I wish this damn House never existed.
Those were the words Ballister uttered on his first visit to Katerina's store. Little did he guess, Katerina would grant his wish. His own House. One of the last few Great Houses in existence. He wanted it destroyed and wiped from the record.
Wow.
If Gale heard this, he'd die from the shock.
Franziska touched her throat. "What? Ballister, why?"
Madam Falgor's stunned question broke the sullen spell over her son. Ballister straightened, and the lines of his mournful pale face sharpened. Color flared in his cheeks as anger and a darker emotion burned in his eyes. Heat radiated from him, and Ronin reached out an arm to block Kaliope from an impending disaster as he perched on the edge of his seat.
Ballister's talent, like his father's and uncle's, was pyrokinesis. Kaliope swallowed, remembering the hidden cause of the Great Fire that burned the city of Timber Hyde to ashes in three days.
"Your father—"
"My father is on his deathbed, and his family's squabbling like starving pigs at a trough?"
Franziska gasped, wide-eyed. "Ballister—"
"He's dying, mother." Ballister jabbed a finger. "Your husband. Yet all you care about is succession. You went without my consent and commissioned a fertility ring for my wife to hasten her breeding to carry on the family name."
Juniper grabbed Ballister's arm. "Ball, stop. Don't speak to your mother—"
Ballister shook off his wife and spat sideways. Lost in his rage and pain, he missed the quick flash of amber in his wife's eyes. Juniper closed them, drew a deep breath, and settled her wolf. Ballister continued with his tirade.
"To hell with the Falgor name. It's caused nothing but strife for generations." Tendrils of steam escaped his lips.
Okay.
Things were escalating. A pyro mage in a rage, two lycans, and a hex mage. Not the most suitable situation for a human. Ronin remained poised as her shield. Power wrapped around him, an unyielding force contained yet primed to be unleashed.
Franziska loomed over her son. The tiny hairs rose on Kaliope's arms, responding to the static energy of magic currents in the room. Ronin rested his hand on hers, and the effect dissipated, replaced by him. His warmth. His scent. Kaliope swallowed, wanting desperately to move away from him but immobilized by the consequences of leaving the sphere of his protective influence.
"How. Dare. You." Franziska trembled with each word. Her hand twitched as if to reach out and strike her son's cheek. "How dare you say that to me?"
Ballister sprang off the floor. Juniper scrambled up after him.
"Without this fucking name, the fighting will end, Mother. Without it, Uncle will stop frothing at the mouth at every opportunity to bring us down. I want to live a normal life without the responsibility of furthering the agenda you keep shoving down our throats. How can I bring a child into this? Who'd want to? I love our family. I want us to be together, but if we can't be happy as one, maybe we'll be happier apart."
Kaliope tensed, struck by Ballister's declaration. She fought against the deluge of memories it threatened to unearth.
"I'm tired, Mother." Ballister's shoulder slumped, and the heat rushed out of the room, withdrawn with his dissipating temper. "I want it all to end."
"Excuse me." Kaliope escaped from the scene. Outside in the hallway, she fought for air. For control. But for all her efforts, one jagged shard of glass slipped by defenses.
I'll never be enough for you, Mother. It's better this way. You stay in your world and me in mine.
Kaliope's hand fisted over her heart. One breath. Two. Her ghosts faded.
Madam Falgor's voice filled the space.
"You think I bought the ring over some stupid inheritance? Five miscarriages, Ballister. Five." Franziska's inflection wavered with emotion. "I almost lost you in my third trimester. Who'd wish such a fate on their worst enemy, much less their own family? I wasn't a compatible match for your father, either. That ring was for you and Juni. I was trying to protect both of you from experiencing what I did. Your father and I planned this before—" Franziska's words hitched. "I'm about to lose the man I love more than life, and you think I feel nothing?"
Tears welled in Kaliope's eyes at the pain in Franziska's question. When she spoke again, it was with cold detachment, the change so obsolete it sent a shiver down Kaliope's spine.
"If this family went up in flames, you'd be the one I saved. Not some name. But it's good to know my son thinks I'm a vapid old hag."
"Mother, I—"
Madam Falgor stormed out of the room and by Kaliope for the stairs. Magic crackled around her like frenzied spark plugs.
Kaliope expected the worst from the Falgors. An overbearing mother-in-law. An entitled heir with a superiority complex. But all she'd found was a family hurting, who loved each other but failed to say it with their words. Their actions diminished by one assumption cascading into another until this. But there was love. It was salvageable. Wasn't it? Kaliope gave up salvaging her own, but maybe...
"Ms. Barnes?"
Kaliope spun, flustered. She brushed at her hair and forced a smile. "Yes, sir?"
Lips pursed, Ronin regarded her.
"Is something wrong? Something on my face?"
Ronin closed the distance between them in two long strides and reached out a hand. He rubbed the tear he swiped from Kaliope's cheek between his fingers. Speechless, she gaped, then whirled around and wiped the rest of the evidence from her face. He'd witnessed it a second time, her tears.
Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Kaliope touched her cheek, where Ronin's feathery touch lingered on her skin.
"Ms. Barnes."
She jumped and faced him, head bowed. "Yes, sir."
"We'll return to the office. Start wrapping up the case."
Kaliope nodded and trailed Ronin out of the house amid sobbing from the other room, wishing the Falgor's pristine green lawn would swallow her whole.
~
The most potent charms lash onto our desires. Some root that extends to our souls.
That was the rule for charms seeded in another living being. The enchantee's desire acted like an energy source for the magic until said desire waned or served its purpose.
Kaliope and Rowena's charms weakened because they lacked desires on which to feed. Kaliope's was a quick patch for an unexpected problem—her witnessing the meet between Ballister and Katerina. Ballister was visiting Katerina, having entered the sop via a secret entrance, to voice his misgivings about Katerina's plan. He wasn't out of her control, but a part of him wavered, weakening the charm's effect. He forgot his objections once she reinforced her command.
Kaliope rested her elbow on the table, cheek on her palm. "What do you think will happen to Ballister?"
She was sitting on Gideon's side of the workstation, watching the streams of undecipherable glyphs fly over all eight of Gale's monitors. Gideon rolled a white marble ball between his palm and the table. His way of dealing with stress. They'd closed the case, but it wasn't a happy ending. A woman was dead, and the Main Falgor House remained in turmoil.
"The investigators cleared him after confirming the charm effect. And I doubt he'll face sanctions from the Council. He's meeting them today."
Kaliope sighed. She sympathized with Ballister. His condition endured until Katerina's death by feeding on his resentment toward the Falgor name. Coupled with his resentment was grief for his father and anger because no one else seemed to care. He was hurting, and Katerina took advantage of it. Was her mysterious demise karma?
Kaliope regarded Ronin's office. He was inside, the privacy screen activated, the way she found him on her arrival at the office. Their case aside, turmoil brewed within the walls of Sage Tower.
"Shouldn't we be doing something?" Since she started at Sage Tower, a small part of Kaliope questioned if she was pulling her weight on the team as the sole human. The voice grew louder in the lull between assignments. "Twiddling thumbs isn't my style."
Gideon swung his chin towards Ronin's office. "Ask the boss for an assignment."
Kaliope grimaced. "Nah. I don't want to be a bother."
Gideon chuckled. "Scared?"
"Petrified." Kaliope had also grown intensely aware of their boss. At odd times, she caught herself searching for his scent.
"Want me to ask—"
Kaliope wheeled her chair to her desk. "No thanks." But she really should be doing something. Other than entertaining wild musings about Ronin.
While Gale ripped through Katerina's digital records for clues about how she circumvented the system, Ronin juggled... everything else. The red tape hampering their investigation, jurisdiction disputes with the Assembly Investigators, and the general politicking of the Occult world. Kaliope realized in her brooding that one team member was absent.
"Where's Inola?"
On cue, the fox demon rushed into the office. "Oye, human. Grab your stuff. We're headed on a stakeout."
~~~
To read the entire first season, along with Seasons 2 and 3, join me on Ream. The link's in my bio on the home page. Hope to see you there.