"No always means no, but you can ask whether they really want you to stop," Merrill said. "Pull away first and ask your question. Never, ever, manhandle or paw her. Pull away and offer to leave it for another time. It will be extremely frustrating, but a session in the shower is ultimately better than offending."
"Wow. Thanks, Uncle Merrill," I said, rising and stretching. It was nearly two in the morning and I had to get some sleep.
"No problem. Come to me anytime if you have concerns," he said.
* * *
Uncle Dragon had his back to me when I walked into the kitchen the following morning, still half asleep after a short night. Even with a short night, I was up before Mack and watched for a moment as Dragon lifted a cup of tea to drink.
"Hey, Uncle Dragon," I said, walking past him and heading toward the fridge for some juice.
"Dragon will be here in a moment—he is speaking with Lion upstairs."
Yeah, I stopped in my tracks and whirled around.
He looked exactly like Uncle Dragon, except for the tattoos of cranes peeking from beneath the rolled-up sleeves of a white shirt.
"Uh, wow. Sorry," I apologized.
"You weren't expecting me, so no apology is necessary. I was often mistaken for my brother in the past," the corners of his eyes crinkled in a smile. "Dragon found it less amusing than I did. I am Crane, former General to the Dragon Warlord."
"Glad to meet you," I bowed my head slightly. He did the same, his dark eyes gleaming as he moved. He never took his eyes off me, either; it was a show of respect.
"I see you've met my brother," Dragon walked into the kitchen with Lion right behind him.
"I thought he was you from behind," I said. "Sorry about that."
"No need to apologize," Dragon waved a hand. "The vampires were called back to Britain last night, so your father and I transported them. A small town in Scotland was destroyed by spawn, so the Vampire Council called their enforcers back. I'd hoped the problem was confined to the U.S. That is no longer true. I brought Crane here afterward, to help with spawn in the absence of our vampire allies."
"Thank you for coming," I said, while the chill of fear and worry went through me. Crane was only one man; how could he replace Radomir, Russell and Will? At least we still had Merrill, Kyle, Daniel and Teddy, but that left us short.
The one advantage Crane had over the vampires was that he could fight in daylight. My concern was this—was he fast enough to fight spawn?
"If you were skilled in bladework, Crane would show you how fast he is," Dragon pulled the thoughts right out of my head. "I would not have asked him to come if he weren't prepared to fight effectively."
"Then we're cool," I said. "Sorry."
"Those questions are the same I'd ask as Warlord," Dragon said. "There is no offense."
"My brother prefers those around him who are skilled in strategy and think for themselves," Crane said. "He invites respectful dissent and argument, as that tends to point out flaws in any plan. It gives time in most circumstances to revise or redesign battle tactics."
"You live longer," Dragon shrugged. Lion grinned and slapped Dragon on the back.
"That is seriously cool," Mack breathed as he walked into the kitchen and studied Dragon and Crane.
"Someday, I will teach you bladework," Crane gave Mack a nod. "My brother has already promised to instruct this one," he gestured in my direction.
"All right," Mack crowed and raised his arms in the air.
"What the hell is anybody doing about breakfast?" Mom walked in dressed in pajamas and looking somewhat rumpled. "Justin, Mack, school starts in an hour," she pointed out.
"I bow to the First," Crane said, giving Mom a deep bow of respect.
"Now see, why can't I get more of that?" she grumped and walked toward the fridge to get eggs and ham out.
Dragon covered a snicker. Lion laughed out loud.
Chapter 15
At least it was Friday. Gina had to work at the restaurant after school, though, so any plans for our first lovemaking had to be put on hold. As it turned out, Mack and I had to work, too. Dad got a call from werewolf Agent Renfro, who said the spawn in Memphis were becoming a problem and we needed to come.
"We'll be there just after dark tonight. Will that work?" Dad asked, his cell phone pressed to his ear as he walked into the kitchen. Merrill, who walked in with him, went straight to the coffeepot and set about making coffee for Dad and himself.
"Would you like some green tea, Kiarra?" Dragon asked softly. She was busy scrambling eggs in two skillets in between turning ham slices over in two more.
"Here," Crane took over at the stove while Mom lifted an eyebrow in surprise.
"He cooks?" Mom stared at Dragon. "And yes, tea would be wonderful. Thank you."
"Crane is quite decent at cooking, actually," Dragon said. "Although he prefers meats over vegetables. Have a seat—we'll take care of this."
In no time, everybody had a plate of eggs, ham and toast in front of them, except for Mom, who had eggs, toast and strawberries.
Gina and Sarah found us there, eating and talking before school started that morning. Bearcat, who'd become a regular chauffeur for them, grinned, took a seat and accepted a plate of food.
"Want something to eat, baby?" I asked Gina softly after standing to greet her.
"We had breakfast," she smiled shyly and put an arm around my waist.
"Cool. I need to brush my teeth before class," I said. "Mack does, too."
"Huh?" Mack looked up from his plate in surprise. Sarah giggled.
* * *
Adam's Journal
We had one Falchani warrior to replace three vampires; that meant we could be short-handed when facing an unknown quantity of spawn in Memphis. At least these showed up on our radar; the Paranormal Division of the FBI was watching them closely.
I ground my teeth as Justin and Mack dressed for battle before Dragon and I folded them to Memphis.
* * *
Justin's Journal
Agents Renfro and White met us at the usual building downtown and showed us a map of our targeted area—an old petroleum storage facility on the river. "We think the employees have been turned to spawn—most of them, anyway. There are a few humans still there, providing product to boats and barges, but we can tell by scent that spawn are there."
"Our surveillance cameras show a few suspected spawn working outside after dark," White broke in. "We've only observed until now, hoping your team might be available to help. We've had word," the vampire Agent raised his hand. "We know the Enforcers have been called back to the UK, so we're prepared to go in with you tonight."
"Good—thank you," Dad said. I could tell he was relieved at the news. Teddy was too; he was worried—more than Mack and I were, I think. At least we had Darzi with us—he stood next to Mack, listening carefully to everything everybody said.
"We tried to get Winkler and some of his wolves to fly in, but he seems to be neck deep in business negotiations in the Corpus area and couldn't come," Renfro said. "Something about buying property and incorporating a new township on the Gulf Coast." Renfro sounded disappointed. So was I—Mr. Winkler had been terrifyingly efficient at killing spawn, as had the wolves with him in Dallas.
I thought Winkler was the Dallas Packmaster, Mack sent. What's he doing in Corpus Christi?
No idea, I sent a mental shrug with my words. Maybe your Dad knows, since he's a Packmaster, too.
I'm almost afraid to ask about that stuff, Mack shivered. I had no idea that anybody can challenge a Packmaster at any time. The fight is to the death. Dad told me he's been challenged five times since I was born. Do you know what that means? He could have died.
That's not scary or anything. I wanted to shiver, too. I didn't, but it was close. Being a werewolf isn't all fun and games, is it? I asked.
I figure it might be better than what your parents do, Mack responded. Or what we're trying to do here, he added.
Yeah. I hope this time is
better than the last time.
You think more of those kapirus things may come out of the river?
"If more of those kapirus things arrive, as you say, I assure you they will not live long." A large hand dropped onto my shoulder while the others, Dad included, almost took a step back.
The only one who didn't seem surprised was Darzi, who offered a respectful nod to the High Demon who stood behind me.
In human form, he was taller than I was, with dark eyes, darker hair and a habit of breathing curls of smoke. I guess if you were classified as a demon, you could do those kinds of things.
"He Kifirin," Darzi nodded toward the High Demon. "We work together, now."
Dragon cursed in his native language and offered Kifirin a bow of respect. Kifirin nodded back, his eyes meeting Dragon's. Dragon knew of Kifirin, at least, even if he didn't recognize him.
Dad's shoulders sagged in relief—he knew something too, he just wasn't saying it.
* * *
Adam's Journal
What the hell is a god doing here? I sent to Dragon.
I will not question powerful help, Dragon replied. This one outranks Thorsten, so he cannot be commanded not to help. I fear we may be facing something terrible here, otherwise he would likely have stayed away.
Why would a god interfere? Has that ever happened before?
It happened in Florida, and your son's life was saved as a result, Dragon observed.
True, I said. Remind me to thank him for that.
No thanks are necessary, Kifirin broke into our mental conversation, telling us immediately that even our shielded sendings were open to him.
Do not fear, he added. I am used to a variety of conversations and your information will stay with me.
Then I'm grateful we didn't say anything to anger you, I said.
He chuckled aloud.
He not always like that, Darzi informed me, shocking the hell out of me that he had mindspeech. He much better, now. Stronger. Laugh more. Have better sense.
Kifirin threw back his head and roared with laughter.
* * *
Justin's Journal
I wasn't sure what the mental conversation was about, but Kifirin laughed, so it must have been a good one. It made me feel better that he laughed—after all, I'd seen him squeeze a kapirus to death one-handed.
The fact that he could breathe smoke was downright scary, and the way he looked when he changed? Mack would call it poop inducing.
"Is everybody ready?" Agent White asked, pulling us back to the present and our pending mission.
"Ready," Dad nodded. He and Dragon folded us to the old petroleum company near the Mississippi River.
* * *
Adam's Journal
Dragon nodded to Crane before he and I left—something passed between those two, letting me know that his twin likely had mindspeech, too. Had Pheligar collected him in the beginning, or had someone more powerful?
I still had no recollection as to who'd rescued Kiarra and me—all I recalled was that we'd died. To me, the fact that we lived now told me that we still had work to do. It angered me, and not for the first time, that Thorsten had bound our hands, now. After all, our mission was to combat spawn and Ra'Ak. It was the very reason the Saa Thalarr existed—why they'd been created.
Someday, perhaps Kiarra and I should talk about the hierarchy of gods and godlings. All I had was a vague awareness, with no idea of Kifirin's place in all of it.
"Earth teas are always too weak," Dragon murmured as he sipped the strongest offering available at the Memphis coffee shop we'd chosen.
"Staying awake for a week isn't very healthy for the local inhabitants," I pointed out. "Plus, lack of sleep makes them cranky. I believe you were born cranky." Normally I wouldn't spar with the Dragon Warlord-turned-Saa Thalarr, but I liked the local tea just fine and it offended me that someone raised on another planet might complain about it.
A dark eyebrow lifted before he snorted a laugh and raised his cup in a mock salute.
* * *
Justin's Journal
While I would have preferred to approach the building as quietly as I could, Kifirin felt it prudent to announce our presence by stomping toward the rusting metal building, turning to his smaller (according to Darzi) Thifilathi and roaring a challenge.
"Oh, man," Mack breathed beside me. Spawn came boiling from every door, crack and crevice in that building. At least the young, normal-sized ones did. The larger ones burst through the metal as if it were paper and bore down on us, some of which had to be at least twelve feet tall.
That's when I saw Kifirin's Full Thifilathi.
Eighteen feet of angry High Demon braced himself and waited for the spawn to attack.
They did, and it shocked me when I saw what would happen when they touched his scales.
An accident at a fireworks factory might have been less of a distraction. Spawn burned and exploded the second they touched him. Maybe somebody told the spawn to aim for the biggest and baddest of the enemies confronting them—I had no idea.
All I knew is that they attacked Kifirin first and as a result, died in the hundreds.
The few that got knocked away by the explosions of others of their kind were casually destroyed by the rest of us. I learned never to doubt Crane's skills again—both blades were in his hands and spawn were beheaded almost indifferently when they attempted to get near the former Falchani General.
What worried me was the sheer numbers of spawn waiting to attack. There had to be thousands of them. Kifirin stood tall on cracked concrete in the moonlight while spawn exploded in showers of sparks all around him.
It became obvious that heat and fire bothered him less than the spawn did. The big ones? They blew up in huge fireballs after touching him, and the heat, stench and the force of the winds afterward pushed the rest of us backward.
Right into the advancing army of kapiri.
Fly, young one, Kifirin's voice commanded in mindspeech. I was terrified as the first kapirus was met by Merrill, who flew around it so fast it was cut to ribbons before it realized.
I don't know how, I wailed at Kifirin as a kapirus came for Mack's wolf.
How did he do it? Information I'd never known before shoved its way into my mind so fast it gave my wyvern a headache.
Along with the sudden knowledge of how to fly came information on breathing fire. You are now much more than you were, Kifirin grunted as another large spawn burst into a fireball behind me. Fly. Protect your friends.
Before I took flight for the first time, I roared at the kapirus who'd lifted Mack's wolf like a toy, preparing to bite his throat. My fire hit the monster's feet—I didn't want to aim higher and risk hurting Mack.
Mack yelped when the kapirus dropped him, then rolled away while I roared again, releasing a jet of flame that burned the kapirus' head and shoulders to a crisp.
"Get back, let Justin and the vampires have them," Merrill shouted at the werewolves.
That's when I lifted off the concrete, beating unfurled wings as hard as I could to escape a grasping kapirus; he'd thought to attack and pull me down. I burned him with half a thought while I flapped upward. Yes, I'd blinded the last kapirus who thought to attack me in Florida, but my fire had been weaker, then.
This time, I had the force of a dozen giant flamethrowers at my disposal, and discovered just how vulnerable kapiri were to fire.
Scales and flesh burned and melted as I flew, whipping in and out of their ranks like the swiftest mouse through a familiar maze. At least fifty had been sent to attack us, and with Merrill, Kyle and Agent White working together to cut and kill, we annihilated their numbers.
The last three turned and ran, but they didn't get far. My wyvern had the scent of burning flesh and melting scales in my nostrils that night as I flew after them and took them down.
There were a few wounds to tend after the last of the spawn died—Mack was bruised and had a concussion after being thrown onto hard concrete. Teddy, Agent Renfro
and Daniel had cuts and bruises—all vampires showed evidence of their fight with kapiri.
Darzi, Crane and I were the only ones, aside from Kifirin, who came away unscathed. Darzi had killed his share of kapiri by whipping in and biting what Merrill and the others managed to knock down with claw cuts.
Ready to come get us? I sent to Dad.
He and Dragon were there in seconds. Kifirin folded himself away with a nod, while Dragon took the agents back to their office and Dad hauled the rest of us to Fresno.
* * *
"Kifirin give gift—bring out wyvern talents," Darzi shrugged, explaining to Dad and Mom how we'd come out of the attack alive.
"Will he demand anything in return?" Mom sounded worried.
"No," Darzi grinned. "He give true gift. No obligations."
"Good," Mom visibly relaxed. I listened to their conversation while I sipped milk and ate my fifth slice of pizza. I had no idea why Kifirin might demand something in return for a gift I hadn't requested, but realized that if he hadn't, half of us could have died.
"Justin, I'm proud of you," Mom smiled at me. "You, too, honey," she hugged Mack. He'd been treated by Karzac before he was allowed to eat, then finished off an entire pizza by himself.
Even injured, he, Daniel, Teddy and Agent Renfro, with help from Crane, continued to kill spawn who thought to get around Kifirin. Altogether, it was a successful night, although we would have lost everything without the High Demon's help.
"I'm just glad Kifirin decided to help us," Mack mumbled. "I think I could sleep a week after this."
"Sleep as long as you want, tomorrow's Saturday," Mom smiled and rubbed his back. "Your dad and your sister are coming for dinner tomorrow night."
"Can I invite Gina?" I blurted.
"Of course. Her mother, too, if you'd like."
"I help cook," Darzi offered.
"Thank you." Mom moved to his chair and gave him a hug. He was very happy about that.
"We go grocery store. Buy things," Darzi grinned and hugged Mom back.
"Tomorrow," She laughed. "What are we buying?"
"Surprise," Darzi shrugged. "Make special for you, too."
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