There is no trail to follow, here—it disappears just as the one in Arizona did. Shall we return to Fresno, or somewhere nearby so we may plan our next move? Dragon asked.
Fresno, Dad said.
Everybody agreed. We were there in less than a minute.
* * *
"Where's Darzi?" I asked Karzac, who moped at the kitchen island over a cup of tea.
"With Martin and young Mack Walters," Karzac sighed. "He worried that he might be needed, so I didn't argue. At least he feels useful, watching the Pack while they run."
"I like him—a lot," I said, opening the fridge and pulling out the orange juice. "We need groceries again," I sighed, pouring the last of the juice into a glass and drinking it in three swallows.
"Your mother does so much that goes unnoticed, until she is gone," Karzac observed.
"Yeah." I took a seat nearby and studied the orange juice carton, turning it this way and that in my hands. That's when Gina called.
"Hi, baby," I strode away from the kitchen while answering her call. "You okay?"
"I was calling to ask you the same thing," she said.
"We're still in a funk after the funeral," I said, not mentioning the full reason why.
"I'm so sorry," Gina said. "I don't suppose you could come over for dinner tonight? Mom's making pot roast and there's plenty to go around."
"I might be able to," I hedged. "Let me check with Dad and I'll call you back."
"Okay," she said brightly. "I hope you can come."
* * *
"Go ahead. I doubt we'll arrive at any sort of solution for a few hours, so there's no reason not to," Dad said when I asked if I could visit Gina. "Just be careful," he added.
"I will. The old house isn't far away; I should be fine. Oh," I said, remembering something, "What are we going to do about lessons, now that we're officially back?"
"We'll have to continue them," Dad sighed. "I don't see how we can do otherwise at this point."
"I'll let Gina know," I nodded. "Thanks, Dad."
* * *
An hour later, I was in my Jeep and driving toward the old house. I'd phoned Gina before I left, letting her know I was on the way. She sounded happy—excited. That made me feel good. Honestly, I needed some happy around me, after everything else that had gone down recently.
Mom's absence still worried me, but I shoved it aside for now, determined to have a good time with Gina and her mother. After all, they'd gone through trauma, too, and who knows what they needed to make them feel secure?
Security—it was a thing I'd never been concerned about, before. Mom and Dad always made sure I was safe. Half that team was now missing and in need of protection herself.
Still, it hadn't sunk in completely how vulnerable she was. I'd seen Joey close to tears several times as he frantically switched from one website to another, searching for any activity on her bank accounts and such.
Maybe teaching our lessons would pull him out of his funk—at least for a while.
It wasn't long before I was parking in the driveway of the old house. It's funny how things change once you leave something so familiar behind, replacing it with something new.
The strawberry farm was home, now. That's when it hit me—home wasn't a place—home was the people. Mom, Dad, Mack, Joey. They made home what it was. It was never about the structure, although I had fond memories of it—of us, rather—inside it.
This house was home for Gina, now, because that's where she and her mother were. Opening the door and climbing out of my truck before more nostalgia set in, I strode over the familiar walkway, my shoes crunching on the concrete walk as I walked toward the front door and rang the doorbell.
Gina met me at the door and lifted her face to me, inviting a kiss. I gave it to her willingly.
It felt good.
* * *
Darzi's Journal
Nefrigar come to me before I go to Earth. He say to write, for Larentii Archives. He say it important.
I agree. I write often. Did not before. Nefrigar make sense.
I watch from hill as Pack run by. They in danger. I here to make safe. Was told to keep alive.
All important.
I do.
* * *
Adam's Journal
"This is where the footprints and other evidence disappears in Arizona," Lion tapped a map spread across the kitchen island as we had sandwiches for dinner. "Here, they disappear in Arkansas." He tapped the second map. "Both times, they travel less than half a mile from the town before vanishing. Something powerful is behind this, but I'll be damned if I know what it is."
"It has to be more powerful than the Larentii, or something that the Larentii may not be able to detect. Has there ever been such a thing?" Dragon asked. His eyes, narrowed and questioning, turned toward Lion and me.
"Do you want to call Pheligar and ask?" I said. Dragon was currently in charge of the Saa Thalarr, and Pheligar should heed his call anyway. Dragon seldom asked the Larentii for anything.
"I'll ask, just be prepared for a refusal to answer, or an answer cloaked in even more mystery," Dragon sighed, leaning back in his chair and lifting the glass of Scotch he'd poured for himself.
Radomir, Russell, Will and the other vampires sat around the island with us, but were more than content to listen. They were completely trustworthy and we talked freely in front of them.
If they hadn't seen Pheligar yet, they were about to be surprised.
"I know what you're asking," Pheligar appeared—he'd employed nexus echo and heard his name mentioned. "The Larentii seldom speak of it, but yes, there was something we could not detect. We thought it extinct. That may no longer be true."
Frowning, he enlarged a barstool with power and sat between Lion and Dragon while Radomir schooled his face to hide the surprise. "Can you elaborate?" Dragon asked politely.
"I do not wish to, but yes, I will." He sat for a moment, as if considering how he might tell us what he knew. The information was painful to him, unless I missed my guess.
"There was a world," he began, "called Sirena. Its inhabitants were called Sirenali, and they could place obsession. As terrible as that seems, it wasn't the most dangerous thing about them. The race was created—as a whole—as unreadables to all. Even the very powerful cannot see their presence. That, in itself, made them very, very dangerous."
"What happened to them?" Will blurted, staring wide-eyed at Pheligar. After all, Pheligar said they were supposedly extinct. The question was valid and one I wanted to ask myself.
"The Larentii destroyed their world, after they attacked the Larentii homeworld," Pheligar said simply. "If a few escaped, or any enemy capable of bending time rescued some before their world was destroyed, we could be in terrible trouble."
* * *
I learned something by listening to Pheligar that evening. Obsession was stronger and more volatile than compulsion placed by any vampire. It was a frightening truth that we heard from our Liaison, and I was glad I never knew of it until now.
Of course, if Pheligar's suspicions were correct and a Sirenali was involved, then we could be waging a war we couldn't win. If there were more than one involved, that was too terrifying to contemplate.
I longed for the days when Ra'Ak were deemed the worst enemies we might face. Those days could be gone with the sweep of a hand. The Ra'Ak could bend time. And, although the knowledge of Sirenali had been removed from every other race, the Ra'Ak may have obtained it in some way.
It was inevitable that they'd use whatever they had to destroy the Saa Thalarr. I'd never felt that my new race might feel like a tiny island under siege, but that's how I saw things, now.
We needed help. We needed more Saa Thalarr. We needed so many things.
I needed Kiarra. To talk to. To discuss this new turn of events. I had no doubt that Pheligar would never have given us information on the Sirenali if he didn't suspect their presence.
I shuddered. Kiarra, I sent, we are in terrible trouble. Be safe.
I'd beg you to return to me, but I know I haven't apologized properly, yet. Nevertheless, I miss you terribly and love you more than you know.
* * *
Justin's Journal
Gina's mom was a good cook. The pot roast was great and we ate and talked at the table. I felt comfortable with them, too. After listening to some of my old friends at high school tell about their experiences with girl or boyfriends' parents, I figured it would be the inquisition all over again.
It wasn't. Mrs. Allen treated me like a member of the family and I appreciated that. We talked about Grampa Frank; how he wasn't related by blood but had been just as close and just as loved.
What surprised me, though, was Gina's best friend, Sarah, had been invited, too. Perhaps she was hoping Mack would come, because she asked about him.
"He had a family function he couldn't get out of," I shrugged without elaborating. Sarah accepted that and I was relieved. After all, how can you explain to humans that your best friend is out running through fields, hunting deer or bear with his dad and sister, and that on full moons, he can't help turning to wolf?
For the first time in a while, I felt almost normal—as if I were still in high school instead of worrying about monsters. The fact that others might consider me a monster wasn't a concern.
At least not then.
We laughed, joked, teased, played Monopoly after dinner and I went home at eleven, because the following day was a school day, as it turned out. The drive home was peaceful, with no unexpected surprises.
* * *
Kiarra's Notes
(Deleted from her personal files by her father.)
I'd stopped at another motel next to a restaurant in Little Rock, Arkansas. Somehow, somewhere along the road, I realized I was driving toward Corpus Christi and ultimately, Port Aransas. Yes, that's where Adam and I met, and our M'Fiyah manifested. I'd driven more than eleven hours and was exhausted for the second day in a row. I only wanted to crawl in bed after my meal and huddle there, feeling lost, alone and sorry for myself.
Everybody has days when they want to crumble. This was one in a string of several, all in a very short period of time, beginning with Mack's near-death in a Fresno jail cell.
Slumping on the side of my hotel bed, I tossed the key card onto the nightstand with a plastic, ticking noise. I wanted to cry, but the tears refused to fall. I knew they would eventually, but for now, I was just too tired.
That's when he came. I hadn't seen him since I'd become Saa Thalarr. It's funny that I never recall him until he appears again, and then I remember.
My father.
Yes, I tell everybody I never knew who he was.
That's true. I still don't know who he is—he's never told me. I can tell now, however, that power vibrates off him like snow sweeps off a tall mountain in a strong, winter wind.
He's tall. Dark-haired. Gray-eyed. More handsome than Adam, even, though their coloring is much the same. Perhaps some part of me saw that in Adam when we met the first time. I didn't consciously recognize it, however.
"What's wrong with my darling girl?" The comforter rustled beneath his weight as he sat beside me and pulled me into his embrace.
"Daddy, everything is wrong," I sniffled against his shoulder.
Chapter 14
Kiarra's Notes
(Deleted from her personal files by her father.)
When I stopped crying—eventually—he tipped my chin up with a gentle finger. I stared through tear-blurred eyes at him. At his earnest, loving gaze. "Why is all this happening?" I croaked. My voice had deteriorated after sobbing for a good twenty minutes.
"Sweetheart, so many things are happening wrongly at the moment. We must remain vigilant. You," he tapped my nose with a finger, "must go back to your family. You will be safer there, and they will be safer with your advice added to the mix. I know what you want in Port Aransas, you were unconsciously driving there—to the beach house you bought years ago. Isn't that right?"
"Yes." I hung my head.
"I'm going to take you home, instead—both you and your rental vehicle," he grinned. "All you'll have to do is pull into the driveway and punch in the code. At any other time, I'd have let you stay away as long as you wanted, but you have no power now. That presents a very big problem. If you don't want to sleep with Adam when you get back, then tell him to sleep on the patio or while hanging upside down from a tree. It's one thing to have your pride wounded. It's another to be a total prick about it."
"That's the truth," I nodded, hoping he'd hug me close again. He did. "I don't know what to think about this baby," I sighed.
"I know. Raise her properly. I'll see that the decisions will be hers, when the time comes."
I wondered briefly what he meant by that before letting it go.
"One more thing before we go," he kissed my hair.
"What's that?" I mumbled against a crisp, white shirt.
"Wear the earrings. You'll know when to stop wearing them."
* * *
Justin's Journal
I'd pulled up to the keypad outside the gate. Rolling down the window, I reached out to punch in the number. A car I didn't recognize immediately pulled up behind me. I froze.
Cautiously poking my head out the window, I looked back to see who it might be.
"Justin, it's me," Mom said, sticking her head out the car window to look at me. She sounded exhausted. "Will you let me in?"
* * *
Adam's Journal
"I don't remember driving here," Kiarra mumbled as she shuffled past me. Joey stood in the foyer, wringing his hands. He knew, as did I, that Kiarra was ready to drop. Had she driven all the way from New Jersey in the space of two days?
"The last thing I remember is Little Rock," she said as Joey lifted her and carried her toward our bedroom.
I should have done that. Feeling like a callous dolt, I followed Joey and watched as he laid her carefully on the bed before checking her vitals. Karzac appeared immediately, as did Dragon, and both checked the baby. Merrill stood behind me, afraid to push in any farther.
"Just let me sleep," Kiarra mumbled, attempting to fend off the many hands touching her.
"Back away, I will deal with this," Pheligar appeared. After he lifted Kiarra and began the soothing, trilling noise only he was capable of making, she fell asleep quickly. The others stole away. I took a chair in the corner of the room and fell asleep while watching Pheligar hold my wife.
* * *
Justin's Journal
Nothing seemed amiss when classes started on time the following morning. Bearcat went with me to pick up Gina and Sarah; Mack showed up looking only slightly worse for wear.
He offered me a tired smile, though, so I figured the night had gone well enough.
Darzi had come in for breakfast before school, ate two bowls of wheat shreds with four strips of bacon and then went to the backyard, where Uncle Lion reported that he was sunning himself (as a snake) on a big rock that was part of the landscaping around the house.
Lion warned me, in case the girls wanted to go into the backyard. I wasn't sure how I'd explain that the huge, unidentifiable snake meant them no harm. Mack snickered—he was included in Lion's mindspeech.
Mom was still asleep at noon, but the Internet had been busy since we'd left New York. No idea which attendee at Grampa Franklin's funeral had done the deed, but Merrill was furious when Joey showed the YouTube video to all of us at lunchtime.
Mom had been recorded, singing both songs at the funeral and the video had already gotten half a million hits.
Comments were piled atop each other, ranging from why isn't she on America's Best Talent? to someone offering to act as her agent and sign her to a record deal.
Everybody wanted to know who she was and nobody could find any information. The only good thing—in my opinion—was that the image was grainy and you couldn't make out much of Mom's face in the dim interior of the church. Her voice, though, sounded like an angel's.
"Look
at this—they're already comparing her to Renée Mendenhall," Joey pointed at a comment.
"Fuck," Dad shook his head. "What are we going to tell her? How are we going to tell her?"
"Tell me what?" Mom shuffled into the kitchen, dressed in a robe and pajamas. Gina and Sarah, who'd sat quietly by while the rest of us went batshit over the unexpected video, turned toward Mom.
"I never knew that about you," Gina said. "You sound incredible."
"You think so?" Mom offered Gina a smile.
"A bunch of other people do, too," Sarah breathed. "I couldn't tell it was you, until Justin and Mack said so."
"At least my face isn't in the light," Mom said as she studied the video over Joey's shoulder.
"You sound better about this," Dad said.
"You should stay out of it," Mom retorted, pointing a finger at Dad's chest. He shut up immediately.
"At least the fees were paid to the rights holders," Merrill grumbled. "Those were the songs Franklin requested, and that had already been taken care of before the funeral, since the symphony was involved."
"You know, this gives me an idea," Mom said.
"What idea?" Dad asked. Mom did her best to ignore him, but answered the question anyway.
"Gina, I know your mother has never gotten closure on your father, because his remains were never found. What if I sell both those songs as a limited release to raise money for that—I know someone will take money to turn over what they have to a neutral party—it's not widely known, but they do accept bribes."
"Would you do that?" Gina breathed before wiping tears away. That was my cue—I moved to her side and put my arms around her. She leaned against me and that felt right and proper.
"I'll do it this once, just to get the right thing done," Mom said, determination showing in her blue eyes. "We'll make this work. Adam, will you contact those people you know in the FBI? I think we can offer suggestions on who to contact."
That's when I realized that Mom had gone Looking for Mr. Allen's remains. It might take some finesse, but I couldn't help but think that the deal might be as good as done.
Wyvern and Company Page 20
