by Shyla Colt
"If you need an out because the date is crashing and burning, don't hesitate to text. I'll call you with an excuse of some sort."
"Thank you for being amazing," Rivka said.
"Right back at you, Riv. I want to spend some time with the other girls. I miss you guys."
"Okay, have fun, and wish me luck."
Bolstered by her friends' appearance Rivka left with a spring in her step. I'm rusty, not clueless. I can do this.
Sweet Treats was a small building stationed near the riverfront. The view of the boats stationed on the water was lovely, especially with the full moon out tonight. Riv held her purse close to her side, and walked from the parking lot to the front of the building. The smoky glass windows and doors played off the pink color of the building, giving the café a playful, yet upscale feel. She entered and fell in love with the prominent skylight in the center. Pale pink, round, wire tables were accompanied with pink chairs that twisted into a heart design in the back. It was like a Parisian café in the summer. Rivka made her way past the hostess stand to the bar where they'd agreed to meet. She took a seat in the center and placed her purse on her lap. The red head dressed in a pair of black slacks and a long-sleeved, black, button down, shirt came over to greet her.
"Hi, what can I get you today?"
"I'm actually waiting for someone right now. Can I just start off with a water?" Riv asked.
"Sure thing, I'll get you a menu too."
"Wonderful, thank you.” She was eager for something to occupy her mind.
"Here you are." The bartender set the glass of water in front of her and handed her a pink menu with bold, black, font. She flipped through the menu, lingering over the large section dedicated to cheesecake, her all time favorite way to assuage her sweet tooth. Rivka felt someone step up behind her. She turned her head and smiled up at the man who looked just like his picture. Phew, first bullet dodged.
"Rivka?"
She nodded, holding out her hand. "Yes, it's nice to meet you, Scott." They shook hands.
"Same here." He took a seat on the high stool beside her. "Have you been waiting long?"
"Not at all.”
"Excellent." His aura was as she'd imagined, a bright, canary yellow, which matched the joy that sparkled in his eyes.
The friendly waitress returned. "How are you doing tonight, Sir?"
"Good, thanks."
"Can I get you anything?"
"Just a water for now, I haven't had a chance to look at the menu."
"I'll be right back with both of those things."
Scott turned to her. "Have you looked at the menu yet?"
"I did. I'm partial to cheesecake, so I've got my eye on the pumpkin cheesecake."
"That does sound good. I like chocolate and one of the teachers I worked with told me they had a Mississippi Mud pie I had to try."
She smiled. "You like teaching, don’t you?"
"I love it. Of course, I'm a bit biased. Both my parents taught English, and I was lucky enough to have some shining examples of what a teacher should be in high school. What about you?"
She took a sip of water, and the waitress returned, dropping off his water and a menu.
"Being a Star Maiden is something you're born into, sort of like royalty."
"So you had no choice?" His eyes were filled with curiosity, but he didn’t seem judgmental.
"It's more of a calling, something similar to your religious leaders but more biologically decided."
"Wow. What is it you do exactly?"
"I oversee important ceremonies, act as a midwife, and do some divination."
"Sounds heavy."
"It can be, but I'm proud to be the Star Priestess. It's rewarding in a lot of ways. I get to marry couples, birth babies, and help keep our culture alive."
"Sounds like the pros outweigh the cons.”
She nodded, glad he understood. "Exactly. What grade do you teach?'
"Right now twelfth grade English, but I float around, depending on where the school needs me at the start of the year. I enjoy working with teenagers in general. They're still green, and for them, the sky is the limit. I did a short stint teaching college. Figured out pretty quick it wasn’t where I wanted to be."
They talked back and forth, pausing to order two cups of fall harvest coffee, a slice of Mississippi Mud pie, and a slice of pumpkin cheesecake. Warmth filled Rivka as they laughed over stories from growing up and got to know one another better. She really liked Scott. There was no spark, but the loneliness seemed further away regardless. Two hours later they both opted to call it a night.
"I had a great time tonight. I'd love to do this again," Scott said.
"Me too, Scott, but I have to be honest—"
"No sizzle? It's okay. The feeling is mutual. I do think we'd make terrific friends though."
"I'm in total agreement."
"Good, now that we've decided that—do you have any single friends you can set me up with?"
She threw her head back and laughed. Did I ever!
Chapter Seven
A sense of urgency had Bastien pushing himself and his men hard in training. He wanted them to be ready, for what, he couldn’t say. It was like a dark cloud looming over them in the distance that only he could see. It had him exhausted and frustrated at the end of each day. Fresh from the shower he sprawled across his bed, grateful it was Friday, and the weekend was at hand. Clad in a pair of black sweat pants, and a white t-shirt, he flipped through the channels, pausing on a semi-interesting sci-fi movie. With his hands behind his head he zoned out. A knock sounded on the door sometime later, making him raise his brows as he slipped from bed.
"Yeah?"
"It's me." Phelan's serious tone instantly put him on edge. Something was wrong.
He opened the door and waved him inside.
"What's on your mind?"
"I'm worried that we haven't heard anything from Tavel yet. What's he waiting for? Shouldn’t he be retaliating?"
"He's too busy licking his wounds and regrouping." Bastien shrugged.
"It doesn't feel right. Who's the middle man giving him the supplies?"
"Kade is working on that." He watched his brother pace back and forth in front of his door.
"Come on, let's at least go sit on the couch or something. I'm getting dizzy just watching you." Phelan grumbled but complied. He sat down on to the black leather couch with a heavy thud, and Bastien sat across from him in a black Lazy Boy.
"What brought this on?"
"Zasha. She's obsessed with finding him. That need has her working herself into the ground. She might not go out in the field anymore, but she's at the station from sun up to sun down, trying to piece together the clues he's left behind. She won't be able to feel safe until she sees him caught and imprisoned. I feel worthless. What kind of mate am I? I've already failed her once. Why should she believe I can protect her now?
"Hey, that was before we knew the facts. We had no reason to believe Tavel was on the planet, let alone after her. Cut yourself some slack Phelan." Bastien shook his head. He'd never seen his brother like this.
"It's The Wanting, man. You want to know your mate is protected, healthy, and happy. This limbo is driving me crazy." Phelan ran a hand over his face.
"What can I do?" Bastien asked.
"Short of hunting Tavel down and putting him out his misery? Nothing."
"You say the order, and that's how we'll handle this."
Phelan shook his head. "It's out of our hands now that the P.I.U. is involved. We can't break their trust that way. Not when we're so close to finding the common ground that's been eluding us since we first arrived here. I've been thinking about this for a while now. I want to do a Calling." The words made Bastien's eyes go wide.
"You want to call down our ancestors?"
"I do. I want to contact Mom and Dad. I know it's selfish to disturb their rest, but this is an emergency situation. I need guidance, insight, and anything else they can tell us. I feel like
there are clues we never knew to look for, directly linked to their death."
Bastien ran a hand through his mid-length locks. "Is this an order?"
"No, this is me as your brother, not your King. I want to get your take before I bring it up to the others."
"It’s a total mind fuck. I mean losing them was hard enough, to wake them to ask questions about their death and talk to them again is going to reawaken that pain and rip the healed wounds back open. Regardless, I think it's necessary. We're missing pieces here, and without them we're in the dark. This may be our one chance to get the upper hand."
"Those were my thoughts too," Phelan whispered.
"When do you want to do this?"
"I want to get the boys together tonight to run it by them, and if they agree, get Rivka over here immediately after."
His anxiety spiked. What is going to happen the next time I see her? Steady man, hold it together. Your duty is to your people first, always.
"Let's call them now," he said.
"I suppose you're right, no sense stalling," Phelan said.
"Not when it's this important," Bastien replied.
Phelan dug his phone out of his pocket and began to type. "I'm telling them I need to meet up at the house tonight and it's important."
Two beeps later the time was set and the only thing left to do was wait for Kade and Marsden to arrive.
****
"Okay, we're all here," Mars said as he took a seat on the couch beside Kade. "Care to tell me what's going on?"
Bastien looked over at Phelan who stood in the center of the room, his hands clasped together behind his back.
"There's no easy way to say this—I want to do a Calling for Mom and Dad," Phelan said.
Kade’s jaw dropped, and Mars tensed. "Why?" he asked through gritted teeth.
"Because I need guidance and we need to know what really happened when they died. They were drained of their blood, and others things were off. I didn't ask all the questions I should've then. I was in shock. The weight of our entire planet and your well being was resting on my shoulders. I was numb, sickened by what happened, and scared shitless. It was the best I could do at the time. Now I can't shake the feeling it's connected to Tavel.”
"Of course, it is. The crazy son of a bitch murdered them!" Mars said.
"I think it's deeper than that," Phelan said.
Bastien placed a hand on Mars’ tense shoulders to steady him and keep him in his spot on the couch.
"What more is there?" Mars asked.
"I don't know. That's why we need to Call them."
"I don't like this," Kade said.
"Finally a voice of reason!" Mars threw his hands up in the air and slumped back against the couch, arms crossed over his chest.
"But if you think it's necessary you have my support," Kade finished.
"Come on! We're taking our parents away from whatever place they've found their peace in, making them relive their own death. That's sick! How can you stand here so unaffected by what you're planning to do?"
Phelan's eyes grew bright with anger. "I'm not unaffected. I have a duty to our people. Our parents will understand that. They've lived under the same pressure."
"Oh, so now you want to pull the King card?" Mars said.
"I'm not pulling anything," Phelan said. His knuckles had gone white, and Bastien could see he was on the edge.
"Why don't we all just calm down—" Kade said.
"No!" Mars jumped from the couch.
"I don’t understand why you have such a problem with this, Marsden. You know as well as I do it's the only option we have," Phelan shook his head. "This is about what's best for our people, not our own issues."
"Easy for you to say, Phelan, you were always the golden child. A chip off the old block, destined to follow in daddy's footsteps, and taken to every royal function and showed off like a prized treasure. I barely knew Mom and Dad! I was the one who was sent away to live in a foreign land. For what? I don’t know!" Mars chest heaved, and his eyes grew glassy. "I don't know," he whispered. He sank down onto the edge of the couch. The fight left him as fast as it'd come. Phelan walked over and sank down onto the couch beside him, throwing an arm around his shoulders.
"Now you can. I knew their death was hard on you, but you always hide everything behind that wicked sense of humor and easy smile. At the least, this is our chance to truly heal from the gaping hole their early deaths left in all our lives. I have my own issues. I don't know if Dad will like what I've done with his legacy or understand the decisions I've been forced to make. Look at us, we're on Earth." Phelan shook his head and gave a weak chuckle. "The D'Shar family does what's necessary to keep their people safe and I think happy, for the most part. So, we're going to pull it together and do this now."
Mars nodded his head. "You're right."
"I’m going to make sure we all get some one on one time with the folks as well. It's an opportunity we can't pass up."
The words may have comforted Mars, who managed a shaky smile, but they made Bastien nervous. The last thing he wanted to do was dredge up old things with his parents.
"So we all agree to do this?" Phelan asked.
A chorus of yeses filled the room, and Phelan patted Mars on his back before he stood. "Good. I'll call Rivka now." He pulled out his phone and walked toward the door to the room, leaving them to talk amongst themselves.
"What are your thoughts on this, Bast? You were pretty silent," Kade said.
"I think Phelan is right. We're missing something and until we fill in the blanks, Tavel will remain one step in front of us. We can't have that. I sense he's getting desperate or ready to launch a plan he's been working on for a long time. Why else would he choose to come forward and kidnap Zasha?"
"What do you think he's going to do?" Mars asked, once again composed.
"No idea." Bastien shook his head.
"I've been working closely with forensics from the P.I.U. unit trying to figure out all the chemicals he used and what they were for. It's been terrifying. It's like he's trying to make some kind of modified being,” Kade said.
"Why?" Mars asked. "We're already stronger, smarter and more powerful than humans. Why isn't that enough?"
"For some people, enough never comes," Bastien said. "They always want more. It's like a black hole inside of them that wants to swallow everything whole." His thoughts drifted to the Texden dictator they'd once had to put down.
"While I agree with the statement, I don't think it's true in this case," Kade said. "There's a pattern to Tavel's madness, a driving force behind his experiments. Once we figure out what that is, we can trap him."
"We need to do it soon before this leaks out into the community and the Earthlings crucify us," Mars said. "I've seen it happen a million times. Once there's blood in the water they descend on the victim like hungry sharks in a feeding frenzy."
"Rivka is gathering her things, and she'll be over tonight. When I told her what we wanted to do she said the spirits gave her a sense of urgency. I'm going to go explain what's happening to Zasha. Can you guys prepare a space for Rivka and the ceremony?"
"We got this, go take care of our sister," Bastien said.
"Thank you." He hurried off. Bastien returned his attention to Kade and Mars. "You heard the man, let's get to work.
Chapter Eight
Rivka never liked Callings. Disturbing people passed on from their rest to ask what were usually trivial questions made her want to throttle people. Then there were times like this one when she felt directly dialed into the universe and its wants. Her people believed everyone came from an unending source of energy that existed on a plane removed from their own. Each person possessed a part of this energy, and their souls eventually resided with it once they passed on. Some came back to right a wrong or learn a lesson. As she gathered her equipment she heard voices whispering in her ear, telling her to hurry. She slowed down her heartbeat, opened her mind to the will of something greater, and prayed for
guidance and strength. Whatever this was, it was huge. She donned her deep purple Calling ceremony sheath, grabbed her priestess tiara imbedded with energy transferring stones and headed to her car with a black duffle bag slung over her shoulder.
When she knocked on the door, it swung open to reveal an anxious-looking King.
"Come on in, Rivka."
"Phelan." She gave a brief curtsy, and he bowed.
"Thank you for coming on such short notice. We've cleared out a ballroom for you." He led her down the hallway.
"That should be perfect. I'll do a briefing with you guys, and then we'll get starred."
"Excellent."
The familiar buzz of energy from the source flooded her, and she began to focus in on the trance-like state that had become second nature over the years. The gate that existed inside her opened. They walked inside the ballroom with the black and white checkered floor. The men sat in chairs by the large glass doors.
"Good evening, gentlemen." They all stood and gave a respectful bow. Each had a powerful aura, ranging from red to a dark blue. It was impressive to see such strong men hail from the same lineage. Fate had been kind to them.
"Please sit, Rivka," Phelan said. He gestured to the seat across from them. She sank down into the chair.
"I know we all know the basics of The Calling, but when you're experiencing it firsthand it can be a little jarring. The people I call up will be your parents but not. They're changed; their memory might not be as accurate. You may notice their gestures and mannerisms are off. It's best to keep moving forward and not take it to heart. Where they are things are quite different."
"How do you know this?" Kade asked. His face filled with blood, and he ducked his head. "Sorry."
"No, it's okay. It's a knowledge that comes along with being a priestess. I have to ask you not to ask them what they've seen or where they are now. It agitates them, and they can't answer. It's against the rules."
"What rules?" Phelan asked.
"The rules of Cosmos, it's how we keep the balance. The Priestess of the Stars and I. Do you all have the questions you'd like to ask thought up?" she asked.
"We do. We'd like to speak to them in a group and then one on one, if possible," Phelan said.
