Sisters of Sorcery by Marsheila Rockwell

Author:Marsheila Rockwell [Rockwell, Marsheila]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Media Tie-In, Science Fiction, Action & Adventure, Superheroes, advance reading copy
ISBN: 9781839081668
Publisher: Aconyte
Published: 2022-09-05T23:00:00+00:00

Part Two

Chapter Eighteen

The Dark Dimension

“You want to split the party?” Holly asked, her tone incredulous. Clea could only describe the look on the pink-haired witch’s face as horrified. “You never split the party! Nothing good ever comes of it. Like, ever.”

Clea blinked, tilting her head to one side as she tried unsuccessfully to unravel Holly’s meaning.

“I know you are speaking English, and yet somehow I still have no idea what you are saying,” she said, in frank amazement. Even though she and Holly both looked human, it was moments like this that reminded Clea that she was something far different, the bastard daughter of a Mhuruuk and a Faltine.

“She’s saying splitting up is a bad idea. And for once I think I agree with her,” Margali said, her perpetual frown deepening. “There is strength in numbers.”

“There’s also more chance of getting caught,” Elizabeth replied. “More people are harder to conceal, and they make more noise.” Clea wondered if that last was directed at her, but finally decided it wasn’t. Elizabeth wasn’t one to soften her insults with subtlety.

“It looks like a stalemate, then,” Margali said, lifting her chin as she tried to stare Clea down. “Two in favor, two opposed.”

“Pretty sure the Sorceress Supreme of the home dimension gets more than one vote,” Elizabeth observed, giving Margali a falsely sweet smile when the green-skinned woman shot a glare her way.

Clea knew dividing the group physically would also divide its loyalties, which had never been on particularly stable ground to begin with. Margali was here out of self-interest, primarily to keep Umar from hijacking her own source of magic and only secondarily to ensure the safety of her daughter. Elizabeth was here because Clea had guilted her into coming, by playing on the unresolved and complicated emotions surrounding her relationship with her father and what she did or didn’t owe him, or her people. Holly was here because Agatha wanted her to be, and probably also because she felt she had something to prove.

None of them shared her cause, not truly. They were companions of convenience who had begun, she thought, to form tentative bonds of friendship.

She wondered if she was about to destroy those fledgling friendships in the nest before they ever had a chance to take wing.

“We have to split up. I can’t see any way around it.” She held up her hand to forestall any argument when both Margali and Elizabeth opened their mouths. Holly, surprisingly, said nothing.

“Neither Elizabeth nor Holly are operating at full power, while Margali and I are,” Clea said, and it was mostly true. She was closer to capacity than the other two women, at any rate. “It only makes sense for one of us who is healthier right now to pair with one who is still recovering her strength. The healthier woman will lead and deal with any encounters, while the recovering woman will use what power is available to her to cloak them from both mundane and magical sight, thereby limiting the number of said encounters.

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