Page 1 of The Maestro's Mates
Chapter 1
Prologue - Sebastian
Sebastian stood alone on the esplanade.
The flowers of the cherry trees glowed pale pink in the light of the full moon. Rows of them lined the open meadow, with a stone fountain at the far end, at least two hundred feet from him. The botanical garden was a quiet, lonely oasis in the center of noisy Brooklyn.
Sebastian stood alone on the esplanade. Or he should have been alone. The facilities had been closed for hours now. It was almost three in the morning, and even the most dedicated worker had long gone home. The moonlight reflected in the stagnant water of the fountain’s basin, a slight ripple appearing and disappearing with the gentle breeze.
Ah, yes, that breeze. A normal, natural phenomenon.
Sebastian knew better.
“Little brother. What a surprise to run into you here.”
Sebastian turned to face the source of the voice, but he already knew what he would find. Standing there was his sister, in many ways his mirror image. They were both tall, pale, and thin, and both favored a gothic style. Her black hair was similar to his own, if longer, and both wore long Chesterfield coats. Hers was a slender woman’s cut. So was his.
“You left me a trail of crumbs, Vee.” He didn’t say more. His brain was already crackling with chaos, his magic and his thoughts running in simultaneous, complementary, ever-branching webs.
Sebastian sensed the air move as it swirled around her, its tendrils lifting and tossing her thick hair. Air spirits were her domain. It was a useful affinity.
Many witches thought it was more useful than his.
“I couldn’t take the chance you wouldn’t figure it out, Seb,” she said, her face still despite her hair and clothes flowing through the shifting air. “You weren’t always the best with puzzles.”
Sebastian pursed his lips. “I’m not five. My chaos isn’t a handicap anymore. Not like your horrible makeup skills.”
Her eyes narrowed as she surveyed him up and down. Sebastian knew she wasn’t only appraising his fashion sense. She was evaluating his power.
That was no easy task. The spirits of chaos confused the gifts of the most accomplished witch. It was one of the strengths of his affinity. Chaos scrambled magical signatures. A side effect of the fickle nature of his calling, it made it easy to obscure his strength.
A shiver ran over his skin, starting in his toes and running up his legs and spine. His sister glanced down. He wasn’t wearing shoes. His toes dug into the cold earth beneath, the blades of grass tickling the soles of his feet.
It was inconvenient, but he was at his best when he could feel the ground underneath him. His connection to the solid earth below was key to keeping his magic in line. If he didn’t have something to anchor him, his thoughts and his magic could turn destructive or impotent, just by the nature of their randomness and entropy.
“Did you come prepared to fight, little brother?” His sister’s eyes turned hard as she spoke, and the breeze picked up, rushing around him with a whistle. Still harmless, but not as placid as it had been. “In bare feet?”
“You know my magic, Veronica.” Sebastian smirked, resting his hands on his hips. “It doesn’t stick to the rules. The chaos spirits are restless tonight. The full moon and all.”
“Control issues?” Her stone face cracked, her curiosity overcoming her attempts to keep an emotional distance between them.
“No,” Sebastian said. “I’m not a teenager anymore. I don’t have hormones making my magic go wild. Now I embrace the chaos.”
Veronica’s eyes widened at Sebastian’s words. Her surprise wasn’t totally unwarranted. She’d been gone for five years, and the last time she’d seen him, he was barely holding onto control of his magic. Now he was far enough away from the turbulence of adolescence to understand. He’d approached it all wrong. He no longer tried to assert dominance over the chaos spirits. Now he befriended them.
“Why did you want to see me?” Sebastian asked. “If you want me to give back your old Joy Division t-shirts, not a chance in hell.”
Veronica ignored his words and gestured with her hand. She sat, resting on an invisible chair of pulsing wind.
Sebastian rolled his eyes. His sister had always been so self-serious. She’d found his freedom and randomness annoying. He’d taken it to heart as a kid, before he understood he was that way for a reason. Before he understood his chaos was his strength.
He wasn’t her annoying little brother anymore. Sebastian reached into the pocket of his coat and grabbed a handful of quartz dust. Leaping straight up, he sent his spirits a simple request as he blew the dust into the night air.
There was a loud crack, and before Sebastian came back down, a large section of a cherry tree had fallen, the branches shaping into the perfect-size cradle for his buttocks. It rolled right into place as he came down, catching him perfectly, bouncing as it easily absorbed the shock.
“What?” Veronica’s mouth was agape.
“Don’t know, sis. Was it the wind?” Tonight was going to be fun, if she truly had no conception of what he could do. “That’s your domain, isn’t it? Guess it was a coincidence.”
