many of them to start with.”

They waited in silence as the sun set and darkness fell.

“Are you sure they'll come, Bas?” Eli scowled up at the sky.

“They were a distance away.”

“Does Genevieve know where she is now?” Remi put his hand on Eli’s shoulder.

“They gave her an injection and put an IV in her arm, she’s hazy and a little nauseous. She’s in the back of a camper van with Grace that’s all she knows. The windows are tinted and the headlights… There are a lot of them. A heavily travelled road, wide, multiple lanes.”

“An interstate.” Alpha Germain rubbed his face, “Tell her to look for any landmarks when the sun comes up or if they stop.”

“The witches won’t want to stop, not anywhere too public and not for long. They have a prison for the Sibyl in mind. Grace and Justice will be found together. Dead or alive depends on all of you and your responses.”

“The dream is important.” Remi muttered, “The walls are thin but if the heart doesn’t soften, if it turns as hard as stone there will be no breaking them. Mercy. I plead for mercy… That was what she said.” 

“Pick up the circle, Bas.” Alpha Germain spoke firmly. “Your father did enough to them, I can’t blame them for being afraid of you or of us. I’ll give them mercy. I want the Sibyl of Germain back alive, and Grace too.”

“Any other day, my Alpha, I would obey. I am a member of your pack and I hold you in the highest respect. But today, I act as the Servant and I serve only the Sibyl. She told me that this matter is in my hands. Will you trust me to see the matter dealt with as I feel it must be?”

“You’re to cause them no harm, Bas. What dream was she talking about?”

“She gave me the same command.” The witch smiled faintly. “Eli knows.”

“My mate…” Eli shook his head, “Genevieve told me that my mate was peeking at me somehow in a dream. I have it over and over, I have for years, where I’m looking through the house for something. Grace drew my face alongside her notes, she watched me so often.”

“Can he reach out to her through the dream, Bas?” The female Alpha studied the still and silent witch.

“I can’t answer your question until everything has been settled, Madam Cate.” 

All eyes turned upward as a terrible sound came from above. It grew louder and Eli realized he’d fallen to his knees clutching his head. The stone creatures dropped into the circle and the sound stopped. 

“You will be silent until I have finished,” the sound of Bas’ voice made the air feel colder, “The Sibyl bears you no ill will. The Sibyl freed you, she tried to make you safe, and you used her gift against her. You took her from those she had chosen to live among and spoke her protected name to those who intend her harm.”

The creatures began to writhe and threw themselves on the ground with hands open and arms outstretched, their mouths open as if they were screaming.

“You have been betrayed by those who should have welcomed you and it is time for you to understand, to remember, who and what you are.” The witch moved to stand among them. “Your purpose is the protection of the Sibyl. Her protected name is never to be repeated by any of the Bathim. You have learned how to make a secret and safe place, such places will be what you create or return to while you wait for the next Sibyl. Only the Sibyl can be trusted fully. You will watch all others who move around her with wariness. Even those who love the Sibyl can harm her. But you will never-” Bas took a deep breath, “You will never again part her from the Servant. Trust that the Sibyl will protect you from him.”

He made a gesture, sweeping his arms, and the terrible sound came back before it stopped again and the creatures all turned to face him in silence, remaining on their knees.

“Alpha Germain, Madam Cate, this is your home. The Sibyl has chosen to serve you. You were attacked and those who are loved were taken from you with violence. Your anger is just. What is your judgement? What will you ask of the Bathim?”

“They’ve been punished enough. I want to be able to trust them not to turn on my pack, but I won’t bind their hands. If the Sibyl needs to be protected with force they can do what they need to do. Otherwise, they cause no harm to any of us.”

“Agreed.” One of the Bathim spoke in a stranger’s voice.

“Is there anything else you would ask, my Alpha?” 

“If you need to take our Sibyl anywhere, for any reason, a wolf goes with you. A witch might be able to shatter you to take her but the odds they can do it with a wolf ripping their limbs off is slimmer. Our Sibyl protects our pack and we protect our Sibyl.”

The stone creatures looked at one another and made a peculiar grinding noise before the one that had spoken before assented in the same voice, “Agreed. It is done.”

Everyone seemed to relax.

“They can look through glass, can they see the witches who took Genevieve and Grace?” Eli took a half step forward, “If they can find them-”

“She made everything around her a walking blind spot. Sibbi will have to see them to undo it and they’ll have to hide their eyes to be in her presence until she does. She left herself vulnerable because doing otherwise would have meant their destruction.”

“If you can speak and repeat…” The stone creature spoke with the stranger’s voice again, “What wisdoms and secrets have you heard over the years? Will you teach me?”

“I think they may be offering to teach you how to do as the Sibyl asked.” Bas smiled and beckoned for him to come closer, “If you’ll trust me enough to let me in, we can both reach out through your dream and speak to her. They know I can speak to my sister, that isn’t a bond that can be broken, but they can keep her drugged and they can tell Grace to forget or not to pay attention. I can help undo some of that. It may help us find them.”

“I’ll do it.” Eli exhaled and looked at the stone creatures. “They may be creepier than you are, Bas, but you’re a good wolf under it. I’ll trust you if you say I can trust them.”

The witch laughed and gave him a toothy grin, “It’s about to get creepier. We should be doing this from the Sibyl’s audience chamber.”