Wyvern and Company

by Suttle, Connie

  "There is no logic or reason left in him or his father," Kiarra rubbed Justin's back. "The blame is his. The guilt is his. Don't take it upon yourself; you had no part in it."

  "What can we do, Dad?" Justin's eyes glittered with unshed tears.

  "Why don't you let me think on that, with your Uncle Dragon and Uncle Lion? We may be able to come up with something."

  I could tell he wasn't convinced. After all, my hands—and the hands of every other Saa Thalarr—had been effectively tied. The only hope I had was that Thorsten's edict concerned spawn.

  Randall Pierce was still human, and he'd threatened my family.

  According to the rules, I was allowed to protect my family and myself. I just needed a way to get Randall Pierce to attack one of us openly.

  I'd missed my chance when Raymond Pierce attacked Kiarra in a grocery store parking lot.

  I didn't intend to let the opportunity slip away a second time.

  "We'll figure this out, honey," Kiarra hugged Justin. "It may take a while, but it'll happen."

  "I sure hope you're right," Justin mumbled.

  * * *

  Home now, Gina texted me. I can't believe she's gone.

  I'm so sorry, baby. I can't believe it, either, I texted back.

  The police told me Randall Pierce was in on that. He's a murdering bastard.

  He's done his best to wipe all of us out, I agreed. I promise I won't let anything happen to you. I promise. I swear I'll kill him if he comes anywhere near you.

  Justin, stay away from him. He's dangerous, Gina said. I'm sorry, I can barely see the screen. I keep wiping tears away, she added.

  Baby, please don't cry, I wiped away tears of my own. This is so awful.

  I know. I have to go.

  Tossing the cell phone onto my bed, I stood there for a moment, feeling lost. Out of place. As if my slot in the universe had closed up, pushing me out and leaving me behind.

  I wanted to hunt Randall down and crush the life out of him.

  Something in me said that was wrong, but I barely listened to it.

  "Come on, let's do laundry," Mack gripped my arm. "Maybe we can figure this out on our own while we fold jeans."

  "Sure." I didn't mean it, but I followed Mack to the laundry room anyway. We found Mom there ahead of us, moving clothes from the washer to the dryer.

  "We'll get this, Mom, you don't have to pick up after us," Mack said, giving her a big hug. "I talked to Dad a few minutes ago. He said they did what they had to, but he didn't feel good about any of it."

  "I know, honey," Mom rubbed his back before pulling away. "Will you be okay? Tell me if you need Dr. Karzac, all right?"

  "I will."

  "Why don't we get in the pool?" she asked, once the washed clothes were drying and a new load was in the washer.

  "Yeah. I think I could use a warm soak," Mack agreed. "Dude?" He turned to me.

  "Sure," I said. I still felt lost and wanted to cling to all I had left, which happened to be my family.

  If any of them died because of me, I didn't think there was a safe place anywhere for Randall Pierce.

  * * *

  Sorry about the roses, I sent to Dad when Mack and I got in the pool a few minutes later with Mom.

  We'll do it another time, Dad replied. I'll come sit by the pool, he added.

  He brought his tablet and phone and took a seat in a comfortable chair to get work done while Mom floated by and Mack and I swam a few laps.

  Lion and Marlianna showed up after a bit, then Dragon and Crane came. I'd never seen Dragon with his hair wet before, but he and Crane dived into the water on the deep end as if they'd been doing it every day.

  Darzi arrived, became the snake immediately, allowed his clothes to fall in a puddle around him, then dropped into the water from the side of the pool. I guess lion snakes like to swim—he was enjoying himself as he lazily wriggled past Mack and me.

  The last one to arrive and get in the pool, shocking all of us, was Pheligar. I guess Larentii like warm water, too. He sat in a corner on one end of the pool, where the water level was chest-high.

  With his eyes half-closed, he nodded to Mom and Uncle Dragon. I understood they were having mindspeech.

  That's when Mom, Dragon, Crane, Lion and Dad began their conversation on how to find Randall Pierce. Mack and I stopped swimming so we could listen. It became apparent that we all wanted the same thing—Randall Pierce and his father, plus the spawn who were working with them.

  We can only discuss this while Pheligar shields our conversation, Dad informed me after a while. I wasn't sure I understood that completely, but nodded anyway.

  "I've been Looking," Mom said. "We likely can't find them if they're in close proximity to a Sirenali."

  Pheligar slowly nodded his assent, his bright-blue eyes still half-closed.

  Did I say he was naked?

  He was. It didn't seem to bother him a bit. Larentii look humanoid, minus the body hair. If you added sky-blue skin, blond hair and bright blue eyes, he could be a bodybuilder from another world. Every muscle was defined and evident. I didn't see anything that wasn't perfect.

  It's the way they're made, Mom read my mind. He can read your mind, too, you know.

  Do not be embarrassed, Pheligar sent. Curiosity is quite natural. We have our physique naturally as we feed on energy, consisting mainly of sunlight. It sustains us and maintains our bodies.

  That is seriously cool, I returned.

  I watched as the corner of Pheligar's mouth curved slightly. He was smiling.

  "Randall Pierce doesn't stay within range of the Sirenali all the time—we found him easily enough at the mall," Dragon pointed out.

  "I suggest nexus echo," Pheligar said, surprising everybody.

  "What will we listen for?" Mom asked.

  "Your child's name, and that of the young werewolf, there," Pheligar indicated Mack. "You can focus the nexus echo so it will be tuned to one individual, or in this case, two."

  "We may need your help to do it," Dragon observed.

  "Then you will have that. The young one who died should not have."

  I am in total agreement, I sent to Pheligar. Yes, it was probably presumptuous of me to think I could just mindspeak him anytime, but he didn't seem to mind. In fact, he probably knew I was seething over Sarah's death. As Pheligar said—it shouldn't have happened.

  We will speak later, he sent, shocking me completely.

  No, he didn't sound angry. Somehow, his words held a promise—as if he wanted to help me in some way. I had no idea what a Larentii might do to help, but I wanted to stop Randall Pierce. If Pheligar had ideas on that, I was ready to listen.

  * * *

  "So everybody is using that nexus thing to listen for Randall to say our names?" Mack shook his head later as I hung jeans and shirts in my closet. Mack had settled on my bed, his back against the headboard, toying with his cell phone while I worked.

  "Yeah. I guess," I shrugged. It was time for bed—for a normal Sunday night. With Sarah's death, our classes were cancelled for three days. Gina needed the time to mourn. I needed the time to plan.

  That's when Pheligar came to visit. I don't know what he said to Mack in mindspeech, but Mack slid off my bed without a word and went to his bedroom. I heard his door shut only a few seconds later.

  "Please sit, I wish to assess your talents," Pheligar said. I stared stupidly at him for a few seconds before doing as he asked. I took Mack's spot on the bed before nodding to the tall, blue Larentii.

  He placed both hands on my head and closed his eyes, as if concentrating. While a human's hands would have felt warm or perhaps hot after a while, Pheligar's remained cool and comfortable.

  What made me uncomfortable was the fact that he was examining me so closely. I wasn't sure how to feel about it. After several minutes passed, his hands moved away and he stepped back from my bed.

  "You have received extraordinary gifts from the High Demon god," Pheligar sighed.

  "What d
oes that mean?" I blurted.

  "It means you can fold space, young one. Among other things."

  "But I don't know how," I whispered. I could fold space? That sounded preposterous.

  "I am shielding us, so no others will know of this," he added. "This secret would be best kept to yourself, unless it is needed in the direst of circumstances. I must think on this." He disappeared before I could ask any questions.

  If I'd been tired and sleepy before, a Larentii had just given me a jolt, ensuring that I'd be awake most of the night.

  Chapter 17

  Justin's Journal

  The last time I looked at the bedside clock before falling asleep was at four-ten in the morning. My eyes popped open at seven, though, as if I'd had a full night's sleep. Immediately, my mind began its race again, troubled over what Pheligar had discovered.

  What had Kifirin done to me?

  Why had he done it? I was struggling with that one.

  Darzi said it was a true gift, and there were no strings. What did that mean?

  My quilt lay on the floor when I moved to slide off the bed; I'd kicked the heavy cover off sometime during the night. The bedframe squeaked softly as I rose from the mattress, standing and stretching to my full height.

  I'd never really wanted coffee, but considered it now—I needed to wake up and contemplate everything with a clear head.

  Darzi was the only one in the kitchen when I shuffled in, my bare feet scooting across the tiled kitchen floor. Dad said the tile was Italian. The polished stone was cool and comforting to my bare feet, and that was the most important thing to me.

  "You wonder about things," Darzi said, sipping tea from a souvenir mug we'd bought on a trip to Yosemite years ago.

  "Huh?" I didn't know whether to stop and ask questions or go ahead and find something to drink, first.

  "Get drink. We talk. Conversation remain secret."

  "Okay." I didn't want to argue, and my head needed serious clearing. For the first time ever, I made coffee for myself, poured half-and-half in it to make it almost white and then stirred several teaspoons of sugar into the cup.

  "That wake you up," Darzi snorted as I set the cup on the island and took the barstool next to his.

  "What are we talking about?" I asked, sipping the hot coffee and almost grimacing at the taste and heat of it. I ignored that and sipped again, hoping the combination of caffeine and sugar would work at something close to the speed of light.

  "Drink more," Darzi encouraged.

  I did.

  "Things happening," Darzi began. "Not supposed to happen."

  "Yeah," I snorted into my cup before drinking more coffee. Sarah's death had settled on my shoulders like the heavy quilt on my bed. I couldn't kick that weight off as easily, however.

  Pheligar's discovery had me befuddled, too. What good was any particular talent, if you didn't understand how to use it? He'd said to keep it to myself, too. What about Mack? Mom and Dad?

  "Stop worry." Darzi placed a hand on my shoulder. "Things happen in own time. Kifirin give gift. He not do lightly. Someone else ask him to do this."

  "Who?" I huffed. I couldn't imagine why anyone might take an interest in me.

  "Mighty one," Darzi shrugged. "Have reason."

  I had no idea what any of that meant, and when I Looked for information, nothing came up.

  That was interesting.

  "Kifirin move time," Darzi said. "With me. Not from now. He asleep now."

  "What does that mean?" If Darzi meant to explain things, he was only confusing me more.

  "You," he tapped a finger against my forehead, "past. Me," he tapped his chest with the same finger, "future."

  "You're saying you're from the future?" I shook my head. After little sleep and a likely overdose of coffee and sugar, perplexed might best describe how I felt.

  "Exact," Darzi's nod was emphatic. "Things change, your past. I come. Help."

  "Do you mean that this isn't how the past was supposed to be?" I almost stopped breathing.

  "Yes. You hit nail. Exact."

  "Why are you telling me this?" I asked after drawing in an unsteady breath.

  "You different this time," Darzi sighed and drank more of his tea. "More. Have to be."

  "You make it sound like these things have already happened once," I said.

  "Exact."

  * * *

  I probably shouldn't have tried it, but Yosemite was closed to visitors after the spawn attacks only a few weeks earlier. So many things had happened since then.

  I folded space to Yosemite, discovering it was easy.

  I needed to fly. I'd gotten a taste of it, and hadn't had time to savor or enjoy it. I did so now, riding thermals above Half Dome and El Capitan. Grasses in the valleys below those mountains had gone yellow with the season and shone golden in the early-morning sun.

  I imagined what it might be like to fly over the Fresno pack on a full moon, so I could watch Mack, Beth and the others run. I'd seen Dragon flying over the ocean on Mom's private planet.

  I wanted to do that, too.

  More than anything, though, I wanted to take Randall Pierce down. He and his father had stepped over the line long ago, I imagined. Who knows if Raymond Pierce had locked Mack in a cell with a known killer on his own volition, or whether those he'd befriended had instructed him to do so?

  It didn't matter—Mack almost died.

  Sarah did die—a stupid, useless death. Randall, his dad and those they'd allied with wanted to hurt me in any way they could. Their focus had shifted from Mack to me, almost in a blink.

  Why?

  I wasn't sure anybody had an answer for that.

  Time to go home, a voice filtered into my head. I'd never heard that voice before. It didn't speak to me again. The thing was, I'm not sure I could have disobeyed it, anyway. I folded space to Fresno.

  * * *

  Adam's Journal

  "I'm surprised they haven't attacked other small towns by now," Kiarra said. She drank orange juice and rubbed her slightly-swollen belly, as if she were comforting our daughter.

  "I'm surprised, too, but I don't want to examine that gift too closely," I said. Darzi was busy at the stove, making poached eggs for Kiarra, who'd had a craving for them.

  "What if all that was just a distraction?" she asked.

  "A distraction from what?" I flung up a hand.

  "I don't know," Kiarra grumbled. "Where's Justin?"

  "Here," he walked into the kitchen, smelling of sunlight.

  "Where have you been?" I demanded to know.

  "Uh, outside," he hedged.

  "You didn't go to Gina's did you?"

  "No, Dad. I didn't go to Gina's, as much as I'd like to," he said. "I just went outside for a while, to be alone and think."

  "If you go outside the walls, someone should be with you," I ordered. I hated to confine him like that, but I was terrified for my family. Sarah's death had come too close to all of us. It could easily have been Gina. It almost was Kiarra. I was furious that I couldn't protect them as well as I might.

  "I'll let you know, Dad," Justin held up a hand to stave off my growing anger.

  "I'm not mad at you, Son," I said apologetically. "These recent events have me on edge, and I have no idea how to react."

  "Yeah. I hear that," Justin said before pulling a glass from a cabinet and getting cold water from the fridge.

  "What's for breakfast?" Mack wandered in, his hair ruffled, an oversized T-shirt hanging loosely about his shoulders and wearing relatively new jeans, which were rapidly becoming too short.

  "Poached eggs," Kiarra said. "Have a seat. I'll help Darzi with the plates."

  "I love poached eggs," Mack proclaimed and slipped onto a barstool at the island.

  "Dude, that shirt is three sizes too big," Justin pointed out.

  "Yeah. My mom sent it to me for my birthday."

  I knew what that meant—Martin's ex-wife hadn't bothered to check what clothing sizes Mack needed.


  "It's good to sleep in," Mack added. Kiarra put a plate of food in front of him, so he cut into his eggs immediately.

  "Adam," Kiarra looked at me, lifting an eyebrow and then nodding toward Mack's overly-large shirt.

  "I can fix that if you want, so it'll fit," I offered.

  "That would be cool, Mr. G."

  I altered the shirt with power, so it fit properly. Mack grinned as he touched the hem of the shirt—it no longer hung too low on his body and the shoulders, chest and waist were proportional to his size. I'd also lengthened the jeans—they weren't riding above his ankles, now.

  "That might be the coolest talent ever," Mack said before going back to his eggs. "If Beth could do that, she wouldn't have to worry about her fat jeans fitting anymore." He lifted a wedge of toast and crunched into it with a grin.

  Kiarra hid a smile and rubbed his back affectionately.

  * * *

  Justin's Journal

  "I'm off work until next Friday," Gina said over the phone. "Will you come over?" She sounded lonely. Sad. I wanted to hold her.

  "I have to check with Dad—he says we're all in danger," I pointed out. Two months earlier, I'd have asked the obligatory question, then jumped in my car and gone because my parents would have said yes without question.

  Things were much more serious now.

  "Will you ask?" I could tell she was crying.

  "Yeah. Don't cry, baby. I'll come if I can."

  * * *

  By the time I found Mom and Dad sitting by the pool and talking with Uncle Lion and Uncle Dragon, Gina's mom was calling mine.

  "They want to go to the mall," Mom sighed, covering dad's phone with a hand. I stopped in my tracks. It was one thing to go to the old house, which was protected. It was another to go out in public, which was not protected.

  "But," I mumbled. Why did they want to go to the mall?

  "There's a memorial service tomorrow at their church," Mom said. "For Sarah. They don't have anything appropriate to wear and they're asking if you can go with them. For protection."

  Yeah, they thought human protection might be enough. I guess it was a good thing I wasn't. Human, that is.

  "I think I want to go, too," Mom lifted off her lounge chair and stretched after standing straight.

  "What?" Dad sputtered.