by Ashlyn Chase
“What time are you leaving for that game?”
He turned, a surprised look on his face. “Are you trying to get rid of me?”
“No, it’s just that Mallory is coming over, and it sounded like she needed to talk. Just in case it’s girl talk, I thought it might be easier if you weren’t here.”
The little bird that was Dante hopped up and down and chirped at the sound of Mallory’s name.
“That would be Dante’s young lady, correct?”
“Yes. I can feed the boys.”
“I thought you wanted Kizzy here too. Since they both need the same information, I didn’t think you wanted to go through it twice.”
“It would be easier for me to get the whole explanation out at once, it’s true, and it might be nice for them to have each other to sympathize with, but Mallory—well, she seemed a little nervous at even the mention of Kizzy’s name when she was here for Luca’s graduation dinner. Did you notice that? I think there’s something between those two. Noah and Dante denied any rivalry with each other, but something was clearly going on.”
Dante hopped up to the edge of the cage as if he were listening intently.
“And you’re sure you don’t want me here?”
“You can stay if you want to, but it sounded like maybe Mallory wanted to talk to me alone. I don’t mind going through it again with Kizzy.”
At that moment, the doorbell rang.
“Coming,” Gabriella sang out. She walked to the door, and upon opening it, she saw the beautiful brunette she had met at the basketball game. “Kizzy! Please come in.”
She held the door open wide for the young doctor and shot a questioning glance at Antonio.
Kizzy seemed hesitant but entered and held out her hand as if to shake Gabriella’s.
“Oh, we can’t have that. No handshakes here,” she said and grasped the girl around her back. Both of them were petite, so it was a treat for Gabriella to hold someone her own size.
“Thanks, Gabriella. I needed that.”
“I’ll bet you did.” She took Kizzy’s hand and led her into the dining area where the birdcage was. Her son, the baby bird Noah, hopped up and down and flapped his wings.
Antonio strode over and stuck out his hand for a handshake. Kizzy looked confused but took his hand and shook it. He laughed, then pulled her into a hug. “It’s nice to see you again, Kizzy. Apparently, I’m on my way out to a night game at Fenway.”
“Apparently?”
“Well, that was the plan five minutes ago.”
“Oh. Aren’t you curious about what happened?” She pointed to the cage. “That’s what I came to tell you.”
“I certainly am.” He looked at Gabriella. “Are you sure you want me gone for the evening? I’d really like to stay. I can go to a game anytime. That’s what season tickets are for.”
Gabriella smiled. “Of course you can stay. It’s your house. If we need some privacy for girl talk later, we can just move to the man cave and turn it into a woman cave.” She winked.
“Or I can lock myself in my man cave and let you have the whole rest of the house.”
Gabriella giggled. “That would probably be better. Let me put on some tea, and we can all get comfortable while you tell us what you know, Kizzy. Or would you rather wait for Mallory?”
“Mallory is coming?”
“Yes. She called a few minutes ago. She’ll be here for dinner in thirty or forty minutes. I hope you can stay for dinner too.”
“If it’s no imposition… I’d like to get to know Mallory better—oh, and you two, of course!”
“Wonderful! Have a seat. I’ll be right back with some tea.”
Kizzy and Antonio sat at the dining room table while Gabriella filled the electric teapot and plugged it in. Wishing she had something fancier on hand, she settled for putting some cheese and crackers on a plate and brought that over first.
“I’m afraid we only have one type of tea in the house. Good old Lipton. Is that all right?”
“Perfect,” Kizzy said.
Gabriella put a teabag right in each cup and set them on a tray on the kitchen counter.
Before she sat down with the two of them, Gabriella heard Antonio ask, “Would you like to feed the boys?”
She peeked around the corner as Antonio passed the little Tupperware container with a few strips of beef to Kizzy.
She took it and held up one strip of meat. “Is this what they eat?”
“Yes. You can hold it in your fingers. They won’t bite you.”
“Do they know who I am?”
“They have some of their memories, even though their maturity is in question. Well, not in question so much as just not there yet. They have to grow up all over again in bird form before they can shift back. At least that’s the quickest way to do it. Every time they’re in bird form, they age faster. In human form, they age much more slowly.”
Kizzy took a strip of meat and poked it through the cage. One of the little birds hopped up to her, chirped, then opened his mouth wide. She dropped the meat, and he swallowed it whole.
“Was that Noah?”
“Yes, I believe it was.”
“How can you tell them apart?”
Antonio shrugged. “I’m not the one to ask. Gabriella could tell you for sure.”
Gabriella smiled. “Yes, that was Noah. A mother just knows. So what happened to them?”
Kizzy sighed. “It’s a long story, but you deserve to hear it first. I’ll start with the fact that there may be things I have to leave out, but I’ll tell you what I can.”
“We understand,” Antonio said. “You don’t know us that well yet, but you’ll learn you can trust us.”
“I’m counting on it. I’m a good judge of character, so I’ve been told.”
The whistle on the teakettle blew, so Gabriella unplugged it, set it on the tray, then brought everything to the table. As soon as she sat down, Kizzy began her story.
“So, here goes…”
Over the next half hour, Kizzy explained about her family having something that a group in South America wanted. She called the group “the entity” and said she would tell the Fierros what she knew about the group, but that was limited, because she didn’t know much. When she got to the part about a big battle in her backyard and how she and Noah went back to his apartment afterward, she stopped and blushed.
“Oh?” Gabriella tipped her head, smiling. She hoped Kizzy would feel comfortable enough to elaborate on her relationship with Noah, but she probably wouldn’t. Actually, she didn’t have to. The look on her face said it all.
“Noah revealed his other form to me. He didn’t have much time to tell me about phoenix shifters, but I’m glad I knew what he was. That’s the only reason I wasn’t totally confused and shocked by…this.” She indicated the cage with a sweep of her hand.
Gabriella was delighted. Her boys didn’t reveal themselves to a woman unless the relationship was serious. Noah seemed to have met the lady love who would understand his paranormal secret.
Kizzy continued. “So, an hour or so later, I called my father. He and a couple of his friends showed up, and that’s when I was transported home—against my will, I might say. A few minutes later, the phone rang, and it was Noah. Dante had come home by then, and they were being held hostage by the entity.”
Gabriella was curious about her father and friends and what she meant by “transported against her will” but didn’t want to interrupt her. They could ask questions later.
“Noah sounded kind of scared, and when he said a couple of guys calling themselves the entity were there, I got scared too. Very scared. These guys think nothing of skinning people alive to get what they want, and both Dante and Noah were innocents caught in the middle.”
She worried her lip as if remembering the moment. “One of the entit
y said he had a gun pointed at Noah and his cohort had Dante at knifepoint. I would have done anything to save them. I was just beginning to negotiate when Noah called out not to tell them anything and said he and Dante knew how to get out of it.
“A few moments later, I heard an explosion.”
* * *
Mallory jogged up the steps, looking forward to seeing the Fierros again. Upon knocking, Gabriella opened the door.
“Mallory! Come in!” Gabriella took her hand and led her into the dining room.
When she saw Kizzy, she froze.
Gabriella tightened her grip on her right hand.
“Now, girls. We’ve sensed there’s something going on between you two. It’s none of our business, of course, except if it affects our sons. I don’t think anyone wants to come between them, knowing how close they are.”
Mallory’s posture deflated, as did her fear. “I’m sorry. It’s probably my fault. Kizzy? You remember that day…when we almost met but didn’t. You know the day I mean?”
Kizzy seem to understand. “It’s okay, Mallory. I’m not judging. If anything, I need understanding too.”
Mallory gazed at her and saw some sort of sympathy coming back…no, not sympathy. It wasn’t sympathy. Maybe hope?
Gabriella pulled Mallory to the dining room table and said, “Please. Have a seat. We’re just having some tea and appetizers before dinner.” Then Gabriella placed her other arm around her and gave her a friendly squeeze. “I hope you know how welcome you are. We want to get to know both of you better. We know you’re important to our sons.”
A little bird in the cage she hadn’t noticed before chirped and hopped up and down, flapping its wings.
“I don’t know if you’ve met Dante in his other form,” Antonio said.
Mallory wandered over to the cage, openmouthed. “That’s him? He was bigger last time I saw him in bird form. Is he still a phoenix or some kind of sparrow?”
Gabriella laughed. “If he could speak, he’d let you know he’s no sparrow. Yes, my boys are smaller but growing up again in phoenix form. If they shifted now, they’d revert to infants, complete with the amnesia that happens when human souls return. It’s just faster and better if they grow up in bird form.”
“I see they’re still roommates. How did they get this way?”
“Kizzy can explain what happened.”
Gabriella let go of Mallory’s arms, and now that she was more curious than scared, she finally sat down at the table.
Kizzy reached across the table, offering Mallory her hand. She took it, and they shared a sympathetic squeeze.
“Mallory, what happened might be a little upsetting. Do you really want to know?”
“Absolutely. I’m not fragile, despite what some people may think.” She may have said that a little too emphatically.
Kizzy let go of her hand. “I know you’re not. I just wanted to make sure you wanted the whole story. Like I said, it could come as a shock to anybody.”
Mallory nodded.
“Well, the short explanation is they blew themselves up.”
Mallory would have liked to hide her shock, but she was sure her eyes must be bugging out of her head. “They what?”
Kizzy grimaced. “I’m sorry if that was blunt. They wouldn’t have done it if it weren’t absolutely necessary. Basically, they were being held hostage, and it was my fault.” She hung her head.
“Oh. I’m sorry. I don’t think I know anything about this. Hostage? How?”
“No, you probably don’t. Noah was sworn to secrecy, and he’s good to his word. I don’t know how much Dante knew about it. Noah probably didn’t even tell him.”
“That would make sense. Noah seems like a very trustworthy person.”
“He is,” Gabriella said. “All my boys are.”
“And so are we,” Antonio added.
“I know. You’re a very special family,” Mallory said. And she meant it. Not many people would witness her turn into a spider monkey and not bat an eyelash.
“Now, getting back to the situation that led up to this.”
“There’s not a lot I can say,” Kizzy said. “But that’s because I’ve been sworn to secrecy too. If we… Never mind.”
“Say what you were going to say,” Mallory prompted.
Kizzy shook her head. “It’s too soon.”
Gabriella cleared her throat. “If I may be so bold, and I don’t know if this is what Kizzy was going to say, but I’m going to say it, if you two become part of this family, there will be no more secrets. We will trust each other completely. If you can’t do that, say something right now.”
The girls glanced at each other across the table and then at Gabriella.
Kizzy spoke up first. “Are you psychic too?”
Antonio burst out laughing. “Our sons think she is, but her only superpower is she’s a mom! And her women’s intuition is scarily accurate.”
“Well, yes, that’s sort of what I was alluding to,” Kizzy said. “But I don’t know where we are relationship-wise. Mallory and Dante seem a lot further along than Noah and I. We were just getting close. I’m guessing you and Dante are—serious.”
One of the little birds jumped up and down and chirped. Gabriella chuckled. “That was Dante. I think he was affirming your assumption.”
“So, you can’t understand bird language?”
“No. Antonio is a little better at guessing than I am. Plus we’ve come up with a way to get yes or no responses. If you ask them a yes or no question, and they look at you with their right eye, it means yes. If they look at you with their left eye, it means no.”
Mallory smiled at the little bird. “Well, then, in answer to Kizzy’s question about if we’re serious… I’d say yes.”
Dante looked at her with his right eye. Encouraged to say more, she added, “We’re in love. I wish I could throw my arms around him right now and give him a hug and kiss, but I’m afraid I don’t know how to hug or kiss a bird.”
Antonio laughed. “It’s probably better if you don’t. Our beaks can be sharp. You can let them hop on you and stroke their feathers, but hugging and kissing is probably not a good idea. Oh, and if they poop on you, it means good luck!”
Gabriella gave her husband the stink eye. “He doesn’t mean it, Mallory. He’s just a big tease, and his sense of humor is a little warped.”
Antonio feigned offense. “Warped? Me?”
Gabriella smiled at him. “Don’t give me that. You know you are, but everyone loves you just the same. We are a very forgiving family, girls.”
“Good thing—for me.” Mallory let out a sigh of relief.
“Me too,” Kizzy said. Then she focused on Mallory again and smiled. “I’m a witch.”
Mallory’s eyebrows shot up, then she quickly schooled her expression. “Really? A real witch, like with a wand and broom and everything?”
Kizzy laughed. “It’s not like the cliché. I do cast spells, but I don’t own a black cat, fly on a broom, or use a wand. I’m a healer. I can touch people and cure them. But only one per day, or else I’ll deplete my own energy.”
“Oh! You have the perfect job then. An ER doctor.”
“Yes and no. It’s hard to choose between patients. Especially if I get a serious case that might make it on his or her own. I never know who could come even closer to death later on in my shift.”
“Do you actually save people from dying?”
Kizzy smiled. “Well, yeah. All doctors do on occasion. But I can actually pull someone back if they pass away.”
“Wow! No wonder it depletes your energy. I’m glad you didn’t waste your magic on me. I wasn’t crazy.”
“I never said you were. Which isn’t to say magical healing for mental health would be a waste. It’s just a lot more complicated. One doesn’t know if it’s nature or nurtu
re. Curing a DNA anomaly is one thing, but trying to reverse a whole childhood of abuse or neglect—well, that’s getting into strange territory.”
“I was cursed.”
This time, it was Kizzy who looked shocked. “Cursed? That’s awful! Who would do that to you?”
“It’s kind of a strange story, but here goes… My father is a real estate developer. He’s in South America in a rain forest, trying to open a resort on the Amazon River. According to a wizard Dante knew, there was some kind of ritual done down there.
“I guess he ticked off the wrong people. I don’t know why the curse came to me instead of him or my mother, but it did. Or maybe they were cursed too, but in a different way. There were protesters…workers quit… Eventually, they gave up and they’re coming home soon.”
Kizzy looked uncomfortable. “I wonder if… Um, what I’m about to tell you can’t leave this room. Swear?”
Mallory raised her right hand. “I swear.”
Mr. and Mrs. Fierro just nodded.
“There’s a group in South America that my family considers its nemesis. We call them ‘the entity.’ We think they’re based in Brazil near the Amazon. That’s as close as our locator spell can pinpoint them. They must have wards to protect their exact location. But now, if they have to move because of development in the area, they may be risking exposure. That could be considered a threat.”
Mallory was astounded. “Yes, my father is in Brazil—right on the banks of the Amazon River. This group… Are they Northern European–looking?”
“Yes. Northern European. Can you find the spot on a map?”
“I could get close, but I don’t have a physical map. Could pulling one up on my phone work?”
“We have one,” Gabriella sang. She excused herself and trotted off in the direction of the stairs.
“So do you think these guys might be the same group? Your nemesis and my cursers?”
“Possibly.” Kizzy worried her lip while waiting for Gabriella, who returned a little out of breath and laid a framed map of the world on the table.
“Thank you.” Kizzy fell silent as she studied the map. Eventually, she lifted it so it was facing herself and Antonio only, then she touched it, drawing a small invisible circle. “Go ahead and show me where your father is.” Kizzy turned the map around and laid it face up in front of Mallory.
