Whiskey Storm

by F. J. Blooding

  The woman with the amazing lashes took a step forward. “Are you able to communicate with them?”

  “I used to. In a primitive way.” Paige tapped the collar around her neck. Yes. She was lying. She was going to use any opportunity she could to spin this. “But with this blocking my abilities. I can’t control them. They don’t understand English. They’re literally eight days old.”

  That brought another round of exclamations as people closed in to get closer to her children.

  Security personnel burst through and tried to keep people away.

  As much as Paige appreciated that, it was the wrong move. She put her hand on one of their shoulders and nonverbally told him to back off, inserting a bit of her alpha will to ensure her order was followed.

  The security guard backed away but stayed close. He, however, was visibly pissed. Keeping them safe was his fucking job and his face told her that. Loudly. In a look.

  Right. Yup. Okay. “Just remember they are babies. They don’t know the rules. They might piddle on your foot. And if they choose a shape that has teeth, they will gnaw on you. Ember really likes your favorite shoes.”

  Dexx was going to be so mad when he saw these videos.

  She hoped he was okay.

  One of the people on the other side of the room from Paige looked to Leah. “What can she do?”

  Leah didn’t look like she wanted to answer any questions. She hid behind Todd and Ginny who were doing a fantastic job of keeping people away from her.

  Kids really could be good.

  Paige turned to the man in question. “She is a necromancer. She can communicate and revive the dead.”

  A few people pulled away.

  But a few people just looked at her like she was that much more interesting.

  How to make that seem less terrifying? “Imagine being eleven and freaking out because you’re being attacked by angels and all of a sudden conjuring ghosts.”

  “You were attacked by angels?” the young woman to Paige’s left asked.

  “It’s not nearly as amazing as it sounds. Angels are just another kind of butthead.”

  “So, they’re real too?” the young woman asked.

  “What did you do wrong?” another man shouted out.

  Why did it always go that way? “The Bible—the actual Bible—angels were put on this earth as warriors. They’re not guardians. They’re not nice. Well, most of them. They’re soldiers, and people aren’t.”

  “And?” the man baited.

  Right. Well, that one wasn’t going away. “And I’m a demon…” Uh. “…exorcist and they wanted my full and undivided loyalty.” Kind of.

  “You were thinking of not helping? You some sort of demon familiar or something?”

  “No. It means I’m a mom and wanted to spend some time being a mom.” She turned to the crowd. “Because, apparently, I can’t even have a couple of days with my babies whom I birthed on the street in the middle of saving the world from a powerful demon.” She smiled to soften that blow, but she was really very angry over this little fact.

  The man opened his mouth to say something else, his face filled with hate.

  The woman beside him took his arm, blinking as the reality of Paige’s statement hit her in a familiar place. It was evident from the light in her eyes.

  “We came here to see the museum. Mind if we walk and talk?” She didn’t wait for an answer, and started on her way.

  Leah and Ginny scooped the kids up and went towards the next exhibit.

  Paige strolled along through the exhibits explaining a few things about her family and the paranormal people in general.

  She exclaimed over certain exhibits—especially the dinosaurs. She loved dinosaurs—and listened as a few offered their own stories. It was a fantastic bonding moment. But Paige wasn’t certain if it was going to be enough.

  One thing was for certain, everyone loved playing with her babies. Two legs, four legs, or wings.

  The currency for the next shift wagers was anywhere from a stick of gum to a quarter. One person wagered an eraser that everyone seemed to be vying for. She doubted it was the eraser, though it was a poop emoji. It was the act of wagering for an eraser that made them feel less like monsters…

  …and more like people.

  Before tyhey reached the aeronautical exhibit, security personnel informed Paige that the President had requested her presence and they would have to leave the museum.

  Her heart raced with her nervousness.

  Naomi’s phone rang before they reached the motorcade.

  Paige continued to keep up appearances and to talk to as many people as she could, answering questions as they went.

  Hopefully the videos had hit the web, and created a shield she could use.

  As they exited the doors, Paige sent a command to her twins, telling them to shift back into human and to allow Todd and Ginny to collect them.

  Leah had even seemed to make a few new friends, including Gretchen.

  Jerry shook her hand as the kids piled into the SUV. “I’m really glad I got to meet you. I have to admit I was more than a little scared.”

  At least he was being decent. “So are we.”

  His dark eyes met hers with an acknowledgement of the fear of fear.

  She was glad she was able to relate more to people. She just wished she didn’t have a dire reason for it. “Paranormals are just like any other people. Some are great. Some are not. And most are somewhere in between.”

  He gathered his daughter. “Maybe we’ll meet again.”

  “Maybe.” Probably not but talking to him had been one of the upbeats of the museum experience.

  Leah, Todd, and Ginny were a bubble of excitement on the way to the White House. Todd and Ginny couldn’t stop talking about how that was the best experience at the museum ever. Todd even bemoaned that Leah had now ruined the museum for him. He was joking. Kind of.

  When they got to the White House, Naomi told Paige she would watch the kids, and not to worry because she would protect them as if they were her own.

  As if she could. But Paige knew Naomi was under orders and she couldn’t disobey them.

  Paige walked through a new media circus with her security detail keeping most of the reporters back. This time, she was guided directly to the Oval Office.

  The President stood and walked over to the two couches, offering her hand. “Please have a seat.” She gestured toward the striped couch.

  Paige sat, feeling just how different it was to be in this room the second time around.

  “I have to say, Ms. Whiskey, you played that very well.”

  Paige wanted to take that as a compliment, but it felt like the threat level had just gone up a notch.

  The President picked up the remote and turned on the TV. The volume was muted but Paige and her kids were all over the screen. As she watched, Ember shifted from a kitten into a floppy eared puppy. Several of the kids around them clapped. Shortly afterward, Rai turned into an eagle chick.

  She heard herself repeat, “Remember, they’re babies and that one has teeth.” She didn’t remember how many times she’d repeated that.

  The President set the remote down and gave Paige her full attention. “You did much better than I would have thought you would. But I’m afraid you have lured the people into a false sense of security.”

  Paige refrained from rolling her eyes. “Is that so?” What was her agenda?

  “Indeed.” The President leaned forward and folded her hands primly in her lap. “Let me be perfectly clear here, Ms. Whiskey.”

  Paige preferred it when they were perfectly open. She leaned forward and folded her hands in her lap, mimicking the President’s stance.

  “The paranormals in our community are dangerous. I happen to know how many paranormal attacks there are each year because I have been forced to clean up this mess before.”

  “And are you going to be sharing these numbers wi
th the public? Are you going to reveal to the world that you’ve known about us all this time? And…” Because she wasn’t done. “…are you going to share how many non-paranormal attacks there are each year? Because there are still fewer paranormal attacks than there is gun violence.”

  The President didn’t immediately respond.

  The President could still save face.

  Paige went forward to nip it in the bud. “What you don’t realize is how the paranormal community works together to ensure that there are very few of those occurrences. We work just as hard, if not harder, to protect your mundane citizens as you do. The only difference is, we’re not trying to get media coverage or poll numbers for it. We’re not trying to win future elections off this platform. We’re just trying to make sure that our friends and neighbors are safe and taken care of. Why? Not because they’re voters. Not because we can make money off them. But because they are our friends and neighbors.”

  The President’s eyes cooled. “Here’s what I want you to do, Ms. Whiskey.”

  Paige licked her lips and remained quiet, listening.

  “You are going to take yourself and your children out of my city. And when you get home, you were going to take those wards down. You are going to allow my agents full access to your town.”

  Not likely. “And if I don’t?”

  “Then I will see that as an act of war.”

  A chill ran down Paige’s neck. “And what are your people going to do once I take those wards down? Are they going to come back into my town with guns blazing? Are they going to endanger the lives of my children and the children of my friends and family?”

  The President raised one regal eyebrow. “Do I need to?”

  Paige leaned forward and released her alpha will just a little. It was time for the President to understand who she was dealing with. “If you do, be assured I will see that as an act of war.”

  Paige wasn’t certain she wanted to declare war on the United States of America. Especially not when she didn’t know what the rest of the paranormal community had to say for it. Granted, she already knew that several of the leaders she knew wanted war. But they weren’t thinking clearly, and they were a handful of leaders. Not the majority.

  The President stared at her in surprise, though, her mask was firmly in place and the surprise only showed at the corners of her eyes and mouth.

  Paige got the distinct impression that very few people had the balls to stand up to her quite like this. “Try to remember that my people have infiltrated your entire nation. You may know who some of us are, but you don’t know all of us. It isn’t like we’re an invading nation. We’re already here. This is our country just as much it is yours.” Paige stood.

  The President stood as well.

  “I had really hoped that we could leave on a more peaceful front. My kind doesn’t want to wage war on yours. We don’t want to send our great nation into civil war. We don’t want to pit friend against friend, neighbor against neighbor. But if that is what you want because you would rather live in fear—ignorant fear—then we shall answer in kind.”

  The President didn’t react. Not so much as a twitch.

  Paige offered her hand. “But if you wish to learn about us so we can figure out a way to live together in peace, then my door is always open.”

  One eyelid twitched.

  “You make your decision. I will follow your lead, Madam President.”

  The President didn’t respond for a long moment. And then, she took one step forward and clasped Paige’s hand. “You’re not how I imagined you to be.”

  Paige didn’t know how to take that. “Neither are you.”

  But it was past time for Paige to get out of D.C. She was going to get on that plane.

  And this collar was coming off.

  She turned and headed for the door. “I look forward to more conversations.” She stopped at the door. “And next time? Perhaps we could start by not insulting each other with collars. Let’s show the world that we can play as adults instead of as kindergartners.”

  Paige didn’t wait for the President to respond. She opened the door and left.

  But when she got to the car, Rai was gone.

  13

  Naomi was beside herself. The men in black—the security personnel—were keeping her in the car as they searched. She opened her door and the man beside it told her to get back in.

  News reporters flooded to her, asking her questions.

  She couldn’t lose her head. She went to the door with the open window and asked calmly and coolly, “What happened?”

  Naomi shook her head completely lost and starting to freak out. “She got very agitated and just…” She shrugged apologetically. “She changed into a bird and flew away.”

  “That’s not your fault.” Paige needed Naomi to engage in the situation. “I tried to tell her to stay in the car, but she’s—”

  “A baby,” Naomi finished for her. “And she’s out there alone and you can’t find her.”

  Paige was about to say she could, but the tone in Naomi’s voice offered a hint of change. “We’ll find a way.”

  Naomi shook her head and dug in her purse. She pulled out a remote and clicked one of the four buttons.

  Paige’s collar fell away.

  Well, that was a positive development.

  I did not like that, Cawli’s voice growled.

  I didn’t either. But she was appreciative of the door to Hell sealing back up again.

  Leah’s collar fell away as well.

  She looked up at Paige, fear entering her eyes, but her lips screwed up with determination.

  Right. “Same as if we’re at home.”

  Leah nodded and climbed out of the SUV.

  One of the men in black came toward them, telling them to get back in the car.

  Paige didn’t have time for that. She used her hand without any magick and gently pushed him aside as Leah got out of the car, pushing her long, blonde hair aside.

  Todd and Ginny followed.

  Naomi kept a hand on Ember. “What do I do?”

  “He might shift into something with four legs. Just keep him in the car.” And hope the driver didn’t drive away with him. No. She needed to—

  Not think like a crazy person. Breathe.

  “Do we know what set her off?” she asked the man in black beside her. She was just going to call him Q.

  He started to shake his head and then stopped himself. “There was a strange man at the edge of the perimeter. We secured the vehicle, but your daughter decided to take matters into her own… hands.”

  A strange man. “Strange in what way?”

  Agent M—really, she was just going to call them by the alphabets. They were all tall and wearing the same suit and had the same ties. Different sunglasses, but, seriously. Agent M came up to them. “He was watching a little too closely. I spotted him at the museum as well.”

  “Really.” Well, that sucked for her because she’d been too busy teaching people how to take care of shifter babies to pay attention to the possible threats coming their way.

  She turned, searching with her witch eyes, but she saw nothing threatening now. “Do you know where this man went?”

  “No, ma’am,” Agent Q said.

  “And do you have any idea where my daughter flew off to?”

  Agent M pointed away from the White House, but still on the grounds. “We have agents searching for her now.”

  “And how are you going to bring her in?”

  Agent J shook her head and shrugged. “However we need to.”

  “Hmm.” Paige pulled away from them and approached the reporters. “Hey, I know you guys want to catch a really great story, so help me find my daughter. Something, spooked her, and she flew away.”

  A few chuckled. “You’re not wearing your collar.” Another pointed out.

  Paige tilted her head to the side. “Because someone thought it might be a
better idea to give me the full abilities to locate my daughter and ensure her safety than it was to cower in fear.” Paige pointed toward the garden. “I think she went that way, but she could be anywhere, now.”

  “Don’t you—”

  Paige turned off the questions and walked toward the garden area, focusing inward.

  Leah walked beside her, her magick rising in dark swirls around her.

  Paige couldn’t feel Rai. No sense of where her daughter was.

  She couldn’t even sense Ember and she knew where he was.

  “Someone is dampening.”

  Leah narrowed her eyes and studied the area. “I see something.”

  Paige did too. A “strange” man who made her feel uncomfortable.

  An angel.

  Seriously?

  “Angels,” Paige said quietly to Leah. “Disable whatever’s dampening my senses.”

  Leah nodded and headed away from Paige.

  Agent J jogged up to her. “What are you doing?”

  Paige pointed to the man. “Is that him?”

  “Yes.”

  “That’s an angel.” She stopped and turned her body toward the agent, though she didn’t take her attention away from the angel. “Do you have any protections against them?”

  “Why would we? They’re on our side.”

  Well, this might be a wake-up call, or it might just prove how horrible Paige was. “Get the President to safety.”

  “Is she in danger?”

  “I have no idea. Angels don’t work for us.” Paige stepped away from the agent and gestured toward the angel. “You have my attention,” she called out. “What do you want?”

  He walked toward her, his hands out. “You were warned not to bring those abominations into existence.”

  “They’re babies.”

  “They will destroy this world.”

  “Did you say that about baby Hitler? Because according my version of the history books, he destroyed a lot of people.”

  “But not angels.”

  Mm. “So, who cares about people. Just so long as the angels are protected?”

  The angel took a wide-legged stance. “I will destroy these children.”

  “Over my dead body.”

  He shook his head. “As you wish.”