Cyndi Cylendar's Arc

Chapter 4 of 6

Cyndi waited two days after she saw the training through the window. On the third morning she drove to Bella's house with a tin of shortbread and a story about missing her sisters. Heather's car was in the drive. Good. A room with Heather in it would soften the edges. Cyndi rang the bell and smiled when Bella opened the door. Bella did not smile back, but she stepped aside. Heather was at the kitchen table with a mug. Silver stood at the counter slicing an apple. Goldie sat on the floor with Sierra, both cross-legged, a coin between them on the rug. Cyndi set the tin down and asked if she could watch the girls practice. Heather glanced at Bella. Bella nodded once. Cyndi took the chair closest to the rug. She had come for one thing. Bella kept her stored magic in a small vial on a chain under her collar. Cyndi had watched the footage until she was sure. If she could get her hands on it while Bella's attention was on the girls, she could be out the door before anyone counted the seconds. She waited. Goldie lifted the coin off the rug with her fingers, then held it in the air. The coin stopped. Sierra breathed out. Bella leaned forward to correct Goldie's wrist. Cyndi rose, crossed behind Bella, and reached for the chain at the back of her sister's neck. Her fingers found the clasp. She had it open when Sierra's head turned. Sierra did not speak. She looked at Goldie. Goldie looked at Cyndi's hand. The coin dropped to the rug. The room slowed. Cyndi felt her arm grow heavy, her fingers thick, the clasp sliding out of her grip in a way she could not stop. Bella turned inside the slow air, easy as walking, and took the vial back. She refastened the chain herself. Time snapped forward. Cyndi stumbled a step. Heather was on her feet, mug still in her hand, mouth open. Silver had set the knife down and moved between Cyndi and the door. Bella looked at Cyndi for a long moment. "You will not come back here," she said. "Not for tea. Not for the girls. Not for any reason." Goldie stared at the rug. Sierra stared at Cyndi. Neither of them looked surprised, and that was worse than if they had. Cyndi walked out without the tin. She sat in her car at the end of the drive and gripped the wheel until her hands stopped shaking. The three girls had moved together without a word. That was the wall she had feared, and now she had tested it and been thrown back. Worse, Bella had barred her from the house. She had lost her last way in. She would have to reach Goldie or Sierra from outside, and she would have to do it before Silver was confirmed.