Jake chuckled at his girlfriend’s antics before leaning forward at that time to retrieve her neglected wine glass.
“Here. Drink and be merry.”
Kara stared at his offering for a second before making a grab for the glass and took a long sip from it before cradling it up against her chest.
“You’re no fun. You know that?” she half-accused him.
“Oh, I am plenty of fun, my dear. But tonight, I thought we would have a small change in venue by spending one quiet evening together before tomorrow’s flight back to merry old London.”
“Is that why at the last possible minute you chickened out over us having sex again? I thought you of all people were interested in little ol’ me?”
Jake laughed again. “Baby, I love you to pieces, but you rode me hard the last couple of days. I need a small break.”
“Bull. You just want your usual bragging rights to tell your friends back home that your American girlfriend shagged your dumb ass non-stop. I should know: I get letters from either Gerry or Nate on occasion asking me how I am treating you.”
“Actual mail? That’s pretty expensive for a transatlantic carrier.”
“It’s worth the cost.” Kara mewed softly—propping her bare feet on the lip of the table itself.
“Well, next time send your missives to the main office of Berg and Stone’s Naval Logistics Department; care of the company’s headquarters in Bristol.” He patiently reminded her.
“I don’t wanna.” Kara complained under her breath.
“You want to part with that many days worth of credits on the shipping and cover charges? It costs at least sixty-three credits for international mail—in a flat rate box. Or weren’t you telling me that you were tight on funds here and there.”
The other woman took a sip from her wine glass before setting it back down on the table.
“It’s my paycheck, you fucking bastard.” She bit out defiantly, the wine getting to her after a short spell.
Jake noticed the change in her. Again.
“And you’re drunk. Again.”
“That’s not your business, mister. But mine.”
“I thought you told me once that dragons couldn’t handle alcohol very well?”
Kara made a series of small hand gestures in mid-air. Then she said: “I’m perfectly fine, lover boy. You don’t need to worry about me.”
“But I do worry about you, Kay. I do.” He pleaded with her a little.
Kara looked at him for a moment. Then she looked down at the empty space between her lap.
“I hate you.” She seethed miserably.
Jake hugged her closer to him. “No. You don’t. I am your world now, baby. And I’ll never let you go.”
“Rick Astley.” The woman suddenly blurted out of nowhere.
“What?”
“You used a line from one of his famous classic songs: I will never give you up, I will never let you go…?”
Her boyfriend laughed. “Wasn’t intentional. Believe me.”
Kara patted him on the leg. “S’okay,” she said in a slightly slurred tone of voice.
“That’s just a weakness of mine. Classic rock music from the 20th century.”
“I know. I’ve been having to listen to your Beatles and Elvis tracks remixes from Iron Baby.”
“What about Faith Jumper? Puddle of Mud?”
“Next you’ll tell me you have hidden disc tracks of Brittany Spears and Taylor Swift from somewhere in that massive music collection of yours.”
“A few,” Kara admitted freely. “But most are remixes done by such groups like Water Lily, Faith Jumper, Iron Baby, and Jupiter One.”
“Jupiter One’s not bad. That group gets played a lot at some of the British shipyards over the intercom.” Jake offered up thoughtfully.
“I have all six albums.” Kara said with a personal amount of satisfaction on her part.
“I only have the first two. But usually that’s all they are good for. The rest is just white noise taking up memory space on my brother‘s stereo surround system.”
“I have the new optic uplink on mine that downloads any new tracks from the Sirius satellite network. Or Xe-Bo.”
“Monthly subscription?”
“Yes. I can’t afford the full package yet. But that would usually require a whole new audio/video setup.”
Jake whistled softly. “And I thought by now everything would be cheaper like things were two hundred years ago?”
“Things back then were. But we’re dealing with newer and complex technology that requires a bit more finesse and understanding—unlike those old stereo systems we’ve seen in the cultural sections of the New York History Museum.”
“Seems like everything old is new again,” Jake muttered mostly to himself.
“Oh, yes. Like this movie for instance. Iron Man. Used to have Robert Downy Jr. in it before it was remade with Jeffrey Mark Sinclair III.” Kara said with a dreamy look on her face. “God he was such a fucking dreamboat come true when they cast him. Absolutely gorgeous in every way.”
“So he’s your new movie boyfriend when I’m away?” Jake teased—earning another sharp punch from his girlfriend.
“Don’t ruin the moment, lover boy. I’m drunk and horny right now. I need some relief.”
“You always need relief.”
“Three days is not enough for either of us,” the woman complained under her breath—switching tracks. “Fuck. I should’ve put in for more R&R.”
“I thought High Command allowed you at least three weeks off in a given twelve month period?”
“Yeah, they do. But I’m almost hitting the ceiling with so many off day requests in the first four months of this year alone when I should be on the clock more.”
“Why? Is it because of me? Or is it something else going on?”
“It’s both, baby. It’s both. But I’ve been dealing with an increased workload as well over the past couple of months. This three day liberty pass was my first in four weeks.”
“And I know for certain I wasn’t here in the last month—certainly not in the last two.”
“No. February 10th was the last time you and I shared a bed with for a couple of days. And that was the longest two days for the two of us imaginable.”
“I know. You didn’t leave me alone back then either.”
Kara scowled. “I don’t like these long distant relationships. I thought I could handle it, but the stress is tearing me apart.”
“So…a mite bit of blunt honesty then?” Jake echoed in quiet amusement. “And here I thought you American girls were nothing but tough chicks to go around the bend with on a perfect day?”
Kara hit him again—this time in the leg.
“Keep talking like that and I’ll go all draggo on you in a heart beat.”
“So you’ve run out stimulants?”
“That’s not the point, Jake. Stop pressing your luck.”
Her boyfriend wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close to him again.
“I think you’re just mad because you got stood up yesterday on two fronts.”
There was a small measure of silence from Kara’s end. Then she said: “Is it that obvious?”
“When you’re plastered, you get mad. And usually it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what’s been eating at you all week.” Jake offered quietly—before reaching for the bowl of popcorn. Snagging a small handful, he started eating his share.
Kara sighed heavily.
“I swear to god…” she said contritely. “The next time I see that bitch, I’m not going to stop coming after her until she’s mine. I don’t care what the law says about the treatment of minors—witch or no witch.”
“So that’s what’s been driving you crazy these past few years? Is because of those laws?”
The other woman nodded. “It would have been so much easier if she had been an adult. The situation would have been handled differently. But according to intelligence reports out in the
field, the girl had awoken prematurely as a witch and—”
“—she’s been driving everyone at the Regency Council crazy—I take it?” Jake finished for her at that time.
Kara Plummer nodded again. “Most assuredly so. She was the last of the new generation of High Witches to be born into a new and terrifying world of law and order—the last generation were fucking pacifists after the Great War.
“Retreated from the scene and never looked back. But those like her mother, Sarah Winters, and Tillie Gunderson? A new breed of magical familiars. Witches in layman terms.”
“But rumors had it that this new generation were part of a splinter group that focused more on fighting and combat?”
Kara nodded miserably. “That part would be very much true. The others were pacifists and didn’t lend their skills to others other than for healing and protection. But nothing offensive.”
“Until—?”
“The last thirty years—when rumors started flying that a new generation of magical familiars broke ties with the Witch’s Guild and the High Sorcerer at the time and started training in secret for the next presumed conflict. They didn’t want a repeat of the events which led up to the Great War. Of course, nobody on the outside could confirm the validity of these stories or rumors—but everything fit the moment those like Sarah Winters and Alicia Gunderson started appearing on the scene to put out those ‘brush fires’ around the country by getting involved first hand.” Kara recalled from her own reports.
“The power of these magical familiars were off the charts. Some people started to speculate that they may have found the six stones belonging to the First Beings—which would only explain their meteoric jump in both skill, power, and ability. But nobody wanted to find out why. Or the truth for that matter. And those foolhardy enough to take the actual undertaking—?”
“They were never heard from again.” Jake finished. “Yes, I remember the stories and legends of Commander Jake Peterson’s subsequent disappearance fifteen…twenty years ago seeking out one of these new magical familiars. They even claimed to have found his body—unrecognizable as the case may be.”
Kara nodded. “Nobody knew for absolute certain.” She said. “Which is why I worry greatly about what would happen to you, Jake—since you share your unfortunate’s namesake.”
“Are you worried that Tillie Gunderson might come for me?”
“The girl possesses the Dragon’s Tear—which is the first stone belonging to the First Beings; as far as we know. We were never able to confirm the existence of the other five.”
“So how did you guys know it was the real thing?”
Kara sighed unhappily. “Because Greta Freeman was our mole in the Witch’s Guild of Lower Tam. We made her an offer she couldn’t refuse and in turn…? She was supposed to have delivered the rock to us. But the stone’s power ended up corrupting and twisting her take on reality and she began a campaign of terror and warfare that spread across three Jersey counties. Such actions brought out Tillie’s mother and the girl herself and, well, we can only speculate what happened from there.”
“And the stone disappeared after that—only to reappear some years later and…? Now Tillie possesses it?”
“She had the actual fucking gall to dangle it in front of my face as a tantalizing lure—in our first meeting. The witch.” Kara seethed, before taking the last few gulps of wine from her glass. Then she belched.
“Gods…I was so close to grabbing it from her. But she probably knows that I can’t. The stone is wed to its wearer for the duration—depending on how the power is wielded. And the mental state of its wearer too.”
“But you’re a dragon shifter! Shouldn’t that counteract the influence of the stone’s power over the girl and shift it over to you?”
The other woman shook her head. “I…have no idea. I don’t even know if it will work. My amulet versus the stone? I’m not sure if it would be an even contest of wills—since Susha is so powerful. He may take me as a potential rival or threat and have the girl expunge me from known existence—like what happened with Greta Freeman.”
“I heard through the state run media that she died from her injuries during the battle. That Tillie was the final catalyst in that confrontation?”
“It’s only rumors—again. But that’s all we have to go on at the moment.”
“Did anyone know who took the stone from Greta’s body after she was killed?”
“It was Alicia Gunderson from third hand eye witness accounts. After that—? Poof. Nobody knows who had it since then. Or how it got into her daughter’s hands after such a long dry spell—which is why the Regency Council has been so interested in her from the start. Or why they have me trying to get her recruited—like they did with Greta Freeman.”
Jake shook his head in quiet amazement.
“You think it will work? Getting her to work for the Regency Council after the last known interagency failure?” He asked knowingly.
“We couldn’t have known that Greta would have been such a colossal failure from the beginning. We just have to learn from our own mistakes and go from there.”
“How do you think she’s react when she finds out the truth to your little operation?”
By then? It will be too late. We’ll have our first lead into the stones’ overall disappearance and reappearance after untold millennia—with the first in our possession.”
“And what about the other witches? The ones that managed to escape detection and extermination?”
Kara swirled the remnants of her wine in the bottom of her glass.
“By the time anyone figures out Supreme Chancellor Merrick Reiter’s real plans, it will be too late for everybody.” Then she looked up at her boyfriend with a pale (but earnest) expression of her own.
“Then we’ll have a chance at real peace for all of humanity.”
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
The Game
Roz was there to greet both Charlie and Tillie with a wailing cry of distress the second the pair entered his room with her things in tow.
“Now what?” Charlie wanted to know—thinking (and not hoping) that his dreams of absolute peace and quiet had come to an unceremonious end.
Even Tillie was momentarily taken aback by the other girl’s sudden hysterics. But here she was, sobbing in his arms as the older boy was forced to drop his shared burdens onto the floor—just inside the open doorway—and take care of whatever was ailing poor Roz at the moment.
“Does it have something to do with the lead singer of Rapid Fire getting married to his high school sweetheart again?” He asked with a slight roll of the eyes in Tillie’s general direction—even though his best friend was bawling her eyes out to beat the band.
The first girl hid a small smile of her own—knowing what he was talking about. It had been news for all of his female admirers and secret fan crushes for the past six months now since rumors broke over the Sirius Satellite Network of a possible engagement which sent every teen fan girl into an absolute tizzy.
“Better than what happened to the lead drummer of Junk Monkey—who ended up getting divorced over infidelity issues with his former beau.” She threw out in passing.
“She’s pregnant!” She practically sobbed broken-heartedly. “With his first child of all things!”
For a moment, nobody said nothing.
“That would explain why April McMasters was “popping out” in those recent publicity stills.” Tillie offered with an agreeable nod of her own. “Makes sense if you ask me.”
“It’s a travesty!” Roz was complaining at the top of her lungs. “I wanted to be the one!”
Tillie’s eyebrows jumped up a few degrees upon hearing that news.
“Oh-kay…? Dare I ask what that‘s about?”
Charlie sighed at that moment—caught between his own personal embarrassment and hers as well.
“It’s a long story, Tillamook—best told over a hot meal. You game for instant noodles and a steaming hot cup of beef bullion?
I have a hot plate setup in the far corner of the room next to the sink counter.” He offered to her then.
“Sure. Let me get my shit squared away and I’ll join you.” The other girl said, moving past the two of them and re-entering the same room she had vacated almost two and a half hours earlier on the account of frayed nerves and anger management issues—over the boy that she liked a lot and having to compete for his affections.
At first she thought that she would have to take things to the next level—which of course there were always possibilities—and lay down the rules of the road in her personal pursuits of getting Charlie into her corner.
Just to let the elf girl who really ruled the roost here.
But seeing Roz in her most vulnerable state made the teen witch feel like absolute shit for being a complete bitch to her in passing. Not that any of it was totally intentional or antagonizing mind you. She just initially believed that Charlie was a free agent and attainable—through her eyes—and didn’t realize that he might have been spoken for (unofficially) by some other girl.
Tillie sighed to herself—pushing away any possible conflicting thoughts of possible love triangles—and focused on getting her gear squared away.
The bags went into the spacious corner next to the front window which overlooked a brightly lit portion of the street, and her other belongings sat parked up against the wall.
Three duffies full of God knows whatever her mother put in them before she left. Then her back pack which contained some articles of clothing and some personal stuff along with her medication and a sealed bag of hygiene supplies.
When she turned around, she found Roz sitting back on Charlie’s bed which drew a bit of freshly laid jealousy on her part—which Tillie chose to ignore at that point.
Her moment of bare naked opportunity would assert itself and she would take it without either protest or regret. She was a witch and magical familiar. She wasn’t bound by any human rules.
Unless Charlie laid them down. Then she might reconsider her position.
Until then…she would wait.
So she ignored the seemingly tender moment where two close friends were sharing a hug and asked Charlie where the bathroom was.
Generation Witch Year One Page 36
