Scorpion

by Cyndi Goodgame

  Cas moved over in front of me covering the view of the three of them. Hearing your thoughts can be maddening sometimes.

  Agreed.

  “We will do what you think is best. One condition,” Calum said.

  I side-stepped so I could see all three. “And?” I’d heard but I wanted it said to my face.

  “We will protect you at all costs. You may fight if need be, but your ultimate goal should be relations. People listen to you Stace,” Calum was adamant and determined to win this over me.

  “Let’s hope your right. I have a condition too.” I was prepared for this.

  “Spill it,” Szar said. He was afraid at the moment or something else, I wasn’t positive. Boy, when they realize the mood reading is reciprocated and that I can read more than I let on, I’m in trouble. It is only very recent and still not down pat now that I know what it is. I needed time and practice.

  “We practice together. Work on our strengths, harbor it, and see what we can do. If we can create an alliance among the factions with the four of us alone just think what it could revolutionize. And with it, added our fifth man.”

  “That’s you sis. Always thinking big. Thinking everything is possible.”

  Feeling like a chastened child I led off with another thought provoking analysis of what I hoped to never become. “It is as if you believe it. Even hostility and anger can take over a person to the point they turn against the rest. Their family. Their friends. Is that what you want?”

  “No, but reality doesn’t just go away,” Calum mused.

  “Being a daughter or son of the gods isn’t exactly the reality of most. I think we’ve earned the right to think outside the box.” I wasn’t backing down.

  “She has a good point,” Calum finally helped me.

  “Now, we go back in there and convince them, we meet with the Weres, wage war, back ‘em down, or whatever is too come, and move on.”

  The boys towering over me obviously thought me too confident, but I couldn’t afford not to be with the sycophantically driven delusion that we could pull this off. They all nodded and we headed back in.

  “We will be ready.”

  “With what?” my father asked as he heard us enter.

  “We will reveal who we are to the Were leader.”

  “Outline it for us,” Lord Green asked wearily.

  Now I had to show the fathers all this. The growing powers and where it could take us. The plan for the Were leader and his people. And the future.

  Lee and Dr. Quinn will see. I eyed the Doc’s unreadable prepped up face. He just never looked evil. If he was all bad, he’d have never given us the head’s up back in school detention that day. He was warning us...or baiting us. I really didn’t think it was the latter, but either way what he didn’t know before or at the last meeting, he’d know now. I'd overheard that his family would be moving to the Hunter school, but he was hesitant to do so for their safety. I wanted to ask why, but felt it not my place.

  Oh well, I might as well get the embarrassment over with if I intended to do this in front of a perfect stranger later. And it’s not like the factions will not know soon enough.

  I looked at my three “male counterparts” and touched my stomach figuring the marks would be step one. Thanking the gods I’m young, never heard of belly button rings or the like, and having never been to a tattoo parlor, I felt fairly confident showing my stomach to everyone like a side show. Because that’s exactly what we are, a circus freak show. Calum and Cas flanked me with Szar beside Cas.

  We all raised our shirts simultaneously facing altogether beside each other in a line. The collective sighs across their faces was enough that we all four felt a little bashful with each of us reading each other’s emotions. Odd enough, we were doing that for days now and I just didn't recognize it as a whole. We dropped our shirts and I proceeded with the demo knowing I wanted to show our emotional reading skills next.

  “Dr. Quinn right now you’re afraid, probably feeling the fear of what is to come. Father, you’re scared also, most likely of what will happen to us today. Lee, you’re in shock. You can’t believe this is real. Cas, you’re afraid to let others show what we know. Calum, you’re angry still that I can read Cas’ thoughts. Brother, you’re angry that I am still talking. And Lord Green, you’re fearful every time you look at your son, and I know you worry sometimes that your son will become the lord sooner than you want.”

  Everyone gasped at the last statement. I stumbled over it not wanting to say it aloud but knew it would get the effect I needed. I was right only because of all my spying while at the Hunter school, not because I can read all these people as well as I said. Though I am getting better at reading people’s body language alone. I bit down on my bottom lip to chase the temper away.

  “All four of us can sense some of what I’ve said. Am I correct?” I waited while my male cohorts nodded in a bitter obedience. I once was fearless, now I was the most afraid I had ever been. The implications of what all we’d figured was worse than the reality TV I’d heard so much about.

  “Not so much as you, sis. You’re the bomb. Hell, even I didn’t know you could do all that!”

  “Nor I,” Calum fumed.

  “Language,” Cas admonished him.

  “I’ll do my best to not hear anything I’m not supposed to including the cussing I’m sure I can handle, but will ignore. Now Cas,” I waited for his answer.

  Everyone looked at Cas. He shook his head no to being unaware of my skills. Calum liked that too much.

  I listed out some of the other things that combined, would make us stronger and explained that we needed to practice together. We would decide where later, but I thought the warehouse would be great neutral ground for all since I intend to include the Were leader. He’s supposed to be with us if this whole prophecy thing is true since it said ALL the factions unite. They were still hiding something from me and it was discouraging to know I couldn’t filter it out of their feelings.

  “For my next reality check I need Calum to go out the back door and Cas to leave out the front door. Boys, return slowly from a different directions altogether.”

  With a quick glance to be sure of my surroundings, I closed my eyes and waited. After a minute or two I felt the familiar pain tingle up my spine. “Calum, you are here, behind me. I don’t feel Cas.”

  I stood erect feeling Calum directly behind me, too close. “Calum, quit breathing down my neck.” My father breathed too loud in surprise. Just then I felt the warm feeling flutter in my stomach as Cas neared me. “Cas, it’s okay. Stay where you are by the windows. He is just trying to get to you.” My father sounded again.

  Cas moved closer ignoring my demand to stay where he was. He was between Calum and I now. “Cas, he is fine. Trust me. I can handle him.”

  “It’s not you I don’t trust.”

  Cas! I’m okay. He backed away. I got the sense that Cas considered him a friend of sorts, but it changed by the day.

  My eyes open now, I adjusted to the light again. “So you see, we are capable of defending ourselves if given the proper training to work together and find a way to get along.” I eyed Cas and Calum.

  Szar snickered. I glared at him. “Man in the middle. Sucks to be me!”

  Lord Green woke out of his stupor. “I believe she might be right. What I just saw, what I’ve known for so long, it’s all true. And the kids don’t even know the rest Rander.”

  Calling my father by his first name caught me off guard, but what Lord Green said next was way more important not to comment on. “What do we not know?”

  And that’s just it. He didn’t answer.

  “What do we not KNOW?” I shouted in his face now.

  He furtively looked at my father for help.

  “It is not for us to tell. We are bound to them in more ways than we want to admit even to ourselves. You will find out on your own or they will tell you personally.”

  Who is They? “NO! NO! I’m tired of the games. We need to
know. This is my body. Our bodies. WE can’t go on not knowing if we are going to grow horns or extra arms or whatever?”

  I made fake horns on the top of my head for mock entertainment.

  “Stace, be reasonable. We have no choice. We knew this day would come. We were just fearful of the outcome. No one wants to possibly lose their children, be it the gods or not,” Lord Green said.

  I looked at my watch. “Fine, but I will ask more later. And you will tell me. For now, the Were leader is waiting.”

  Everyone was back in a circle wanting to avoid the previous conversation at all cost. Except me. “What’s the plan?” I asked.

  Cas spoke, “We will meet at the clearing at the Trinity River near downtown. Ryan will be there with his men and mostly likely weapons ready.”

  “Time?” Calum asked.

  “In one hour.”

  We broke separating and heading to the cars.

  Chapter Eleven

  Everyone is a moon, and has a dark side...

  The ride was mostly quiet. Cas ditched the Bronco for a Silver Hummer that I hadn’t seen before that allowed lots of seating. Having Calum and Szar ride in the car with Cas and I was a stress bucket filled with raining icy stabs of pain. And all of us could feel the tension between us. And to boot, Lee was in the back seat with them by Lord Green's insistence.

  Cas was uncomfortable with the light of day, but the discomfort of what was to come was worse. Every one of them took turns making grunting noises letting the otherwise quiet thicken.

  “Control yourselves. Reading you is killing me. If this is what I am in for, I’ll be dead by week’s end from male testosterone alone.”

  The sky was quiet. Traffic was not! The boys were...silent.

  Finally we arrived all filing out and gathering quickly to create a wall of us versus them. The Weres were already lined up across the lawn fifty yards away from us. I felt claustrophobic being hidden from view of the Were leader as Cas and Calum had agreed in the warehouse to guard me on either side and now quietly deciding in male telepathy to cover me.

  I surveyed between their biceps that the same had been done to their leader. Funny that. Our leaders weren’t covered, just me. And him.

  Their scout was sent out, ours too. They met in the middle and agreed on a position to meet and scooted back to tell us. This felt like a battlefield, not a meet and greet.

  It was then that Cas and Calum grabbed both arms and proceeded to walk me to the middle. I began to wonder how I’d made it to this point. This situation. The idea of making peace with the factions. I was about to talk with the Were leader. What was his name?

  Cord Ryan.

  Thanks. Cas was so in tune to my every thought and move it made me almost nervous to do anything when he reminded me. He was so often silent.

  We walked fluidly fast to the middle watching the group of Were boys walk towards us. Many of them were good looking and matched the stereotype I’d coasted them with. One was covered in long hair and fit his wolfy unkempt stereotype. The two others were tall and lanky, covered in scars and scratches. Above them, tons of gnats swarmed their heads, the daytime sticky air at its best. As to whether a few of the others might really be good looking, one would not know for the fact that their faces were hidden from battle scars.

  The one in the tight white t-shirt and designer jeans standing aloof and serious faced staring me down from the time we began our waltz across the field. I presumed he might be the leader, well dressed or not. It was the way the other guys, his men, swarmed around him.

  The fluttering in my body, the pain in my spine, well they’d never left me since I was so close to both boys. But something wasn’t right. Something different was welling up inside. My head felt like it wanted to explode. Little vampire bunny rabbits were biting the insides of my head. I touched the side of my face pressing my temple in on the left side beside my eye. It was like a searing headache coming on really quickly.

  At the same time I noticed the white tee shirt ingenerate stretched and grabbed the side of his head also, his fine-boned jaw gritting steel shut. His spiked black hair ending in blonde streaks tilted towards me giving off the great effect of a GQ model, but a little rough around the edges. In a good way. The gleam of a silver diamond stud earring caught my eye as I glared into his black as black eyes with sooty dark lashes to match searching for why he’d grabbed his head. We both seemed to be expressing the same vibes of emotion towards one another—fear of why this headache came about. Another step closer and suddenly I could read him loud and clear.

  Still not knowing who the leader was but having a really great guess, I stared this guy down. He was directly in front of me now and I just knew. He was the leader. And one of us.

  I remembered my bodyguards then. They both had a hold of my arms still. We’d stopped now and I was very aware of the emotions vibing off of my boys and theirs. How again did I end up the only girl in this equation?

  I’ve wondered the same thing. It seems we all want the same treasure. You!

  I glanced sideways giving Cas a look of disdain. The dull ringing in my head lingered on.

  “Scorpion?” the guy beside the muscled white tee shirt boy said strong and seriously. His hand went up at him giving off the order like a mafia boss. A long staff sat diagonal across the back of him igniting a memory.

  Scorpion?

  Cas put his arm around my hip. I glanced down at the death hold he had on me. Calum was scowling at the Weres. I looked back ahead of me all the while my headache getting stronger. No, it’s not a headache. It’s like my ears were ringing.

  We were all waiting for the first move. Wasn’t this their party?

  “Princess Anastacia.” The boy in front of me vibrated out with his deep buttery, arrogant tone. It held the sound of a drum. Really deep. His fists were drawn in. He’d forced his hand away from his head, so I followed suit. His subtle wink in my direction didn’t go unnoticed by the others. He’d apparently recovered rather quickly but I let myself go just long enough to lose my wits about me and show my head was warbled by him somehow.

  I nodded indifferently to regain control, ice queen ready and able. I briefly thought that perhaps I should stick with the “let’s work together” attitude, but decided this bad boy Were leader wasn’t in the mood since he expressed the same emotional frustration I felt.

  So I decided.

  “The faction leaders have informed me of the past transgressions confounded upon you. I have on good word that the ultimate goal was for my safety only and it was not the intention to outright lie to your faction if not for your apparent disregard for the other factions having a say in how we can work as one team.”

  His face didn’t show anything at first, but I sensed a small amount of fury escalating. He watched me, then not. Then again. “I’m over it. I agreed to aid the Hunter faction’s leader to housing the twin Valkyrie’s heir in the warehouse. I agreed to tracking you down and making sure you didn’t come to any harm, but to make sure it appeared so. I agreed to stay out of your life for your safety. But now that has to change.”

  What is he talking about? “What do you mean?”

  Cas didn’t help me.

  His voice was deeper the more sentences he added to the one statement. And an accent was there. I heard it before, but from someone older. Who? I couldn’t place it. His masculine clip of the vowels didn’t make him hard to understand, but you had to listen to be sure you heard him right. It was a voice girls heard and melted right under. And I think he knew it too.

  “I am Cord Ryan, son of Luper Ryan. I would be most welcome to talk with you alone if that is permissible with your bodyguards?” his malevolent smile telling me much. He was too calculated. His face made all kinds of movement but for the life of me I could only read a certain coldness in them, yet his eyes had warmth when he watched me for long spells. By long spells I mean more than five to ten seconds. I just met the guy and he was making me feel naked. His stance suggested power, but not completely
moral or without the need for retaliation if wronged.

  “Why?” asked Calum, the muscle in his jaw working silently under his skin.

  He is one of us Stace. He knows already.

  How do you know this? I turned to Cas. He looked me in the eyes, begging me to just walk away. But he knew I couldn’t.

  “I will not hurt her. It is my own safety I should think to be worried about.” He looked me up and down like he’d be able to x-ray my body and find evidence of divine magic or something dangerous to his health maybe. I could arrange it!

  “I’ll show you mine if you show me yours.” He was one smug boy.

  I huffed. Maybe he was right to get it over with.

  “I know Lord Green and Lord Hathown are with us so there is no cause to worry. I just want to...talk.” His eyes watched me so intensely.

  “Fine,” I gave him. Why did Lord Cross not count in the line up? He left out a faction.

  “We back up the lines, I watch your every move, one move out of line, I’ll strike you dead before you look my way,” Calum seriously had some major save Stace from the bad guy going on. I thought this was a good guy?

  I didn’t flinch though. I was too caught up in the fast moving events.

  His wall of men moved back at his nod. Our people moved back when I stepped forward. We were alone.

  “Am I supposed to know what you mean?” I looked at him argumentatively. All this heartache for the possibility that this is the human my mother hinted would come. If he's it, we are doomed.

  “Your Vampire boyfriend hasn’t enlightened you?”

  I detected something in his voice I wasn’t sure I wanted to analyze and casual comments with the attempt at controlling the sarcasm didn’t seem to go over well with him. I chose to damper my first choice in words for fear of what malice it might bring forth for the simple fact that I was working on a bigger plan. Information.