Vowed

by N R Tucker

  Under Tempe’s spell of invisibility, they shifted to birds and flew out the main doors of the building as a family entered the electronic entrance to the airport. Once outside of the city proper, she dropped the spell, and the two birds continued on to their niece’s home. They landed in the trees near Teirra’s temporary quarters on Raf’s property, shifted, and headed for her front door.

  “You’ve angered my government,” Rafael Soto, prif of the Serra Dourada Clan, stood in at the entrance to Teirra’s home, hand on hips.

  Tempe sneered, “You couldn’t care less about the human government. You’re angry I arrived in your territory without contacting you first.”

  “Si. This is my territory. Two alphas, especially the sovereign’s assassin, should not be here without warning.” Rafael’s face flushed with anger.

  “Family business,” Tempe replied. “We needed to talk to Charity’s daughter. This has nothing to do with your clan.”

  “Teirra is in my clan. That makes it my business.”

  “Raf, if I didn’t know better, I would think you’re challenging Tempest.” Serenity smiled, slid her arm through his, and guided him into the house. “We should have called you, of course, but we’re making quick trips to the family to pass on small bequests from Rayna to her grandchildren. Since gates are trackable, we’re using airplanes. The trip to Alaska irritated my sister. Obviously, we should have taken a break before coming here. Her famous temper, the one the fae bards depict in song, is showing.”

  Rafael relaxed under Serenity’s touch. “Well, I suspect the restrictions would be irritating to one accustomed to traveling by gates, but you should have called.”

  “Yes, and I’ll make sure we do so going forward.” Serenity pulled Rafael down beside her on the love seat, “Surely you’ll forgive us.”

  “Of course, you’re forgiven,” he smiled, his focus entirely on Serenity.

  She smiled and changed the subject. “It’s fortunate you’re here. I wanted to talk to you about your kids. I’m setting up a retreat at Chimera Farms for the teenagers who have been exposed. Most feel stifled under the rules we have now. I want your twins, Roya and Faron, to attend. It would be good to give them some breathing room. Chaz will be there, as well.”

  “That’s a generous offer, and timely too. Faron’s been unhappy of late. Teenage boys do not like restrictions.”

  “Neither do teenage girls,” Teirra said.

  Rafael inclined his head toward Teirra before turning back to Serenity as he stood. “Let me know the date, and the twins will be there. I’ll leave you to your family business.” He walked out the door, calling over his shoulder, “Tempest, following protocol in the future will save us both some irritation.”

  Tempe inclined her head and wisely kept her mouth shut, allowing Serenity’s efforts to keep the peace stand. Serenity breathed a silent sigh of relief.

  Teirra spoke softly to her prif before closing the door and turning to face her aunts with her hands on her hips, mimicking Rafael’s earlier stance. “Why didn’t you call him first? Of all the prifs to blindside, you pick the one most likely to start a shifter war.”

  “I’m not in the mood to worry about his petty schemes,” Tempe joined Serenity on the love seat.

  “Well, get in the mood. Raf’s petty schemes are not so petty.” Teirra sat on the couch, “He’s not happy about Sage, and he’s not happy to the point where the clan may have to choose sides, his or the sovereign’s.”

  Tempe sat forward, “You safe here?”

  “You planning to ride in and save my family? There’s no need,” Carlos walked into the house and kissed Teirra. “Tempest, you made the news. Don’t force my prif to make a bad decision because he’s angry. He’s been more accepting since Sage visited him, but you shouldn’t rile him.”

  Tempe bit back her response. She had not wanted Sage to make the rounds, especially when she found out her young sister spoke with the prifs privately. “You think my playing nice will prevent his plans. I don’t.”

  “No, but it might give me time to talk him down. He’s a good prif, but he doesn’t trust Sage’s age, and he believes your family holds too much power. He exposed himself, his kids, and his clan to save humans during the dual full moons. He believed you should have come and taken care of it.” Carlos kissed his wife again, this time on the cheek. “I’ll leave you to your family business.”

  Teirra saw the look on her aunt’s face and sighed, “We know you were injured the same night Raf was exposed and understand you can’t be everywhere at once. Especially now that you can’t create a gate event without being tracked, but you need to understand how it looks to the masses. All the super-powered alphas live in the southeastern United States. The impression is that you protect yourselves first and everyone else second.”

  “Actually, I protect everyone – shifters and humans – first, the Alpha Clan and our sovereign second, and my own children third,” Tempe said.

  “I did say impression, but at this point perceived preferential treatment is the same as real preferential treatment.” Teirra tilted her head in acknowledgment. “Okay, why are you here?”

  Once the tests completed, Chaz sat down on the bench and looked up at his aunts in disgust, “So no cool superpowers for me.” He quirked a smile at his Mom, “Opening a gate event looks like it’s pretty cool.”

  “But only within the Seen and now that they’re tracked I suspect it’s only for emergencies.” Teirra patted her son on the shoulder before turning to her aunts, “You going to see Xiomara next?”

  “Yes, as long as we’re in the area,” Serenity smiled.

  “In the area? She lives over four thousand kilometers away. By car, the trip is fifty-eight hours. It might be shorter as the bird flies, but you guys will be flying for a while.”

  “It’s under control.” Tempe motioned for Serenity, and they walked back to the woods, shifted, and flew into the sky.

  The sisters flew for a while, eventually turning toward the sun, and flying as high as they could. Tempe opened a gate, and they flew out the other side still high in the air but a lot closer to Xiomara’s family. They landed in another set of woods, shifted, and walked up to knock on her door.

  Galo, Xiomara’s husband, answered the door with his trademark grin. “At least you haven’t irritated my prif.”

  Tempe smirked, “It would be almost impossible for me to irritate Estefan and requires no effort on my part to irritate Rafael.”

  “If you caused a scene in Bolivia like the one you did in Brazil, I would be most angry,” Estefan said from the living room. “Tell me you did that for a reason other than to give Rafael more cause to hate the alphas, because that, mi amigo, is what you did.”

  Tempe dropped into a chair next to Estefan, “I did. I had to demonstrate why trying to track us is a waste of everyone’s time. I will admit I chose Brazil because of some of Rafael’s recent activities, to remind him that he, too, should be wary.”

  Estefan scoffed. “He knows. All shifters know. That’s one of the reasons no one ever challenged Rayna, and it’s the reason everyone is giving Sage a chance to grow up and prove herself, without a shifter war. You are the driving force that keeps the Alphas in charge. If you were to die, many shifters would turn on each other and try to take more power for themselves.”

  “Sage is well able to defend herself, and you know it.”

  “Yes, I do. I also know that if any shifter attacked the sovereign, you would attack with the full force of your powers and extraordinary fighting skills. While Sage would search for a peaceful solution, you would not hesitate to take out entire clans to keep the sovereign safe.” Estefan’s lips turned up into a grin, “You’re just lucky that most of the prifs know that. It saves effort we can use elsewhere. Most of us agree it’s better to have someone else dealing with all the politics that go into being the sovereign, especially now that the humans know about us. I wouldn’t want Sage’s job – or yours for that matter – for all the wealth and pr
estige in the world.” Estefan bowed and left.

  Serenity explained why they were there, and they got down to business. Once testing completed, the sisters once again flew into the air, opened a gate, flew out the other side, and proceeded to return to the airport in Rafael’s territory.

  They reappeared in the airport right where they had disappeared. It was hard to say who was the most upset, the airport guards or the reporters who didn’t get a good photo or interview. In the end, the sisters’ cooled their heels for hours in an interrogation room. One fool tried to separate the sisters, and Tempe demonstrated why that was a bad idea. Since no one tried to touch either sister, Tempe reigned in her famous temper and even answered a couple of questions.

  At hour fifteen of the interrogation, Tempe stood up. “Enough. We are leaving. If you think you can detain us without our cooperation, by all means, try. If you think you can stop our plane from taking off or shoot us out of the air, do it. If you think you have any control over my actions, prove it. I have wasted days playing nice all over this planet just to give the various human governments the illusion that they can control preternaturals. I’m done.”

  Serenity tossed the officials an apologetic smile and followed Tempe out of the room and through the facility until they came to their plane. Guards followed the women to their aircraft, but none tried to detain the duo. Their pilot greeted them by clapping as they boarded the plane.

  “Not sure what you said to the officials, but I just got clearance to take off. They muttered something about ‘the sooner, the better,’ but I don’t think I was supposed to hear that.” Ben returned to the cockpit, laughing.

  “At least our baby brother’s having fun,” Serenity sighed.

  Chapter 7

  Tempe and Serenity walked into the sovereign’s office in Calabozo. Joey finished writing a note, grabbed his laptop, and closed the door behind him as he left.

  Alone with the rest of the Alpha Cyn, Serenity provided a report to the sovereign of the new powers discovered in Rayna’s grandchildren. Once she finished, Tempe leaned back in her chair, “I don’t believe Bliss, Serenity, or Ryan need to be here for the next discussion.”

  “Perhaps you two need a mediator.” Serenity’s eyebrow raised in a Tempestesque like manner.

  “No,” they replied in unison.

  “Fine, page someone if you need medical attention or a healer. We’ll be in the Command Center.” Ryan herded the others out of the room.

  Sage sighed after the door closed, “Could you have been more confrontational in South America?”

  “You know I could. I did not kill, maim, or inflict the slightest injury on any human. I would say I was restrained.”

  “Restrained, no. Not the word I had in mind,” Sage stood up and paced, something she rarely did. “I know what Rafael is up to, and I almost had a tentative agreement with him. Your actions damaged that. He called to tell me so. You do not need to protect me from everything.”

  “Yes, I do.”

  “No, you don’t. Tempe, it’s an open secret you’re spread too thin. Tell me the last time you spent time with Bryce and the quads. Just them? You can’t open ways at the drop of a hat now, so you can’t take on everything. Delegate.”

  “I do,” Tempe snarled.

  “No, you farm out benign tasks, but if there’s a chance of danger, you do it yourself.” Sage sat down, put her elbows on the desk, and weaved her fingers together, “When I became sovereign, and the humans found out about us, we had to restructure my position for this new worldview. Now we need to restructure your position. You have spent centuries taking all punitive action for shifters. You can’t protect your brothers and sisters anymore. You need their help.”

  Tempe barked a laugh, “Is that what you think? I protect the family? You do remember I killed one of our siblings not that long ago, don’t you?”

  “Of course, I remember. For centuries you’ve been the sovereign’s assassin, the alpha who killed shifters for breaking our laws. Kyan protected the sovereign and killed for the Tetrad, but you addressed all internal shifter issues. In the year and a half since we were kicked out of the preternatural closet you’ve killed more shifters for crimes than you have in the last nine hundred years.”

  Tempe looked up in surprise, and Sage’s lip curled up in irritation, “You think no one did the math? I can send you the report if you like. Even though The Three have verified all kills as just, the deaths are beginning to wear on you. How could they not? Fewer people are willing to mentor a shifter who breaks the law now because humans are watching. The result is you kill more often. You need to regroup and regenerate.”

  “Whom will you send? You, as the sovereign, can’t go. Ryan is strong enough but still inexperienced. Raven has enough experience, but she lacks the full range of powers to survive long. Most of the rest simply aren’t the killers they have to be to hold the title executioner. And before you say Kyan, he shouldn’t be sent to kill, at least not on a regular basis.”

  “I know about Kyan’s issues and… wow, you really think I haven’t thought this through.” Sage handed Tempe a folder, “Read this, then we’ll talk. Have one of the PA’s add you to my calendar. I want the entire cyn at that meeting.”

  Tempe opened the folder and glanced at item one. “Pairs. All alphas will work in pairs from now on?”

  “Actually, all alphas will work in teams of at least two,” Sage responded with her trademark sweet and innocent smile. “This way there’s backup. The issue opening gates make it difficult for help to arrive if the alpha has difficulty.”

  Sage walked out of the room and shut the door in a dignified, politically correct fashion.

  Tempe looked at the closed door and grinned. She would have stormed out. Yet another reason Sage was the better sovereign. She opened the folder again and read.

  *****

  Once again, Destin presented the findings of his department, but this time the entire Alpha Clan and all senior prifs were in attendance, either in person or on video, with a few on audio only. He faced the sovereign and addressed his comments to her. “There is one type of gate event that can be created without being tracked.”

  “Excellent.” “Great!” “About bloody time.” “We’re back in business.” The comments came from the prifs. The alphas waited.

  “But,” Destin held up his hands for silence, “only an elemental can open it.”

  “Crap.” “Seriously?” “You’ve got to be kidding.”

  Tempe laughed.

  Quill’s glare filled his screen. “Care to share, Sis? What’s so friggin’ funny?”

  Tempe took a deep breath, but the grin didn’t leave her face. “Oh, I don’t know. I guess it’s the fact that I can’t work with elementals, ever. No one born of two dimensions can. And for the most part, elementals don’t like males or anyone of an aggressive nature, so that leaves out most preternaturals. It figures that with everything going on we end up with elementals as our best option.”

  Quill grinned at Serenity. “Looks like you’re our new contact for opening ways. Can we get Lady Z to stay? They like her.”

  “Doubtful,” Tempe faced Destin, “How about PAC HQ? What’s the deal?”

  Destin shrugged, “There’s so much magical energy in use that they can’t yet separate the electrical impulses of gates opening and closing from anything else. It’s only a matter of time. They’ll crack that as well. I have.”

  “And the test we did in South America with a gate at altitude?”

  “I could track it. However, since you flew a while before opening it, there was no way to tell your starting point and landing point, just where the gate opened high in the sky. We got the coordinates of the gate but nothing else. You must be careful of your location when you open a gate. The AIB might decide to bomb such an area.” Destin closed his folder and waited to be dismissed.

  “That’s something, at least for those who take a flying form,” Estevan commented.

  Rafael rubbed his neck. �
�Only if you can fly and be invisible and open a gate. Just how many alphas can do that?”

  “Thank you for the report, Destin.” Sage nodded, and Destin left.

  Once the door shut, Sage faced the monitors and focused on Rafael. “Not many, not nearly enough, but at least a few will be able to provide quick support again, but caution is still required.”

  “Why? Tempest and Ryan are out. They could open a gate at her house and exit in the sky wherever they need to be.”

  “Any gate opened within Beryl Lane, Tempe’s home, will be assumed to be Tempe and the humans will think they know where she is. Even if it isn’t her, it could cause more problems than it would solve. The authorities get a bit too excited if they think she’s around.”

  Rafael barked a laugh, “Sí, I noticed.”

  He didn’t say anything else, and Sage sighed in relief. Sometimes it seemed that they had fewer problems with Rafael if Tempe didn’t speak.

  Chapter 8

  Ryan, hands on hips and a snarl on his face, pegged Lucas and Logan with a stare as they exited the way. “No clowning around. This is a military base. Some of those guys holding weapons are looking for an excuse to open fire.”

  He didn’t see the need for this trip and wasn’t happy. The driver’s license wouldn’t do the kids much good. They were all outed as preternaturals, and it would be too dangerous for them to drive often. Even now it was dangerous. There was a solid wall of soldiers, weapons drawn, staring at the shifters. Some of those soldiers did not look happy to see them. While waiting for the kids to show up, Ryan had identified a couple of the soldiers. Brian should be in jail, not the military. And he definitely shouldn’t be armed.

  Ryan turned in response to a loud crack that echoed through the valley. A teenage sorceress appeared with the demon that had transported her. The beast had taken a vaguely human appearance, perhaps in an attempt to put the humans at ease. Epic fail. Most of the soldiers now pointed their weapons at the demon. If they fired, it would only irritate the creature and probably cause him to attack, especially as there wasn’t an adult sorceress or sorcerer with the teenager.