Gathering Storm

by Danann, Victoria

  Glen only had to walk a few yards away from the building to get a cell signal. He dialed Baka, who picked up on the second ring. Glen wasn’t worried about getting him because he was aware that Baka’s job involved working nights and expected that he wouldn’t be in bed yet.

  “It’s Glendennon Catch.”

  “How are you, Glen?”

  “Well, it’s been an up and down day. Storm’s back. That’s the up part.”

  “All that’s holy.”

  Glen had always thought that Baka used some incongruous expressions for a vampire. Or ex vampire. “Yeah. Holy. What I need to know right now, and this is sort of urgent, is if Animal House came to Jefferson Unit tonight for some reason?”

  “Animal House?”

  “Um, that’s what people call your, um, vampire.”

  “I see. Yes. I sent them for more vaccine. Is there a problem?”

  “Well, maybe. It seems they took four of our knights somewhere and left them, but we don’t know where.”

  Glen could hear that Baka had distanced his phone from his mouth and was cursing. When Baka came back on he said, “I’ll call you right back.”

  Glen paced up and down a base street in front of J.U. while he waited. Ten minutes later, the intelliphone face lit up like a night light.

  “Yes?”

  “It sounds like they took them and put them in a sort of cage on the level where the pool is?”

  “Okay. That could be a big problem. That level was sealed off with explosives. The heat and air were shut down and it may be days before we have access.”

  “C9? You set off explosives inside the building? What in heaven’s name is going on there?”

  “We were attacked. It’s a good guess that it was aliens from Elora’s home dimension looking for her. Anyway…”

  “Is everything under control now?”

  “Well, the place is a mess. We have some people hurt…”

  “Who?”

  “Sir Fennimore, the Lady Laiken…”

  “We’re coming. I’ll be with them this time and we’ll get it sorted out.”

  “Okay. Thank you.”

  Baka ended the call.

  CHAPTER 26

  Angel couldn’t have been more surprised than to look up and see Rosie coming into his hospital room carrying a big vase of red and pink tulips. His first thought was that she was taking those flowers to Fennimore.

  She was wearing a bright smile. “Had a talk with your doctor.” She leaned closer and whispered, “I told them I’m family.” She giggled a little at that.

  Wish you were.

  “He says you’re going to be good as new and you can leave in five days. Maybe. If you’re a good boy. Where would you like these?”

  Angel looked at the flowers in her arms and his heart swelled when he realized they were for him. “Um. Here.” He nodded toward the bedside table.

  “So what can I do to make this more pleasant for you?”

  “Don’t know what you mean. What could be more pleasant than getting out of workouts with Kay and smack downs by Elora?”

  She laughed. “I don’t know. Feeling good? So would you like magazines? I could load some movies onto a portaputer. You could catch up on your chick flicks.”

  “How did you know I watch chick flicks?”

  She looked at him with such fondness it did funny things to his feelings.

  “When I leave here in five days, where will I be going?”

  “Home, of course.”

  “My home? Or your home?”

  Her face fell when she took his meaning. “I don’t know, but I do know you’ll be staying in your own room until you’re completely well.” She pulled on his blanket to straighten it a little, which seemed more a nervous gesture than anything else.

  “It’s been such a privilege getting to watch you grow up.”

  “Stop. You’re going to make me cry.” And, from the look on her face, he could tell she meant that.

  “Yeah. Well, I don’t want that.” His face and voice were soft. “Go get me some sappy maudlin movies to watch. Something with no guns. And bring me some of those macadamia nut cookies your mother hides in the coffee can.”

  Her smile was back. “Cookies and cinema coming up. Back later.”

  “Rosie?” She stopped. “That other guy? Is he, ah…?”

  She looked puzzled for a minute and then realized what he was trying to ask. “Sir Fennimore? He’s alive. I don’t know much more than that, but I can check when I come back.”

  Angel nodded. When she poofed away, he looked over at the flowers. It was just the sort of thing he would expect Rosie to take someone in the hospital. Full of riotous color and life. His heart seized at the thought of how much he’d miss her when he had to go.

  Three hours later Angel was watching You’ve Got Mail on a large tablet propped up on his lap. He heard the swish of the door and glanced up expecting to see a nurse come to pester him in some unpleasant way or another. He had thought he couldn’t have been any more surprised when Rosie had come to visit. He was wrong. He was considerably more surprised to see his double prowl through the door.

  “The Great Storm.”

  Storm’s lips twitched just before he glanced down at the tablet screen. His eyebrows went up. “You’ve Got Mail?”

  “Nice try. It won’t do you any good to act superior. If you hadn’t seen it, you wouldn’t know what it was.” Storm smiled at that. “For some reason I’m just not in the mood for shoot-‘em-ups.”

  “Yeah. I get that.” They stared at each other for a few beats. “I came to see Fenn. Thought I might as well stop off here.”

  “How is he?”

  “Apparently too stubborn to die. He’s in love. It’s a powerful reason to want to stick around and see what’ll happen next.”

  After a few seconds Angel said, “It’s weird, isn’t it?”

  “Looking at a twin? Weird doesn’t begin to cover it.” Angel grinned. Storm started to look serious. “You know what you did for Fennimore during the attack? It wasn’t your job. You didn’t have to.”

  Angel looked out the window for a minute. When he brought his attention back to Storm, he said, “When you were gone, I spent my days trying to learn to be you.” Storm nodded. “I don’t know. It wasn’t something I really thought about. I guess I know it wasn’t my job, but it kind of felt like it was. Hard to explain.”

  Storm nodded again. “I think I understand. So, need anything? Got enough chick flicks to keep you entertained? ”

  Angel smirked. “It’s an education.”

  “It is that.”

  “Intel on how the opposite sex thinks that might prove useful at some point.”

  Storm laughed. “And now you know why I’ve seen that movie, too. Want me to send somebody in to give you a manicure?”

  “Now, see, there’s a big difference between you and me right there. I’m actually funny when I want to be.”

  Glen was talking to Storm and Kay in the hallway outside Elora’s room when Baka arrived with Animal House and their sitter. With a little interrogation and investigation, they were able to sort out what had happened.

  The vampire had not only caged the knights, putting them in danger of suffocation. They had also left them caged, unarmed, and at the mercy of the aliens. Fortunately for Z Team, the Ralengclan were not bloodthirsty. Their mission was simple. Kill the last Laiwynn, Elora Laiken. If someone got in the way of that, they were a target. The prisoners were not going to get in the way of anything so they were passed by and left alone, a fact that puzzled and troubled Torn Finngarick and Rafael Nightsong, who hadn’t stayed around long enough to find out that the purpose of the invasion was assassination. If they had, the behavior of the intruders would have made more sense. And they might have understood that their mission was not to protect Jefferson Unit, but to protect their fellow knight, the Lady Laiken.

  The teen vamps were instructed to disarm any surviving Ralengclan, transport them to the cells on
S2, that had previously been used by Monq’s team to study vampire, and make sure they were secured.

  They then retrieved Z Team and, as directed by Storm, left them in the middle of the Hub. Storm had decided that the first phase of their correction would begin with a public humiliation. When they were liberated from the kennel, they were almost unconscious from lack of air and freezing because the heat had been shut off to Sublevel 3, a deep subterranean facility, which would have been cold in August without artificial heat, but in the middle of winter it was arctic. They were also cramped from not being able to stand up straight for so long.

  The four collapsed on the floor of the Hub gasping for breath, shivering and looking at Storm like he was the one responsible for their plight. Well, to be fair, he was responsible for the spectacle. Storm called medical to attend them where they were, then walked away, but not before saying, “You’ll be notified of the time and place of your preliminary disciplinary hearing.”

  Monq knocked on Elora’s door and poked his head in. She turned her head in his direction. “You gave my baby to Rosie and she took him through the passes.”

  “Take it easy. He’s with Litha and he’s fine. I’m the one who’s not fine. I’m exhausted. That child weighs five hundred pounds.”

  Rammel walked over and, without a word, shocked Monq by putting his arms around him and giving him a big hug. Hugging wasn’t really Monq’s thing, but he allowed it and gave Ram a perfunctory embarrassed sort of male pat on the back. Ram pulled back and said, “Thank you,” with such depth of sincerity that Monq blushed.

  “Well, certainly. Anyone would do it.” He backed away from Ram just in case another such display of affection might be impending, then added, “Once.” He moved closer to the bed to get a look at Elora’s face. “What’s the prognosis?”

  Ram answered for her. “Pain meds until the swellin’ recedes, then he’ll get to work to restore her unrivaled beauty.”

  Monq nodded. “Well, he’s a good man, a little bit of a dick, but most surgeons are. He’s good at what he does.” And with that he left the room and closed the door quietly.

  Elora said, “The pain meds are causing me to hallucinate. I thought I heard Monq call somebody a dick.”

  “Definitely no’ on the magic carpet, my girl, and I heard the same fuckin’ thin’.”

  After a brief pause, she said, “Well, I hope he wasn’t using that sort of language in front of our son.”

  Elora heard Rammel laugh, really laugh, for the first time since Storm had been lost. She sighed deeply, feeling content to be alive and to be able to say the same about her baby and her friends.

  Storm entered quietly and looked over at Ram as he approached Elora’s bed. “How is she?”

  “I’m in the room you know,” she answered, opening her eyes. “What’s up?”

  “The little shit with the microphone says he overheard you tell Fenn and, ah, the other guy, that you had some plan for sealing off Sublevel 1.”

  Elora nodded. “I gave them some of Monq’s new stuff, the C9. They blew the elevators, then the east and west stairs. We were going to try to lure some of the Ralengclan down there by way of the central stairs, seal it off, and shut down air and heat going to that level from the main controls behind Operations.”

  Storm pursed his lips and considered. “Not bad for somebody who never studied tactics.”

  She smiled. “Thank you. Did it work?”

  “Oh, yeah. Maybe too well.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Z Team tried a stake on one of the Frenchie vamps who stopped in to resupply their stash of vaccine. So the crazy kids put them in lock up in Blackie’s old kennel and left them down there.”

  After a pause Elora said, “Well, that explains why we never saw them again.”

  Rammel walked over and shocked Storm by putting his arms around him and giving him a big hug. Hugging wasn’t really Storm’s thing, but he allowed it and gave Ram a perfunctory embarrassed sort of male pat on the back. Ram pulled back and said, “Welcome home,” with such depth of sincerity that Storm blushed. But he managed to say, “There’s no place like home.”

  It was midmorning before medical cleared Z Team to leave the infirmary. Raif pushed through the clinic’s swinging doors ahead of the others.

  “Hey. Where you goin’?” Gunnar asked.

  Raif stopped and turned. Everything about his body language said he was unhappy and exasperated, but determined. He glared at Torn. “Speed dating.”

  “Speed dating?”

  Raif continued to glare at Torn. “Made a bet with unknown consequence with that douche disguised as an elf. If I’m late, he’ll come up with something equally fucked up. So I’m going.”

  He turned and walked off.

  Torn laughed. “You’re a mess, man. Do you no’ think you might shower first? Change clothes? You’re goin’ off half-cocked lookin’ like the dregs.”

  “I may look like dregs, but I’m going with a full cock.” To be sure that Torn got the full measure of that point, Raif walked off giving him an air finger without looking back.

  CHAPTER 27

  Jefferson Unit was wrecked, at least the commons. With the exception of a couple of stretches of hallways, living quarters had survived untouched. Baka, having a wide range of intellectual interests including architecture, engineering and explosives, was duly impressed that the entire building hadn’t imploded given the locations and numbers of C9 detonations. On his tour of the damage, he could frequently be heard muttering something around the word “amateurs”.

  The Order routed every maintenance and construction employee who could be spared to the New Jersey facility. They began arriving by early afternoon. Within hours materials were being delivered and the symphony made by clean up and construction created a combination of sounds that were strangely comforting to the residents experiencing emotional aftermath from having their previously thought to be secure home invaded.

  After her reconstructive surgery, Elora was released to her family quarters. She’d always said she’d logged enough days in that infirmary to last several lifetimes.

  On the inside of their apartment, the elves could almost pretend that everything was normal. They had Storm and Litha to dinner the first night Elora was home. Ram cooked Guinness beef stew from the Irish Pub cookbook and beamed when the other three asked for seconds and then practically licked their plates.

  Storm looked around when he heard strains of “Somewhere Over The Rainbow”. He finally identified the sound as coming from his own pocket. He retrieved his phone and looked at Litha. “Did you change my ring tone?”

  “No, but I can guess who did. There’s only one demon we know who makes sport of changing other people’s ring tones.”

  “I don’t think it’s funny.”

  “Neither do I.”

  Storm glanced at the call info and saw that it was Glen. He rose as he answered to politely put some distance between himself and the dinner table. “Hello.” He listened for a minute, then turned to the others. “Is it okay if Glen and Rosie come up for a minute?”

  Elora chuffed. “Like they have to ask.”

  “Come on.”

  A few minutes later, Ram opened the door to find Glen looking a little wan and a lot shell shocked.

  “What’s wrong, Glen?”

  “Sol.”

  Ram stepped aside and motioned them in. Rosie followed Glen, not looking much happier.

  Once they were inside, Ram closed the door and said, “Tell it.”

  Everyone was standing except for Elora. Instinctively, Litha took a step closer to Storm’s side.

  “He died.”

  Litha had reached over to put her hand on Storm’s arm and felt that every muscle in his body had gone rigid. He stared straight ahead at Glen, but said nothing. His jaw was probably locked down too tight to speak.

  Ram looked at Storm and then quietly asked Glen, “How?”

  “It was their last day before they were coming
back. They rented a dune buggy at the cape. I guess it turned over and pinned him. She wasn’t hurt, but it severed one of his legs. He bled out before help could get there.”

  Elora reached for Rammel’s hand to hold onto.

  A thousand things ran through Storm’s mind as he stood there trying to make sense of those words, everyone processing their own unique grief, no one knowing what – if anything – to say.

  He thought about the first time he’d ever seen Sol and the car ride from his parents’ house to a new life that had been an adventure few could imagine. He thought about the last time he’d seen Sol and wondered if he would have acted differently if he’d known it was going to be the last time. He wondered if Sol knew how Storm felt about him. For that matter, Storm wondered if he had recognized how he’d felt about Sol before that very moment.

  Mostly he thought about the conclusions of the study Aelsong had worked on. It appeared that everything about his life was identical to Angel’s right up until the day, when they were both fourteen, that they had been called to the principal’s office of their respective realities. When Storm reached the principal’s office in his dimension, Sol had been waiting there to recruit him. What had been waiting for Angel was expulsion from school.

  The inescapable conclusion Storm drew from that was that the course of his entire life came down to that pivotal moment and that he owed every good thing that had happened to him since to one factor - Solomon Nemamiah, who was in the right place at the right time.

  It seemed strange to think that so much could ride on such a small turn of fate, but that one thing had propelled Storm into a knighthood and sent Angel careening off into a series of wrong turns that dead ended into a wasted life.

  Glen said, “I’m going to go call Simon. He’ll need to contact the Council to appoint an interim Sovereign until a replacement can be found.”