“Won’t your infamous dragon law keepers be coming to help?” Kevin asked.
A piercing screech of warning filled the sky over their heads. Jessica chuckled at the timing and pointed up. “That’s Sheriff Theo. He’s probably waiting to see what Mom does before he gets involved.”
Kevin stared at the sky. “Bloody hell—your dragons are real.”
“Of course, they’re real,” Jessica said with an eye roll.
“With dragons on the loose, I think I’d prefer to hang with you,” Kevin decided, loping along as he followed behind his witch. “My antenna aren’t vibrating. Do you think that means the creature isn’t an actual threat?”
“That… or your antenna only works on Glacier,” Jessica said with a grin.
They both stopped a scant distance from where her mother stood with hands lifted outwards. Magic pulsed all around them. A familiar chant filled the air, and then the animal was roaring in rebellion as it shrank to a fraction of its original size.
Kevin held up a claw. “Whoa—I hope Topper never does that to me. She shrank it to the size of a troll doll.”
“Looks like one too with all those blue tufts of fur sticking up on its head,” Jessica answered as she giggled. She turned to Kevin. “And now the real fun starts. Everyone will want to know where it came from and how it got here. This is the sort of drama Magic draws.”
“Sound bloody normal to me. I would like to know where it came from… and if any more are coming.”
Jessica snickered. “I think the Goddess sent it. That’s just a feeling, but I’m pretty sure I’m right.”
She watched her mother conjure a dome-shaped object made of crisscrossed wires and press it down over the now insignificant creature to constrain it. A crowd immediately gathered around it to investigate.
Mrs. Downey opened her door and stomped out of her house wearing her best witch robe. She fixed her destroyed yard before marching over to glare at the creature responsible for the destruction.
Jessica grinned as she walked forward. Before she’d reached her mother though, the makeshift cage shot up in the air as the creature instantly returned to full-size and roared. It was now wearing the cage like a hat, which made Jessica want to laugh despite the fact people were yelling at her mother to shrink it again.
“Bloody hell,” Kevin said while staring.
Jessica nodded. “The score is officially Portal Creature 1 and Witch Topper 0. Mom’s not happy.” Jessica tried not to be so entertained, but she couldn’t seem to change her feelings.
The crowd scrambled as they retreated to relative safety. An enormous horned dragon landed in an open area and shook the ground as he did so. Her mother stepped in front of the creature and blocked their dragon sheriff from burning the roaring creature to ashes.
“I don’t know why everyone was so afraid of the ice fields on Glacier when this is just another normal day in Magic,” Jessica said with all the snark she possessed.
“You bloody witches joke about everything,” Kevin grumbled.
A piercing whistle cut the air and made everyone wince at the painful sound. Jessica turned to see her handsome father sauntering toward the creature. Her dad was making whistle noises, and the creature was all but curling itself into a ball in response.
Jessica giggled. “Leave it to my Dad to save the day.”
“Ouch. I think my eardrums are bleeding,” Kevin said, cupping his claws over his ears.
Fascinated by her father’s calmness, Jessica moved forward until she stood by both her parents. After her recent growth, she was almost as tall as her mother. She secretly hoped one day to look her giant father in the eyes with ease.
The poor creature was huddled in a giant fur ball with its paws resting on its head. Blue tufts of hair stuck through the wire cage hat and around its paws. Jessica shook her head at how amazing it was and heard her father clear his throat.
“Don’t zap it, Topper. The kreela is not a genuine threat. More importantly, this particular creature belongs to Goddess Icela.”
“Icela? Why did she send it through the portal to Earth?” Topper asked.
“I’m not sure she did,” Stark replied. He smiled down at the creature and spoke to it in Glacieran. It unwound itself and sat obediently on the ground like an enormous dog. “Did it harm anyone?”
“No, just stomped on a few things. Mrs. Downey has already repaired the damage to her property. Are we going to have to worry about Glacieran creatures randomly falling out of portals now?”
Stark shook his head. “A kreela lacks the intelligence to use a portal on its own. Someone threw this poor beast through it to get it here. I’ll probably have to sedate the poor thing to return it home.”
“Return it? Maybe you’re being lured back to Glacier,” Topper said, the thought just occurring to her.
“Maybe,” Stark conceded.
“Or maybe you’re being punked,” Jessica offered. She grinned when both of her parents looked at her with confused expressions. “It means someone may be playing a practical joke on you both. After meeting Icela, I realized Mom was right. A goddess doesn’t think like the rest of us.”
“Why would the Goddess want to deceive me or your mother?” Stark asked, trying to wrap his mind around the concept.
Jessica shrugged then bit the side of her mouth as an enormous dragon now in his naked human form walked up to stand next to her puzzled father. Ever since his dragon cousin had become deputy, the sheriff she lovingly called ‘Uncle Theo’ had become more and more dragon, which meant he was less concerned with human sensibilities. She pretended disinterest in his muscular body to keep her parents from lecturing her, but it wasn’t like any male shifter cared about scarring a girl for life with their dangling man parts. Instead, they were all arrogantly proud of how Gaia made them.
By their mid-teens, most shifters were engaging in activities it would shock her parents to know she was suddenly thinking about as well. But really, her parents had nothing to worry about with her. Except for dragons, Earth’s shifters held little interest for her. She much preferred watching Glacieran warriors training in the nude.
Sometimes Auntie Rime came over to watch them with her. Other times her mother and Auntie Rime watched them together and laughed. She’d listen to them laughing from her open bedroom window while having her own private viewing from her room. Once the ramifications of her new age hit her parents, she was sure “the talk” would follow. Jessica doubted anything her parents had to share would be something she hadn’t already read and learned on her own. That wouldn’t stop the talk from happening though. Her parents took parenting seriously. The best she could hope is that her new status didn’t get broadcast to the rest of the family.
In the distance, she saw Thor and Rime running swiftly toward them. Great. Now all they needed was her witch cousin, Lacey, and Lacey’s alien mate, Frost, to show up. Soon everyone in town would have come to battle the poor creature her father merely whistled into submission.
Her town was crazy. It was as if Magic, New Mexico pulled crazy stuff to it like a magnet. No wonder she had so many crazy thoughts running through her own mind. How could a person raised here not have them?
Jessica felt Kevin wrapping his claw around her hand. She pulled him up onto her so he could be eye level with the people talking.
“A kreela came through a portal?” Thor asked, staring at the creature. “I haven’t seen one in years.”
Rime studied the creature. “Brother? Is that…”
“Yes,” Stark answered before Rime could even finish the question. “Her name is Eeela the kreela. We don’t know how she got through the portal to here.”
She? Gender question answered, Jessica inspected the creature. Eeela would look very cute with little white bows on its blue tufts.
Rime reached out to pet the enormous creature. It made a whimpering sound as she touched it. “Become smaller, Eeela. The Earth beings fear you when you’re this size.”
Jessica watched a
s the creature shrank itself down to the size of a large English Wolfhound. Apparently, that enormous size was what the creature considered being small. The cage hat was looser on its head as a result, but somehow still stayed in place. The Glacieran creature made her grin. “Wow,” she said aloud, because how could a person not be impressed?
“Ripper,” Kevin exclaimed as he shook his koala head in wonder. “Did you see that, Jessica? She shrank herself. I wish I could change my size whenever I wanted. I would make myself as tall as your Dad.”
“Mom could probably help you with that,” Jessica said with a smile as she hugged him.
Everyone stood staring at the smaller creature. No one was speaking.
“Now what?” Jessica asked, interrupting their musings with both her question and her laugh. Adults took everything so seriously.
“Icka! Icka! Icka!”
Jessica turned at the screamed word, instinctively knowing it was aimed at her. Her bro-bro was reaching out and nearly wrenching himself from Nia’s arms. She walked the short distance to Nia and let her brother climb onto her.
She pretended not to see a wide-eyed Resig standing at Nia’s side. In fact, she was pretending a lot today.
“Hi,” Berg said to Kevin with a giggle and a baby hand wave as he laid his head on his sister’s shoulder.
Kevin reached out a claw. “Hello to you too, Little Man. I see you did a bit of growing this morning.”
Berg launched into a long string of baby speech, punctuated by fierce expressions that scrunched up his baby face and darkened his alien blue eyes. Jessica snorted, and then finally laughed.
Kevin turned his face to hers. “Did you actually understand that?”
“Dude, all of it,” Jessica said. “Bro-bro was explaining how he found his sudden growth to be very alarming. He said Nia had to borrow the clothes I made for you to wear on Glacier because nothing else fit him.”
Kevin stared. “Really?” He turned and studied the kid. “I can see that now. Weren’t those your clothes?”
“Yes. Good thing I’m a gender neutral kind of fashionista instead of one of those frilly females,” Jessica said with as straight a face as she could manage.
Berg patted his sister’s face and rattled off another string of baby talk.
“What did he say this time?” Kevin asked.
Jessica chuckled. “Dude, I was joking about understanding him. He’s only a baby. All I heard was baby babble, but I had you going there, didn’t I?”
Berg laid his head down and laughed against her shoulder.
Kevin turned and saw Topper and Stark staring at the three of them.
“He’s not even a month old,” Topper said sadly.
Stark lifted an eyebrow. “Looks like we’ve got us a two-year grower.”
Topper lifted a hand. “My newborn is gone, Stark. Berg’s practically a toddler now.”
“Abba dabba,” Berg said in baby awe, suddenly seeing the creature sitting beside Rime. He reached out a baby hand toward it.
Stark walked to his giggling daughter and took his son from her arms. He kissed his daughter’s cheek before looking directly at his son. “You can touch her, Berg, but no loud squealing or you’ll frighten her. We just got Eeela calmed down.”
“Dada… pftttt…” Berg said, sticking out his tongue. He covered his mouth with a baby hand when his father lifted an eyebrow.
“No sassing your father, Berg,” Topper ordered, feeling surreal to be chastising her new baby.
“Mama,” Berg cooed in a high-pitched baby voice as he grinned at her.
Topper fisted hands on her hips as she glared at her alien husband.
“It’s not an awful thing that our son is naturally charming,” Stark said proudly, grinning when everyone laughed.
Topper rubbed her face and groaned. “He was so cute as an infant, so quiet and well-behaved.”
Rime laid a hand on Eeela’s head as Stark held his son down to the creature. Eeela sniffed the baby, then inched closer.
Berg went “awww…” and put his baby arms around the creature’s enormous neck. He sighed raggedly in joy and cooed more baby talk to the creature who now whimpered in joy.
“Look, Stark… your son likes animals. He’s just his father,” Rime said, smiling at her brother. She sighed heavily. “Goddess, I knew this would happen. Now I want one too.”
Stark looked at his sister. “You want a kreela?”
Rime blinked in shock. Thor covered his mouth with his hand and laughed. “I…” she began, but then shook her head. “Nothing. It was a momentary urge that quickly passed.”
“My urge hasn’t passed. I would like one too. We should get one, Rime,” Thor encouraged, grinning wickedly at the woman he adored.
“Get a kreela for a pet?” Stark asked, turning to his friend. “Why would you and Rime want something so large? You have no room for a creature this size in your tiny abode.”
Thor lifted a shoulder and fought not to smile. “I guess we’d have to build onto our abode to make room.”
“Agreed,” Stark said.
At the serious look his friend gave him, Thor burst out laughing, which delightfully caused Rime to blush. His mate gave him a look that she usually didn’t in public.
“Thor, stop teasing my brother. You know how literal he is.”
“Who’s literal?” Stark demanded. He looked at his son. “Turn loose of the kreela, Berg. Eeela is panting. You’re squeezing her too tightly.”
“Eee-a,” Berg said happily, patting one of the blue tufts on the creature’s head. “Awww… Eee-a.”
Moonie lifted her cane and poked Topper with it. “Look how cute that is, Mom. Every kid needs a puppy.”
“That Glacieran creature is nothing like a puppy, Moonbeam. I have no room for that creature in my house.”
Moonie lifted a shoulder. “Maybe it’s a puppy for an alien kid. Make room. Since you’re still recovering from childbirth, how about we bring a coven’s worth of witches and get it done? You need a way bigger house just to fit your children and their animals.”
“Berg is only a toddler, Moonie. He doesn’t need a pet to worry about.”
“That’s today, Topper. Tomorrow he may be a teenager. Jessica’s nearly full grown,” Moonie reminded her.
Topper glared. “Berg can get a familiar later, when he reaches the proper witch age.”
Moonie grunted. “Look at that boy, Topper. Your son doesn’t have a bit of witch magic. He has something else—something more like what Stark Naked has.” She pointed her cane at Stark and winked at his look of concern.
“What are you talking about?” Topper demanded. “And don’t call my husband that.”
“Why? I have seen him naked. The entire town has.”
“Witches dance sky-clad on most holidays. Of course, you’ve seen everyone naked,” Topper replied.
“True.” Moonie laughed and leaned heavily on her cane as she searched for the right words. “Look closer, Topper. Your son has whole heaping gobs of power—like the kind the dragons have. We’ll eventually have to cloak him so he won’t bring all the power-seeking crazies here to Magic looking for the source. Let him keep the freaking animal. Your son will need a constant bodyguard.”
“Gaia help me,” Topper said, palming her face with one hand.
A throat cleared nearby and Resig straightened when everyone finally looked his way.
“Goddess Icela sent the kreela to Berg so he could have a protector. The creature is her birth gift to him. Eeela’s beyond reproduction age, so she’ll be no threat to the ecosphere of Earth. If you don’t wish to keep her, I’m to return the kreela home to Glacier. Somehow the portal didn’t drop me in the proper place when we arrived. My apologies for all the trouble she caused while I was… redirected.”
“No dada,” Berg said accusingly, pointing at Resig. “Pfttt…” he added.
Stark pushed down his son’s finger. “Stop that. General Resig is a Glacieran warrior. You will show him respect.”
Berg stared at his father, then turned to Resig. He nodded once. “Abba dabba,” he stated, then turned away to hide his face against his father.
“That’s the same thing your son said to me when the portal tossed me out into your…”
“Kitchen,” Nia prompted.
“Kitchen,” Resig automatically repeated.
“Speaking of kitchens,” Topper said, “let’s all go home. I’m overwhelmed and I’m hungry. Cranky is the next step and I’m not willing to risk that.”
Stark nodded and started to walk. Eeela pulled away from Rime’s grip and followed him.
“Stark? You’re being followed.”
Stark laughed. “It’s okay. Let Eeela come too. You and Thor are welcome to eat with us, Rime. You both should spend as much time as possible with Eeela to make sure you truly want a creature like her. In my opinion, a baby is much less work than a kreela and you know how much work children can be. Consider yourselves warned.”
“Really?” Thor asked. He pretended to think on it. “You are wise, Stark. Perhaps Rime and I need to ponder your wisdom about children… and pets.”
“Indeed. I speak with all sincerity, Thor. My children have been virtually no trouble at all,” Stark said, walking off with his son.
Thor looked at Rime, who was glaring at him. “Why are you looking at me that way? Stark was the one who said raising children was easy, not me.”
“We cannot discuss children. We’re not even mated,” Rime hissed between her teeth.
“Mating is a situation easily remedied. All we have to do is ask for Goddess Icela’s blessing on our union.”
“I’m too old to be making a family, Warrior.”
“That’s not mathematically possible. You’re Stark’s dual sibling and I’m near your age. If he’s not too old, why would you or I be? We’re likely talking about a few short years of our lives, Rime. Look at how fast your brother’s children are growing. I’m sure ours will do the same.”
“We will discuss this later—much later—in absolute privacy.”
“We have lots of privacy in our home. I’ll draw up plans to add on additional rooms this week… or perhaps I’ll just hire the coven to work their special magic,” Thor said with a smile.
Nothing Remotely Familiar (My Crazy Alien Romance Book 5) Page 12
