by C. T. Adams
“I was on tour, as you well know. And last I heard my twin was on forced leave.” His geen eyes narrowed to slits, and his voice trailed off into a hiss. “You’re up to something, Lucas.”
Lucas put a hand on his chest and raised his brows. “Moi? Never, Antoine. You will sit with the seers, your twin will represent the cats, and Amber will represent the physicians.”
Antoine gave a harsh laugh as they finally reached the doors of the hotel. “You are putting Amber and Fiona in the same room? And there will be three Monier siblings in the same room as Ahmad? How fascinating! And how unfortunate—I suppose one of us will be ruining a number of tables at this meeting. Would you care to flip a coin to see who pays for the furniture this time?”
Lucas smiled. “Actually, since I’m representing Wolven I won’t be in the room for most of the meeting. Still, you might want to split the bill with your sisters—four ways.”
Antoine stopped and staggered a bit. “What do you mean—four ways? You can’t be implying…Mon Dieu!”
Lucas nodded his head. “Charles invited her to meet our new seer. Have you met Tony yet?” He motioned to me, and I tipped my chin in greeting.
Antoine stared into space for a moment before he could focus on me. When he did finally look at me, he started as though he remembered something. He raised a finger into the air and swung an expensive leather backpack from his shoulder. He unzipped it and rummaged around for a moment before removing a box. He held it out to me, being careful to remove his hand just as I touched it. “For you, mon ami. You will find them useful this meeting. Welcome to our humble and insane ranks.” Then he stepped toward the door, swearing in French. He glanced at Lucas and shook his head. “You will be the death of me, Lucas! Had you reached me last week, I would have declined to attend. To see Josette after all these years! MON DIEU!”
“Aspen, Antoine. She is called Aspen now.”
He continued to mutter and swear in French as Lucas held the door to the hotel open. A cab arrived as I opened the small box. Inside was a pair of expensive sunglasses, similar to mine, but with a price tag at least two hundred dollars more. I slipped them on and found that the bright light emanating from Antoine and Lucas diminished greatly and my head stopped throbbing. Cool.
A woman exited the taxi carefully. She looked around, taking every single thing in with a glance. She wasn’t a pretty woman, but she was incredibly striking. Long legs, long arms, about a size four body, with a chest worthy of Penthouse. Her face was sharply angular, with high cheekbones and a hawk-ish nose under dark brown hair with pale highlights. I was thankful for the sunglasses as she let loose a burst of radiant yellow light. She pointed at me and spoke with a French, bordering on Belgian, accent.
“You! You, there! Take my bags inside and pay zee man.” I raised my brows and almost winced. Her voice was a high pitched squeak. It was sharp, penetrating and painfully similar to fingernails on a chalkboard.
Then she called out to Lucas, who was still standing by the door. “Lucas! What has happened to zee protocol? My plane was not met, I had to gather my own bags! Surely you see that this iz unacceptable! Who iz responsible?” She stepped forward quickly.
Lucas bowed from his neck briefly. “I am sorry if your car was delayed. We have many flights, and only one driver, Angelique. You understand that Wolven’s resources are stretched thin at the moment.”
Her voice rose even higher. “You see? Unacceptable, Lucas!” She pounded one tiny fist into her other hand. “This iz why the meetings should not moved to zis place and zat.”
“You will have to speak to Charles about that, Angelique. He and the other seers chose the location.” She flounced through the open door, leaving Lucas shaking his head.
“Who was that?” I asked in awe.
Lucas let go of the door and walked toward me, removing his wallet from his back pocket. He whispered as he passed, “Angelique Calibria, representative for the raptors. You might guess that she’s friends with Ahmad.”
He removed several bills and paid the taxi driver, who was busily removing bags and cases from the tightly packed trunk. He was dropping them unceremoniously into the snow. “Glad to have that broad out of my cab. Her voice could shatter glass, and she won’t shut her trap! I ought to charge double for not dumping her in the lake.”
Lucas started picking up bags and replied to the driver. “It wouldn’t do any good. People have tried. She just won’t die.” The driver burst out laughing and tried to give Lucas his change.
He waved his hand dismissively. “Keep it. You deserve it.”
There were too many bags for Lucas, so I picked up a few as well. It looked like she was planning to stay for a month.
Boris met us at the door with a second wheeled luggage cart. Lucas excused himself to go talk to the Chief Justice. I heard Sue’s voice and turned to see her and another woman walking toward the entrance. The woman was about Sue’s size and shape, but with pale blonde hair and penetrating brown eyes.
Sue stepped closer to me and started to reach out, but then pulled back and lowered her hand, clenched into a fist. She still can’t touch me. Great. I felt a little stab in my chest. I shook it off and smiled instead. I had to give her space, and I hated every single, solitary moment.
“Hi, Sue. Going out?”
She smiled in return, and I could tell she was grateful that I wasn’t going to bring up a tense subject. “Hi, sweetie. Yeah. This is Pamela, Yurgi’s wife. We’re going to go for a walk and then grab some dinner, since you and Yurgi are going to be busy for a few hours.”
I nodded to the woman, who was holding out her hand. I raised my brows at Sue, and she gasped. She reached out and pushed Pamela’s hand down and gave her a reminding look. God forbid someone should touch me right now. Emotions were way too high for that. Pamela’s face flushed lightly and she burbled an and apology. The dry heat of embarrassment blended badly with her natural spearmint scent.
“Gosh, I’m really sorry! I’ve just never met a seer before.”
I let out a short snort of air. “Me neither.” I glanced upstairs to see Yurgi motioning to me. I stepped into Sue and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before she could pull back. “Well, I’ll let you girls get to your walking. Have fun!”
I sprinted up the stairs. Keep the mind occupied, Tony. But the ache and trembling wouldn’t listen to my head. I clenched my hands into tight fists and felt a shudder pass through me before I got to the control room entrance. “What’s up, Yurgi?”
“I see shadow on screen, Tony! It moves very fast! Is more test?”
“No, Yurgi. There is no other test.” I walked toward the bank of computer screens. “Show me where. What did it look like?”
He pointed to the camera on the alley behind the hotel. “Looks like…” he raised his hands in frustration. “Like…shadow! It moved quickly—like Sazi, but not shadow I recognize.”
If I stopped the camera to rewind the tape, I’d lose current input. Damn it! That’s a system flaw I hadn’t anticipated. “Where’s Bobby? Have you called him to check it out?”
Yurgi looked suddenly uncomfortable. “Yes, I call. He tell me…well, he tell me too busy and not bother him.”
I growled in annoyance. I glanced around the various cameras and finally saw one corner of his arm. I moved the camera until it was fully on him…and Asri. Damn it! They were in the parking garage, arguing—and I bet I knew about what. The camera didn’t pick up sound, but it was obvious that the argument would go on for some time. I was sorry to interrupt, but security comes first and he damn well knew it!
I picked up the nearest radio and punched the call button. “Tony to Bobby.”
I watched him raise his hand to stop Asri’s next comment. She crossed her arms and started to storm off. He grabbed her arm to stop her and then took a deep breath. A crackle and a cheep came over my set. “Go ahead.”
I decided to let him hang himself. “How’s the perimeter?”
Yurgi shook his head and poin
ted to the image again. I nodded and waved him off.
“Perimeter looks good. No action.”
Uh-huh.
“Bullshit. Bobby! I’ve been watching your little spat. Wave to the pretty camera!” Bobby and Asri both got panicked looks and turned in a circle. I obliged by moving the camera from side to side with the joystick until they saw it. I watched him swear, and this time Asri did step out of view.
“Get your ass back to work, Mbutu! We had a contact on Camera Seven, in the alley. Yurgi said it was just a shadow, but it was moving fast.”
I saw him move his head in frustration and put the radio in front of his mouth. “I’ve got to settle this, Tony! I need more time. Can’t someone else look for the bogie?”
I shook my head and flicked the button again. “You’ve got your priorities whacked, Bobbo! You and your girlfriend have got nine months to settle that problem, but we’ve got a house full of delegates now!”
Yurgi opened his mouth and a shock of surprised scent gripped my nose. I guess I shouldn’t have mentioned the nine months part. Oops.
“Seven months, but that’s not the point. C’mon, Tony! Just ten minutes. Then I swear I’ll take care of it. Please!”
I remembered trying to concentrate on anything else when I first mated to Sue. I sighed. “Five minutes, Bobbo. Then I send Lucas to get you.”
He didn’t reply, but wore a startled look. He stuffed the radio back in his pocket and sprinted out of camera range. Great! Raven and Ivan were busy keeping the delegates from slaughtering each other, and Lucas was meeting with Charles. That left me to go searching. I stuffed the radio in my pocket and turned on a second one for Yurgi. I pulled my Taurus from the holster and checked the chamber. I turned to Yurgi as I was sliding it back into the leather and walking out the door.
“If I don’t contact you in five minutes, send Lucas to get Bobby and get Raven or Ivan outside to pick up my corpse.”
Yurgi took a surprised breath and stood up. “I go with you!”
I took a step back and put a firm hand on his shoulder to press him down. I was again thankful that nothing happened. “No, Yurgi. I need you here to watch the screens. Call me on the radio if you see anything on the cameras—and be precise. If you see something show up, give me a play by play.” When he looked confused, I amended. “Like the television football, when the voice tells you what’s happening.”
His face showed his understanding. “Ah! I see! Yes, I will do this for you, Tony!” I started to walk away, then he stopped me. “Oh! And I forget! I will miss the football game, with the tickets. Nikoli is pleased with Yurgi for being brave. He buys for me and Pamela a house! We must go to sign papers night of game.”
Nikoli was buying them a house for taking a paint ball? Then again, Yurgi hadn’t known it was a drill. He’d been ready to take a bullet for his Alpha. It made me think better of Nikoli. “Cool! No problem on the game. It’ll be on TV, unless they black it out.”
“But I choose to remain Omega, Tony. Pamela, she is angry with me, but I am happy in position. Is it wrong to be—what is word—uh, content?”
I shrugged my shoulders. “I wouldn’t think so. It’s your life in the pack, not her’s. You don’t always have to make your choices to please other people. But I’ve got to get outside, Yurgi.” I stepped out, shut the door, and shook my head. Bobby and Asri, Yurgi and Pamela. How do I keep turning into the therapist of the group?
I walked toward the entrance wincing at the noise from the banquet room. The shrieks, hisses and snarls made the place sound like a zoo. As I started to open the door, I noted that the kids shoveled the walk. Or so I thought. A blast of warm air greeted me as I stepped into the night. I’ve heard of chinook winds in winter, but this was ridiculous! It must be seventy degrees outside! The sky was clear and stars twinkled and the sound of running water greeted my ears. A glance down showed why. The melted snow was running down the gutter to exit into street drains. A slim, compact woman walked toward me. I recognized her.
“Hi, Amber! I see you made it in time for the meeting.”
The woman smiled and I suddenly realized it wasn’t Amber. Her hair was a shade lighter, and freckles were scattered across her tanned nose. Her scent was sort of like candle wax with red hot candies, and her voice was a bit more musical when she spoke, “A pleasure to see you again, Tony.” She furrowed her brow lightly and cocked her head. “Oh, but this is the first time, isn’t it? In that case, a pleasure to meet you.”
“And you are…”
“Aspen Monier. I’m Amber’s twin sister.”
Okay, now I was confused. This is the woman who has everyone terrified? She seems a little flaky, but not particularly dangerous.
Another woman suddenly appeared. And I mean suddenly—she wasn’t there, and men she was. I recognized her too, but from a dream. It was the old woman from the vision in Lucas’s head. She looked just the same, but now I caught the scent of sweet yucca flowers. I must have started, because she spoke.
“Yes, that’s right. You’ve already seen me. I’m Nana, the seer for the Boulder pack. I’ve seen you, too. A dozen times, in a thousand scenarios where you should die, but don’t. So refreshing, your ingenuity.” She turned to Aspen. “And so wonderful to see you again, my dear. I waited to come until you cleared the weather. Thank you. These old bones, you know…”
Aspen smiled brightly. “Always happy to oblige, Nana. I’ve never liked the cold. It’s why I live in the desert. I thought I would bring a little warmth with me this time, but you knew that.”
Nana nodded and I could only shake my head at the bizarre conversation. This one could actually control the weather, not just affect it? And the other one expected it and waited until it happened? This was just so weird.
Another flash of despair gripped me briefly and I shuddered. Both women glanced at me.
“Ah! That’s right!” exclaimed Aspen, and a burst of citrus filled the warm air. “I remember now why I came tonight! My sister is a wonderful healer, but quite heavy-handed.” Nana nodded, and Aspen touched my forehead before I could react.
The blackness in my head disappeared, and warm sunlight replaced it. See? Isn’t that better? I heard the voice, but couldn’t place it. Then I saw Aspen step into the bright light. You only need control, young wolf. Mating should be a joyous exchange of lives, not bogged down in darkness. An object appeared at her feet and she picked it up and turned it in her hands so I could see it. It was a square block of glass. She put it down and another appeared. She stacked it on top of the first. More glass bricks appeared and she stacked them with blinding speed until they created a wall. The sunlight through the glass sent swirls of rainbows across my mind. With a swish of her hand, an old-fashioned screen door appeared in the wall of glass. A warm breeze flowed across me so that I shivered. But the warmth carried the scent of the summer forest, with ripe fruit and rich earth. I heard a heartbeat and quiet female conversation that didn’t overwhelm me or suck me inside.
Sue? The word echoed in my head and I felt her react. I could see her in a restaurant with Pamela. I walked to the screen door and could see the inside of a bistro, along with the waiter bringing plates to the table where Sue sat. When I stepped back, the scene disappeared. Just that easy. Aspen smiled in my mind.
You see how simple it is when someone shows you how? You may open the screen when you love, and close it to be within yourself. Or, put on storm windows during a crisis. There are always options in our world, Tony. Then she disappeared.
I came to myself, standing in front of Nana and Aspen. My head was still filled with rainbows and sunlight and I felt like myself for the first time in days. “Uh, thank you, I guess. I’m not sure what you did, though.”
Aspen shrugged. “You already knew how to shield, this was just a…refinement. We’ll need to meet more, of course, to train your other gift. You are so lucky to only have hindsight.”
Nana nodded. “And we’ll meet, as well, so you can learn the benefits of second sight. It’
s not just seeing colors, you know. Although I hear they’re quite pretty.”
Lucas came out of the hotel just then, giving me a reprieve on responding. I didn’t know quite what to say to these women.
“Nana! I’m glad you made it just when we’re ready for you.”
She laughed brightly. “Why would I show up before you were ready?”
Lucas chuckled and then smiled warmly. He embraced the old woman. Then he did the same to Aspen. “I haven’t seen you in centuries. Your siblings are looking forward to seeing you.”
Even I could smell the black pepper from that statement. Aspen laughed lightly. “I highly doubt that, Lucas. It’s not yet the time for forgiveness from my brother, or my sisters.”
Nana looked at her with interest, and the thick antifreeze of curiosity rose from her. “Odd you should mention that. I notice you haven’t asked me the date or time since I arrived.”
A bright smile lit Aspen’s face. “That’s right!” She grabbed Nana’s arm in delight. “I’m only in Chicago once, in my whole life! I know exactly when I am! And,” she said confidentially, leaning close to the old Sazi woman, “I meet him today! I remember he was so handsome at this age!”
I was getting a little lost in the flurry of speech tenses, and I could tell that Lucas was, too. But Nana returned the bright smile, showing yellowed, but straight teeth. “Well, that is a cause for celebration, isn’t it? Let’s go inside and see if Lelya has some champagne!”
Aspen snorted. “Well, of course she does! Unfortunately, we won’t get to drink it, will we?”
Nana sighed. “No, I’m afraid not. But we should try. Maybe things will be different this time.” They both laughed at a private joke, and walked arm and arm into the hotel. Lucas shook his head in frustration as we trailed slightly behind.
“Did you catch any of that?” I asked quietly.
Lucas shook his head. “I never do. Seers drive me insane! I wish they would talk about things in one tense. The back and forth makes me nuts.”
I’d almost forgotten why I was out here, with the ladies arriving. I caught motion from my right side, and turned to see Bobby walking toward us. He glanced at me angrily, apparently deciding that I had told Lucas. He waited with a set jaw in front of the older wolf, who looked at him curiously.