by Sonja Bair
“Have you been meeting people yet?” Was he asking if I had met any tall, handsome people in particular?
“I’ve met some teachers and a couple neighbors so far. Probably there are some future friends in there.” I purposefully avoided the unspoken question.
“Why don’t I treat you to lunch? You can update me on your life and I can dish on the exciting world of computer systems.”
I laughed. “Sounds exciting. Let me finish up something here and I’ll allow you to take me someplace nice.” He was loaded. He could afford it.
Alrik helped me arrange graduated cylinders on the shelf, and we fell into easy conversation. Although there was some barrier between us that never seems to break down, as adults we have been able to talk easily. Our shared past and need to fit in with the natural world gave us lots in common.
Alrik has a sly sense of humor that doesn’t always show, but for some reason, it always came out when we were together. Our banter about Flock expectations and inappropriate imitations of Flock elders soon had us both in stitches. We moved our conversation to an outdoor restaurant and were relaxing in the sun after finishing our lunches when I saw a familiar face walking down the street. Of all the gin joints in all the towns… David had already spotted me, so it was too late to play the hiding card. But then I remembered there was nothing to hide, so why did I feel so... off?
Alrik sensed there was someone behind him and pivoted in his chair. What came next shocked me more than anything in the last twenty-four hours. Alrik stood up and shook David’s hand. For the second time today, the air grew dense with power. This time, it seemed to be coming from both men.
Alrik broke the standoff first, just as he had initiated the handshake. “David Waterstone of the New Mexico Pack, I believe. How are the new solar arrays working out?”
“Formerly of the New Mexico Pack, Alrik Isaksson. They worked out fine, but now I’m working on developing a more reliable transformer for medium-sized solar farms.”
“Interesting. I hear that medium-sized solar farms with some additional wind turbines thrown in to the mix are the wave of the future. Why formerly of the New Mexico Pack?”
“That’s what I’m betting on. I have some clients in the I-5 corridor who are very interested in the new technology and hopefully will be investing soon. Pack politics; I’m sure you would be bored with the details.”
I was tempted to see how long the dual conversations with dual intentions could go, but I sensed a pissing competition coming soon if I didn’t stop it, so I stepped in. “It appears that I don’t have to introduce you two, and since you two are clearly friends, David, why don’t you join us?”
“I’m sure David has many meetings to attend and investors to please. I bet it’s hard work to have to scrape up funding to get your company off the ground.”
“Actually, I was on my way to the lecture I am giving. The University has asked me to do a seminar for the engineering students on alternative energy. They wanted someone with expertise and success in the field. I had to squeeze them in between groveling sessions, but I managed. Freya, I look forward to our next date. Alrik, nice to see you again.” David gave a nod and briskly walked away.
I turned to Alrik. “But you guys didn’t get to a chance to compare biceps! How disappointing.” I glared at him.
He glared right back. “Freya, he’s a lone werewolf living in your town. You have no idea how dangerous werewolves can be, not to mention a lone werewolf. They are not oversized lap dogs.”
“But he curls up so nicely on my lap when we are watching television together!”
“This isn’t a joke, Freya. Werewolves depend on their pack for control of their feral side. Lone werewolves can—and have—lost all control and killed the people around them. The USN has had to clean up some pretty bloody crime scenes from werewolves gone crazy.”
“David has been nothing but in control around me. He even fixed me a gourmet dinner; that certainly doesn’t sound like an out-of-control werewolf to me!” Oops. Maybe I shouldn’t have said that. Alrik’s cheeks flushed in anger.
“You have been alone around him? Freya, you of all people should know that monsters can hide behind some pretty nice faces! Don’t make me come in after you’ve been hurt and clean up the mess again. I’ve done it before. I don’t want to do it again.”
He pushed back into his seat and deflated slightly, his shoulders drooping forward. For me, the elephant in the room had been acknowledged. He must have realized his overstep because he tried to reach for my hand, but I pulled it away. “I care about you, Freya,” he said in a soft voice. “That’s why I don’t want you to get hurt. In fact, I don’t think you know how much I care about you.”
My eyes were watering up and I threw my napkin on the table. “You can’t say those things after you throw Florida in my face. I’m walking back to school; don’t bother to come with me.”
It took me the whole fifteen-minute walk to get control of myself. Yes, Alrik had destroyed the coven, but I had saved myself from them. I didn’t owe him anything. As for his last comments, about caring for me, I didn’t know what to think. Perhaps he was trying to make good after his idiotic statement. I had one last sniffle and then attempted a half-hearted smile. I hadn’t had a guy pay attention to me in a very long time. It appeared I now had two men interested.
Chapter 7
When packed for my day at school this morning, I threw my cello into the Eagle along with all the other supplies. I didn’t know the people in my neighborhood well enough to serenade them yet. Hopefully, after a bit, I could convince them that I wasn’t too bad of a player and could keep my volume low, but until then, I would play in my classroom. After the disastrous lunch with Alrik I returned to school and decompressed by playing my favorite Mozart pieces as loud as I could. I once read how some people think that Mozart used mathematical equations to compose his music. Perhaps that is the reason I find his music so centering.
After an hour or so I felt much calmer and a bit guilty running away from Alrik in such a huff. When I got home I found an elaborate daisy bouquet sitting on my doorstep and a handwritten note from Alrik describing how much of an ass he had been. My heart lightened even more. How did he know that daisies were my favorite? Perhaps I had been too hard on him. Florida had messed with a lot of our heads, and he had been nothing but wonderful since then. And having David suddenly appear at lunch was probably a shock to the system.
I was arranging the daisies in a vase when the dishes on the shelf started to jump and rattle all by themselves and then fall to the ground. I looked at them, puzzled, for a second; why were they doing that? And then I realized the whole house was shaking. Earthquake! Not even a month in California and I was already experiencing an earthquake. I dove under my kitchen table and watched my previously stable world go crazy. After about thirty seconds, the shaking stopped. My shaking took a bit longer to stop.
My cell phone rang. David. Yes, I was okay. Yes, he was okay. We hung up. My cell phone almost immediately rang again. Alrik. Yes, I was okay. Yes, he was okay. We hung up. I wandered outside. A tree was uprooted next door and the street had a couple cracks in it, but mostly, things were okay. The whole neighborhood appeared to be outdoors and talking with each other; nothing like a natural disaster to bring people together. I hugged the older couple whose tree was uprooted—they were in a bit of shock. I laughed with a woman down the street about being a true Californian now.
I was sweeping up the broken dishes when my sister called. I had forgotten that she probably felt the earthquake as well.
“Elin! Did you get it? Did the new house hold up to its earthquake guarantee? “
“Freya, you got to get out here. There’s a big problem.”
“What? What’s wrong? Are you okay? Is Drew okay?”
“Yeah, yeah, we’re fine. It’s Miguel, our foreman. He took Qiang and Jia to see some old mines around the ranch. He just called and said he and Jia barely made it out of a mine that was collapsing, b
ut Qiang got crushed and died. Miguel wasn’t making much sense, but he keeps talking about Qiang becoming a monster and holding up the roof to let his wife and Miguel out. Jia is unconscious right now. I’m taking Miguel to the hospital, but Drew is with Jia at the mine shaft. I’m not sure what’s happening, but it sounds supernatural. I don’t think I should take her to the hospital. I need your help up here.”
“I’m on my way.” I grabbed my keys and started to put my shoes on without untying the laces. Alrik, I thought. His job as Arbitrator required him to step into some touchy situations. I pulled up his number as fast as I could. He was staying at a hotel on the road leading to the Highway 101 and said he would be waiting outside in five minutes.
Less than three minutes later, he jumped into my Eagle. It was telling of the stress of the situation that he didn’t make some bad joke about my car. “Tell me about the supernaturals,” he said as he was buckling up. I didn’t know much, but I passed the information from my mother and my few impressions.
“They seemed nice enough,” I concluded. “Not scary, but Qiang’s dead. How would any wife take that news? And this isn’t merely a partner, this is the Yin and Yang.”
“My guess, based on your information, is that Jia gave all her strength to Qiang to hold up the collapsing mine and that’s why she’s unconscious right now. But when he died, does the power flow back?” He drummed his fingers on his leg. “I don’t know.”
Not knowing the answer either, I didn’t reply and shifted the Eagle into a lower gear to help power up the grade. The engine made a low, groaning noise but decided to cooperate and give out a little more power. The drive out to the ranch had never seemed this long.
We arrived at Drew and Elin’s house, but only then did I realize that Drew was at some mine shaft, not at the house. Small detail, but I think I knew the answer of where, exactly, they were on the property. Drew and Elin usually carried two-way radios when they were out on the ranch since there wasn’t any cell coverage. The front door was unlocked, and there was one radio left sitting in its cradle.
“Drew, it’s Freya. I’m at your house. Where are you and how is Jia?” Wasn’t I suppose to finish with “over and out” or “breaker, breaker” or something?
The answer came within two seconds, and Drew’s voice sounded surprising clear. I guess I had watched too many old television shows and expected it to be all crackly. “Freya! Thank God. I’m feeling a little out of my league here. Look on the inside of the left cupboard door by the sink. There is a map of the ranch and all the two tracks. We are at the mine shaft in the upper left corner of the map by the gravel wash. Your car should make it out here fine. Jia seems to be waking up, but, damn, I have no idea what to do when she does.”
“I’ll be there as soon as I can.” Of course, I didn’t know what to do in this situation, either. My gratitude for the presence of Alrik, who had way more experience with supernaturals in crisis, multiplied.
Alrik navigated while I drove. The two tracks we took were rough, but the Eagle took them in stride. Mentally, I made a little tally mark in the air. Score AMC. We crossed over the gravel wash, and Alrik spotted Drew’s old red truck. I pulled the Eagle next to the truck. Where was Drew?
“Is that Drew?” Alrik asked as he pointed in the distance.
Oh crap, that was Drew lying unconscious on the ground about one hundred yards away up a steep hillside. Where was Jia? We both ran over, Alrik outdistancing me by at least twenty yards.
By the time I got to Drew, he was cautiously pulling himself up to a seated position with Alrik’s help.
“I guess whatever you said wasn’t the right thing,” I said, a little out of breath, and kneeled next to Drew, who was now sitting with his head between his legs.
He raised his head enough to give me a nasty look and then dropped it back. “I didn’t even get to say anything. Jia all the sudden sat up and clocked me in the head with a rock. Thank God she didn’t put much power behind it; she could have killed me. Aahh, my head is pounding.”
“You are pretty hideous looking. Maybe that was all the reason she needed.” I said. It was Alrik’s turn to glare at me. I rolled my eyes at him. What else could you say at a time like this?
Alrik turned back to Drew. “Do you know which way she went?”
“Nope. I was a little too busy being unconscious to pay much attention.”
Alrik and I scanned the distance. The mine shaft was on a ridge of rock which continued for probably about a mile. On the other side of the fifty-foot gravel wash was a similar-sized ridge. Both sides had numerous large boulders and craggy outcroppings. Black shadows in the ridge suggested that there were plenty of caves and pathways through the hills. It was a life-sized, three-dimensional maze. I realized that the wind, which had been blowing lightly, had quit. The silence seemed to grow thick and settle into the wash.
“What about Qiang?” I asked, breaking the ominous quiet. “Elin said that he was dead? Are we sure? Could he just be trapped?”
Drew pointed to a pile of rocks about a third of the way up the ridge and again spoke without raising his head. “Oh, he’s dead. I won’t forget that image for the rest of my life. He was pulverized. It was like his insides were turned to the outside. His elbow was the only thing sticking out of the rocks and not crushed. Why his elbow?”
Alrik and I glanced at each other. I was willing to take Drew at his word, and it appeared Alrik was, too.
Alrik composed himself and stood up. I could see him changing from a bystander to officer-in-charge. It was his Arbitrator mode, and one that I had only seen a few other times. His shoulders went back and he dusted off his hands.
“Freya, you take the ground search. Drew, help her when you feel ready. It’s been probably twenty minutes since she ran off—she can’t have gotten far. I’ll take the air search. If you see her, give a whistle. We don’t know what we’re dealing with, and it’s best that we approach any situation as a group.”
Drew raised his head entirely. “Be careful. There are tunnels and caves all over the place, not to mention old mine shafts. You can get lost in them easily. Plus, there could be earthquake aftershocks. In fact, don’t go into any caves. I don’t want anyone else to get hurt.”
Alrik stripped off his shirt and his wings instantly appeared. Drew jumped in shock. He had seen me in my flight form before, but that was his only experience. Male Alvas are an impressive sight. Their wingspans are even larger and somehow more intimidating, and therefore males need more back and chest muscle to control their larger wings. Alrik had a very nice six pack and well-muscled arms to round it out. The downsweep of his wings blew the loose dust into small tornadoes, and some pebbles hit me in the thigh. I couldn’t help it. The sight of a male Alva, especially Alrik, made my heart beat faster. It reminded me of home and soaring over craggy Swedish fjords going out to sea, the feeling of being free. It reminded me of being understood as an Alva and being treasured for who I was, instead of hiding like we were some sort of monstrosity
I must have looked a little too long because Alrik looked down at me and caught my glance. His face changed, and the Arbitrator face shifted to something more contemplative, with a hint of satisfaction. I looked away quickly, confused. It had been easier to think of Alrik as the tormentor of my teenage years.
I turned to Drew. “Can you help, or do you need a little more time?”
“I’m good. Let’s explore together. It’ll be safer.” Good, I thought. This situation was getting dangerous fast.
An hour of searching revealed nothing. We were hindered by not being able to go into any of the caves or subterranean areas. There were, in fact, several aftershocks that shook the hillside, causing mini-avalanches. Drew and I escaped the rock falls each time, but it was scary being so exposed.
At my signal, Alrik rejoined us on the ground. “These aftershocks are hiding any trail we can see, and calling for her isn’t working. I was thinking that maybe we should call in David. In werewolf form, he may be able to s
cent her trail,” I said.
Drew looked shocked at the mention of a werewolf. Poor guy was having a lifetime’s worth of supernaturals today.
Alrik considered my suggestion but didn’t look too happy. Too bad, I thought. This wasn’t his territory; it was mine. I was getting huffy and was about to tell him to shove it, I was calling David regardless, when Alrik agreed.
“You are right; we need all the help we can get. Let’s go back to the house and call your mother to fill her in as well.”
Darn it, Alrik was throwing me off balance today. I bit back my now-uncalled-for snippy comment and nodded.
Back at the house, I dialed David. He picked up before the second ring. From the cheerful tone of his voice, he was clearly pleased that I had called, but his tone turned serious when I informed him of the situation. He asked a few questions and promised to leave right away. The call to my mother didn’t quite go as smooth. I could tell that she wanted to yell at me but couldn’t come up with a good reason. But she did make me promise to keep looking, be safe, keep Alrik around, not go in any caves, call her with any updates, and be safe. In return, she was going to reach the Sun/Moon tribe, inform them of the situation, and get any information she could to help us. I did not envy her that job, but she was excellent in her profession of diplomat.
David arrived in what seemed to be record time. The four of us headed back to the mine site. Drew kept giving David not-so-covert side glances as if he were trying to spot fangs. After David caught Drew staring for the third time, I laughed.
“Sorry, David. Drew is feeling a little left out. He doesn’t turn into a wolf or a flying creature or some sort of human energy Siamese twin.”
“I’m glad not to be a supernatural,” Drew said with more than a little bit of relief. “You guys are nothing but trouble. I’m not sure what I married myself into.”
“You are lucky Elin gave you the time of day, commoner,” I said in a pretend sniff.
“And I usually eat anyone who has discovered my supernatural identity,” David said in the mildest of voices.
