3.
Effie tried not to squirm but it was difficult when a warlock was sitting on the other side of the library's round table, their hands linked on either side of the map spread between them. Their combined magic was working at breaking the cloaking spell on his wife but, so far, they hadn't had much luck.
"I apologize for making you uncomfortable." he stated.
Effie's gaze darted from the map up to his face. His eyes were still closed – and that was a relief because she would never get used to the darkness that was swarming in them – and she didn't see how he could know her attention had wandered. Haymitch had told her in the few minutes of privacy they had stolen after breakfast that Cinna had an uncanny ability to read one's feelings. She wasn't certain if that meant he was a full on empath or if it was simply another form of his magic.
"I am fine." she lied.
She couldn't ignore his magic.
She had tried to shove the feeling aside, tried to tell herself the perceived threat was just in her head but… The guts response was instinctive: his magic was old and powerful and it trespassed on what she perceived as hers. And not just the place, but the people too.
She was hyper-aware that Peeta and Madge were checking books in the living-room in hopes of finding a mention of the Reaping, she could have pinpointed exactly where Prim was upstairs doing her homework, and she knew without having to check that Haymitch and Katniss were sparring down in the basement.
And she knew all that without any of them having to tell her because her magic had apparently decided that it was capital information.
"I am trying to keep a lid on my powers, you know." he insisted, opening his eyes.
She swallowed and averted hers, unwilling to be caught in one of those compelling spells he seemed to exude. It wasn't unlike a vampire thrall, she mused, she wasn't even sure he knew he was doing it.
"I understand. Really." she hummed politely. "I assure you it is fine."
He studied her. She felt the weight of his gaze on her face and had to remind herself yet again that Haymitch would never have let him in, would never have left her alone with him, if he hadn't trusted him completely.
"It is your first time claiming a territory." he remarked.
"I did not…" she started protesting and then closed her mouth because what was the point of denying the obvious? She hadn't meant to but she had, hadn't she? She had claimed the Village. "I was never a powerful witch. At least, I was not before. I never had enough power to claim anything and I did not have the inclination for it."
Cinna didn't answer immediately, he kept on watching her.
She had the itchy sensation he was analyzing her feelings.
"It scares you." he whispered. She kept silent, staring at a random point on the map instead. "It is not a bad thing to be scared. It means you are cautious and unlikely to let the power get to your head."
"I much preferred it when I was still simply dabbling." she confessed after a moment of hesitation. "I am used to hunting dark things. I do not want to become one of them."
Their fingers were still entwined and he squeezed hers gently.
"You will not." he said and it sounded like a promise to her ears. "Your magic is untainted. Keep to the lighter path and you will be fine."
"It is not that easy, though, is it?" she challenged.
Even then, as they struggled to work their spell, she could feel the sirens of the Hellmouth calling, tempting her with more power, an easy fix to her problem…
He shrugged. "Nothing worth it ever is."
She sighed, looked at the map where a dot of light should have appeared by then, and untangled her hands from his. "Whatever cloaking spell that witch used, it was powerful."
And yet it was still peculiar that they couldn't break it. Cinna alone should have been able to do it.
"They might have asked a second witch to perform another." he suggested, rubbing his face.
The gesture was so human that Effie felt herself relax. And then she remembered she was sitting in a room with one of the most powerful warlocks currently in existence and she tensed again.
"To the risk of angering you again… Are you certain your wife is not hiding herself?" she hesitated. His glare fell on her but she swallowed, refusing to be intimidated. "They might have coerced her into cooperating."
His fury was a palpable thing that she could taste on her tongue because it was magic. Acrid, old and heavy.
It abated a little at that last suggestion though.
He tilted his head to the side as if he hadn't yet considered that.
"She would not." he ventured after a while. "Should it cost her her own life. She is powerful but she is not a bad person and she is definitely not a black art practitioner." He said it sadly but with resolve. "She would not help them."
"What if they turned her?" Haymitch asked from the threshold.
Neither she nor Cinna startled.
Effie because her magic had told her Slayer and Watcher had come back upstairs and Cinna because… Well, she supposed for the same reason.
The whole thing was unnerving.
Yet she still felt better now that she had an ally in the room.
"If they turned her, I will get her soul back into her body." Cinna declared quietly. "It has been done before."
"A curse?" Effie asked, curious.
"It does not have to be." the warlock dismissed. "But we will cross that bridge if we come to it. We won't find her with tracking spells. Perhaps if…"
He cut himself mid-sentence, his head darting up and to the right, toward the street.
Effie and Haymitch shared a puzzle look but then she felt it too.
Another witch. Dark magic. Very dark. Slippery and thick and poisonous.
"Effie?" Haymitch asked, calm but alert.
His hand had drifted toward his knife.
"Someone's coming." Cinna said before she could. "Danger."
"Nothing evil is supposed to be able to get into the Village…" Haymitch countered, more annoyed that the wards had failed than surprised.
"She is not dangerous." Effie retorted, pressing her palms flat against the wood of the table. She used that as leverage to haul herself up because her legs felt like jelly. "At least, I do not think she means any harm to us. The spell wouldn't have let her in otherwise."
Haymitch frowned, following her as she walked out of the library and toward the front door. "How can you tell?"
"Because I know who it is." she snapped.
She didn't mean to be curt but between Cinna's magic and the black one coming close to the doorstep… She could feel her fingers starting to glow gold and she felt behind her for Haymitch's hand. She clung to it, tried to anchor her magic back into herself.
There were no threats, not yet, and she needed to keep in control.
Haymitch seemed to understand because he entwined their fingers and held hard.
She took a deep breath, focused on his touch because it always seemed to help. Her magic was swelling inside, bubbling…
"Channel it." Cinna's gentle tone advised behind them. "It is better than trying to suppress it like you do. Channel it into a spell. Any spell."
Her first thought was the good luck spell because that was what she had done the last time – and Haymitch had enjoyed a couple of good days because of that – but the looming dread of them being under threat was too pressing and, in the end, she murmured a quick protection charm.
There were several surprised gasps coming from all over the house. Haymitch didn't gasp or flinch, he barely rolled his shoulders as if to shed off the surplus of magic.
"Warm and tingly." he teased, low enough that it wouldn't carry to Cinna.
It brought a smile to her lips and she let go of his hand, a little more centered. She was reaching the front door when she heard the hurried footsteps from the various teenagers regrouping toward the hallway.
She didn't pay them any attention.
She opened the door.
And there the dark witch stood, with pursed lips, hair dyed a vivid crimson red, a cold glint in her blue eyes, looking barely older than Effie did.
"Mother." she greeted.
Behind her, everyone had gone deadly silent.
In front of her, Elindra Trinket looked irritated.
Then again, she always looked irritated when confronted with her youngest daughter.
"Will you leave me outside in the cold or will you ask your poor mother in?" the witch retorted.
Somehow, that sounded like a trick question. Still, she stepped aside and let her pass, noting the big leather bag slung over her mother's shoulder. Not quite fashionable enough, she mused.
Haymitch was standing in the witch's way and didn't show any sign of moving any time soon. All the children were gawking at Elindra with various expressions on their faces ranging from curiosity (Prim) to open dislike (Katniss).
Effie's mother seized Haymitch up with one quick look and then snorted. "So, this is the fabled watcher who has you so weak in the knees?" Her crimson painted lips twisted. "You do love them boorish, do you not?"
And just like that Haymitch was dismissed, not even deemed a threat. Her mother's attention had moved on to the crowd of teenagers and Effie closed the front door behind her with a sigh when Elindra's gaze stopped dead on Katniss.
"I have seen quite a few Slayers in my time, girl." the witch declared flippantly. "Perhaps you will live a little longer than most." Her blue eyes skimmed over Prim and Madge and settled on Peeta. A spark of interest shone in there. "Now, now…"
"Mine." Effie growled before she could say anything else. "My apprentice. Do not even think about it."
Elindra frowned and glanced at her in surprise. "An apprentice? You? You are barely a witch." She scoffed and turned to Peeta again. "I could make you great, boy. Teach you more than you can dream of…"
"You heard her, he's already adopted." Haymitch cut in, quickly stepping in front of the children.
It wouldn't stop Elindra from reaching them if she really wanted to but Effie didn't think saying so aloud would help reduce the tension.
At long last, her mother turned to acknowledge the elephant in the room – or, she supposed, the warlock.
Effie had the distinct impression she had been ignoring him deliberately so far.
"Cinna." Elindra said in a polite but slightly flat tone.
"Elindra." the warlock nodded back, slightly amused.
"You know each other?" Effie asked, frowning.
"Do not pry, it is rude." her mother huffed. "We have both been around a long time and we are both powerful, it is only natural to seek out and assess the competition, is it not?" She dismissed that with a wave of her hand before anyone could answer. "Now, Euphemia, be a dear and get me a cup of tea, I am parched. The flight was awful."
Elindra eased past Cinna and toward the library without needing directions. Effie hurried after her, Haymitch and the children on her heels. She barely noticed Prim sighing that she would get the tea.
"Mother…" Effie hissed, trying to fight that awful sensation of surreal when she saw Elindra sit down at what was usually her spot around the round table. Her mother gave a cursory glance at the map and the ingredients for the tracking spell but it didn't seem to grasp her interest. "What are you doing here?"
"What am I doing here?" Elindra repeated in a huff, as if her daughter was being entirely ridiculous by asking. "Why, you begged me to come."
Effie ignored Katniss' suspicious look and Haymitch's guarded one.
"I certainly did not." she retorted. "Stop looking at him. He is not yours to take."
Her mother didn't startle but her gaze did dart back to her and Effie had to resist the urge to push Peeta out of the room until she could get Elindra out of the house.
"He has raw talent." Elindra insisted.
"He already has a teacher." Cinna said quietly, gracefully flopping down on a chair as if entirely unconcerned.
It had to be an act because Effie was barely keeping her head above water. Two powerful magical beings in her house were two too many – not that it was technically her house but…
"A teacher who won't be able to unlock his full potential." her mother argued, giving her the disappointed look Effie hated. "The cloaking spell you have on the Village is impressive enough, darling, but it does not make you a true witch."
"Yeah, it fucking well does." Haymitch spat, taking a step forward as if to physically shield her.
Effie appreciated it but…
"Wow, your mother is bitchy." Katniss let out a long whistling sound. "Haymitch, what's our policy about dark witches?"
"Your policy should be not to anger them, particularly when they have come to help." Elindra replied, narrowing her eyes at the girl. "You are a very rude little thing, aren't you? Then again, the likes of you always are. Slayers." She hissed the word like a curse. "Now, Euphemia, had I known this would be the welcome I would get…" Prim wandered back in the library with a tray full of piled cups and a steaming teapot and Elindra relaxed a little. "Ah, at least one of you has some sense of hospitality. Manners are everything, you know. Thank you, dear. Aren't you a pretty thing…"
Effie didn't like it when her mother took that purring tone. It usually meant something cute was going to get sacrificed.
"Prim, darling, go back upstairs and finish your homework." she demanded.
"But…" the girl started arguing.
"Prim." Haymitch snapped, clearly on edge too. "Do as you're told. Madge, go keep an eye on her, yeah?"
She wasn't oblivious to what he was doing and her mother probably wasn't either. He had just removed from the room the two people who didn't have any fighting skills.
"Peeta…" she hesitated.
She wanted him out of her mother's reach.
"I don't have any homework." he deadpanned, a little too smartly in her opinion. "And she doesn't scare me."
Elindra poured herself a cup of tea, completely at ease despite the awkwardness in the room. Beside her and Cinna – who accepted a cup with a polite word of thanks – everyone was still standing.
"Mother…" Effie repeated, taking a deep breath. "What are you doing here?"
"You already asked and I already answered." Elindra snapped. "Now, sit down. It is rude to hover like this over your guest. And tell your oaf and his little warrior girl to do the same." Her eyes darted to Peeta with amusement. "I would offer you a seat too but it seems I am not allowed to address you as you are not my apprentice. I do wish you would reconsider though."
"You did not answer at all." Effie chided, sitting down as she was told and gesturing at the others to do the same. Haymitch didn't. He stood protectively behind her chair like the idiot he could be. And, of course, Katniss took her cue from him and did the same when Peeta eventually did take a seat. She decided to ignore them for now. "I did not ask you to come. I thought you were busy…"
"I was. I am." Elindra scoffed. "But when my daughter calls me to say she is facing a Reaping and won't do the sensible thing and jump on a plane, it tends to make my schedule lighter." She said it in a very annoyed tone that told Effie she was being a huge inconvenience. "Now, you asked for this I believe."
She opened the leather bag she hadn't yet put down and pulled out an ancient looking tome with strange peeling golden runes on the cover.
Effie reached for it, eager to read it – because that must be it, the books that contained the details of the Reaping…
Elindra quickly tugged it out of her reach.
"Now, now, Euphemia. Manners." She clucked her tongue, her eyes darting up at Haymitch before settling back down on her daughter. "I meant what I told you on the phone. Attempting to stop a Reaping would be very foolish. You do not have the strength for that sort of magical battle."
"So what?" Katniss cut in, dubiousness dripping from her every word. "You're here to help us fight?"
"Goodness no!" Elindra actually laughed. "I am here to convince my daughter to come home with me right now. You can keep the book and go meet your heroic death. We are going home."
She felt her mother's magic settle around her and she closed her hands into fists, using the sharp pain of her nails digging into her flesh to keep her mind clear.
"Ask. Do not compel." Cinna intervened, his tone serious. "Everything does not need to be magic, Elindra."
"Coming from you, that's rich." Katniss accused, crossing her arms in front of her chest. Cinna had the good taste to appear sorry.
"We can take the boy with us." Elindra insisted, a touch of yearning in her voice. "I will even ship the two of you back to England to await the next Slayer, if that is what you wish, but, Euphemia, hear me, if you go against this witch, if you try to prevent this Reaping, you will lose. You will die."
A long silence followed that statement.
Effie licked her lips, still feeling the sting of her mother's compelling charm but also strangely… touched by the sentiment behind it.
Haymitch's hands fell on her shoulders. "Maybe…"
"No." she cut him off before he could say something stupid. "We discussed this already. At lengths."
He sighed but didn't insist. "Yeah."
She briefly touched one of his hands but then reached for the book again. "I am not leaving, Mother. Give me the book."
Elindra studied her for a long time and then, probably realizing Effie would not, in fact, be convinced or compelled, shook her head with a sigh. Instead of giving her the book though, she slid it to Cinna.
"The book is made of black magic and I know you do not have the stomach for it. Do not touch it." Elindra advised, standing up. Her eyes darted toward Peeta. "Do not try either, you are too young and too new to magic yet, it would destroy you." For a moment, the blank expression she always wore on her face cracked, and she looked almost sad. "Be a clever boy, run away from this. You do have potential." She turned to Cinna next. "You will look after my daughter, warlock."
It was not a question, more like a command.
"Of course." Cinna granted easily, his hand already flat on the cover of the book. "As a favor to an old rival."
Elindra nodded in acknowledgement – probably at the favor word, never a free one with demons or warlocks alike – and then finally she approached Effie's chair.
Her hand hesitated in the air but then she did something she had hardly ever done before, she brushed the back of it against Effie's cheek in the softest caress. "I know you are headstrong but, hear me, Euphemia: reconsider. You are not a Slayer, you are not a full witch… I raised you to be smarter than this."
Before she could say anything she was gone in a puff of blue smoke.
Everyone remained still for a long moment, shocked maybe.
"If she could do that, why didn't she directly teleport inside the house?" Peeta asked eventually.
"The wards on the Village prevent it." Cinna answered. "Besides, that sort of spells is always short ranged at best. She cannot have gone that far…"
"She does love her theatrics." Effie sighed.
"Wondered where you got that from." Haymitch mocked.
She rolled her eyes but couldn't actually dispute the fact…
Soooo... A surprise visit from Elindra, a mysterious dark book, Effie and Cinna's failing to locate Portia... What can go wrong?