Blood of the Sorceress. Maggie Shayne

been silent during this entire exchange, but finally she spoke. “Lilia, what’s going to happen? You said it would be the toughest challenge yet, and you told us before we’d need to get our loved ones out of the way when the time comes, but why? What exactly are we fighting here? I mean, I thought this was as simple as Demetrius making a choice. Either he accepts his remaining soul-piece or he doesn’t, right? So what’s the big deal?”

      Lilia licked her lips, trying to form an answer she didn’t really want to give, and then was saved by a soft buzz-buzz coming from Indy’s jeans pocket.

      Indy quickly pulled out her cell phone. “Text from Tomas.” Then her expression changed. “Oh, my Goddess.” She looked from the screen to her sisters. “The hospital phoned him. Father Dom came out of his coma this morning. He’s awake and alert.”

      “On this day of all days,” Lilia said, shaking her head. “The same day Demetrius first used the tools, the day he called me back into existence. This can’t be a coincidence.”

      “There’s no such thing as coincidence,” Lena said softly. “We’d better get home.”

      Lilia stopped shoving food into her mouth when she realized that everyone was looking at her. Of course, as soon as they saw her noticing, they all returned to their own lasagna dripping with cheeses and sauce and stuffed with mushrooms and vegetables. The bowl beside her plate, where a fresh green salad had been, was all but licked clean. She realized she had consumed about a square foot of the main course within the first three minutes of its arrival. And a couple of slices of warm, buttery garlic bread, too.

      She laid her fork down, sipped from her water glass, then set it carefully on the table. “I didn’t realize how much I’ve missed food,” she said. “The sensual pleasure of eating is … I think when you do it every day you forget how incredible it is. All those flavors bursting on your tongue. The taste, the texture. Oh, it’s so good.”

      Selma, Magdalena’s mother, smiled at her. She’d been smiling at her the entire evening, and it had been all Lilia could do not to fling herself into the older woman’s arms. But all in good time. “I think that’s the best compliment my cooking has ever received,” she said softly.

      “Then,” Bahru said, “we’ve all been lax in our praise. Your culinary skills are unmatched, Selma.” He was a bronze-skinned Hindi who wore red-and-white robes, sandals, dreadlocks halfway down his back and a matted beard.

      Lilia sighed. “It’s a shame Demetrius won’t be able to enjoy food like this.”

      “He won’t?” Tomas asked. “Why not?”

      “Well, he’s still missing a part of his soul. The part I carry with me. When Indy returned the amulet to him, he received the soul-piece it held, and that let him escape the Underworld through the Portal. And, Lena, when you relinquished the chalice and the blade, you gave him a body.”

      “Not the body he thought I was going to give him, though,” Lena said, glancing at the wicker cradle in the living room with a combination of love and ferocity.

      Lilia nodded. “He was imprisoned, inhuman, a soulless beast raging against his captivity for so long—it’s understandable he was mixed up. And I know you couldn’t see him at the end, my sister, but I could. He changed his mind. He wouldn’t have gone through with it. I know this. He was confused—”

      “Confused is putting it mildly, Lilia,” Ryan said. He sat at the table’s head, Lena at its foot. “He used some kind of mind control on people. On me, even.”

      She nodded. “I know. I saw it all. He’s powerful.”

      “Still?” Ryan asked, pressing on. “I mean, now that he’s got a human body, is he human, or is he … something else?”

      “And is he still dangerous?” Lena asked.

      Lilia lowered her head, but it was Selma who answered. “Why don’t we let Lilia enjoy her first full-fledged meal in thirty-five-hundred years and discuss this later, over coffee and dessert?”

      Everyone muttered, but they nodded all the same.

      Lilia was grateful and sent Selma a loving look while deciding it was time to tell her the truth. “You are mothering all of us, Selma, even though you’re only Magdalena’s mother … in this lifetime.”

      Selma stilled with her fork halfway to her lips and lifted her head. “In this lifetime?”

      Lilia smiled warmly. “We didn’t get to stay with you for very long, Selma. Teenagers in those days were adult enough to leave home. But you taught your three daughters well. If you hadn’t, our powers then wouldn’t have enabled us all to be here now. Together. About to set things right after thirty-five centuries.”

      “I was …” Selma’s voice broke.

      “Our mother. You were our mother in Babylon.”

      Selma dropped her fork to her plate with a clatter and looked at each of the women in turn, her eyes beginning to shimmer. “I knew it. I felt it.”

      Sitting beside her, Bahru put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

      Lilia sighed and set her napkin down. “It seems odd, me being the youngest but knowing more of what’s going on than the rest of you. It’s unfair to make you wait any longer for the answers you’ve been looking for all this time. And I’ve eaten so much already that my belly is straining to hold it. So I will tell you what I know.”

      “It’s about time,” Indy muttered, but she gave Lilia a wink to temper the words. “I thought we might have to stick bamboo shoots under your nails to get you to talk.”

      Lilia frowned—even though Indy’s grin said she was kidding—failing to see the humor in such a notion. She dabbed her mouth with her napkin, and then she began.

      “Demetrius came into humanity with the knowledge that he was human once, but no real memory of what that means. He doesn’t know of our history. Didn’t even—” Her throat tightened. She loosened it with another sip of water. “He didn’t even recognize me when I first appeared in physical form.” It hurt to admit that. But there it was.

      “He came forth with the intention to experience every human pleasure. But without the final piece of his soul, his senses are dulled. He can’t taste the deliciousness of food or see the beauty of nature. He won’t understand why people take pleasure from music or a warm, soft pillow. He won’t realize what he’s missing, of course, having no basis for comparison.”

      “But he is human?” Tomas asked.

      “He is. Sort of. He’s also immortal—for the moment, anyway. His injuries will heal rapidly. Nothing will kill him. And he can’t become ill.” She went silent, rubbing her hands together in her lap.

      “And what else?” Indy asked. “C’mon, spill it. I can see there’s more.”

      Lilia looked up at the sister who sat beside her. “He has the same powers you received from the amulet, Indira.”

      “Telekinesis,” Indy whispered.

      Nodding, Lilia looked to Magdalena. “And he has the powers you received from the chalice, Lena. The ability to scry and find any knowledge he seeks.”

      “And he has the dagger,” Ryan said softly. “That thing’s like an unregistered WMD.”

      Lilia didn’t understand the reference, and it must have shown on her face.

      “Weapon of mass destruction,” Ryan said.

      She nodded in agreement. “Also, using the two together, he can manifest anything he desires. Turn any wish into physical reality.”

      The baby fussed, and Bahru was on his feet before any of them, hurrying to the cradle in the next room. Lena had started to get up, but she relaxed into her chair again with a grateful look the guru’s way. Then she faced Lilia again. “What special power did you bring