Ten

Eli hadn’t expected his little jibe to upset Genevieve that badly. He hadn’t really meant to be insulting with it. Bas didn’t do much for the pack, he hung around the witch’s house all day and fawned over his sister when she was home. 

Oddly enough, her yelling had made him feel a little better in some ways. There would be no waiting for the Alphas to decide if it was an insult that needed addressing and she did seem more like a wolf when she was defending her brother. He might have imagined it but he thought he saw a flicker of gold in her eyes. That was probably as close as the wolf in her got to getting out.

During the tour, he noticed eyes following him, everyone was warm to the group but it was clear he was expected to apologize. Once the group went in to eat Remi pulled him aside.

“My mate is still angry with you. She won’t be coming out to eat because if she does she’ll make everyone uncomfortable.” His eye was gleaming. “I’ve been told you were making little digs at her before she got upset.”

“I make digs at everyone when I’m out of sorts, but I didn’t mean to upset her like that. I’ll go apologize, and I’ll take her a plate.” Eli inclined his head.

“I’ll take her a plate. You’ll be busy apologizing.” Remi gestured with his head and waited while Eli moved toward the side door.

Turning for a moment, he looked at the one-eyed wolf sheepishly, “She wanted some of the cheddar bread.”

“I’ll get it.” 

He found himself outside of the closed doors a moment later. She rarely closed them completely. Eli knocked and waited.

“Open it yourself, I’m busy.” The sharp reply made him open the door carefully. 

“I need to apologize.” 

“You’re damn right you do.” Genevieve was working on something strange. Hand grinding a large dark piece of glass that looked like it didn’t belong to the window on the table.

“What is that?” He almost stepped into the shed but her face as she glanced up kept him outside of the door.

“A face. Why I don’t know. It was looking at me and I needed to pull it out of the glass.”

“Are you alright?” Eli studied her carefully, when she talked like that odd things happened.

“I don’t know. Try apologizing and see how I feel afterward.” There was definitely a glimmer of gold in her eyes.

“I shouldn’t have been taking little digs at you, and I shouldn’t have said anything about Bas.” He started to say more but she sighed and laid down the glass on the mat. 

“I knew the minute I saw her discomfort and you didn’t we were going to have a problem. And when Jacob touched her I knew you were going to direct your frustration at me, because I’m here and I’m an easy target.” Genevieve frowned at him. “That doesn’t make it right, but I know you. Most things roll off of my back anyway. But if you aren’t saying something positive about my brother, you'd better keep his name out of your mouth.” The glimmer had turned into a steady gleam of gold. “I’d die for any one of my pack, but I will f**k your s**t up for my brother or my mate. Am I clear?”

“Crystal.” Eli bowed his head.

“It bothers me that you don’t think my brother does anything. He works at least as hard as I do.”

Eli kept his mouth shut.

“He was raised in a house with servants, never had to lift a finger. His work was all with his wits and his gifts.” Her face was as stern as an Alpha’s. “Now he tends the house, all the relentless mind numbing chores that keep it in order. He tends the garden for all of my needs. He does the shopping for all of my needs. He takes on the burden of all of my needs.” Her eyes were as gold as any wolf’s but the way she had begun to move Eli was almost certain he was speaking to the Sibyl. “You have no concept of what that means. But you will. You will help my brother.”

“How’s it going…” Remi stopped and stared at the golden eyed Sibyl swaying slightly side to side like a snake. “What did you do?”

“I apologized.”

“By saying what? I’ve never seen her like that.” The plate in Remi’s hands was thrust into Eli’s. “Justice?”

“He will help my brother. Bastion will require it. The dream is important. The walls are thin, but if the heart does not soften, if it turns as hard as stone, there will be no breaking them. He will not find what he seeks.” Eli watched her hands lift in the surreally slow and somehow jerky motion the Sibyl had until it looked like she was holding them out in placation. “Mercy. They mean no harm. There is no trust. Grace and Justice are found together. Mercy, I plead for mercy.”

The piece of glass she had been working on shattered as if it had been hit by a hammer and she fell forward off of her stool as Remi lunged forward to catch her.

“What was that?”

“That’s what happens when the Sibyl comes out completely when the Servant isn’t here.” Remi pulled her out of the shed, tugging the protective coveralls off of her. “Bas says she released a lot of power and there needed to be a shield.”

The side door slammed open and Bas came racing out. “Sibbi!” 

“She was swaying and talking to Eli, her eyes were gold and glowing, Bas. I’ve never seen her like that.” Remi was checking her for wounds. There was a small piece of embedded glass behind her ear that he dislodged and licked until it healed.

The witch started to mouth words and trace lines over her face and down her neck as Remi moved away from her head. He pressed his face against hers and she shuddered back to wakefulness.

“I feel sick.” She was panting and trying to curl into a ball. 

“I have salt and her smudge sticks in a bag in the car.” Bas tossed the keys to Remi. “Where can I take her? Somewhere small and closed.”

“My office,” Eli spoke up, “I’ll carry her.”

The snarl on the witch’s face was almost a wolf’s snarl and his eyes gleamed gold. “I’ll carry her.”

Eli led the way into the glass shop and to his small office, setting the plate on top of a file cabinet and clearing things off of his desk hurriedly, setting the computer monitor on the floor and shoving everything else in the chair. Bas put her on the desk and stroked her hair.

“Water, cold water.” He didn’t even look up. “And a cool damp rag.”

The water cooler was almost right outside the door and Eli got him a cup first, fetching a few paper towels and getting them damp and rushing back next. Bas was holding her head and helping her sip the water when he came back in. He traded the damp towels for the still half full cup.

“She’s starting to feel a little better, what happened? I want to know everything from the moment you went out there to the moment she collapsed. There was another presence.”

“She said that a piece of glass was looking at her and she was trying to pull the face out of it when I went out.” Eli looked at her breathing evenly with her eyes covered, curled on her side.

Bas grabbed his arm. “Can you show me that piece of glass?” 

“It shattered when she stopped speaking, as she fell forward.” Eli saw the concern on the man’s face as he turned back to his sister. “It was a dark piece of glass, strangely shaped. I wouldn’t have guessed it was a face.”

“I have the bag.” Remi came in and closed the door. “The Alphas want to know what happened.”

“I don’t know yet. It doesn’t feel like an attack. But something was curious. What did the Sibyl say? I couldn’t hear her, it was like the sound of normalcy until she...” he sighed. “Every witch in three hundred miles is going to come looking to find out who that was. Word that a Sibyl is here will get out quickly.”

Bas lit a smudge stick and put salt in the remainder of the water in the cup. He sprinkled it over Genevieve and then did his own spells on the walls and door. Remi knelt in front of her held her hands. When he had finished, Bas sat on the floor next to Remi with his back against the desk.

“Eli, I need to know what she said. All of it.” 

“After she talked about the glass face, I apologized, or tried to. She cut me off. She said she knew why I was acting that way, she knew me and it wasn’t right but she expected it. And then she said if I’m not saying something positive about you,” he gestured to Bas, “I need to keep your name out of my mouth. She’d die for any one of her pack, but she’d f**k me up for you or her mate.”

The witch’s mouth curved into a disturbingly toothy grin for someone who wasn’t a wolf. “She’s more than capable. The shadow of the wolf that Remi invited to the surface is much less concerned about harming others. She’s still mostly a pacifist, but for the two of us she’s willing to fight.”

“I understood that clearly.” Eli nodded. “I also understood that she has a lot of appreciation for all you do for her. That she feels like you gave up a lot of luxury and took on a lot of burden and grunt work. That’s when I realized I was talking to the Sibyl.” 

The smile faded off of Bas’ face. “Tell me what she said.”

“I don’t have a concept of what it means to take on her burdens. But I will. I’m going to help you.” He watched Bas tilt his head. “There wasn’t any room for discussion, her face, she looked like an Alpha. Felt like one too.”

“The Sibyl usually gives suggestions, not commands. It’s important for you to help me for some reason. What else was there?”

“That was all she said to me. She was swaying like a snake staring at me when Remi came out. The rest she said to him.”

“Her eyes were glowing gold, Bas.” Remi’s eyes were focused on his mate. “I don’t think she’s come out that much even when I’m mating her.”

“Pleasure is one thing, purpose is another, my angel.” Genevieve murmured softly. 

“Who was watching you, Sibbi?” 

“I am their purpose as I am yours.”

“I can’t believe I have to ask this, but please be clearer.” Bas frowned and shook his head. “The glass came down. There won’t be anything else from her tonight. Usually I can see at least part of what she’s seeing. I can’t see this.”

“Remi, tell him what she said to you. It didn’t make any sense to us, maybe it will to him.”