Chapter 12

It felt odd, the four of us sitting in a conjured restaurant booth in the corner of an empty warehouse. For that matter, I didn’t understand why we couldn’t go back to my apartment. It was secured. I decided to ask.

“We should stay because if you need to learn anything that we might have to correct, we can use our power here,” Dana said.

“And, the Syndicate doesn’t seem to know about this place either,” Michael added. “Therefore, it’s safe for the time being.” Then he looked at Dana. “I know you two have a plan to end the Lockdown. What do we do?”

“Well, because of Seth’s inexperience, we have to take steps to help him get up to speed, magically speaking,” Dana said.

“What steps?” I asked.

She looked at me. “You have two abilities to help you with this. The first is your innate ability to share memories. The Second is your status as Padrone.”

Michael and Greta both looked at me with open astonishment. “That’s your innate ability?” Greta asked.

I shook my head. “Trust me, you wouldn’t want it if it went off every time you forged a new bond,” I said.

She frowned. “It what?”

Dana waved her down. “His power triggers when he forges a new bond, whether with Fonte or Stirpe.” She turned to me again. “However, once you learn to control it, sharing memories will be when you decide, not automatic.”

I wasn’t sure how I felt about that, but then I wouldn’t really have to worry about it until I learned control. “Learning control takes time,” I said.

“And practice,” she said with a nod. “Right now, you need to practice using your ability to share memories when you want to.”

I shook my head, ready to argue. “We don’t have time for me to gain the kind of control you’re talking about.”

“Why not?” she asked simply.

“Jordan,” I said. “She’s out there! I can’t take my time learning a new skill.”

Dana didn’t raise her voice. “And what would you do if you knew where she was?”

“I’d take the tac team with me and go get her,” I said. How much more of a plan would I need, really?

Dana nodded. “And if spells are keeping her there, what would you do?”

I frowned. “That would depend on the spells.”

Dana shook her head. “I think, in most cases you wouldn’t know what to do. You would be just as lost as you were when she was taken.”

“And how does learning to control my memory-sharing power help me find Jordan?”

“You believed me when I told you that the missing women were connected to the Lockdown, yes?” she asked and I nodded. “Then please believe that this will help. There are several hundred Magi living in the area affected by the Lockdown that, if their understanding of magic were combined, could result in the knowledge of what to do.”

I studied her face and recalled the memories I gleaned from her. “They didn’t seem to be in a sharing mood at the meet I saw you go to.”

She shrugged. “We’ve learned to keep as much to ourselves as possible. Our own laws force us to keep secrets. Unfortunately, this means our knowledge of magic is kept secret too.”

I finally put two and two together. “You want me to see the memories of all the Magi in the area?”

She looked up. “Not all,” she said. “But if you gleaned the right information from the right Magi, you could learn the secrets to ending the Lockdown and freeing Jordan and the other missing women.”

“Actually, If I could glean the information from the caster, this could all end much more quickly,” I said.

She glanced at Michael and Greta. “Do you know where to find the caster?”

“At the moment?” I said and then shook my head. “No.” Then I looked at Michael. “Did Lawson say anything about Valory?”

“He and his team did not find her,” he said. “According to Lawson, it looked as though she hasn’t been home in a couple of days.”

I frowned. “How did he know that?”

“Her mailbox was full. Some of the mail had been stamped for yesterday and Saturday,” he said.

I sighed. This was not going as well as I had hoped it would. I looked at Dana again. “Barring running into Valory somewhere and getting the information directly from her, what do I do?”

“Right now, all you have to do is trigger your ability,” she said.

“I suppose I could call some of my girls to come here so I could practice with them,” I said.

“While that’s fine for later, right now you’ll practice with us,” Dana said.

Michael and Greta both nodded in agreement.

I shrugged. “Okay. But remember, I have no control. I could accidentally see something of you that could be very embarrassing.”

“I don’t think you will,” Dana said. “Remember earlier? You warned me that you might see my Initiation or Finale. I didn’t want you to and you didn’t.”

I shrugged again. “I’ve never been able to control what I see. I could have ended up seeing anything about you earlier.”

“Maybe, but I don’t think that’s the case,” she said. “I believe you do have some control over what you see. Think about each time your ability triggered. Think about the person you were seeing and what you were seeing about them. Think about why you might have seen that particular set of memories rather than something else.”

I thought about it like she said. With Jordan, I saw her Initiation and Finale. I had doubted everything she told me about Magic and such at the time. It was part of what helped convince me that what she said was true.

I saw Danielle’s wedding day and though she didn’t see it herself that day, I noticed how the others looked concerned. Knowing how her soon-to-be-Ex treated her, I now understood why I saw that. I was worried about what her husband would think or do if or when he found out about us.

I went through each set of memories I had gained from each girl. All of them gave me insight I needed to better understand her. It was like my power had helped to answer questions I had about them by finding relevant memories and letting me experience them. Though there were some memories that seemed less helpful than others, but that was something for me to figure out later.

With Emma, I understood why she had laid her trap for me. I also understood that she wasn’t a selfish or hurtful person at heart, which was probably why the punishments I chose for her were nothing like what the Council would have done.

I looked at Dana. Her memories had helped me to understand why she sought me out. For that matter, she even helped explain that. I nodded and said, “I believe you’re right. I may have some control over the power, though it is subconscious control.”

She smiled. “Now, to see if you can use that control to trigger the power.” She looked at Michael and Greta. “Any volunteers?”

They shared a look and then Michael held out his hand. “Try to stay away from my Finale,” he said. “I’d rather not have to look you in the eye again, knowing that you know.”

Dana and Greta smiled. I wasn’t sure what that meant, but I nodded at Michael. “I’ll do my best,” I said and added, “Oh, and be ready. I have no idea what you’ll see.”

Michael’s smile faded. “What I’ll see? You mean I’ll see something of you?”

I nodded. “And, it’s more than just watching it like you’re watching TV. You actually experience it. So, if I get hurt in the memory, you’ll feel it too.”

He half grinned. “And if it’s a memory of you having sex?”

I nodded. “You’ll experience that too, from my perspective.”

He blinked with a thought. “Can I choose what to see?”

I blinked at that and looked at Dana. “Did you choose what you wanted to see?”

She thought about it and said, “I’ve been curious about how everything has been going for you since we talked in the mall. I pretty much saw everything from that night on.” Then she held up a finger. “However, I believe you can eventually learn to control that too, Seth. You can allow others to see what you want them to see or nothing at all.”

“And if I don’t control it, they’ll see what they want to see?” I asked.

She shrugged. “I’m not sure, but it’s very likely.”

I nodded and reached out for Michael. We clasped each other’s wrists and then I closed my eyes.

I thought about seeing his memories, and I wanted to stay away from his Finale. I focused on it like I would any spell, and that’s when I left the warehouse.

Michael stood at the edge of a creek. He was throwing stones into the water, scaring away any small animals that might be nearby. He was at his grandparents’ house. They owned a few acres out in the woods and every summer Michael and a few of his cousins went there for a month. Problems at home had made him happy to be there for the time being, but he would be going home in a few days and he was conflicted about it. His power had been stirring lately. He wasn’t allowed to use Magic at his Grandparents’ place, but that didn’t stop him from needing to recharge occasionally.

He heard someone walking in the tall grass behind him.

Michael turned. Dana was approaching. The bright summer sun made her look paler than she normally did, even her blond hair. She rarely ventured outside, instead sitting in her room reading book after book. Michael had borrowed one of those books to curb his boredom and hopefully his libido, only to find that it was a romance novel with all of the rumored scenes spelled out. Suffice to say, it only made his problem worse.

More to the point, he was seeing his cousin as more than a little girl too. She had filled out a lot since the previous summer, and the clothes she chose to wear didn’t help his self-control in the least. He’d heard of siblings seducing each other to gain all of the power between them, but never cousins. He wasn’t interested in taking her power, but his mindset made him wonder what it would be like.

Michael returned to throwing stones. Dana stopped next to him and watched for a moment. “Mae Ma and Papa went to town to get supplies.”

Michael shrugged. “I’m surprised they didn’t want me to go to help.”

“I suggested you needed some time alone,” she said.

Michael heard the tone in her voice. The two of them may have only seen each other during their summers there, but he knew Dana well enough to know that she had something mischievous in mind. He looked at her. “What are you thinking?”

She had her hands clutched behind her back, which arched her back and made her breasts stand out all that much more. She was twisting her torso side to side and for a brief second, Michael couldn’t help but watch how the sunlight played across her bust.

Then he came to his senses and shook his head. “I wish you wouldn’t do that. It’s going to be a few days before I can recharge.”

“Who said anything about recharging?” she asked. “I’m feeling just as amped up as you are.”

He frowned at her. “You’re my cousin. We’re not supposed to do things like that with each other.”

She turned to him. “Oh, grow up! We’re Magi. Sex is what we’re all about. And something as silly as our relationship with each other shouldn’t stand in the way of that.”

He shook his head. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Dana, we could end up taking each other’s power. Do you really want to take the chance?”

She shook her head. “Of course not, but I’ve talked to some of the other Magi I live near at home. It takes a lot more than one quickie to end up with that kind of problem.”

Michael narrowed his eyes in suspicion. He couldn’t hope to believe, not yet. “What are you suggesting?”

“We have about two hours before Mae Ma and Papa get back,” she said and then moved closer. “We both need to take the edge off before one of use goes off the deep end.”

“You can’t wait a few more days?” he asked.

“Just like you can’t,” she said. Then she took his hand and started for the house.

Michael had one last brief fight with himself over whether to do this or not, but the feel of her skin in his hand was the deciding factor. The two of them ran back up to the house. “I just hope two hours is long enough,” Dana said as they hit the door.

I opened my eyes and sat up. I hadn’t collapsed so much as gotten very comfortable. I looked around at the others. Greta, I could look at without difficulty, but Michael and Dana were a different issue.

“Well?” Michael asked. “What did you see?”

I looked at Greta and finally said, “You first.”

Michael studied me for a second and then said, “I was just telling them about a girl you seemed to think about a lot in high school. If I didn’t know better, you had a crush on Lisa Hartwell.”

I was able to look at him then. “Did you see why I didn’t ever approach her?”

“Well, Dana explained that you’re an Orphan, so I can kind of understand,” he said. “As far as I could tell you didn’t have sex during high school?”

I nodded. “And for a very good reason: her father beat me when he thought I had raped her.”

Everyone’s eyebrows went up at that. “What?” Dana asked.

I shook my head. “I never touched her, it was a bad rumor that got out of hand.”

“As opposed to a good rumor?” Greta asked. “I’ve never heard of a good one before.”

I shook my head and looked at Michael. “You should have understood how I felt. Why did you think I had a crush on her?”

He shrugged. “Maybe crush was the wrong word, but you certainly found her attractive.”

I frowned and shook my head. “What?”

He grinned. “Most teen guys get woodies when they’re looking at a girl they find attractive. It’s pure biology.”

I shook my head, trying to remember. “No, I never...”

Michael nodded. “You did. On several occasions.”

I thought about high school again, but all I could draw on distinctly were the bad times. I had wanted to leave all experiences of high school so far behind me that I might have forgotten things like that. “I don’t get it. Why would I forget something like that?”

Greta held out her hand to me. “Let me find out.” She nodded at Dana. “She saw several months of your life. I don’t see why a few years should be that difficult.”

Michael held up his hand. “Hang on a minute. What did you see about me?”

After finding out what he saw, the memories I gleaned were nothing. “Neither of you told me you were cousins,” I said, nodding at Michael and Dana. “And I’ve heard of kissing cousins, but...”

Michael dropped his hand. “You saw that?”

“I only saw the two of you talking about it,” I said. “Not the act.”

A soft shade of pink flooded Michael’s face. Dana, however, looked perfectly composed.

Greta looked at the big guy. “I have never seen you blush like that before.”

He waved at her. “Go on. Find out what you want to know.”

Dana reached across the table for Michael. “It’s okay, Mikey. We were kids.”