by C. W. Gray
“They take in the unloved and abandoned,” Quigley said softly. “I think Fasi is Helara. Maybe Leti and Fire too. The whole station may really be Helara.”
Silas gave him a puzzled look. “Huh?”
Quigley shrugged. “It’s not important.”
Silas shrugged. “So how do you feel about the baby?”
“Excited, worried, scared.” Quigley smiled. “I felt the same when I first took in Aster. She was a tiny newborn, and I was just me. I thought it would be easier with David, but no. I still felt that surge of fear. The same happened with Cyrus. Now, with this one, at least I was expecting it.”
Something flashed in Silas’s eyes before he looked away. “I’m happy for you two.”
Quigley frowned and pulled Silas to a stop. “What’s wrong?”
Silas shook his head. “Nothing.”
“Silas.” Quigley used the Dad Voice again.
His friend winced. “That shouldn’t work on me.”
Quigley arched a brow.
“Okay, okay.” Silas groaned and started walking again. “Rune and I want a baby. We’ve been trying for years, but it’s just not going to happen. I’m shooting blanks, and all the treatments I’ve taken haven’t done a bit of good.”
Quigley started to speak, then stopped.
“I know there are a ton of kids we could adopt,” Silas continued. “I know we could get a sperm donor. It’s just… I wanted to be the one to give Rune a baby. I wanted to create something special together. I feel like I’ve failed him.”
“Oryx shit,” Quigley finally managed to say. “I know Rune, and he would never think that.”
“Of course he doesn’t,” Silas said, rolling his eyes. “He’s been completely understanding and supportive throughout everything. It’s just what I feel, and I don’t know how to fix it.”
Quigley stayed quiet for a moment. “Maybe time’s what you need. You had a dream that’s not going to happen. Maybe you need time to adapt and change your dream. You have Rune. You and he have created something special. Start with that.”
Silas gave him a half-smile. “Here we are talking about my woes when we should be celebrating your first day on enforcement and your pregnancy.”
Quigley shrugged. “We’re friends, Silas. Fire tells me that friends are always there for one another.”
Silas gave him a look. “I’m glad you’re Fire’s lifemate. Not too many people would appreciate him for who he is.”
Quigley ran a hand over his abdomen. “Death’s worried that the station won’t handle the news of my pregnancy well since Fire is a Crellic Element. I’m not worried though. Fire isn’t like Death.”
Silas snorted. “No, he isn’t. The station knows it too. They see him as some friendly force of nature, not a threat.”
“That’s what he is,” Quigley said, nodding.
Silas eyed him. “Some would complain because he has zero boundaries and a big mouth.”
Quigley growled. “Some would get their ass kicked.”
“True,” Silas said with a grin. “Like I said, I’m glad you’re the one his soul paired with.”
Their comms chimed again, and Quigley smiled. Time to work.
13
Five months later
“I’m just saying, this group of Burnished was a lot smaller than I expected, and there’s something different about them,” Leti said, following along behind Fire. “They’re not very friendly at all, and the pilot kept giving them strange looks. Plus, they got here a month early. I can’t even get ahold of our contact on Burnished Outpost to ask about them because the stupid communications officer keeps transferring me to fudging Grellweir.”
Fire ignored Leti and snapped the last latch into place. “How’s it look, Shae?”
“Like a glass ball,” Shae said dryly. He stood below them with Cyrus on his hip. “This is going to take a lot to maintain, Fire. Are you sure about this?”
“My love muffin deserves the best.” Fire looked over the desert landscape they had created in the corner of their community park. It had been hard to hide it from Quigley, but they were finishing it today, so at least he wouldn’t have to keep coming up with excuses to explain why it was walled off and covered up.
Cyrus held his arms out toward Fire. “Dada.”
“Coming, baby boy.” Fire paused beside Leti and hugged his friend. “Why don’t you call Bowan? He said to call anytime.”
“I know he said that but did he actually mean it?” Leti asked, huffing. “He has an advisor that handles the training trips, so I don’t want to go over his head by going to Bowan.”
“Little trouble,” Shae said, nodding to the side.
They all turned to watch Milo crawl onto Princess Buttercup’s back. Leti’s youngest was getting adventurous a little too quickly for everyone’s peace of mind.
Several of the other pets watched from where they lay in the desert sand. Little dragon wants to ride, Chutney explained to Fire, his meows deep and quiet.
“Milo, no rides without an adult present.” Leti groaned and ran to them. “I’ll be back later.”
Fire snickered when Princess grew a bit larger to accommodate them for a ride. Princess loved flying with Leti and Milo.
Wanna fly. Jellybean rolled past him in his ball. I need wings.
“Sorry, Jellybean. I don’t think guinea pigs can grow wings.” Fire gave Shae a questioning look, and his friend shook his head. “Nope. Shae says they don’t.”
Stupid. Jellybean squeaked loudly and rolled away.
Wobble and Cactus stopped beside him to say hello. The Oryx nosed Fire’s pocket until he pulled out a treat. “Here you go.” Wobble gave him a look, and he sighed before giving him one too. “Leti said I’ll make you both fat.”
Mother is wrong, Wobble said before nudging Cactus. To flowers, brother.
The two wandered back to the open gate leading into their pasture.
“Okay, that should do it.” Beck moved to stand beside him. He stared at his tablet for a moment. “The metal divider cuts this little patch off from the rest of the park. Pops and I gave your desert hideaway its own shields and temperature control. We’ve triple checked the connections, and the artificial sun is ready to go. It’ll brighten and dim with the rest of the station’s schedule. If we were a little closer to the system’s sun, we wouldn’t have to even worry about it, but that’s what we get for parking the station at the edge of the system.”
“Why’d we have to be way out here anyway?” Fire asked, huffing as he tromped through the sand.
“Because it’s not in any other planet’s space.” Shae sighed. “Sand is ridiculous.”
“When is Quig getting home?” Beck asked, rubbing his stomach. “I’m hungry.”
“In an hour,” Fire said, checking the time on his comm. “Thanks, Beckie-Boo.”
Beck groaned. “Don’t call me that.”
“Are we too late?” Sebastian asked, running through the green portion of the community park, Kelly on his heels. “Kelly had the best idea.”
Fire scowled. “No, it’s stupid.”
“You don’t even know what it is.” Kelly smirked. “That’s why I’m not going to ask. I’m just going to do it.”
“Is it hooked up?” Sebastian asked, face excited.
“Yep,” Beck said, grinning proudly. “Pops is bringing the stands now. We’ll put it up right here.”
“We have a better idea,” Sebastian said, smiling at Kelly. He plucked a seed from his pocket and buried it in the sand next to the large contraption before dumping some water on it. “Show them what all that practice taught you.”
Kelly held out her hand and focused. A moment later, she glowed with a soft green and gold light.
“What are you doing?” Fire asked, looking at the buried seed.
A small sprout popped from the ground. Slowly, it grew larger and larger until a small tree with rough bark stood in its place. Gradually, the tree expanded, growing taller as the trunk grew thicker.
Branc
hes started to form, and two of them smoothly reached around Beck’s contraption and slowly lifted it by its base as the tree continued to grow. The branches twisted and adjusted to settle the large, circular device at the center of the tree.
Then it grew and grew and grew.
After about ten minutes, the tree was over thirty feet high and had beautiful purple and green foliage. Six bare branches extended high above the leaves like a hand. A hand that held the base of Beck’s artificial sun.
Kelly groaned as she lowered her hand. “Why is it so hared to control one tree’s growth?”
Sebastian wrapped an arm around Fire’s shoulder. “What do you think?”
Fire’s lip trembled. “It’s perfect.”
Beck whistled, eyes wide in shock. “I’ll never get used to what you shamans can do. That looks a sight prettier than the metal frame we planned.”
Fire sniffed and wiped his eyes. “I still hate you, Kelly.”
She grinned and leaned over to kiss his cheek. “I hate you too.”
“Hello, hello,” Ma called out across the park. “Juniper and I have the food.”
Fire’s stomach grumbled, telling him that food would be really good.
“Dada,” Cyrus said, voice small. He held his arms out to Fire.
“Oh, baby boy, I’m sorry I forgot you wanted me.” Fire took him from Shae. “Mean Aunt Kelly distracted me.”
“Aww, I’m Aunt Kelly now,” Kelly said, smiling.
“My goodness,” Ma said walking closer. She stared at the large tree. “I’ve never seen a tree like that before.”
“It’s a common tree from Burnished Outpost,” Kelly said, plopping down in one of the lounge chairs nearby. “Special ordered the seed.”
Ma shook her head, a look of wonder on her face. “The things I see at this place.”
Shae’s comm chimed, and he frowned at it before pushing a button. “Leti?”
“I think there might be a problem.” Leti’s voice was small and echoey through the communicator. “Milo and I are up high, and I was looking down and saw the new group of Burnished entering the neighborhood. They’re going straight for Fire and Quig’s house.”
“They want to visit?” Fire looked at Ma. “Do we have enough food?”
“I don’t think they want to visit,” Leti said. “They’re armed, and some are already glowing like Hack does before he draws on his fire.”
Fire narrowed his eyes, all Leti’s worries suddenly making perfect sense. “I gotta see them.”
“Huh?” Shae asked, staring at him as he walked away. “Where are you going?”
Fire paused as he passed Juniper and took one of the little sandwiches on the tray his friend carried. “I love chicken salad.”
“Fire.” Sebastian sounded frustrated. “What’s going on?”
Fire ate the sandwich in a few bites, then handed Cyrus to Shae. “Guard my son. I think I’m gonna have to go Fluffle on some people.”
Shae sighed. “I’ll keep Cyrus safe. Let me know if you need help. I wish Wolfe were here, but no, he had to go spy for the station.”
Fire pushed out his chest. “I have to protect my family myself.”
Gram looked up from her cup of coffee. She sat at one of the picnic tables on the green side of the park. “What’s this about protecting the family?”
Fire ignored her and went to the edge of the park, peeking around a large oak. “It is him.”
A group of six Burnished walked toward his house. They were strapped down with weapons, and two of them already had balls of fire in their hands.
Leading them was the horrible, mean little man from the desert. The one that wanted to kill Quigley and Cyrus.
“What is Dustin doing here?” Gram said, voice panicked. “How did he even get off of Burnished Outpost?”
“Enemies?” Beck asked, moving to stand next to him. The others gathered around and stared at the group. So far, they hadn’t been spotted, but the park was right across from their house, so it wouldn’t be long.
“Bad guys.” Fire took a breath. “I’ll take care of it. I should have… I should have killed them from the beginning.”
“They killed my Sara.” Gram’s voice was thick with tears. “She just wanted to protect Cyrus, and they killed her.”
“I’ll take care of it.” Fire blinked away his tears. He hated the smell of burnt flesh and the screams people made. He hated knowing his flames caused the permanent ending of another being. The queen had made him kill so many.
“Not this time,” Kelly said, voice hard. She held her hand out and began to glow green and gold again.
“Agreed.” Sebastian extended his own hand, the aura around him flickering from red and gold to green and brown. “You take the back three. Just like we trained last month.”
“On it.” Kelly squinted, and Fire felt a push of energy leave her.
The three men at the back of the group yelped when vines grew from the ground around them and twisted around their legs. In seconds, they were completely covered, and Fire heard a sickening crunch as their bones cracked when the vines constricted.
Dustin and the remaining two spun around to stare at their dead friends.
Dustin raised his hands, and his inner flames grew brighter in the palm of his hands.
“You said the others lied,” one man accused. “You said the gods didn’t chase you through the desert. Now, they use the earth to kill us.”
“You won’t harm my family,” Sebastian said, snarling.
He held out his hand, and the dirt beneath the remaining men whirled up from beneath the grass. It spun around the three men for a moment, then separated and shot to their faces. Dustin’s flames surged and grew larger as dirt poured into his mouth and nostrils.
His flames faded as he lost consciousness and fell to the ground. The two others quickly followed suit, and seconds later, their bodies stilled.
Fire looked away from the dead. At least wasn’t my fire, he thought, sniffling.
“It’s over,” Gram said quietly a moment later.
“I’ve called enforcement,” Ma said, voice grim.
“Leti said that he sent Hack a message too.” Shae bounced Cyrus in his arms. He kept the baby turned away so he wouldn’t see the grisly sight across the street.
Jellybean rolled between Shae’s legs and went straight to Fire. He picked up his ball and hugged it to his chest. “I’m sorry, Gram. I’m sorry I didn’t protect us.”
Kelly spun around, glaring at him. “This isn’t about protecting your family, Fire. If you had to, of course you could have taken care of those men.”
Sebastian rubbed his back. “You would have too, sweetheart. We all know that.”
Gram took a deep breath and let it out. “Kelly and Sebastian are right. This wasn’t about you protecting your family. This was about ending a threat. It’s done, and that’s all that matters.”
Fire squeezed his eyes shut. “I should have—”
“No,” Gram said, moving close to hug him. “You’re the heart of our family, Fire. You protect us all in a very different way. Today, Kelly and Sebastian protected you from having to do something that pains you.”
“You have your own purpose, Fire. You make us happy.” Kelly smacked his arm. “You make us smile.”
“You give us love,” Shae said, sighing. “You’re a good friend, Fire. If we need you, you’re always there.”
“I love that you live life to the fullest,” Juniper said, arms crossed. “You love food, pets, and babies, and see no shame in doing exactly what you want.”
“You have no malice in you,” Ma said, giving him a soft look. “How you’ve lived through what you have and carry no hatred in ya, I’ll never understand. I’ll just be happy for it.”
“You give love easily,” Beck said with a grin. “I’ve never made friends as easy as you, but I swear anyone that meets you loves you.”
Sebastian hugged him. “You are a beautiful soul that offers us all so much joy. You’re
not a weapon, Fire, and we will never let you become one.”
“Never.” Gram joined the hug. “You’re our beautiful Helara, and we’ll always cherish you.”
Fire let his tears fall and enjoyed his friends’ hugs. Even Kelly’s. “I don’t want Quig to see them there.”
Beck let him go and grabbed his comm. “Okay. I’ll call maintenance to get rid of them.”
“I’m telling Silas to keep Quigley late,” Shae said and passed Cyrus to Fire. “The kids won’t be back for another few hours, so we should have everything ready by then.”
“Juniper and I will set things up and take care of the food so it doesn’t spoil,” Ma said, kissing the top of Fire’s head. “You have a man to impress tonight.”
“Not like you have to do much,” Gram said, rolling her eyes. “You smile and he comes running.”
Fire hugged Cyrus. “Are you hungry, baby boy? Grandpa Sebby will help us make a bottle.”
Sebastian shuddered. “Please don’t call me Grandpa Sebby.”
14
Quigley frowned at the Burnished pilot. “Charles, you weren’t scheduled to be here for another month, and Chieftain Bowan said the trainee group hasn’t even left Burnished Outpost. You’re supposed to be patrolling in the southern hemisphere.”
The man in front of them glared at Quigley’s obviously pregnant abdomen. He had started showing about two months ago and now had a nice-sized baby bump.
“I brought some trainees early. That’s all.” Charles crossed his arms and looked away.
Renee snorted. “I went to your trainees’ quarters, and they weren’t there. In fact, they haven’t checked in with their instructors at all in the two days they’ve been here. Something’s going on, and you’re going to tell us what it is.”
“I don’t have to entertain your paranoia.” The man gave Quigley a disgusted look. “I shouldn’t even have to be in the same room as this disgrace.”
Quigley sighed and exchanged a look with Silas. They both moved to grab one of Renee’s arms when she rushed forward.
“Listen here, asshole,” Renee said, vibrating with anger. “That’s my grandbaby growing in there. I will cut your fucking tongue out and shove it up your—”
