Derek's mother frowned as well. “Uh...”
Laura closed her eyes. “Tell me you didn't.”
Maria shifted on her feet. “Well, not on purpose...”
Derek sighed deeply.
Akane looked pained, but everyone else was confused. Flynn was the one who spoke up. “I'm sorry, what's wrong?”
“Someone forgot to buy Akane's gift,” Laura growled.
Adam blinked. “You mean you—”
“Silver moon and golden sun, this is not my fault,” Laura's father insisted, his habitual grin finally gone for the moment. “I was carrying Derek's present, not Akane's.” Derek's birthday was at the end of this month. Well, it looked like he was getting weapons again, though that was hardly a shock.
“Did you at least pay for that one?” Derek asked patiently.
Laura's father frowned again. “Well...”
Laura sighed again. This was hardly the first time they had done this. In fact, thirty years ago, it was the reason they had been sent to Domina in the first place. They “borrowed” a truck, which happened to have several thousand dollars of merchandise in the back. The judge let them off lightly, mostly because they returned everything, but they still got a five-year sentence each. And, of course, prisons weren't mixed-gender, so they weren't able to see each other. So when the plans to build Domina were announced, they jumped at the opportunity.
The city was built on a great trash island on the Atlantic, and constructed solely by the cheap labor of white-collar criminals, with their sentences halved as a result. Some left when their terms were up, but many stayed, including Derek and Laura's parents.
Of course, even white-collar criminals were still dangerous and unpredictable when left to their own devices, so the city devolved almost immediately into violent gang warfare. When Eden fell, it seemed to mark the end of any hope for peace in Domina City.
It wasn't until Butler stepped in, about fifteen years ago, that things finally started to settle down. He had been in the city from the beginning, but he had to build up his money and power base—helped by his best friend inventing the toy maker. But even as things started to improve, the Culture Wars began, and Butler had his work cut out for him. It was only now, after thirty years, that the city finally had something resembling peace.
But Derek and Laura's stupid parents still stole anything that wasn't nailed to the floor.
Laura flipped out her phone and dialed MC. “My parents stole something again,” she said tiredly. “Can you debit their account?”
“Of course,” the fake MC said smoothly. MC had written a few programs for dealing with shoplifters specifically because of these two idiots. “What store, and what were the items?”
“I'll let them tell you,” Laura said as she handed the phone off to her father. He took it sheepishly and walked off to somewhere Derek wouldn't be able to hear, to keep his present a surprise.
“Thank you for the gift, Miss Huntsman,” Akane said quietly, with a very small bow. “I'm sure they will be useful.”
Maria smiled. “Thank Victor. It was his idea.” She clapped her hands together. “Anyway, where's this picnic spot we're looking for?”
“It's over by the south end of campus,” Derek said. “Where's the blanket and food and everything?”
His mother bit her lip. “I forgot it. It's at the car. Akane, would you be a dear—”
“Maria,” Laura said, barely catching herself before calling her something more embarrassing. “It's her birthday.”
She blinked. “Oh dear.” She patted Akane on the head, avoiding the little cardboard crown she was still wearing. “I'm so sorry about that. Just force of habit. One minute, I'll be right back.”
Laura sighed. She really didn't understand why Akane took orders from those two. Okay, she understood, but it was still a bad idea.
Her father came back; he handed her phone to Akane. “It's for you.”
She took it, frowning in confusion. “Hello? Wha—MC?”
Akane's problem wasn't that she let people take advantage of her. It was that she was completely closed-off except for two or three people. She had “too defensive” and “too open,” with very little in between.
“No, I mean, I'm surprised, but... thank you. Yes, honestly, this is just unexpected. What? Yeah, that was me. They jumped me in an alley. That a problem?”
Laura listened to Akane's conversation with only half an ear. Mostly, she was keeping an eye on her father; he was walking towards her purposefully.
“Yes?” Laura said, trying not to sound too bored. She had known for fifteen years that she was smarter than her father. It was hard to take him seriously.
But sometimes, like now, he got such an intense look on his face that she was forced to remember that he was not completely useless. He was sent to Domina for being a terrible thief, sure, but he was an old friend of Butler for reasons he had never fully explained. And she refused to inquire further.
He led her a little away from the rest of the group, out of their earshot, before turning to look her in the eye.
He didn't waste any time. “Are you one of the Paladins?”
Laura tried not to quiver in fear. No matter how little she respected him, he was still her father, and could have an effect on her. “Yes. How did you know?”
“Artemis told us,” he lied.
Laura frowned. Her ability might not be very useful in combat, but it could be helpful at times. “No he didn't.”
He smiled slightly. “Truthtelling, huh? Useful.”
“Not really. How did you know I was one of the Paladins?”
He shrugged. “Artemis did hint that there was something about you we should know, and recommended asking. Given the timeline, this seemed logical.” He glanced at the rest of the birthday group. “I know Derek's part of it, which means Akane as well. Who else?”
“Ling, Akane's roommate. And Adam, Derek's roommate. Adam doesn't have a power, though. Lizzy has a power, but we're keeping her out of the action.”
He frowned. “When did you receive these powers?”
“We're not completely certain, but the morning of August twenty-fourth at the latest. Adam came to the city after that, so whatever empowered us did it before then.”
“Hm.” He scratched his beard. “Very interesting. If we can cross-reference that with some of MC's data, maybe take another look at those DNA tests Isaac ran...”
Laura shook her head. Her father wasn't enough of a scientist to actually do any of that. “Good luck with that, Dad.” She walked back to the group.
Akane was hanging up the phone. “That was MC.”
“We gathered,” Ling said dryly. “What'd she say?”
“She... was calling to wish me a happy birthday.”
“Well, that was nice of her.” Laura smiled. “Although I don't think I've ever heard of her doing that before.”
Akane just nodded dumbly, a small frown on her face.
Laura quirked her head. “What's wrong?”
She searched for the words. “I... have friends.”
Laura blinked. “Well, yeah. What'd you think?”
She just stood there, staring at my phone.
Laura didn't really know what to make of that, but Maria came back with an armload of quilts and baskets, saving her from thinking too hard on it.
“Victor, help me out here,” she said with a grunt.
Laura's father laughed. “No way. You need the exercise.”
Laura frowned. That was a lie? Normally sarcasm passed through her filter. What was going on?
Derek's mother glared. “You aren't exactly the picture of health either, beer-gut.”
“What?” he grabbed his belly through his shirt. There was a noticeable bulge. “No, this is just fake padding. I'm actually fit as a fiddle.”
Not a lie. Or at least, it didn't register as one. Silver and gold, what was going on?
Laura was distracted by Ling turning and whispering in her ear. “Are they... related?” People always
asked that. They fought like brother and sister.
Laura mentally shelved her questions for the moment and sighed. “No, just crazy.”
Chapter 30: TEMPUS TRANSIT
KELLY
“Why weren't we invited to the party?” George grumbled.
Kelly adjusted her daygoggles a little angrily. “We were. I turned them down. We shouldn't get that close to them.”
Jarasax rolled his eyes from his spot in the driver's seat. “Kelly, you make it sound like we can't even be friends with them. I understand going to the party would be a bad idea, but we can at least to cordial.”
“It's not like I told her to go screw herself. I just explained that we were on duty, and didn't have time for that kind of thing.”
Kelly saw something out of the corner of her eye. I turned and caught the tail end of Kat's fingers flashing in a complicated pattern.
“She's right on that one,” Alex said. It had taken him about two hours to learn enough kemo battle sign to understand Kat. George was still stumbling along. “This is boring. It's worse than a stakeout.”
“Well, we're not going to the party,” Kelly said. “Or doing another job,” she added as George opened his mouth to speak. “Not after the last one ended.”
“That's not my fault,” he grumbled. “How was I supposed to know the client was into bestiality?”
Jarasax shivered. “Let's not bring this up again. I'm still having nightmares as it is.”
Kat, at least, agreed, and whipped out a portable gaming device to play the game she had bought a few days ago.
That was about the right idea, as far as Kelly could tell, but the rest of them didn't have anything like that. Blood and shadow, they didn't even have any books. They really weren't prepared for this at all. Most of them were used to participating in direct military actions. In Domina, that meant a lot less sitting around waiting for nothing at all.
George, however, was looking at Kat with a thoughtful expression on his face.
“Kat, I have a question.”
She looked up, her ears angled towards him, and signed a quick affirmative. He looked confused at first, but he knew enough to understand that, at least.
“Right. It's just...” George chewed his lip, displaying his fangs. “I'm wondering why you're still mute. It should be easy for the toy maker to fix, right?”
Kat's ears suddenly stopped moving.
Kelly blinked in surprise and sat up in her seat. This looked like it might be interesting.
She had been wondering that herself. The toy maker had many limits, true, but vocal cords weren't all that complicated. Even if Kat lacked them completely, it shouldn't have been too hard to make new ones. And as an anthro, she obviously had the money for that kind of buff. Blood and shadow, whoever did her anthropomorphization would probably have thrown in the voice for free.
She looked like she was about to sign something... then thought better of it, and quickly signed a negative response.
“Fine,” Kelly sighed. “We'll stay out of it.” But the rest of the team didn't seem to be listening to her. They just looked thoughtful. She reached over and pounded the horn, making them all jump. “Won't we?”
Sax flinched. “Yeah, yeah, of course.” The other two muttered similar affirmatives.
“Of course,” George said, “now we've got even less to do.”
Alex grinned. “Well, if Kat doesn't want to share her life story, I guess it's your turn.”
George laughed. “No, we should hear the boss—”
“No,” Kelly said instantly, in a tone that brooked no argument.
George grimaced. “Fine. My turn it is.”
It took him a minute to get settled. The van would have been a little cramped for five people anyway, but he was a giant. Eventually, he decided on sitting in the lotus position on the bare metal floor of the van.
“I was twenty-seven years old when I became an ogre. I had already had some toys installed, but nothing obvious. That was eight years ago, when all the angelic fear-mongering about the vampires was finally starting to lose steam. I wanted power to protect myself from overzealous daybreakers, not nightstalkers.” He nodded to Alex. “No offense.”
Alex grinned. “No worries, brother.”
“I joined up with Lord Gronn, which went about as well as you might expect. I fought in the Battle of Blade's Edge, barely survived. The Gordoks took me in, and the King took a personal interest in me.” He shrugged. “Not really as impressive as it sounds. Gordok's tribe is a small one, though most people don't know it. The King made sure to greet every new recruit, and I caught his eye.
“And when he pissed off Odin, well... Odin caught his eye. Tore it right out of his skull.
“I left after that little fiasco. Amicably, you understand. I had had enough of the Culture Wars. That was... five years ago. Yeah, it was right around the Battle of Shendilavri, so that's about right. Didn't actually fight in that one, though. Probably for the best.
“It wasn't until Hathsin that I joined Necessarius. Alex knows this part—I saw him fighting off a vampire, so I joined in to help.
“I actually meant to help the Nosferatu, but the stupid ferret attacked me the second I pulled them apart, so I ended up snapping his neck. Harder than it should have been, too. He had some kind of spine enhancements—”
“George,” Kelly said.
He waved a ham-sized hand. “Right, right. You don't need the blow-by-blow. Well, after the battle, I joined up with the 'sarians. Seemed like the thing to do, and they needed men after that.” He shrugged. “And here I am.”
Jarasax raised an eyebrow. “That's it? I doubt Alex would have suggested you for this if that's the extent of your achievements. What'd you do after you joined up?”
“A few battles, here and there. Alex will have to tell you why he asked me to sign up for this mission.”
Alex grinned. “I thought it was obvious. The whole thing with the Lolthspire.”
Jarasax and Kelly groaned in unison. “Ugh,” Kelly said. “Alex, tell me he's not another of those.”
“What's wrong?” George asked with a frown. “It wasn't even a real fight. Our sniper shot one of the Maidens the Lolths were dealing with, and I let loose some covering fire on the thralls. I don't think anyone even died. What's the big deal?”
“The big deal is that our resident daybreaker has a thing against Lolths. Pretty much all of his suggestions for the retinue fought them at some time or another.” Kelly shook her head. “I should have known you weren't an exception.”
George turned to Alex. “While I appreciate the chance, what's your beef with the Lolths? They thrall your brother or something?”
Alex rolled his eyes. “Why does everyone always ask that? No, they've never done anything to me personally. But they're a bunch of misandrist thugs who need to be taken down a peg.”
“I don't think anyone disagrees with you,” Sax said. “You're just a bit... zealous about it.”
Alex frowned. “That's not fair. I'm not as bad as Kat.”
Her head snapped up instantly, and she signed for him to shut up.
“No,” he said firmly. “I'm not covering for you. I'm not the one who stalks Lolth territory on my time off. I'm not the one who nearly started another war by shooting one of them against orders.”
George blinked. “Wait one second—that was you? You were at the Lolthspire?”
She ground her teeth together and signed quickly, turning her back on the rest of us.
“Oh come on, Kitty,” Kelly said, and immediately regretted it. She hated that name. “I mean... you guys have some mutual history. Now's the time to bond and share and stuff.”
She signed a negative response again. But before any of them could retort, she pointed out the window.
The Paladins were leaving the park.
They'd be fine, of course. It was a birthday party, not a monster hunt or anything. But they still had to keep an eye on them, if only so they were nearby if a screamer
attack started again.
The fact that it gave Kat a way out of the conversation was just bad luck.
Chapter 31: AURORA
DEREK
The Monday after Akane's birthday, at about seven thirty at night, they were in History again. The cane was droning on about some ancient war or another. Derek was usually interested in that kind of thing, and it was a testament to the professor's soporific voice that he could make even that seem boring.
Then the screaming started.
Well, that wasn't quite right. Ever since last week, when the burners attacked, the screaming hadn't stopped. The 'sarians had so many in captivity, it was a constant drone in the back of their minds. All the Paladins were having trouble sleeping.
But this was something new. A new source of screaming, to the east. Far east, if Derek was any judge. The Necessarian base where they were holding the burners was south-west.
Derek nudged Adam with his elbow. He nodded and started packing up his things. Akane was already doing the same, of course. Derek noted she wasn't wearing Flynn's earrings anymore. She seemed to have shied away from him in the past few days, and he couldn't figure out why.
The professor sighed. “Running away again, Mister Huntsman?”
Derek winced. he may not have been the best of students, but he could usually manage to at least stay through the entire class. “Yes sir. It's an emergency. You see—”
He waved his hand dismissively. “Don't care. Go.”
Derek nodded in thanks and sped off, leaving Lizzy looking confused. Silver and gold... at least she wasn't that smart. Otherwise she would have figured it out in a heartbeat, and insisted on going with them.
They met up with Ling, Laura, and the retinue outside, and sped off in their van. Derek gave directions. Akane insisted on clinging to Derek like a limpet the whole way, claiming that Jarasax's driving kept throwing her around the cabin. He was going a bit fast, but Derek still thought she was overreacting.
As expected, the screaming was coming from South-East Central, so it was a bit of a drive. What he didn't expect was their final destination.
Adam frowned, looking out the window. “What are those big awnings stretched between the buildings?”
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