A Change of Perspective

by Optimizer

Part 11

~~~~~

They shot into the hospital at a dead run, Erica calling Kristina's cell. After a few rings, Kristina's mother answered. "Hello?" She sounded harried and distracted. Erica heard Kristina moan in the background.

"It's Erica, I'm here, I'm right outside! Please come get me!"

A few minutes later, Mrs. Bell leaned out through the security doors and waved Erica forward. She turned and gave David a quick hug and smooch, then left him behind without looking back.

He couldn't come. He was a boy.

She jogged forward with Mrs. Bell, past the security doors, into the birthing center, toward Kristina's room. Even down the hall she could hear the girl's pained cries.

She got into the room; Kristina's bed was up on an angle, her legs spread with stirrups, and the obstetrician was bent forward, saying, "Seven centimeters, now. It's going to happen soon." Her voice dripped with encouragement.

It was an up-to-date facility; the room resembled a large hotel suite, with a table and built-in couch by the window. Decorative wallpaper, a TV, a few other distractions from the large high-tech bed in the center of the room, the medical supplies in cabinets along one wall.

Kristina looked up when Erica got to her side. "Oh, thank God, you made it." She looked tired and drained and, as another contraction started, agonized. But somehow, to Erica, she also seemed to glow. Any Sister could see the Goddess' Light in this.

While "soon" turned out to be a relative term, Kristina's labor was actually rather fast. Only about three hours, and Erica had missed the first hour. It was nevertheless harrowing and frightening and profound and moving and disturbing and fascinating and too many other things to be processed.

The modern setting melted away in Erica's mind. It was only a backdrop, peripheral. The scene could as easily be taking place in a cave by firelight. The central elements were just as they'd been for a hundred thousand years or more. The woman in labor, her mother, the midwife, a girlfriend or two. In the last few years, in a few places, a few men had been allowed to observe... but ultimately this was women's domain. Women's miracle, bringing new life into the world. It was messy and painful and glorious and painfully sacred.

If there had been a problem, she might have used her Healing power to take some of Kristina's pain. But the drugs were helping, and Kristina was in no real danger - she owned this moment. Absent a real need, Erica would be stealing the pain, appropriating some of the experience in a selfish bid to share the triumph.

The baby crowned - an awesome, terrifying sight - and almost before Erica could see it happen, he was out. There were procedures that followed, cleaning and weighing and measuring and delivering the afterbirth, but all she could do was listen to his cries - so small, so plaintive, so heartbreakingly glorious. At long last, he was presented, swaddled and cleaned, to his mother. Kristina wept, exhausted and exhilarated, and cradled him in her arms. Erica understood how the phrase 'bundle of joy' had become a cliché.

"Alec. Hello, little Alec." Kristina looked up at her mom. "Oh, mom, he's so beautiful. Isn't he beautiful?" Mrs. Bell and Erica nodded in unison.

Erica cried in helpless relief and joy and love. Watching Kristina hold her newborn baby, she felt exalted, taken out of herself. Unspeakably privileged to be present.

Sooner than she would have believed, she received an even greater privilege. She sat in a rocker and carefully, oh so carefully, held little Alec in her own arms. He made little movements sometimes, uttered little noises. His little tongue stuck out between his little lips. He was magnificent. "Hi, Alec. I'm Aunt Erica."

Men were so detached from the whole process, she reflected. Even if they felt a sense of responsibility, women carried babies, gave birth to them, nursed them. It was like that old joke about a breakfast of bacon and eggs: The chicken was involved, but the pig was committed. Women were committed to children in a way men could never be. Cradling Alec, she suddenly felt unbearably sorry for males. They could never know this, never be more than an adjunct to it.

But Erica could. She knew now, without the slightest doubt. One day, she too would perform this miracle. Not now, not soon... but one day, she would be ready. She had to become ready. She could not go through life without ever experiencing this.

~~~~~

Erica waved goodbye to David in his car and walked into the house. Miranda was coming from the family room. Erica didn't stop, didn't give Miranda a chance to say anything, she just seized her Mother in a bear hug and squeezed her for all she was worth.

"Thank you," she said. "Thank you for going through that for me, for being my Mother."

Miranda had difficulty speaking for a while, her throat tight and eyes wet. "Oh, sweetie, you're welcome. Thank you for being my Daughter."

~~~~~

"We sent a letter to the Penners. It was all legal BS, but it basically said, 'Here's your fucking DNA test. Get out your checkbook, and keep 'em coming!'" Kristina's smile was very satisfied.

Erica laughed happily. Kristina was home with her parents, and Alec, after a couple nights stay in the hospital. Linda had been cradling Alec for rather a long time, and Erica was getting a little itchy to get hold of some baby. "You still planning to go to college in the fall?"

The new mother shrugged. "Might take a year off, might not. We'll see. Right now I'm so tired I dunno how I'm gonna get through finals."

Erica was alarmed. "I'm sure you could get an extension."

Kristina's face was all stolid, grim determination. "Nope. I'm gonna march across that stage with everyone else. Right in front of Jimmy and Prina. One way or another." She got a bit of a smile, and sniffed. "My grades are gonna be great this term. Besides you guys, I've had nothing to do but study."

Erica felt a little guilty, and wished she'd done more with Kristina. Before she could say anything, though, Linda spoke up. "I hope you find a guy someday who sees how awesome you are, and can be a good dad for Alec," she said, sniffling a little.

Kristina looked like she might cry, too. "Well, until then I'll just have to love him enough for two."

Erica smiled, though she was on the verge of bawling too. "That won't be hard. Goddess, what a cutie!"

Prodded, Linda gave up Alec for Erica to hold. Contemplating the baby banished the threat of tears, for all the girls. How could anyone not smile at those cheeks? Erica thought.

~~~~~

Jewel stood on the stage, in the center of the group. If not for her vow, Miranda would have peeked at the girl's emotions; she knew Jewel had been nervous about this performance. She wished she could send some Magical comfort and reassurance the girl's way, but the oath didn't have any 'good intentions' clauses.

She began to sing. "Short steps, deep breath, everything is alright..." Miranda didn't know the song - apparently it was from some video game - but Jewel handled her solo intro beautifully. The choir joined in at the chorus.

Miranda looked around, surreptitiously. Erica and Haylie and David and Brandon all watched Jewel with admiration. There was something about a live performance no recording could ever capture. She hoped her children would remember that, in this world of digital everything. That the human touch was something precious, something irreplaceable.

When the song was over, the applause was loud. Boisterous, even, from their section. "All right, baby! Wooo-eee!" Brandon shouted. Jewel blushed. With her fair skin, it was probably obvious to the back row of the audience.

But her smile glowed.

~~~~~

"So... why here?"

Jewel was smiling, leading him upstairs to her room. "I finally finished something I was working on. And I can't carry it around." She opened her door and waved him inside.

He looked around the room. Mostly it was decorated neutrally - it had clearly been a guest room before Jewel had arrived. There were few Jewel-specific touches, though. The clothes, for example, and the dresser had makeup and jewelry. But the desk had a lot of computer stuff. Including that old Commodore he'd helped her buy on their first date. It was hooked up to a flat-panel monitor; otherwise it looked as retro as ever. A real contrast to the high-end laptop right beside it.

And the room smelled like her. It was a bit distracting. It was a good thing the door had been left open; otherwise he'd have been tempted to do something foolish. His parents had that rule too. For the same reason.

"Sit here," she said, guiding him to a corner of her bed. She switched on the monitor and the ancient computer.

"What's up?" he asked.

"Shush," she commanded. "Just watch." She typed an incomprehensible command: "LOAD" and some numbers. Something chugged and buzzed as she sat down next to him on the bed. They waited; she seemed nervous, almost embarrassed. Then, a blocky rendition of an old floppy disc appeared on the screen and spun. Retro-style music began to play, tinny in the cheap speakers built into the monitor.

Grainy, pixellated pictures scrolled and twirled. Shots of him, of her... of them. They were pasted onto the surfaces of 3D objects like cubes and pyramids. Colorized, chromed text flashed by - messages like "Jewel + Brandon". A circle slid along, magnifying and distorting what was underneath.

He finally recognized the music. It was 8-bit bleeps and bloops, but it was a passable version of "She's Not Afraid". The graphics were roughly in sync.

In the end, a couple stick figures - a taller one with brown hair, a small one with long black hair - got onto a motorcycle and drove of the screen. The music faded out.

Jewel looked at him. Girls were always hard to understand. And Jewel in particular was almost always... reserved. Not like her cousin Erica; you always knew how she felt. No, Jewel was more closed, cautious. But he was getting better at reading her.

And, maybe, she was trusting him more.

So he could tell that she was proud of what she'd done, and embarrassed about how proud she was, and worried about whether he'd appreciate what had gone into that little display.

He acted to dispel that worry right off. "That was awesome!" And it was true. Although he wasn't as into computers as her, he had at least a small clue that getting anything like that out of a machine that old had to have taken a lot of work.

She was definitely blushing. "There's lots better stuff out there. I only had a little time, when I wasn't doing homework or running or..."

He leaned close, cutting off the self-deprecation. "It was awesome," he repeated. He couldn't help kissing the smile that produced.

The door stayed open. They didn't get totally crazy. Still, they both were glad no one wandered by to check up on what they were doing. A few moments would have been difficult to justify.

~~~~~

Jewel came into the kitchen where Erica was working on dinner. They'd gotten rides home with their respective boyfriends, but Erica had expected Jewel to be later today. "Hey, sister! How's Brandon? Division champs, he must be stoked!"

"Yeah, he's pumped," Jewel said, not nearly as enthusiastically as Erica had expected.

Erica stopped cutting lettuce and put the knife aside. "What's wrong?" she asked, concerned.

"It's no biggie," Jewel said with a wan smile. "I just... wish I coulda been part of it."

Erica had been wiping her hands. She dropped the towel and took Jewel in a hug. "Oh, Jewel, I'm sorry!"

Jewel returned the hug quickly, then let go. "It's okay. They earned it. Brandon really worked his ass off getting them ready. I'm only a little bummed, honest."

Erica suspected Jewel was more than "a little bummed". Directly addressing that was perhaps not the best option, but she couldn't help probing. "Is... something else wrong?"

Jewel didn't say anything for a bit. Then she said, quietly, "I wonder about Brandon. I think I was... holding him back. Cory was, I mean."

Erica protested. "You guys were good friends. I never saw you, like, put him down or anything."

"But he was, like, almost a sidekick, y'know? 'Cory and Brandon'. Never 'Brandon and Cory'." Jewel was quiet for a few moments. Then, softly, "He's better off with Cory gone."

"That's not..." Erica began.

Jewel spoke over her, distracted, almost like she didn't even hear her. "He wouldn't have been captain if Cory was still around. Bet Cory's Luck woulda stopped him." She shook her head. "But he's real good at it. Maybe better than Cory."

"I know you been giving him advice on coaching. If he's better than Cory, it's because Cory's helped him!"

Jewel didn't seem convinced. "Nah, Cory doesn't want anything to do with him anymore."

"You know what I mean," Erica snapped. "Far as I'm concerned, you're the best parts of Cory anyway. Point is, Brandon didn't get there on his own. You make a good team."

"Great. And someday we'll have to break up." Jewel looked haunted.

Erica put her hands on Jewel's shoulders. "Hey. Campsite rule. Even if that's true, you're gonna leave him in better shape than you found him." She grinned. "If nothing else, he's gotten way better at oral, right?"

Jewel couldn't stifle a giggle at that.

~~~~~

That weekend there was a big party at the home of one of the track team, celebrating the championship. It wasn't a giant "Project X" crowd, but friends and girlfriends were of course welcome, so Erica was there with Jewel, and Shianti, whose current boyfriend Parker was a sprinter. David would have come if he hadn't had an away game.

There were parents around, so it wasn't a raucous blowout, just a mellow good time. Brandon, arm around Jewel, gave a brief speech congratulating everyone on, and thanking them for, their hard work. After, everyone ate and drank and circulated.

Erica mostly hung with Shianti and Parker, until she realized she hadn't seen Jewel in a while. She went off, ostensibly for a refill, and caught Jewel hanging inconspicuously at the side of the house. She appeared to be using her phone, but she was in sight of the pick-up basketball game on the driveway out front.

"You already got a hottie," Erica joked. "Why you scoping them?" The players were, expectedly, all boys.

Jewel's lip curled in irritation. "It ain't that." She pushed her hair back with one hand. "I wouldn't mind shooting some hoops. But if I join their game, they'll act different. Can't take a chance on losing to a girl." She rolled her eyes, nodding at some girlfriends standing on the lawn, talking and keeping half an eye on the game. "They're already changing it up some 'cause they know girls are watching."

She waved a hand toward the backyard. "And there ain't enough girls who'd wanna play a girls-only game." She scoffed. "And they'd play different 'cause there's boys around."

Erica was surprised. Nothing Jewel was saying was untrue - though she was being overly melodramatic about it. It was just that the girl had seemed to be reconciled to such things more lately. Or, at least, hadn't been explicitly complaining about them.

Jewel's period wasn't due; this funk didn't have a biological component. (Erica felt a little guilty thinking about that; it felt like buying into a stereotype. But for some women, PMS wasn't a punchline, it was a lived reality.) "You okay?" she asked, with eyes and a tone that showed it was more than polite filler.

Jewel paused for a moment... then slumped a little. "Alright, I'm kinda bummed I'm not really with them. In, y'know, their 'hour of glory' or whatever. Even if Brandon's a better coach than Cory, I still think we... they woulda had a shot with him in charge." She stared at Erica, almost daring her to say something. "And I worked my ass off for that team, for three and a half years. But now..."

Erica took Jewel's hand and said, "Well, okay, that kinda sucks. But you can get on a track team in college. You might even be captain." She squeezed and said, "I know waiting's no fun, but..."

"Can we get out of here?" Jewel interrupted. "I think I just wanna go home. I'll tell Brandon I'm not feeling good."

Erica swallowed. "Okay. Maybe I can get Shianti to drive us."

"Fuck that," Jewel said. "I'm sick of being scared. I want to walk around at night like Cory used to, just once." She stared at Erica. "All we do is walk home, cut through the park. It's, what, a mile and half?"

Erica bit her lower lip. A walk at night did sound good. Eric had enjoyed that sometimes, too. But Eric and Cory had been boys. Girls had a different relationship to the world...

"Come on, we'll be together," Jewel wheedled. "Nothing's gonna happen!"

Erica relented. "Okay, fine, what the hell." With a cheer she didn't quite feel, she smiled and said, "It's a nice night anyway."

The girls split up to say their respective goodbyes.

~~~~~

Rick hunched in the bushes, boredom warring with patience. He'd been on the hunt before, though, so patience had a commanding lead. It didn't always come together the first night.

He had tortured and killed nine women so far, in the four years since he'd started. He tried to be smart about it, varying his methods and territory. The police hadn't even connected most of them.

Usually he'd pick runaways, they were easy and unmissed. A few times he'd managed to force some slut into her car and drive them to a secluded location. This was only the third time he'd tried an ambush like this. It was riskier, but the payoff was so intense...

And lookee here, two high-school chicks coming around the bend in the trail. He quickly judged odds, studied the potential prey. Going for a twofer upped the risks. Still, if things went badly he could just kill one and take the other. Having two would allow games you couldn't do with one.

He was very sensitive to women's fear. They were chattering to each other, trying to sound casual, and it was all a front. They were having second thoughts about walking the park at night. A taste of terror to come. Soon, he knew, they'd regret it far more.

The taller one slowed, peering around, as if she sensed something wrong. The wind picked up a little. In the end, though, things went just about as planned. As they passed by his 'blind', he jumped out, knocking the little one off her feet. Before the taller girl could finish turning around, he'd smashed the butt of his knife handle into her temple.

She fell, unconscious, sprawled in an awkward heap. Rick turned to see the other girl sitting on her ass, hands thrown behind her. He started to smile, but something was wrong. The fear wasn't in her face, yet. Instead there was only anger.

Anger was okay. It'd keep her from screaming until he got his hands on her, and the ones who started out angry often got the most scared later. But somehow this was the wrong kind of anger...

~~~~~

Officer Nate Baldwin hopped out of his car and ran to the south corner of the park, a flashlight in one hand and a gun in the other. From what the dispatcher had told him, 911 had gotten a cell call from a nearly hysterical young woman. She hadn't been very coherent, but the words 'bastard hurt my friend' and 'she's hurt' had been used. An ambulance and another patrol car were inbound.

Suddenly he heard someone screaming for help; she'd evidently seen his flashlight. He followed the sound and discovered two teenage girls. The little one was sitting on the ground, crying as she cradled the head of the other in her lap, who seemed to be stirring a bit. She called out, "Help me! She got knocked out, she needs a doctor!"

"Calm down, it's okay." He glanced over them quickly. "Are you all right? How is she?"

"I'm fine, but he hit her so hard! I don't know enough... enough first aid to really help her!" The tears kept flowing.

"An ambulance should be here any second. It's okay." Insistently: "Who attacked you? Where is he?"

"He's... over there." She nodded toward some bushes. She seemed reluctant to take her hands off the other girl's head. "I don't know who he is. I never saw him before."

Baldwin pointed the flashlight in the direction indicated. About ten feet away, he could see two legs sticking out from the foliage. They were not moving. He approached carefully, gun at the ready. But it was immediately clear that the suspect posed no further danger, despite the Bowie knife still clutched in one hand.

"Holy shit..." he breathed. The corpse lay on its side, an impressively large hole in the center of the back. Blood was scattered around in droplets, spreading outward in a cone, away from the trail. A dum-dum round might do that... but there was no apparent entry wound on the chest side. He wondered if somehow a shaped charge had gone off inside the perp. It had not been a peaceful death; the face was contorted in agony, jaw agape in a silent scream. "What the hell happened to him?" he asked himself.

"I don't know!" the girl wailed, the tears flowing even harder.

~~~~~

The police had left. The girls were up in Jewel's bed, shaken but no worse for wear. Laurie, the Chief Healer of the Sisterhood, had confirmed that Erica would not even have a headache tomorrow. The pair probably wouldn't have been able to sleep without a Healing push, but they rested now.

Downstairs four very upset witches worried at, and about, the latest problem. Miranda had called the High Priestess on her way to the park after the police had called. Bronwyn had summoned the Donovans and the three had driven down at more-than-legal speeds.

"He died of Magic. Dark power killed that asshole." Jacqui paced, as was her wont when agitated, stalking like a tigress. "They didn't even try to hide it. The signs were all over him."

"But that means a Brother was there, and ended that beast's life." Miranda sat clenching her hands. "I'd be grateful, except that means they're watching the girls. They'd have to know."

"Does it?" Jacqui mused.

"Of course it does!" Laurie cried. "I know you couldn't Find any sign of him, or them. But powerful as you are, Finding isn't your strongest gift."

"It'd help if we knew exactly what had happened," Jacqui muttered in frustration.

Bronwyn shrugged. "We promised not to look at her mind, but I refuse to believe she's that good an actress. If Jewel says she doesn't remember anything, I'm inclined to believe her."

"It's just... I've got one of my hunches. We're missing something."

"What are you suggesting? That Jewel killed him?" asked Miranda, sensitive to any threat to her daughter.

"No, it was Dark Power. Jewel's not a male anymore. It's impossible," Bronwyn said authoritatively.

Jacqui's scowl was stubborn. "'Impossible' is a strong word to use when Magic is involved. I realized that a long time ago, 'Bonnie'."

"Honey, women can't use the Dark Power." Laurie said it gently, trying to defuse the conflict. Her head ached so; life-threatening wounds were hazardous to both Healer and healed, but thankfully Erica had only received a mild concussion. It still hurt.

Jacqui wasn't mollified. "I know. It's just, 'the hidden serpent'..." Bronwyn started a reply, but Jacqui overrode her. "Hear me out. In a way, Jewel is truly unique. The Birth Rites were obviously never performed, and she was Transformed from, and into, a teenager. As far back as our records go - which is longer than anybody's - that's never happened. Ever. Before Lani and Haylie and the rest, only the sons of Sisters were Transformed. Even then, I Transformed them into newborns, and they got the Birth Rites then."

Bronwyn scowled. "I see what you're saying. If any female could wield the Dark Power, it'd be Jewel." She shook her head forcefully, hating the idea. "But, to have any chance of that, she'd have to still be 'Cory', still think of herself as male."

Miranda backed her up. "And in that case, she couldn't have learned even as much of the Goddess' Magic as she has. She's made great strides. There's a long, long way to go, but no male could do what she can already do."

It was Laurie who applied the coup de grace. "Maybe she could summon the Dark Power. That's a huge 'maybe'. But she didn't tonight." She touched Jacqui's arm. "She still has the Gift of the Goddess, she still has the woman-power. I felt it when I examined her. She'd even helped Erica a little, managed some Healing." Jacqui's shoulders slumped in defeat. "That's right. No one who kills can ever call on that power again. It doesn't matter how they kill." Laurie spread her hands. "That really is impossible."

"And as Doyle wrote in the Sherlock Holmes stories, 'When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.'" Bronwyn made her living as a romance novelist notable for her realistic male characters, and devoured books at a prodigious rate. "It's much easier to believe that the Brotherhood has a new and powerful cloaking spell than that Jewel killed their attacker, using Dark Power, while still retaining the Gift of the Goddess." She shrugged, the case made.

It was Jacqui's turn to shake her head. "I was so sure..."

"Honey, your hunches aren't always right. Just nearly always." Laurie's joke drew chuckles from all the witches, Jacqui included. They became somber before long, however.

Jacqui voiced the obvious. "If the Brotherhood is really on to them, we have to assume they're onto us, too."

"But if that's true... why save the girls?" Bronwyn was almost growling in frustration. "A surprise attack would make sense. A surprise rescue, though? It's... it's..." She trailed off, at a very rare loss for words.

Jacqui sprang into action holding out her hands, inviting - demanding - a circle. "Oh, Goddess," she breathed, barely-suppressed panic as an undertone. "I just realized... it brought us all down here. Away from our Daughters."

The Sisters had already been reaching for her hands, instinctively. They froze for a moment, then frantically grasped each other. The circle closed almost instantly, and Jacqui pulled them all into a powerful divination, focused on Alice and Lani, in the care of another Sister.

For long minutes, the energies surged, their Magical senses probed and searched. Then the spells ebbed, their attention returned to the well-appointed kitchen.

"They're fine," Laurie sighed in shaken relief. "Thank the Goddess."

"Thank the Goddess," the other Sisters echoed.

"Nothing," Jacqui said, almost shuddering, staring at the floor. "No attackers, no watchers, nothing. There or here. Cloaking spell or not, no way they could hide from that." She looked up. "But why?"

"If it wasn't a direct attack, it has to be a diversion." Bronwyn's self-control had clamped down. "A diversion from what, though?"

"If they knew we weren't looking at Jewel's mind..." Miranda said worriedly.

Laurie spoke up. "Jewel still has her Magic. They couldn't have done much beyond put her in a trance so she wouldn't see what they did. Only free minds can use the power."

"Was it some kind of message, then?" Bronwyn mused.

"If so, I don't have the key, beyond, 'We know you're there'." Jacqui's eyes swept over them all, frowning with intense concentration. "Every second we dither gives the Brotherhood more time to do whatever it is they're planning."

Miranda bit her lip. "So we run? Tonight?" Her voice quavered, but everyone understood why. Sisters were supposed to be ever-ready to vanish. That didn't make it easy.

Laurie spoke slowly, tentatively. "Wait. We know the Brotherhood is... not as tightly-knit as us. What if it's a, a splinter group?"

Bronwyn squinted. "What do you mean?"

"If a Brother ever did want to talk to us, they'd have a pretty hard time getting us to calm down and listen, wouldn't they?" Laurie looked each witch in the eye, in turn, as she spoke. "Granted, we thought Cory was a Brother, actually attacking Erica - but we didn't give him much chance to correct that impression."

"You think this might be a... a diplomatic overture?" Bronwyn was tasting the idea.

Laurie shook her head helplessly. "I don't know what to think." But then she glanced meaningfully at the ceiling, toward the room where the two novices slept. "I just remember the last time we saw Dark Magic and reacted before thinking."

"If it's anything besides a message, we're too exposed. If anyone even knows where to send a message, we're too exposed." Jacqui was thinking furiously. "Honestly, I think we should rabbit now. If anybody wants to talk, they can leave a frickin' voicemail."

"That's a big step," Miranda protested, picturing trying to explain to Haylie that they had to go into hiding. "And we don't know anything."

"We know enough." Jacqui took her security responsibilities seriously. Even as she spoke she kept a Magical eye out for anyone - or thing - approaching the house.

"Abandoning our current identities is irrevocable. And Miranda has a point - all we know right now is that a Brother killed that psychopath before he could kill the girls." Bronwyn thought a moment more, but she was decisive when needed. "Jewel and Erica shouldn't be moved tonight. We stand guard until morning, and have our Sisters increase the watch over Alice and Lani. Then, tomorrow, we'll move everyone to your house, Laurie, and... see what develops."

Jacqui hesitated for a moment, then nodded her acceptance. "Together, we should be able to defend ourselves from an assault long enough to escape. And we can disappear from there as easy as here." She shook her head. "I'm gonna warm up our backup IDs and escape routes, though. We've got to worry about our Daughters, too."

~~~~~

A small group of men sat before a desk. The chairs were well-upholstered and comfortable, the room was elegantly appointed and warmed by the fire burning merrily in the fireplace. But none of them were relaxed. The High Leader did not appreciate surprises.

His whole demeanor was irritable. "The attack in the park will force us to accelerate our schedule. The 'women' may go to ground at any point. I don't want to waste time finding them again."

"You don't really need them," one of his lieutenants protested. "We can strike any time now. And once we act, it won't matter what they do. If they even survive."

The High Leader's scornful gaze caused the man to fall silent. "It does matter what they do. Long ago, the Sisters toppled the Dominion. And have you noticed that we have never managed to establish it again?"

The man didn't dare meet the High Leader's gaze. He desperately wished to be anywhere else.

"We have underestimated them for thousands of years. That is a tradition I will not continue."

He turned his attention to another, a tall blond man whose clothes were oddly practical despite being obviously expensive. "I want assault teams ready at dawn. That means you have..." - a glance at the clock - "...four hours." Gratefully taking the implicit dismissal, the man left the room quickly.

The High Leader then eyed a short, thick man with a dark beard. "Appraise David now. He's to contact the Jardin 'girl' as soon as he plausibly can, get any intelligence possible." That subordinate stood and stepped out to the foyer, already pulling out his cell.

The first lieutenant fought not to cringe as the High Leader refocused on him. "You claim we're ready. Pray to the Dark One that it's so. I will join you downstairs in one hour. We will cast the final spells then." He held the man's eyes for a moment. "There is a customary price for incompetence. I do not intend to dispose of all of our traditions." The lieutenant could feel the blood draining from his face.

The High Leader finished. "One hour. Or you will be the initial sacrifice. My catalyst."

The others had hurried from the room with some measure of dignity. The last scampered away like a startled rabbit.

~~~~~

"Jacinta? It's Jewel."

Jacinta squeezed her phone tighter. "Ohmigod! Did you see the news? Some girls got assaulted in the park! They killed the guy, is what they said..."

"'Cinta, listen," Jewel interrupted. "In the park? That was us. Erica and me."

Her heart actually seemed to skip a beat. "Shut up! Are you kidding? Oh, Dios mio, tell me you're kidding!"

"Nope." Jewel sounded very tired.

After a second, the words flooded out from her, despite how strangled her throat felt. "Maddonna, Jewel, ohmigod, are you okay? You're okay, right? He didn't... Is Erica..."

"We're fine. Everybody's fine. Except for that asshole. He's dead. Fucker."

"What happened?" Jacinta practically screamed.

"We don't know exactly. We were taking the trail in the park..."

"At night?! Jewel, you can't... that was..." She stopped herself.

Jewel sighed. "Okay, it was a bad idea. No shit."

Jacinta backpedaled. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean..."

Jewel cut her off... but she didn't really sound angry. "It's fine, I get it." She paused, then started up again. "Anyway, we got jumped. This guy, he wasn't even that big, but he knocked out Erica just like that. And then..."

Jacinta waited, and finally prodded, "Then what?"

"That's the thing. I don't know. Last thing I remember was Erica, laying on the ground. And I was gonna scream, but..."

The girl sighed. "It was like I passed out, almost. Except when I kinda woke up, I was standing up, staring down at that motherfucker. He was dead on the ground. Looked like he took both barrels from a shotgun. And then I turned and Erica was still just laying there and I ran over and held her and she wouldn't wake up and I guess I called 911 but..."

"It's okay!" Jacinta said, unnerved by the rising hysteria in Jewel's voice. "You're okay." Then a new thought occurred to her and she blurted, "How's Erica? Like, she's okay, right?"

Thankfully, that seemed to help Jewel regain some control. "Yeah, she's fine now. We're both okay." Her slightly-shaky voice indicated that 'okay' might be an overstatement.

"Oh, thank God!" Jacinta said anyway. "Can I come over? You sound like you really need a hug."

"No, I'm sorry. We're all going away for a couple days. We're gonna stay with some of Mrs. Jardin's friends."

"You're going away!? When will you be back?"

"I dunno for sure. I hope not for more than a couple days." She paused. "But either way, I think I do kinda want some time to just, y'know, process."

"Well, okay." Jacinta shook her head. "Can you call me when you get there?"

"Maybe," Jewel said. "Can you call Gabriela for me, let her know? We gotta get going in just a couple minutes. I'm barely gonna have time to call Brandon."

~~~~~

In the next room over, a similar conversation was being held.

"We're going away for a bit. Give Jewel a chance to rest." Then, Erica admitted, "Me, too, really."

David sounded really worried. "Can I just come see you? Please? I just wanna see you're okay. I've been flipping out all morning!"

"I'm sorry, we're leaving right now," Erica said, touched by his concern. "I promise, I'm fine. Totally!" Although... something tickled the back of her mind...

"Okay," David said, not sounding happy about it. "Can you at least call me when you get to wherever you're going?"

"Okay, I will."

"Promise?" he insisted.

"I promise," Erica said, touched at how worried he was. "Look, I really gotta go. Bye!"

"Bye. Be careful!"

She hung up and finished throwing clothes and such into a backpack. It made sense to reassure him. So why did it feel like a mistake to promise she'd call him later?

~~~~~

A lot of women were packed in the Dononvan home.

Bronwyn put away her cell and made eye contact with Jacqui and Miranda. The Sisters detached from the crowded family room and followed her to the kitchen. Haylie had met Alice and Lani many times before, but hadn't seen them since her birthday party. Miranda was talking with another Sister, Adelle. Erica and Jewel sat together, subdued, in one corner, talking quietly to each other as they texted friends and boyfriends.

"What's wrong?" Jacqui asked once they were out of earshot.

Bronwyn had a very serious mien. "That was Daria. Something's changed. Divinations that showed no threat from the Brotherhood - well, no unusual threat - are suddenly warning that something major is underway." She said, very seriously, "She sounded worried. No, she sounded terrified."

Jacqui had tensed up progressively as Bronwyn spoke. She began to pace. "The attack was the first step. In... something." She shook her head furiously, a lioness shaking off irritating flies. "But we should have had some kind of hint. We knew something was up with the Brotherhood before we ever found Lancaster." She threw up her hands, exasperated, though she kept her voice down. "That's why you Transformed me when you did!"

Laurie spoke up softly, wearing a worried expression. "We hurt them badly last time. More, we hurt them openly." She looked urgently at Bronwyn. "They understand divinations, too. What if they masked their intentions? Plans only. Kept their preparations abstract, took no concrete actions..."

"That..." Bronwyn began confidently. Then she paused - and continued more uncertainly, "...would be new."

Laurie simply shrugged.

Jacqui's mind moved quickly once it got started. She explored the implications out loud. "They'd have to be doing it deliberately. You gotta plan something like that. Which would mean... they're taking us seriously."

The young woman looked very worried, now. "They always had a hard time doing that. And we always tried to, like, encourage that. Hit 'em covertly, indirectly." She looked at Bronwyn. "But Hitler - Lancaster knew we had a part in that. And he... he wasn't gonna use armies. We didn't have time to undermine him, cut out his power base. He was gonna do Magic infowar! He was gonna collapse civilization."

Bronwyn had gone icy cold, in full High Priestess mode. "We revealed some of our true power there. As Laurie said, hurt them badly and openly." She took a deep breath. "They've had their blind spots. But I think we may have had some, too. They've been predictable so long, we may have forgotten they can be clever as well."

She looked at Jacqui. "Alert the Sisterhood, quietly. Call a council of the local Sisters. Then start finding out what you can about the Brotherhood's actions and movements. Carefully. We're moving to a war footing. I'll contact all the Oracles, see what kind of intel we can get on that level."

She looked at Miranda. "And you talk to the Healers. I'm very afraid we may need them, soon." She sighed. "Then pack up. We can't stay here much longer."

The Sisters split up, to their appointed tasks.

~~~~~

Erica was positive something was wrong. Mrs. Donovan - Laurie - had taken Miranda and Adelle aside; when they came back from the kitchen they'd both looked pale and drawn. Jacqui was upstairs on the computer, and didn't come down for lunch.

No one else had time for Jewel, so she was busy hanging with her and keeping her occupied. Midafternoon, they packed everyone up again.

"You girls will stay at Adelle's condo. We have to go to a meeting." She paused. "I'd appreciate it if you'd keep inside until we get back. Just... a low profile, for now."

Erica nodded, trying to act casual. Something was definitely wrong. One glance at Jewel showed she sensed it, too. They didn't say anything, though, in front of the youngsters. Before long they were packed into a minivan, and Miranda and the other Sisters were taking a couple cars in another direction.

~~~~~

Eight tense Sisters were gathered in an unassuming apartment, talking. The council hadn't officially started yet; but, while they waited for the last Sister to arrive, they were worrying over the problem Bronwyn had set them - how could they discover, and head off, whatever the Brotherhood planned?

Suddenly one Sister - a blonde, matronly sort - yelped and leaped to her feet. "Daria's under attack! Gunmen shooting at her car! She's protecting herself for the moment."

"Oh Goddess!" Laurie exclaimed. "Alice! Lani! All of them!"

Bronwyn had gone icy again. Jacqui, Steffie, Brianna, Debbie - get to Daria as fast as you can. We'll head to reinforce Adelle.

Can't get there in one shot Jacqui thought-spoke to the Sisters. I'll take us in a couple jumps. You all be ready to fight until I recover.

In seconds, the apartment was empty.

~~~~~

Adelle pushed the buttons to slide open the minivan side doors. "Everyone out! I think I have some popsicles in the freezer."

The teenagers and youngsters trooped up to the front door. Erica could see a nicely-apportioned living room through the picture window. Adelle got the door open and waved them in.

She started to follow them in... and then she screamed. A black clot of energy was digging into her back. She twisted and pulled the door closed even as she collapsed.

Lani and Haylie were screaming. Jewel yelled, fast. "Get upstairs, now. Hide. Lock doors if you can." The girls stared at her for a second. "Go!" she shrieked, and they darted up the stairs.

Erica had moved back. Jewel swept the hall with her eyes, then darted toward what appeared to be the kitchen. "Get down," she called over her shoulder. "Hide!"

Erica moved into the family room, looking for somewhere to hide. She was calling a telepathic alarm to her Mother. She peered out the front window, and saw shapes moving up the drive. Dressed in black.

Jewel appeared, holding a carving knife. "Wait, Jacqui, if you kill..." Erica began.

The young woman seemed very cold and grim. "I ain't letting them at Haylie and them without a fight."

Erica moved to slide the curtains closed on the front window, for whatever delaying effect it might have. Her Mother's presence in her mind wasn't as reassuring as it had been when Cory had attacked her. Miranda seemed to be in as much anguish and panic as she herself was.

She'd got the curtains halfway pulled when something happened. It felt like an electric shock... but cold. And yet it was somehow familiar.

She collapsed, her whole body pins and needles, her brain fuzzy. On the way to the floor, she absently figured out what it felt like. It reminded her a little of what Cory had done to her, just before he'd been Transformed.

Jewel shrieked. "Oh, no, Erica!" She was low to the ground, out of sight of the window, shaking Erica. But she couldn't move.

Jewel looked around frantically. "Fuck. Fuck. Shit..."

"Just go," she tried to say. It came out all slurred, like she'd had a stroke. "Dus nuh," maybe.

Jewel seemed to have had an idea. Full of adrenaline, she dropped the knife, and got the loveseat pulled away from the wall. She dragged Erica's limp body behind it, grunting with effort. Then she pushed it back into place so the legs were almost crushing her friend.

Erica could look up at the thin ribbon of light coming over the top edge of the loveseat. Jewel's face appeared there. "Just stay quiet. I'm gonna, like, cloak you." She chanted quickly in the language of the Sisters. Erica felt an illusion of some kind take shape over her.

"Don't move. Just be quiet," Jewel said urgently. Then she disappeared.

Erica could turn her eyes. She looked out under the loveseat, saw Jewel's feet and hand as she picked up the knife. A crash came from the side doorway; it sounded like someone had smashed open the door. Maybe more than one.

Heavy bootsteps thudded in the tiny foyer. "Please... please..." Jewel begged. She'd fallen on her knees to the floor. Erica saw Jewel's hand down by her side, hidden, squeezing the knife handle. Dark boots walked up to where she kneeled. Guys have such weirdly big feet, she thought dreamily.

A rough voice barked. "Just stay still and we won't... Gaaah!" The man suddenly screamed and fell, the knife deep in his thigh. He was dressed for combat, black clothes and a flak vest.

Erica saw Jewel's feet as she jumped up and made for the hallway on the far side of the room, but a guttural word and an eerie sound rang out. Erica almost whimpered as Jewel fell limply to the floor.

"Fucking bitch!" the downed man yelled. He was up on one arm. Suddenly new feet sprang into view, clad in sneakers. There was burst of gunfire, painfully loud. She heard falling glass, felt a breeze as the front window shattered.

The wounded man was shouting. "Let go, you asshole! That cunt stabbed me!"

"I just saved your life." The new voice sounded completely unintimidated and more than a little pissed. And it made Erica's blood freeze. "This is a capture mission. She's a target. If you'd killed her, the High Leader would've shredded your soul."

Erica's heart was pounding so hard she feared it would shake the loveseat pressed against her. That's David! Oh Goddess help me, that's David! Shock was supposed to make you feel numb. Why didn't she feel numb?

A new voice, coming into the room. "Kid's right, Kalanick. Shut the fuck up or I'll kill you myself."

The new voice took command. "Hardesty, first aid on Kalanick. White, secure her." More boots came into view. Someone picked up Jewel. Erica prayed she understood them right and Jewel was just unconscious. "The three kids are upstairs. We need to breach. This taking too long."

"Let me try," David said quickly. "The little sister knows me. She'll let me in, minimal risk of injury."

They moved away, the commander still talking. "Douglas, sweep. We're missing one of the Novices."

Erica never knew quite how she kept silent when a man peeked over the top of the loveseat and looked right at her. Whatever he saw, he moved on quickly. Jewel's illusion held.

~~~~~

"Haylie, are you in there? It's me, David. Open up. We've got to get out of here, right now." David said, low and urgent.

Come on, he thought impatiently. If they bust in, you might get hurt. Who knows how many other trigger-happy dickwads they have?

The door clicked. "David?" Haylie said in a shaky whisper. "What's going on? Where's Erica?"

He pushed in. "Later. We've got to move. You can see her in a minute." I hope. Though you might not want to.

"Wait, why are you even here?" Haylie suddenly asked. "Was that guns downstairs?"

David didn't answer right away. Haylie had always struck him as pretty smart. Then he shook his head. "Shit. Sorry about this..."

Haylie and Lani and Alice looked at each other, very scared. They heard David muttering something. It sounded a little like the language of the Sisters, but wasn't. All three girls drew in breath to scream... then slumped, almost deflating, as the Dark Power stunned them unconscious.

David made a quick check as two assault team members rushed in and gathered up the limp girls. They were out but not hurt. As safe as they might be.

For now. He tried not to think about how safe they might be when they got where they were going.

"Fuck." He was glad he hadn't had to take Erica down. Attacking helpless girls wasn't anything he'd ever wanted to add to his resumé.

~~~~~

Four Sisters appeared in the living room with a flash of light. A ward sprang up in an instant, while Jacqui regathered her strength. She took in the scene with quick glances. The destroyed front window, bullet casings on the floor. Traces of Dark Magic hung in the air.

And then a low, panicked moan from somewhere. Her life-sense sought quickly; only one living being. Behind that small couch.

The other Sisters were startled when she crossed out of the ward, but Jacqui could tell whatever had happened was past. She yanked the loveseat out of the way, to behold... a rolled-up rug.

An instant later her senses, on high alert, picked up on the Magic. A glamour. A sharp gesture and a brief word brushed it away like a truck plowing through tissue paper.

"Oh, Goddess..." Jacqui cried, dropping to her knees. Erica lay there, tears rolling from her eyes.

~~~~~

David was having trouble keeping his breakfast down.

Jewel and Adelle had their arms restrained behind their backs with coils of Dark energy, one acolyte close and another two steps behind. Haylie and the other girls were simply guarded, arms held at the biceps by firm hands. The females were outnumbered two to one. And that didn't count the strike team, all but the wounded Kalanick, following along behind.

Once during this march, while rounding a corner, Adelle had made as if to summon her power. The Magical bands had clamped tight. One of the Brothers watching her said, calmly, "Don't. Or we kill the girls first." The woman had settled down after that.

It was getting very hard to ignore what was going to happen to them all. True, David didn't know what the High Leader had planned. But they were on their way to meet him... and he knew enough.

All too soon, they arrived at the office, scented with smoke from the fireplace. It was spacious enough to hold the whole group, though some of the strike team had to stand in the doorway. "So... these are our new guests?" The High Leader looked over the woman, teenager, and three girls with amused contempt. "Excellent work. A pity one escaped, but we have the key targets." He nodded at the younger three. "I..." Abruptly he paused, and squinted at one of the girls, she with the longest hair, in the frock. After a moment, he barked, "What is your name? What do they call you?"

The terrified young lady shivered and stood mute, staring at the floor. The man holding her jerked her arm up painfully. She yelped and began to cry.

"Your name, girl," the High Leader demanded again, coldly angry.

Another twist, another yelp. "Lani," she cried, weeping. "Lani Llewellyn."

An extremely malicious smile took root and blossomed across the man's face; David was crazily reminded of the Grinch. The High Leader threw his head back and laughed uproariously.

After a few seconds, he recovered some control, though his eyes glinted as he looked her up and down. "Ah, Erich Lancaster, how the proud and mighty have fallen." He couldn't repress one more gleeful chuckle. "You, who dreamed to place yourself above me. Now you wear a dress and put bows in your pretty hair."

Lani blinked in frightened confusion. Adelle looked horrified and ill. David noticed Jewel's guarded, controlled expression; he had a sense she was thinking furiously. That didn't make him feel better.

"You didn't know, did you?" the High Leader gloated. "I well imagine they wouldn't want you to know." He leaned in, savoring how the girl flinched. "Once, you were a Brother like us. A... rival of mine. You attacked the Sisterhood. So they made you a member."

Lani's dismay was complete, she was petrified, mouth working soundlessly. The High Leader seemed to drink it in. "You know it, don't you? You've had strange dreams, memories you could not explain, am I not correct?"

He stepped back. "Well, Erich, now all you are is a hostage. And if the Sisters don't value you enough, not even that." He glanced at the others. Alice was grimly defiant, but Haylie was clearly disturbed and frightened. Adelle just looked miserable. He focused carefully on Jewel for a handful of seconds; her face showed nothing but controlled anger.

The High Leader nodded sharply. "Secure them. Put these two," he indicated Adelle and Jewel, "in private cells. Explain what will happen to the children should they try anything."

The Sisters were led away. The High Leader dismissed the strike team. "David, a moment, please."

Steeling himself, keeping his face impassive, he approached. The High Leader stood up and came around his desk, holding a hand out. When David took it, his grip was firm. "Excellent work. I am genuinely impressed."

"Thank you, sir." He didn't want to think about why that compliment felt... galling.

"You have advanced our plans considerably. Our central plan in particular. Do not think this will go unrewarded."

"I appreciate that, sir." Then, hesitating only a moment, he went on. "Sir, if I may... what is our plan?" If he was in such good graces with the High Leader, he might as well make use of it.

The High Leader smiled almost paternally. "I envy you, you know. I have spent my whole life in the shadows. Hiding from the ordinary cattle. And then even worse, from the Sisterhood." His smile broadened. "You have a lifetime ahead of you. A lifetime to enjoy the victory you helped to bring about, the victory denied us for millennia. A lifetime as a leader of the New Dominion."

David frowned, uncertain.

The High Leader laughed. There was nothing in particular David could point to, yet it raised goose pimples on his skin. It cost him a great deal to keep his face neutral.

The man was in an expansive mood. "There is no chance now of your capture, so I can finally tell you our full strategy." He waved towards David's pocket. "You have a cell phone, yes?"

"Of course," the young Brother replied, mystified.

"So do most adults on the planet. Even - especially - in the Third World, cell phones reach where almost no other technology does." The smile had lost its paternal aspect. Malice had come to the forefront. "You know, of course, the techniques for manipulating computers with Magic."

"Certainly, sir." David's confusion only increased.

"Imagine a virus that spread among cell networks, one with Magical enhancements to overcome merely technological resistance. One that spread over the entire Earth, in minutes."

David thought a moment. "Theoretically, I guess. But to reach every cell phone, everywhere... all the Circles together couldn't manifest that much Dark Power." He shrugged. "Better to just target the critical systems. You could..."

The High Leader seemed undaunted. He interrupted. "There are other ways to generate Dark Power." At David's blank look, he frowned with irritation. "Come, come. It's no mystery. Brother Hitler grasped the concept, even if his implementation was inefficient."

David gaped, horrible understanding dawning. Necromancy.

Death Magic. Hitler had used it to buy protection for his circle, and luck for his troops in battle. For a time.

"But... even killing a million people wouldn't..." He trailed off, seeing the glee in the High Leader's face.

"Death spells don't take all that much power. Not at close range, certainly."

David, floundering, just shook his head.

The High Leader's frown chilled him. "You disappoint me, boy. Don't you see?" His eyes looked up and away, beholding a grand vision. "The initial wave of the virus spreads, and our Circle feeds it the Dark Power needed to kill those near the first phones. But the virus captures their death-power, and uses it to spread again, and kill again."

David, terrified, shared the vision now too. "By the Dark One... It'd spread faster and faster. Exponentially. Anyone near a cell phone, who didn't have Dark Power to protect them - " It was entirely possible, he saw with sick despair. Chain reactions like that couldn't be sustained, normally. But guided by computers - and cell phones were very sophisticated now - carried by networks... new deaths before the echoes of the old had subsided...

The High Leader still wasn't looking at David's face, transported by the elegance of his plan. "We estimate at least four billion deaths, in less than five minutes. A grand sacrifice to the Dark One." He shrugged. "Concentrated in the developed world, of course. But the remnants of humanity will be scattered, shocked, disorganized. Ready for conquest by an energized Brotherhood."

David groped numbly for a flaw. "The Sisterhood..."

"Even better. There is... 'fallout', you might say, from four gigadeaths, from so much Dark Power sweeping the world at once. We expect it to kill most of the Sisterhood outright. Quite possibly all of them." He savored the image for a moment.

David only just managed to school his expression before the High Leader returned his gaze. His paternal smile had returned, which only sickened David more. "But I mean to make certain. We have the children of the Sisterhood's leaders, now, thanks to you. We will use that leverage to extract the locations of all of the abominations. I will see these bitches exterminated."

The High Leader reached up and put a hand on David's shoulder. "I'm afraid I'm going to be rather busy for the next few hours. Go find your Liege, and report. When I am less pressed for time, we will discuss your reward."

"Thank you, sir. Just doing my job." Just following orders...

"No, my boy, this is above and beyond." Then he turned back to his desk, a clear dismissal. David left, holding his face blank with iron control.

~~~~~

Miranda hugged Erica, tears burning. She was so grateful for one Daughter's life, and so very afraid for the other's. When Erica had sent her telepathic cry, and they were only halfway to Adelle's... it had been, by far, the worst moment of her life. And then, Jacqui had returned with only Erica...

They were in a nearly-unfurnished house, up in the foothills of the mountains. Even Bronwyn and Laurie had never seen it. Jacqui explained that she'd set up this safe house off the books and off the grid, almost entirely by snail-mail and in-person, cash bribes. She had set it up as an ultimate failsafe, if the Sisterhood suffered a major security breach. As they apparently had.

As if there weren't enough reasons for Miranda to feel horrible, they kept piling on. "David was with them?!"

"He was a Brother, Mom. He knocked Jewel out himself, with Magic." Erica hadn't stopped crying. "Mom, didn't you guys check him?"

Everyone was appalled - and several looked at her with reproach. It couldn't compare to the agony she felt inside. "I did, punkin. But... I didn't want to pry. I... wanted to respect your privacy."

Bronwyn's jaw was tight. "A masking personality, enough to throw you off."

"We were so focused on Jewel... and you seemed to be doing so well..." Laurie was near tears.

Jacqui's eyes hadn't left her laptop since they'd arrived. There was some kind of 'fiber' connection run to the house that she was using. Apparently the hookup wasn't exactly legal, or at least authorized by the Internet company. Miranda wasn't clear on that. She spoke up, still typing. "They played our own game on us. Just like Eleanor and Eva."

"They've been three steps ahead of us the whole time." Bronwyn's rage was icy and clear. "That ends now. Jacqui, are you finished alerting everyone?"

"Yup." It would have seemed rude, under other circumstances, how focused Jacqui was. Right now, it was the only source of hope Miranda had.

"How can we figure out what they're doing from here?" one Sister - Brianna - fretted.

"I don't know, but we'd better think of something," Laurie said, determined even if shaken.

Jacqui froze, then actually looked up at Bronwyn. "You're not gonna believe this."

Miranda joined the Sisters gathered around her laptop. And then she looked at Erica. They all did.

She watched her Daughter step up and look at the screen. A brief email was displayed.

David. Have critical intel. Must meet. Reply ASAP.

~~~~~

David stared at his laptop, waiting. Every so often he looked around the coffeeshop, maintaining situational awareness. Maybe the Sisters would send an email reply. Possibly they'd send a hit squad. Most likely, though, they'd ignore his message.

The Circle of Set wouldn't ignore it. He'd shielded his connection as best he could, but he'd had to use a known address to contact the Sisters. Eventually the message would be processed by the surveillance crew. With luck, the report might not make it up through channels until tomorrow. Without luck... every passing minute, the odds mounted of a Brotherhood hit squad arriving to eliminate him.

It was just a matter of who got to him first, now. Being in public, near a wifi hotspot, wouldn't save him. Either way.

Of course, neither would running. David felt very alone.

He took a sip of coffee, and almost choked when his laptop chimed. An email. Blank subject. Meaningless return address.

He opened it. GPS coordinates, nothing more.

He stood up and left, acutely aware that the message might just as easily be from the Brotherhood, summoning him to a trap. And even if it did come from the Sisters, they would not be inclined to be merciful.

~~~~~

It took nearly an hour to drive to the indicated town. David made his way along a shallow arroyo. The actual coordinates were well away from the road, down in the gully. Sensible; no line-of-sight for snipers, especially with the small trees growing along it.

He was still a couple hundred meters from the rendezvous when he felt the Magic gather around him. He wasn't maintaining any wards - no point - but even so he was startled at the speed and force with which he was snatched away. He had just enough time to recognize it was Light Magic. Dark Power would have been bad, but Light very likely wasn't any better.

Then he was in a room. No windows, cement block walls; an unfinished basement, maybe. Four Sisters were spaced evenly around him; the instant he appeared, a powerful ward closed down, trapping him with oppressive force. He wouldn't be leaving, or even communicating, until - unless - they chose.

He recognized the Sister directly in front of him. Jacqui Donovan. Quick glances at the other three showed no one he could recall being briefed on. But he didn't spend any effort searching his memories. The fifth occupant, off to one side, took all his attention.

Erica.

She still didn't have much of a poker face. He could see at a glance that she was hurting badly, sick that he'd tricked and used her. But there was a new and deadly rage he'd never encountered before. Hell hath no fury indeed...

He opened his mouth, not even sure what he was going to say, but Erica pounced. "Where's Haylie? Where's Jewel?"

"They were okay the last time I saw them, maybe six hours ago," he said quickly, answering her unspoken question first. "They're all at a base in the mountains, an old hunting lodge." He paused, then admitted, "If they haven't been moved."

Jacqui's gaze was penetrating, direct, and - he had to admit to himself - intimidating as fuck. Even through the ward he could sense her energy, roiling off her in slow waves. "What is the 'critical intel' you were talking about?" she demanded.

"Um... what do you guys... uh, women... know about necromancy? Death magic?"

~~~~~

Erica asked herself again why she'd insisted on being here at David's interrogation.

She was such a tangled knot of emotion she could barely think. She was furious at him, wracked with guilt that her gullibility had put Jewel and Haylie and the other girls in danger, starkly terrified of what might happen to them... and horribly pained at his betrayal. And even more guilty because of that heartbreak, that wish that he could have been what he seemed.

Jacqui answered him. "No. This isn't about what we know. We are interrogating you. You talk. If we aren't clear on anything, you'll find out really quick."

Erica watched David swallow hard, and felt a little of the satisfaction she'd been hoping for. "Okay. Um, I just found out... I mean, I didn't..." Jacqui started to frown, and he untied his tongue. "Look, when somebody dies, energy is released. If it's deliberate, if they're murdered, it comes out as Dark Power. Sort of 'tuned' to the killer."

Beyond a slight nod, Jacqui might as well have been a statue, holding his eyes with hers. But Erica heard the Sister's voice in her mind, helping her keep up. Sisters can't shield themselves from that backlash, they way they can from other forms of Dark Power. That's what burns out the Gift of the Goddess.

David went on. "A Dark sorcerer can capture that energy, use it to power his spells. That's what they're gonna do. But hooked up with computers."

Whatever satisfaction she'd felt was washed away in a tide of numbing horror as David went on, explaining what this 'High Leader' had told him.

"...so, as soon as I could, I slipped out, found a hotspot, and messaged you people."

Jacqui's impassive visage had long ago collapsed into ashen shock. But she didn't hesitate to press him. "Why? You're betraying the Brotherhood. Don't you want a new Dominion?"

David's teeth clenched. "Look, I know I'm not your favorite person right now. But I'm not a fucking mass murderer, okay? I don't give a shit about ruling the world! Most of my Brothers don't!"

"So the Brotherhood is just a social club?"

David inhaled and exhaled once, controlling his temper. "I had my reasons. One of them is protection from the other Circles. And you ladies."

Jacqui cocked her head, considering. "Why come to us? Surely your Brothers are better-placed to deal with it."

"Not in the High Leader's west coast HQ, they ain't. Most of the ones I could count on are back east anyway, and they're almost all junior Brothers." He shrugged. "You're not my first choice in allies either, but I figure at least you're on this side of the continent. You have a chance."

Jacqui's head tilted, considering.

~~~~~

Erica listened as the witches conferred. Several Sisters she'd only barely been introduced to, along with the High Priestess, Chief Healer, and Jacqui, were strategizing. There had been some analysis of David's story on a Magical level, much more technical than Erica could follow. The witches had reluctantly concluded that the virus was, unfortunately, feasible.

One of the unfamiliar Sisters was speaking, Rita. "Can we, I don't know, protect the phone network? Or crash it, block anyone from using it?"

The group looked to Jacqui, who was pacing with an air of intense concentration. "Protect it? Maybe. With a year to research and prep, maybe. But not fast enough." She shook her head. "Crashing it's easier." A bitter chuckled. "Relatively, anyway."

She shook her head sadly at Rita. "There's multiple networks, redundant links... We could do it, but not all at once. It's still not fast enough. As soon as we moved on any one network, they could just hit the others. Best case, they only kill two billion people." She started pacing once more.

Bronwyn surveyed the other Sisters. "So we must cut the virus off at the source. We need to strike at their lair. As soon as possible. Tonight."

Everyone was crowded in the family room of one of the Sisters; even their 'guest' had been brought up from the basement. David was sitting in a chair, keeping very still and unthreatening, under the mistrustful eyes of two Sisters. But suddenly he spoke up. "You want my help getting in, getting around."

He flinched a little from all the hostile female regard he drew, but he didn't back down. "I've been there. I know most of the complex. I know a fair number of the guys there. I can help."

"We know that, now, too," Jacqui said. "Everything you know." She'd gone rummaging through his mind, after the initial interrogation, with his reluctant - and, it had been clear, entirely unnecessary - permission.

He didn't look cowed, which surprised Erica a little. He just kept pushing. "None of you know Dark Magic, or can use Dark Power. If they really are prepping that virus, you may need somebody on your side who can help with that."

The women's reluctance was obvious. David didn't back down. "Look, yeah, you know what I know. That means you also know I want this shit stopped as much as you do."

Jacqui squinted him. She didn't nod, but somehow it was clear she granted his point to some extent. Not to the extent of actual trust, however. Then she glanced at Erica, but the meaning of that look was inscrutable.

More hesitation. He threw up his hands, frustrated, nearly provoking a response from his guards. "Fine, whatever, kill me as soon as we're done. But it's stupid not to take me along, and you gotta know that on some level."

Erica looked around, and could see that the Sisters were going to cave. She decided to strike then, too. "I'm going too."

As if they were charged with lighting, and she was grounded metal, the exasperation of the Sisters found a path to follow. "What?!" "Not a chance." "No!" "Erica!" Overlapping denials.

Bronwyn, not surprisingly, waved the others down and took charge. "This is a combat mission. You are an untrained novice. I'm sorry, but you bring no benefit and will be a distracting liability."

"I can help with Haylie and Alice and Lani, and Jewel. They..."

Miranda cut her off. "This isn't babysitting. I want you as far from there as possible."

Jacqui had developed a frown. "Right now, I don't know where we could put her that'd be safe. They've been tracking our movements for years. I'm not even a hundred percent sure about this house. " She chewed her lip. "Any Sisters who aren't going on this raid are already on the run."

Erica shrugged. "They set off that virus, sounds like there won't be a 'minimum safe distance'."

The Sisters weren't pleased about choking down another bitter pill. But they were too practical - and frightened - to waste time. Erica kept her face neutral, but inwardly savored her victory.

~~~~~

Two hours later, crouching behind a bush in pitch darkness, Erica was feeling significantly less victorious. She and two Sisters were staged half a mile from the lodge; the rest of the women, and David, had gone ahead.

They were the rearguard. Bronwyn had said they were to wait and provide backup if called, or cover a retreat. Erica wasn't fooled. Eric had read enough military fiction to know the other historic purpose of a rearguard.

To get word out to the rest of the army, in case a detachment suffered crushing defeat.

If the main group's infiltration failed, the three of them wouldn't be riding in for any glorious rescue. They'd escape and hide, and try to maintain the Sisterhood through the probable apocalypse. It was hard to believe the world might literally end soon, taken over by a monstrous evil. And yet, if the Sisterhood's legends could be believed, it had happened once, long ago...

On top of that, there was another little problem. Just over twenty-four hours ago, she'd been attacked in the woods by a serial killer. This was not an environment she felt emotionally ready to confront just yet. It was a measure of how bad things were that that was a lesser issue.

Well suck it up, buttercup, she told herself. If she was going to be more aware of her own emotions, she was going to have to learn to manage them, too. She would not let down people who were counting on her. Especially when practically everything was at stake.

She had plenty of time to reflect. Enduring - doing the long thankless work to build the future - it was a very womanly thing. Sacrificing for the future of others, more often than not; frequently not even ensuring a better future, just making sure there'd be any future at all. It wasn't as flashy or dramatic as men's big gaudy wars.

But it was more important. Without the work women did - and bearing children was the least of it - all the 'important' things men liked to do, the stuff written in the history books, wouldn't be possible.

Erica had already decided to stay a girl, ever since Alec had been born. She suddenly realized she had truly decided to be a Sister.

There was no moon. Starlight, and the faint haze of city glow on the western horizon, provided the only illumination. They had no light of their own. The battery had been yanked from her cell phone, of course. Leaving aside the threat of the virus, nothing trackable would be taken on a raid. She strained her ears, not even sure what she hoped to hear.

The two Sisters were vague shapes on either side. Erica had only caught a glimpse of them before the raiding party had left with the sole flashlight. It had been disconcerting... but reassuring in a way, too. Both women had Transformed themselves slightly. Now they rather looked like anime catgirls - large eyes with slit pupils, high and pointed and mobile ears. Even if Erica couldn't see much, she knew their night vision and hearing would be far better than human. She was beginning to see how the Sisterhood had survived all this time - and even won - against such ruthless opponents as the Brotherhood.

~~~~~

Haylie sat curled up against the wall in a bare cement room. A pad lay on the ground, sheathed in gray vinyl, barely enough to sleep on. There was a drain hole in the center of the floor. The whole place looked like it could just be hosed off if they needed to clean up. Wash away bloodstains, for example...

Lani had finally stopped sniffling, and sat dejectedly silent next to Alice. They were against the other wall. There wasn't room for them all to sit next to each other.

None of them had talked much. They all realized there were almost certainly listeners. There was an almost palpable feel of Magic around them. Weird, alien Magic, dark and threatening. Nothing like the spells her Mom cast. Until she got her period, she couldn't really do more than sense it... and right now, she wished she couldn't. The light from the ceiling was bright; even though she was sure it was the middle of the night, nobody could sleep. So Haylie had plenty of time to stew in her own thoughts.

The stuff that creepy little guy had said was really scary. If Lani's an adopted Brother... then what about me?

She wanted it to be a lie. She really wanted it to be a lie. And she had no trouble imagining a guy like that lying his head off - if he had reason.

But what reason could he have to lie about that? And he was right about strange dreams and weird half-memories. It would explain things...

Goddess, if it were true... then what did she really know about anything? The story they'd given about her birth mother... 'story'. She realized she believed, deep down. She'd been a guy, once.

Haylie looked Lani in the eyes - and she knew Lani believed, too. And it was tearing her up inside. Alice... she didn't see the same kind of despair in Alice's face. But they all had enough to be upset about, locked in this room, waiting for...

Her mind shied away from thoughts of the future.

She pondered the past. What kind of guy had she been? A lot like these Brothers? She remembered that dream she'd told her Mom about - and others she hadn't mentioned - and shivered.

Oh, Goddess, her Mom...

Did she know? Of course she knew, she had to know! And she'd never told!

What about Erica? She didn't think so. Erica hadn't even known about the Magic before she'd been Transformed. But now Erica was a Sister - at least a Novice - maybe she'd been told after?

No, probably not. She wasn't sure how Erica would respond to news like that, but she was sure it'd change how she acted toward Haylie somehow. And Erica had sure changed since she'd stopped being Eric, but not like that.

But... Mom. Had it all been a lie? Was she really a Daughter? Or an enemy in a soft prison?

All those hugs and snuggles and the way Mom would smile when she brushed out Haylie's hair. Acting? Lies?

Hair. No wonder Mom'd fussed like that about cutting her hair short!

She thought about that for a minute. She hadn't gotten it cut because she thought it made her look like a guy! She just liked the way it looked. And it was easier to wash.

Did she want to be a guy? Again? she thought, experimentally.

No. Not like these... these assholes. She was maybe curious about what it would feel like, but she didn't want to be one. Was that because of a spell, though?

Suddenly there was noise from behind the metal door. A muffled but loud voice, then a thump... then silence. The girls looked at each other, but kept quiet. Attention was the last thing any of them wanted. Haylie hoped that wasn't Jewel or Adelle getting tortured.

There was a... a hard-to-describe sensation, a kind of tingle she associated with Magic. All of a sudden the oppressive dark aura seemed to fade from the room. Leaving just the non-Magical horror.

The door went thunk; the lock turned. The girls backed up against the far wall, for all the good it would do. Let's find out if kicking them in the balls really works, Haylie thought. A shadow of a ghost of a memory told her maybe it did.

The door swung open... and there stood Mrs. Llewellyn.

Lani shot forward into her arms, even faster than Mrs. Llewellyn moved. But not so fast that Jacqui Donovan wasn't already sprinting to Alice.

Last, but hardly least from Haylie's point of view, was Miranda. Mom. She snatched Haylie up in an almost crushing grip. "Oh, thank the Goddess, thank the Goddess, I was so worried, thank the Goddess you're all right..." Dimly she could hear the other Sisters murmuring similar things to their own Daughters. The room was awfully crowded now.

This. This Haylie trusted, this wasn't an act. Mom's trembling arms, the tears, the choked relieved sobs... she could not believe this was anything but a Mother's love. Whatever had been concealed - whatever reasons there had been to conceal - love was at the core. Haylie was still confused and hurt... but forgiveness was possible.

Alice was kinda like Jacqui - bold, even blunt sometimes. Even as she kept a firm grip on her Mom's arms, she was looking at Jacqui, and said, "Mom, this guy said Lani used to be a guy! One of them!"

Lots of glances were exchanged in seconds - between Sisters, between the girls, between the Sisters and the girls. Haylie saw the dismay in the eyes of all the grown-ups. Her Mom's lips thinned.

"We'll discuss that later," Mrs. Llewellyn said, "once we're safely out of here." She held Lani's hands. "I promise."

That, the girls could accept. One thing the religion of the Goddess held sacred was keeping promises.

The Sisters led the group out of their cell. Haylie saw a man - one of the guys who had locked them up - laying sprawled on the floor in a disjointed heap. She felt a little bad for being sad that he was alive... but only a little.

She felt much better about seeing Jewel and Adelle coming out of their cells, apparently unharmed. The Senior Sisters were talking. "Jewel, please stay with the girls. Adelle, stick with Natalie and Miranda and keep watch. Start moving up to the ground floor. We're searching for something, Miranda can explain."

Haylie was not at all pleased to see the most powerful witches moving away, but she took comfort that her Mother was there. She knew that the Brothers would harm her only over Miranda's dead body. Alice and Lani looked more nervous, but followed orders.

Jewel touched Miranda's shoulder. "What are they going after? More hostages?"

All the former prisoners were shocked and horrified by what her Mom told them. By the time they made it up the stairs - passing a couple more unconscious men - everyone was being very quiet. Haylie held hands with her Mom. Very tentatively, looking troubled, Jewel took her other hand as they waited.

~~~~~

Erica almost yelped when the telepathic message sounded in her head. Come on in. We've cleared the place. The hostages are safe, but the virus seed isn't here. We need to find what clues we can and then bug out.

Erica couldn't help but feel overjoyed at the news about Haylie and Jewel and the rest, even if the missing virus was worrying. One of the other Sisters replied, thoughtfully including Erica. What if it's a trap? We split up for a reason.

Jacqui's mental 'voice' sounded confident. I did a Finding. There isn't a Brother within miles of this place, I guarantee. No way they could get here before we got warning.

Flanked by the two Sisters, they made their way to the lodge in just a few minutes. A Sister stood guard out front, and waved them in. It looked like a wealthy man's vacation home; through a wide front window she saw a spacious living room with several couches and a fireplace. Once they got to the back stairs, though, it had taken on a more utilitarian air.

A group was waiting for them. Erica let out a glad cry and hugged Haylie, and then Jewel, and then her Mom. And then all three at once.

Just then the rest of the Sisters came up from below. They looked grim. At the questioning expressions everyone wore, Bronwyn said, "We didn't find it."

Jacqui grimaced. "We found where they made it, though. They..." She looked at the youngsters and stopped.

Laurie said, quietly, "It was Dark Magic, let's leave it at that." David looked uncomfortable.

Jewel spoke up. "They gotta know we're here. We gotta get outta here now."

Bronwyn nodded. "I concur. We'll decamp to a safe house, regroup, and..."

Erica gasped; almost everyone did. Something like a mental scream had rung out, then quickly cut off.

"That was Steffie!" Laurie exclaimed, horrified.

"Multiple Brothers!" Bronwyn barked. "How..." She cut herself off. "Set up defenses. We need to punch our way out, fast. We can't afford to be trapped here."

Erica stole a glance at David. He seemed just as shocked as the other Sisters.

Jacqui waved up the hall, already moving. "We meet them in the big living room. Space enough for a proper ward. Can cut their numbers fast, then push through the rest."

Bronwyn nodded. The group rushed down the hall. Sounds of windows and doors being smashed in came from all around.

Jacqui looked almost murderously angry and chagrined. "How the fuck did they hide from my Finding? They must really have a cloaking spell..."

"Aw, shit," David said, eyes widening as they got into the living room.

Jacqui glanced sharply his way. "What?"

David shook his head. "HALO jump, I think. They were probably in a plane, circling forty thousand feet up, maybe more. Miles away. Out of your sensing range. Takes less than three minutes to drop that far." He shook his head sourly. "A lot less if you use a flying spell to push it."

Jacqui glared at him. So did a couple other Sisters.

He shrugged defensively. "Portable oxygen supplies really opened up a lot of new techniques..." He flinched at Bronwyn's accusing scowl. "Look, I'm a junior Brother. I never saw it. I just heard about it once."

And then the picture window exploded inward; three men jumped in over the sill. Simultaneously, Brothers came in through the two doors. The fighting began at once. There were at least as many attackers as Sisters.

The strike force had a strategy so straightforward even a Novice like Erica could deduce it. The hostages were helpless, literally Powerless to defend themselves; thus many of the Brothers sent bolts and clots of Dark Power at the girls, while others focused on the adults. The logic was obvious. The Sisters would have to choose between protecting their daughters, thus handicapping themselves - or else devote their efforts fully to fighting the Brothers, and risk losing their beloved children.

The Sisters might be able to protect everyone for a time, but Erica realized it would quickly become a war of attrition, with her side at the disadvantage. She felt the beginnings of despair.

The first and only time Jacqui had been in a battle with the Brotherhood, she'd been a prodigiously talented but inexperienced novice. Not expecting her to ever become a full Sister, Bronwyn and Laurie hadn't taught her any of the Sisterhood's spells that related to combat, offense or defense. Ultimately that proved fortunate. She managed to use a spell she had learned - backed by her enormous power - to end the fight decisively.

That had been a decade ago. Jacqui was no longer a novice. She was a full Sister at the peak of training and power, and she was great and terrible.

After two of their number were swiftly flooded with Light in a handful of seconds, the attackers realized that, and were forced to focus on her. Just as quickly, Bronwyn and the others concentrated their efforts on defense, creating a Great Ward around themselves and the girls.

Though she drew the bulk of the fire, Jacqui never seemed in serious danger. Her hands and body moved fluidly, her voice rang clear and firm. The power she summoned was awesome in the purest sense of the term. She even had enough spare concentration to relay some telepathic intelligence back to her Sisters: They've got some new kind of Dark Ward. I can't Transform them. Erica sensed overtones of grim amusement in the next thought: So I'm gonna get old-school on them.

Jewel and Erica were novices. They lacked context or training to really follow the details. So they both were reminded of the martial arts movies they'd watched as teenage boys - about warriors so fast and strong and skilled that they needed to fight multiple opponents just to find a challenge.

"Holy fuck," Erica heard David say beside her, softly but quite distinctly. He had been summoning his power... but now he stared, wide-eyed and shocked, at Jacqui crushing the defenses of another combatant.

Suddenly, harsh syllables rang out; orders in a language Erica didn't know. Immediately - though a few appeared surprised - the remaining Brothers fell back, and shifted to pure collective defense.

The High Leader stepped into the room. "I am disgusted with myself." The voice was calm and quiet, and yet it cut through the chaos.

He was shaking his head. "Alexander underestimated you. Ghengis Khan underestimated you. Xerxes, Napoleon, Hitler, Lancaster - they all underestimated you. I was determined not to repeat that mistake." He smiled, self-deprecatingly. "And yet, I so very nearly did. I thought I had gathered overwhelming force, was certain this team would outmatch any possible group of Sisters. But you, my dear..." he nodded to Jacqui, "...you are truly special. A phenomenon. You exceed even myself."

"Thanks," Jacqui spat, arms up, eyes darting. Raw power, light that was more than illumination, curled the air around her hands.

"I certainly underestimated you. But unlike my predecessors, I did not forego caution because of that. You Sisters and my assault team are indeed evenly matched... but I am here, as well." His smile now displayed the full malevolence that lurked within. "And you cannot defeat me."

Jacqui glared. "You ain't so tough." Coming from her, it was a brute fact.

Yet he was unperturbed. "Let me clarify: you must not defeat me." He smiled in triumph, enjoying the uncertainty that crept into the Sister's eyes.

He kept talking, conversationally. "I assume David has explained our plans? You are much too late. Our masterstroke is poised and ready, far from here - but close to a cell tower. Held in check by a simple spell. My spell. I can dissolve it at will, naturally. But if my power fails - should I die, or the Dark Power be burned out of me, say - it will likewise be released." The Sisters gasped. "Strike me down, and you will kill billions - and yourselves as well, of course. Much of the energy will dissipate from me, right here in this room, no matter what." He shrugged. "True, I'd regret not being there to see my Brothers hunt down the remnants of the Sisterhood - if there are any. But the New Dominion will last forever, and I shall be its Father. Either way."

He laughed out loud at the horror filling the women's faces. Even some of the Brothers looked queasy.

His expression became serious. "Surrender now. I might delay the launch of the virus if I were busy extracting intelligence from you." His lips quirked in what might have been a grin. "But probably not."

He kept the pressure up. "Come, don't delude yourselves. Your position is hopeless." His smile dripped satisfaction. "And by now you've learned that while we cannot duplicate your Transformation, we can defend against it." He nodded toward the Sister's ward. "Young David's intelligence turned out to be most useful on that score."

David, jaw set, shoulders squared, stepped out of the group, past the boundaries of the ward. But his words were more hesitant, pleading. "Sir, please. There's no need... Think about all those people. It's not worth..."

The High Leader cut him off. "I cannot express how disappointed I was when you slipped away." He sighed. "But not, fortunately, altogether surprised." His hand came up. "Your utility has now reached an end."

"Watch him, he's..." David began, working to construct a defense. He got no further; a bolt of power, lightning-quick, flicked out from the High Leader. David collapsed without even a scream. Erica did scream, and moved toward him. Only her Mother's quick grasp of her shoulder stopped her, kept her from leaving the ward the High Priestess and the others maintained.

The small man mused, "Fast? Powerful? Dangerous? I wonder what he would have said?" He glanced at Erica, amused. "He still lives, girl. He's dying, but it will take a few painful minutes." He could not help but chuckle at the confusion on her face. "You really do want to Heal him, don't you? A boy who's betrayed us both." He shook his head in mock wonder. "You certainly have female weaknesses."

"You knew he'd tell us! You set him up!" Erica shouted at the Dark wizard. Her fury at David had transmuted to fury about him, for now.

The High Leader shrugged. "I planned for the possibility. It was a test - and his failure brought you into my trap a bit sooner than otherwise." He smiled. "His loyalty would serve one purpose, his betrayal another. The best strategies are like that."

All the attention was on the Sisters, the Brothers, the High Leader - and, for the moment, Erica. No one was paying any mind to the youngsters. So everyone was surprised when Jewel suddenly slipped past the ward.

The closest Sister gasped, but didn't dare shift her power or attention away from the defenses they maintained. Erica froze as Jewel walked toward the High Leader, then choked, "Jewel! Get back!"

She felt something wasn't right. She could almost hear her intuition screaming something to her, something about how Jewel moved.

The High Leader smiled. "Ah, the littlest Sister. Poor dear, what do you imagine..." But suddenly a bolt of power streaked at him from Jewel's hands.

Dark power.

The High Leader's eyes widened in surprise, and he grunted in pain. But one instant later his shields were properly tuned, and a blistering counterattack drove Jewel to her knees. Her own ward of Dark energy was shattered, almost totally dispelled.

"Fascinating," he mused aloud. "I suspected something like this after I saw the reports on the park incident, but still... who could have thought?"

The incomprehensible display ceased for a moment. Jewel stood up shakily, but still looked... wrong. Erica was reminded of the night Cory had been Transformed. The fury in those eyes, the body language... it was purely male.

The High Leader looked thoughtful now, not amused. "So. Cory Ellsworth is still with us after all. Is he not?"

Erica's jaw dropped. Peripherally, from gross body language, she sensed the consternation and confusion in her Mother, and Bronwyn, and Jacqui... but she just stared at the dark-haired, pale girl who had taken up such a masculine posture. Fighting her own body...

The way the eyebrows drew together, the clamp of the jaw, the clenched fists - and the sharp nod. They all screamed 'Cory'. Not 'Jewel'. Not even 'Cora'.

"I feel badly for you, actually. These 'women'..." The High Leader made a dismissive wave of a finger. "They chose to be what they are. You were forced, and you have obviously struggled against it. I will offer you your body back. An opportunity to join the Brotherhood. To become one of the new Lords of the Earth."

"You just got done saying you can't Transform anyone. Even they can't fix me." Jewel's... Cory's hand waved at the Sisters, equally contemptuous.

"Ah, but I know something they did not wish you to know." He grinned at Cory's immediate suspicious glare.

"Which is?"

"The Transformation is one spell. The binding that prevents anyone but you from undoing it is a separate spell entirely." Cory's eyes widened, but the High Leader kept speaking. "Ms. Jardin here bound it with her life. If she dies, any Sister could restore you."

Cory's eyes flickered at the Sisters in turn. Miranda, Bronwyn, Jacqui... and finally Erica. No words were needed; their expressions were confirmation enough. The fists trembled now, with rage. Darkness seemed to gather around... him.

The High Leader smiled, avuncular for the moment. "As I said, I have some sympathy for your plight. Swear allegiance to me, here and now, and I promise that Miranda Jardin will die first. I will force the others to Transform you back, before I decide how best to dispose of them."

Erica felt sick. How could he not?

Despair filled her as Cory stared witheringly at her and the other Sisters. "I hate them. I hate them so much." The voice was twisted in anger and pain. He turned to look the High Leader in the face. "But they aren't planning to kill billions." He shook his head. "Jewel's right. Fuck you. If I have to side with them to stop you, then fine. If I have to die with them, then fine."

"How disappointing." Whatever human feeling the High Leader's voice had held was gone. There was now simply arrogance. "Then death it shall be." Dark energy began to gather around his hands. "But I think I shall let my men use you first." A ghost of a smile. "Yes, you should learn how helpless you are. In that body, you can't possibly muster enough power to be a threat."

Cory stiffened. A moment later, a slow cruel smile spread across his face. "You're right," Cory snarled, still smiling. "In this body."

Something happened then. It was hard to recognize, to process. Cory's eyes closed, and power gathered. Some softness returned to... his? her? ...posture, but it was hard to tell if they were looking at Cory or Jewel. The eyes opened and a strange energy, light and darkness simultaneously, filled them.

Male and female bodies, working together, can create life - something neither can do separately. Just so, the male and female Magic, working together, did something impossible for either alone.

It wasn't a matter of sheer force. On an absolute scale, far more powerful energies were already contesting in that room. But it was utterly unique, Dark and Light intertwined. Had it been one or the other, the High Leader could have handled the attack effortlessly... but he could not effectively defend against both at once. A shield against the Dark was eroded by Light; shifting to battle the Light gave up ground to the Dark. It was a tribute to his skill and power that he managed to last a handful of seconds.

One of the Brothers started to raise his hands - then flinched as Jacqui's hands brightened. They didn't just glow now, they were shining.

The surreal energy made contact. The High Leader wailed; a sound full of abject, primal terror. The cry of a damned soul.

"Jewel... Cory, no!" Laurel screamed. "Don't kill him!"

But suddenly, in a single instant, the coruscating pyrotechnics vanished. The High Leader sagged, but was still standing.

Cory wobbled... No, Erica could tell somehow that it was Jewel's body language again.

Jacqui took a step toward her, then paused, uncertain, as the Dark sorcerers milled in confusion. She froze, squinting at the High Leader.

The man's head came up, and stared for a moment at his own hands. Then he looked around. "I really wasn't sure that'd work," he said quietly, eyes fixed on Jewel. She was gazing at him, transfixed, mouth hanging open.

"Cory?" Jacqui blurted, eyes wide.

It was a marvel how different the smile on that face could be, while still containing such ill-will. "Yup." He flexed his hands, and chuckled mirthlessly. "In the flesh. Finally."

Erica was amazed, later, that she wasn't paralyzed in shock. But David was laying there, and she couldn't even be sure he was breathing now. She ran to him. Everyone else crossed the ward, why not me?

She felt for his life-force. It was weak, so weak, and fading. Desperate, she tried for a Healing link... but it was blocked.

Erica had never heard Laurie curse before. It was under her breath, true... The woman knelt and said, urgently, "Let me do this. You're not ready for it." At Erica's dismayed expression, she said, "Hold my hand. You can help."

She clenched it, and was pulled into a very odd state of mind. It was like there was a wall between her panic and the rest of her. That was a good thing, because she sensed through Laurie's power just how close to death David was. Light flowed into him, and she whimpered involuntarily. She experienced a fraction of the enormous pain Laurie was taking onto herself. The Chief Healer hadn't been lying; no Novice could have survived the link alone.

It took surprisingly little actual time. In only a handful of seconds, she had attention to spare for what was going on in the rest of the room. Jacqui had turned to face the Brothers. "On your knees, hands behind your head!" she said, voice full of authority.

"Hold on just a sec," Cory said, distantly amused.

"What? Cory, you..."

Cory was looking at Bronwyn. "This guy, this 'High Leader' had a point. These 'Brothers'... they could hurt you a lot, kill some of you. Especially if I sided with them. I may not have a lot of skill yet, but I've got a lot of 'Dark power' now. His and mine."

"You... what...." Bronwyn seemed, for the first time Erica had ever seen, totally at a loss.

He shrugged. "Or... we could wipe them out fast, if I worked with you." The Brothers tensed, looking scared or brave.

Bronwyn recovered. "What do you want?" she demanded.

"First let me tell you what I can offer. I can... feel where the virus is. I'm holding it back, even now. I show you where it is, and then you do something for me."

Bronwyn's head tilted curiously. "What do you want?" she repeated.

Cory almost seemed to explode. "I want my life back!" he bellowed. "This body doesn't have any fucking binding spell on it. You make me be me again, and I go home!"

Jewel gasped.

Erica stood up, feeling drained and aching. Laurel clearly couldn't stand yet. David seemed to be in the same boat. "But what about... Jewel?" she wailed.

"Fuck her," Cory spat. "I made her, I hid inside of her, I had to wade through all that shit and I am fucking done!"

All this time, Jewel had just been standing there, staring at what the High Leader had become. Shocked and numb. Now she stepped towards Cory, and said, "You can't... Mom and dad..."

"Don't push me," he snapped, glaring directly back at Jewel.

Erica finally had time to really think, and actually absorbed that Jacqui had been very, very wrong. 'Cory' hadn't been a 'coping mechanism' - he'd been a real presence. A split personality. Who'd just abandoned ship...

Bronwyn and Jacqui looked unaccustomedly nervous, unsure just how serious Cory's threat was. Jewel saw their faces. Erica held her breath, not sure herself what was the right thing to do.

Jewel turned back to Cory. He glowered; bristling, aggressive, challenging. For a moment, she just stood silent. Erica felt like everyone held their breath; she certainly did.

Then Jewel said, gently. "Okay. Let him go. Do it."

Cory blinked, and seemed almost suspicious... but he nodded once at her.

Bronwyn, after a moment to be sure the situation with Cory was stable, turned to the Brothers. A haze of Dark Power still hovered about them, but they were making no threatening moves. One of them, a tall blond man, seemed to have assumed the lead of the group. He met her gaze carefully.

She said, "We would prefer to end this without further harm to anyone."

The man considered this a second, glanced at Jacqui, and nodded cautiously. "We'd prefer that, too."

Bronwyn's tone was harsh. "We need assurances that no other viruses will be produced."

"We can swear an Oath to that right now," the man said. "A new Dominion was his goal." He waved to Cory, or at least the body he wore. "Personally, I could give a shit."

"You coulda fought him! David did!" Erica yelled.

The man didn't seem impressed. "And end up like him?" David's eyes were open, but he wasn't moving.

After a pause, the witches pushed forward. "You know rather too much about us for us to be comfortable," Jacqui pointed out dangerously.

The blond man shrugged. "An Oath of nonaggression then. Magically binding. A... peace treaty." He glanced at the others. "Anybody got a problem with that?"

The men exchanged glances; some of them still seemed very spooked by Jacqui. "No problem, High Leader," one of them - a stocky guy with a dark beard - said with a very faint grin.

David was slowly levering himself up to a sitting position. In a faint, thready voice, he said, "Make sure he commits the whole Circle to it."

The new High Leader shrugged. "They'll swear. Or they'll answer to me."

~~~~~

It was dawn when a set of exhausted witches teleported back to their cars and started driving home. Miranda, Erica, Haylie, and Jewel were in one car. Bronwyn, Laurie and Jacqui followed them. Lani and Alice slept in the back seat.

"I should have figured it out," Jacqui lamented as she drove. "I'd had 'Jack' in my mind, I had a better idea than anyone what Jewel was going through. I should have seen the possibility."

She looked over at Bronwyn, and in the rearview mirror at Laurie. "But I had a better support system than Jewel." Then, she shook her head. "No, I take that back. Miranda and Erica were at least as good as you were, and under worse circumstances. But I had people I really did love and trust." She pursed her lips. "Jewel didn't have that, not at first. We all had to earn her trust."

Laurie, not surprisingly, sounded very tired. "How could you have imagined it?"

"All that stress? When it's natural to... to distinguish between two different ways of thinking and being?" Jacqui shook her head. "And all that psychology study. A split personality isn't that big a stretch."

"Each of us missed a lot," Bronwyn sighed. "Don't beat yourself up too much."

Laurie shrugged. "Well, at least it explains the prophecy pretty well."

"Yeah. Cory was the hidden serpent inside Jewel. And he and Jewel used the 'power beyond memory' to allow him to strike and escape."

Bronwyn nodded. "The chasm they formed between themselves bridged the chasm between Dark and Light. And possibly between the Sisterhood and the Brotherhood."

"That's gonna be weird," Jacqui mused.

None of the Sisters could disagree. "I think we'll keep the girls home from school today," Laurie said quietly. It was hard to believe the attack on the girls in the park had been Saturday night, and it was only Monday morning.

~~~~~

Haylie had fallen asleep on the way home, of course, and was only half-awake as she stumbled along the hallway, blinking. Miranda, leading her to bed, couldn't help but smile in relief so intense it hurt.

She got out pajamas and let the girl change, then got her in bed and pulled the covers up. But Haylie seemed a little more focused as she looked in her Mom's eyes. "Mom? Was I a guy once? For real?"

Miranda nodded gravely. "Yes, punkin."

Haylie, eyes wide but surprisingly calm, said, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"We were going to, luv. When you joined the Sisterhood. We were going to tell you everything." She swallowed, tears gathering. "We just... wanted to wait until you were ready."

"Really? You were gonna tell me?" Haylie looked even younger than her ten years. Just looking for Motherly comfort.

"Cross my heart, punkin. I swear."

Haylie thought about it for a moment. "That's okay, then. That's better." She leaned up and gave Miranda a kiss. "I love you, Mom."

"Oh, baby, I love you so much," Miranda managed. She hugged her Daughter - her Daughter in truth, even if she hadn't carried and borne her herself - and left the room. She cried herself to sleep, of course, but they were hopeful tears. Whatever the future brought, she still had her girls, and their love.

~~~~~

Late afternoon, after a nap that had been nowhere near long enough, Erica sat at the table on the patio back of her house. With David. Unlike times gone by, neither was doing much looking into each other's eyes.

She wouldn't even be here at all, except that Jacqui had brought him over and advised her to talk to him. "Listen to what he has to say," she'd said. "That's all."

"Why should I?" Erica had demanded, coldly.

"I've been in his head. And he did help us." She'd sighed. "Just... talk with him."

But no one was talking now. The moment drew out, excruciatingly uncomfortable. Finally he broke the silence. "I'm sorry. I didn't know what the High Leader had planned."

"You kidnapped my little sister. My friend. You tried to kidnap me." She was mildly pleased with how little accusation was in the tone. It was barely any more than a statement of fact.

He flinched anyway. "I'm sorry about that, too. There was a lot I didn't know."

She didn't manage the job so well the second time. "You didn't know abducting little girls was wrong?"

He didn't just flinch, he shrank back. "I... I didn't..." He stopped, braced himself. "At the time, I didn't think that they were girls. Not really."

"Just what the hell did you think they were?" Her tone kept getting more vicious despite herself. She hadn't wanted it to go like this, for him to see how much he'd hurt her.

He finally looked her in the eye. "Erica, one of your 'Brotherhood Babies' is my Father."

She felt like a punctured balloon, her righteousness leaking out, replaced by confusion and a hint of uneasy guilt.

"Goddess," she breathed. Then she stiffened, and blurted, "Oh, Goddess, is it Haylie?"

He shook his head. "I don't think so. Their names seem to come from their former lives, and it'd be kind of hard to get 'Haylie' from 'Scott Cartwright'." He frowned thoughtfully for a moment. "Though I'm not sure what the feminine version of Scott would be."

She digested that for a moment. "But. Somewhere, out there..."

"Yeah."

"That's..." horrible, was her first thought. But could Haylie be 'horrible'? "...a lot to think about," she managed after a second.

"Exactly." He looked down at the table. But he wasn't avoiding eye contact, he was thinking. "I had a lot invested in thinking of them as my Brothers, under a curse."

"Do you still?"

He brooded for a while. "I don't know. I dunno if 'curse' would even be the right word."

Erica thought of Haylie. They both weren't talking again. Eventually she asked, tentatively, "Do you... want to find out which one of them is your dad?"

He was silent so long she almost moved on. Then, very quietly, he said, "I don't... I don't think so." He shook his head. "Whoever he was... he's someone different now. In a way, he died in the Transformation."

Erica, from her perspective, couldn't quite agree. Of course, she hadn't been turned into a baby girl. Still... but David spoke on.

"Maybe, whichever one... well, they'll be, y'know... they'll be Sisters, eventually, right?"

Erica confirmed that, making a point of what he wouldn't say. "When they get their periods, yeah."

"Maybe, then..." He shrugged. "She might choose to turn back. I'm not even sure that would be my Father, either. But... whoever..." He waved his hands vaguely. "She's a real person. She should choose."

They were both quiet again for a time. Then Erica, compelled, said, "You lied about everything. I don't even know who you really are."

He chewed his lip for a second. "The David you knew... he was me, y'know. Not all of me, but... well. I didn't add; I just, y'know, subtracted. Hid things." He smiled wryly. "It wouldn't have worked, otherwise. Faked mental constructs are the easiest to spot."

The idea of a "Director's Cut" David was uncomfortably fascinating, threatening to derail her. Girls liked deep boys, and David had depths undreamed of by normal guys. Dammit, he'd hurt her! And her family, and her friends! To the heart! Why was it so hard to hold onto that?

"So what are you gonna do now that your mission's over?" She'd wanted to sound cold, sarcastic. Instead she sounded bitter and hurt.

"I'm not gonna join the Sisterhood. And not just 'cause I won't pony up the initiation fee." He flashed that heart-melting grin for a second. "But I'm pretty sure now the Brotherhood could learn a few things from you ladies. And so's my Circle."

"Like what?" she challenged.

He spread his hands, not smiling anymore. "For one thing, there are other Circles out there. Some of 'em might have guys as crazy as the High Leader was. We wanna put our heads together with the Sisterhood and figure out ways to change the cell networks, protect 'em from chain reactions."

"Oh," she said.

"And obviously, after what Jewel and Cory did... there's power in combining Light and Dark magic. Incredible power. We and the Sisterhood both stand to benefit from researching, um, 'joint operations'. And we have to stay on good terms to do that."

He eyed her cautiously. "They want me to be a sort of go-between. Liaison. Since I have... um... direct experience. With Sisters."

The hurt was back. "Really direct," she said, with an edge.

He winced. "I know, I tricked you. Seduced you. Deliberately shaped how I acted to get you to fall in love with me. Lied my way into a physical and emotional relationship."

Every word was like a blunt stake shoved into her heart.

He paused. "And I'm really sorry about it." At her indrawn breath, he spoke quickly. "And not because the High Leader was psycho and I was basically working for the bad guys. It's because I fell in love with you."

That shut her up. She had no clue what to say.

He shrugged. "You turned me. You're so amazing, you're... you're good. 'Good' and 'evil' weren't... really part of my worldview, before. You showed me, just by being yourself, that the Sisterhood wasn't what I'd been led to believe. The High Leader used me. Set me up like a shaped charge and aimed me right for the Sisterhood, through you. But you turned me inside out."

She knew she just looked shocked. She couldn't do anything else, though.

"I know it's all ruined now. If I'd manned up before, when they told me to capture you all... if I'd turned on them then, maybe you could trust me. But I... didn't." He started to stand up. "I just wanted to say, I'm sorry. I might have to work with the High Priestess and them, but I won't bother you if I can help it."

He knew her past, and still, somehow, seemed interested. Actually, if he hadn't been 'adding things', he was very interested. Is he lying again? He's supposed to be the 'liason'...

And then she remembered why they were having this conversation. "Listen to what he has to say," Jacqui had told her. And she'd dug all through his mind...

"Wait," she said. "Maybe... maybe we can start over." At his widening eyes, she said, "With some ground rules. Like, no more lying."

He sat down again, carefully. "Yes, ma'am," he said. His grin was quite muted, not as dazzling as it might have been... but it was still pretty cute. Hopeful.

~~~~~

Jacqui took David away, but in the evening, all three senior Sisters came over, and held a meeting. Jewel had done little but sleep and stay in her room - she'd barely eaten or spoken at dinner - but they insisted she come down and join them.

They requested her permission to examine her mind. Without much emotion, she agreed. For perhaps five minutes, the Sisters held a circle, eyes closed. Then they stirred. And smiled. Erica was crying, but smiling with the rest.

Bronwyn looked thoroughly impressed. "You're a very brave girl, to have gone through all that. Braver even than we imagined."

Jewel shrugged, unmoved. "I'm just half a person. Just a mask Cory wore." Her voice cracked.

"No!" Five witches cried out at once.

"You're not half anything!" Erica declared, grabbing the girl in a bear hug. A large, reassuring clot gathered swiftly around her, almost smothering her with acceptance and comfort.

"It's true. Now that you've released us from our oath, we've seen your mind. You're a whole person, never doubt it." Jacqui's eyes, like the rest of the Sisters now, were misting up a bit.

"You're no disguise. Cory may have meant for you to be, but you got away from him." Laurie said, gently as ever. "You are..." She searched for the words for a moment. "You are what he never gave himself permission to become."

"You were faced with an impossible choice. Impossible for you as you were, at least. Two horrible alternatives, to be trapped in a life you hated and could not cope with, or be forced to grow in ways and directions that terrified you." Bronwyn, too, could be gentle when needed.

"But that's the point! Cory was, not me!"

"No." Jacqui's voice was implacable. "You're Cory, too."

Jewel's face showed incomprehension... along with just a flicker of hope.

"It's true. Faced with the choice, you tried to find a third way." She smiled. "Like always." She put her hand top of the girl's. "You thought you had. But what you really ended up doing was taking both ways."

Erica found the slight frown on her friend's face a hopeful sign. A sign that she was thinking about what they were saying.

Jacqui continued. "Cory couldn't face the Transition. He saw it as death, not growth in a new direction. So the split personality developed, yes. But you, Jewel - you're not a fiction. You couldn't be, to hide what he was - what you were - doing."

"A mask of a woman cannot wield the Light," Miranda said definitively. "Only a woman can."

Bronwyn went on. "You're everything Cory was at the time of his Transformation... allowed to grow and develop through a Transition. The 'Cory' that's in the High Leader's body now is the part of you that hid himself away, and cut himself from that development. From almost all development that didn't relate to survival."

"What you did... we didn't know it was possible. You divided yourself. Not just your mind, like in a split personality case. You split your soul." Jacqui sounded awed.

At Jewel's concerned expression, she went on. "Not violently. More like... a cell dividing." She shook her head, marveling. "A little Magic goes into every conception. Male Dark and female Light, joining to make a new soul from the parents. You did something like that, without even realizing." She chuckled. "Spiritual parthenogenesis."

Erica was relieved to see Jewel really concentrating on absorbing a new concept. After a while, though, she shuddered. "He hated me so much. He still hates me."

Laurie sounded very sad. "He needed that hate and anger, so he could exist. He couldn't allow himself to forgive, to make peace with what happened." She sighed. "I hope that, now that he's escaped, he can find some peace, find a way to grow again."

"Being back with Mom and Dad should help," Jewel mused.

Erica stole a glance at her Mom. She couldn't imagine not being able to see her, not being able to talk with her. "You're gonna stay away?"

Jewel shrugged sadly. "He needs them more than me. He can't be with Brandon, or his other friends. They're all graduating and going off to college anyway."

"Will you miss them?" Erica asked, concerned.

Her wan smile and downcast eyes answered for her. "I think... maybe in a few months, I can talk Cory into letting me visit sometimes. As one of his friends. Eventually." She looked around then, shyly, at the circle of women. "But I'm not their son anymore. And... I hope I have a new family?"

Again, there was barely enough room for everyone to hug her at once. And there was not a dry eye in the place.

~~~~~

Brandon walked into the Ellsworth's living room. Cory had been home for a week, and this was the first time he'd agreed to see him. Or anybody. His friend sat stiffly on a couch. He took a deep breath when he saw Brandon.

Before he could even say anything, Cory blurted, "Don't sit down. This is gonna have to be quick." He fidgeted. "I'm... sorry, but we can't be friends anymore."

Brandon was stunned. "But... why?" He spread his hands, confused. "Is this about Danielle?"

Cory scoffed. "No. Fuck her." He still wouldn't look at his face. "It's just... I can't." Another deep breath. "I appreciate that you helped mom and dad while... I was gone. Really. But..." His hands balled into fists. "What I've been through, you can't imagine."

"Talk to me. I want to help. If you just tell me, I won't have to imagine." He tried to get Cory to meet his eyes. "Whatever's going on, I know you. There's gotta be a reason."

Cory's jaw clenched. Then he bit out, "Ask Jewel. She can explain it. Talk to her, then you'll know why I can't... can't be around you anymore."

Brandon's blood chilled. He'd suspected it, but... "What does she got to do with this? With you?"

"She knows all about it." Cory glanced at him. Then he looked away, but said, slowly, "It wasn't her fault. She... did what she thought she had to do." His hands curled again. "She really cares about you."

"What the fuck is going on?" he yelled.

"Talk to her. Hear her out." He put up a hand. "You're a good guy, and you deserve the truth. But..." A deep breath. Cory was really worked up. "But it can't come from me. I just... can't."

He stood up. "Thanks for everything you did for mom, dad, and me. But I can't be your friend anymore. Go see Jewel. Then you'll understand."

"Goodbye." Cory walked out and up the stairs. Brandon stood there, stunned, for a while before he went and said goodbye to Cory's parents. They were very subdued, too, but at least his dad shook his hand and his mom gave him a hug. They looked troubled, too.

~~~~~

Jewel opened the door and, just for a second, gave him that killer smile. But then she saw his expression and it died. "Are... you okay?" she said as she let him in. Erica came in from the kitchen and tensed up, too.

He looked Jewel in the eye for a moment, then said, "Cory told me to come talk to you. Said you could explain why he can't be around me anymore."

Erica appeared stricken, her face pale. Jewel didn't seem surprised at all, though. Disappointed, maybe, but not surprised.

"Come on upstairs. We can talk in my room." He followed her up. They sat on her bed. He'd only been up here a few times, and never alone with the door closed. He wished he could appreciate it.

Jewel licked her lips and said, "This is gonna be... hard. And weird." She paused. "And it's gonna sound fucking crazy." She stared into his eyes and asked, almost begged, "Will you just listen and let me finish? Then you can ask me anything you want. But just let me finish. Okay?"

Brandon nodded. "Okay."

Jewel was quiet for a moment, obviously wondering where to start. Finally she said, "Remember, like, a week or two after school started last fall? Cory asked you what you thought of Erica?"

He tilted his head to the side. "I dunno. Maybe."

Jewel sighed. "Well, turns out he had a reason..."

Brandon kept his promise and just listened, at first. It wasn't easy. The feeling of sheer horror kept growing. He'd known that Jewel had... issues. Mostly about guys and sex and trust - and probably from some kind of molestation or assault. But he'd thought things had been getting much better. As she talked, he swiftly realized that the girl he'd fallen in love with had instead developed major mental disorders. Witches? Magic? Transformation?

And then, Cory became Cora; he couldn't stop himself from trying to point out holes, bring her to her senses. "Wait, but I just saw him! If you were him..."

She had a hand up. "I know, it's even more fucked up than you'd believe. Just... just hold on for a bit."

He shut up, grudgingly. She went on, describing the negotiations, the initial cover up, the lessons, the endless adjustments. Cory's torment, and struggles. What made it worse was how seriously she spoke. It wasn't a joke. She believed it.

His dismay was crushing. And he came to a horrible understanding - Jewel must be Cory's sister, and he blamed Brandon for this... madness. That's why he had pushed him away.

And then, she got to the night it had - supposedly - come to the crisis point.

"Cory was... strung out. He'd made it three weeks but he just couldn't take it anymore." Now she was gazing off into the distance, thoughtful. Almost philosophical. "He'd been studying psychology and Magic and... he tried to make a split personality." She shook her head, marveling. "And he kinda did."

She described the birth and development of Cora. Of herself. "We wound up pulling apart. Making it - making me - real. Using Dark and Light Magic without even knowing what we were doing."

Jewel went over the past semester, and Danielle. And her own efforts to steal him from her. She made no attempt to put herself in a particularly attractive or sympathetic light. The events themselves were mostly familiar, albeit from a radically different - crazy - perspective.

It was very disturbing to hear about 'Sisters' sending dreams, however. For the first time, a tiny part of himself wondered...

The story of the attack in the park was unsettling in a different way. She described how Cory had sort of 'taken control' and savagely killed the psycho with 'Dark power'.

He couldn't help but speculate that Jewel had suffered her mental break then; that getting assaulted - again? - explained the demented story she was telling. He didn't say anything, yet he could see in her eyes that she picked up on his suspicions. And his grief.

As if in confirmation, after that things went completely off the rails. The 'Brotherhood', David a secret agent and infiltrator. Magical, genocidal, world-ending phone viruses?!

She described the bizarre reconstitution/escape behind the return of Cory, and wrapped up with the current détente between the Magical factions. Brandon absorbed it all for a few moments. "You know I'm gonna need... some kind of proof." He was trying to figure out who he could call about a psych eval. Somehow he couldn't be scared of her, even though she had suffered a psychotic break... but he felt very sorry and scared for her.

Jewel smiled, a little sad. "Oh, absolutely. You'd be fucked in the head if you didn't." She breathed in deep, and let it out slow. "Gimme just a sec..."

She closed her eyes, took one more breath, and muttered something. Then she passed her hands in front of her face and down her body.

And she inflated like a balloon and was him. "Holy shit!" he yelped, involuntarily, and fell off the bed onto the floor. His own smiling face grinned down at him.

"Pretty fucked up, huh?" the duplicate said. In his voice.

Another handwave made the image blur, shrink, and become Jewel again. The voice rose in pitch, blending from male to female as he/she said, "Yeah, that's about how Cory felt too. And Erica."

He got up off the ground and stood away from the bed. "Holy shit." He stared, adrift, for long seconds. His whole universe spinning wildly on some axis he'd never imagined. "Can you... do that one more time?"

She nodded knowingly. "How 'bout something else?" She raised her hands, and paused. "I promise, I won't hurt you."

Another vocalization, a gesture, and the floor dropped away. "Whoa, whah!?" He realized it wasn't an earthquake, he wasn't falling, the house hadn't collapsed; instead he was just floating in the air, rotating very slowly.

He knew too much about physics not to recognize zero gravity. This wasn't some visual hallucination; his lunch was trying to crawl up from his stomach. Everything else in the room was in the correct place, yet here he was, levitating. Which was fucking impossible.

"Okay, I'm gonna let you down," Jewel warned. An incantation restored his weight over a few seconds. Plenty of time for him to settle safely.

He licked his lips. He felt like he'd been kicked in the head. By an elephant. "Well, fuck." He looked at her face - carefully neutral, he couldn't help noting - and said, "I, uh, guess you're not crazy..."

She shrugged. "No, I'm just a splinter of the soul of your best friend, turned into a girl, who tricked you into dating her." A scoff. "Nothing crazy about that."

He swallowed, unable to ignore the obvious pain in her words... but he was still in shock. Unsure how to respond, or even how he wanted to respond. Her story couldn't be true - and yet, how could he doubt it now?

Implications were occurring to him. "Wait... I'm a civilian who knows about a whole secret war." He chewed his lip. "Somebody gonna blank my mind after this? Like they wanted with Cory's parents?"

Jewel was looking out the window. "Sisters aren't supposed to ever talk about this stuff with anybody. Even the fathers of their kids." A quick glance in his eyes, then away. "I got a sort of dispensation from the head Sisters. Since you know me and Cory and everybody. I mean, he got to tell his parents." She shrugged. "They're kinda making it up as they go, I think. This kinda stuff hasn't happened since, like, before the last Ice Age."

That was too much to process right now. He sat back down on the bed... but not as close as before. "So... are you Cory or not? I still don't understand..."

She stared at the bedspread, not him, fingers working absently, and tried to relay what the Sisters had said about the apparently unprecedented situation. It didn't make a lot of sense.

He took some time to absorb it, anyway. Then: "So you're kinda like... Corys from parallel worlds? Corys who took different paths?"

Jewel brightened up a bit. "Yeah, kinda." Then her face clouded. "Neither one of us is exactly the guy you knew last year, though. We both changed." A very small, joyless grin. "Maybe me a little more."

There didn't seem to be much to say about that. "Why didn't Cory tell me this? He's got magic powers, too, right? He could have convinced me."

Jewel's fingers still worked. "He's kind of a coward. About some things." A stifled, half-hysterical chuckle. "After that first period he was ready to slit his wrists." She looked up. "Imagine if you were totally against turning into a girl. Enough to actually split your own mind apart. But then you had to ride around in a girl's head for months, hiding from everyone else. Feeling what she felt. Like, for example... for your best friend."

Her breath hitched, just slightly. "Watching her start to like him in whole new ways. Start to want to be a girl, because of him." She drove on, unrelenting. "Feeling her kiss him. Suck him off. Take him up the ass." Her fingers were in knots. "Feeling her like it. All of it."

There really wasn't anything to say about that. "Oh."

"He knows it's not your fault." That decaying corpse of a smile again. "I can be sure about that." No smile now: "But you... remind him of things he... needs to put behind him. To stay sane."

If what she was saying was true - and those spells sure bolstered her case - she'd be the authority on what Cory felt. So what does that say about what Cory knows about her? he thought. He said she cares about me a lot... And he always understates things like that...

Her hand was sitting beside her on the bedspread. Close enough to touch. Did he want to?

He sat still, flailing inside, and said, "I'm gonna have to think about this."

Her face was utterly blank now. Almost dead. "I understand."

He missed her smile. A lot. He didn't want to hurt her. But...

Not meeting his eyes, she went on. "I'll leave you alone now. If you want." She shrugged. "I just... owed you the truth."

"Thanks." And what did he owe her? "I'm... gonna have to think about this."

As he stood up, she mentioned, not quite casually, "You could talk to David about it."

He blinked. "He's... he's sticking around?" With Erica?

Jewel shrugged. "Looks that way."

"I'll... do that." Half an hour ago, he'd have hugged and kissed her goodbye. Instead, he just said, "See you later."

"See you," she said. Voice gray, colorless.

Erica was hanging out - hovering - downstairs, and watched him intently as he came down. He avoided looking at her as he walked out the door.

~~~~~

Jewel adjusted her cap. It was hot under the robe. At least the girls get to wear white ones, she thought. Brandon looks like he's gonna melt. The boys were stuck with dark blue, which soaked up the bright California sun.

She felt he looked hot in another way, so she stood on tiptoe and kissed him. To her delight - and lingering amazement - he kissed back. It had only taken him a couple days to come around.

Talking to David had probably been the biggest help. Erica's boyfriend could give a third-party perspective on the Transformation. And he obviously accepted it.

She broke off with Brandon and elbowed Erica. "Time to quit macking. They're finally getting ready to start."

Erica blushed a little, but gave up smooching David. Sure enough, the teachers started getting everyone seated in alphabetical order moments later. She had just enough time to wipe lipstick off his mouth. Jewel waved as she passed Kristina, who smiled happily back as she found her seat.

The junior Brother had been useful in building another bridge as well. The foundations of one, anyway. Cory would talk to him, so there was a channel of sorts between her and the Ellsworths. In time, maybe there could be a relationship of some kind. Maybe they'd like having a daughter, too, one day.

Baby steps, she thought as she moved to her seat. Perhaps it was a little self-flattering, but she figured Cory had what it took to grow and adapt. He was a guy, admittedly, but even so it shouldn't take more than six months or so for him to get his head out of his ass.

She still wasn't quite used to having his ass out of her head. A whole skull to herself, no Cory looking over her mental shoulders all the time. Judging her, more often than not.

It was a good feeling, though. Like she'd been carrying someone on her back for months, weighing down every step. And now she could finally stand up straight. She could breathe, stretch out. Maybe even run.

She was enjoying the chance to look at things from a fresh perspective.

But it had been disorienting, too. She'd pushed through the Transition for two reasons - to restore Cory, and restore Cory to her parents. Now, both were accomplished... yet she was still here. Surplus to requirements. No one - not even she herself - had pictured a time when there would be both a Cory and a Jewel. She'd expected to slowly fade away, be absorbed back into him. To protect her mom and dad, she'd accepted it.

Was there a place in the world for her?

She'd done a lot of thinking about that in the past week and a half. She kept doing so, sitting in a folding chair, sweltering in the crowd of graduates, as the commencement speeches commenced. Now that the central purpose of her existence was accomplished - an existence that had never supposed to become quite real - who was she? What did she want?

She'd identified a few things. Her feelings for Brandon... her love for him, that was real. And for Jacinta and Gabriela. And Erica, and Haylie.

Even for Miranda and the other Sisters. Yes, they had misled her, and concealed many important things. On the other hand... after seeing the Brotherhood at its worst, she could understand the necessity, the desperation that had driven them to it. Under the circumstances, she was impressed with how far they'd gone, how much they'd risked, to help her.

In a way, she now was free as few others could be. The Transition no longer seemed quite so daunting, without Cory's lurking distaste poisoning things. And at the end, once she'd mastered the Transformation spell... she could be anyone she chose, boy or girl. Make whatever role she chose for herself, no limitations at all. Jacqui figured that if Jewel became male, she'd even still have Dark magic. How many people ever had opportunities like that?

No, life didn't appear so bad from this vantage point. In fact, she had a place for herself in mind. There was a lot to learn, and she was looking forward to it. Magic, computers... and the new mixed power she and Cory had rediscovered. Important work, that she was uniquely qualified to do. She had taken a crucial role in literally saving the world, after all. Now she had something of a proprietary interest in keeping it saved.

All that, and a guy she loved, who loved her back? And friends and mentors who loved her? She didn't think she'd become a guy, even if things didn't work out with Brandon. Let Cory do life as a guy. That position was filled. She'd make her own.

"Jacinta Acosta!"

The first alphabetically in the whole school. The march had begun. She cheered and waved to her friend enthusiastically. There was someone Cory would never have hung with. But now she and Gabriela were BFFs, and she wasn't the least bit embarrassed to put it like that. Cory had had one best friend - Brandon - and with guys, 'forever' was never all that sure. A few other names, and then...

"David Burke!"

He responded to his cover name, taking the stage with his accustomed confidence... and cheers from a wide variety of people. Jewel definitely thought he was cute - she had no trouble understanding Erica's attraction - but he was just a little too perfect, just a little... too much. A friend, sure, but not a boyfriend. No way.

"Erica Jardin!"

She took the stage with a bright smile and a wave to her cheering friends and family. Jewel made sure she was heard in the mix, which wasn't easy since David was so loud, and Haylie was as high-pitched.

She was practically a stereotypical Sister - regarding the Transformation, almost from the start, as a grand adventure rather than a curse. Jewel thought she understood why, now: the way she - well, he - had been raised. Pre-conditioning him in a way. And then, all the encouragement in the world to go along with the new brain that came with it, rather than fighting it. All in all, Jewel wished she could have had that more typical Transition... but things hadn't worked out so badly in the end.

And she thought Erica was going to be an excellent Sister, in time. And, as far as Jewel was concerned, her sister, too.

"Gabriela Jimenez!"

Loud cheers again; her other BFF could have no doubt Jewel approved. All three of them were going to the same school, at least for the next couple years, and she couldn't be happier about it. She was trying to encourage Gabriela to pursue a science track, and she thought she might have succeeded. They had helped her so much; more than they even realized. She was determined to pay them back, any way she could.

"Brandon Metcalfe!"

"Yeaaaah! Shake it, baby!" she called. He didn't blush, but his smile took on a tinge of embarrassment as he accepted his diploma. Still a genuine smile as he looked at her, though.

Yes, Brandon was definitely more her type. Real. Grounded. Reliable. Totally cute. And no ulterior motives. She knew what she was getting with him. And now, vice versa. It felt awesome not to have to lie to him anymore.

Although, actually, he didn't know everything he was getting. There wouldn't be a chance tonight, but before long she was going to prove to him it had been a good idea to stay with her. She'd discovered a potion in Miranda's spellbooks that could give a man nearly as much sexual stamina as a woman, for a few hours. He was going to have a long happy night as soon as she could manage it.

"Jewel Pinto!"

She strode across the stage, took her diploma, and held it high. Her friends, her boyfriend, her Sisters - they all were shouting and waving and celebrating. There was a lot to celebrate, present and future...