The Weapon Bearer's Son

by Steven F. Warnock

  “Sounds like it didn’t turn out well,” Rosalee sighed.

  “Yes and no. His name is Ebenezer Hazael Llewellyn. Or it was...”

  “We’re pretty sure he died some time Friday,” KC explained. “We were attacked the previous Friday by a Frateco hit team, and Ebenezer took our car and lured them away, hoping they would catch him so he could finish what he started when he killed the bastard that killed Mack’s parents.”

  “This sounds like a long and interesting story,” Silas declared. “One that requires a shot of fine single malt Scotch whisky.”

  “Mack! KC!” Billy came rolling up toward them as fast as his arms could pump the wheels on his chair.

  “Little partner!” Mack called back.

  KC beat Mack to Billy and wrapped her arms around him.

  “Dude, your girl totally likes me better,” Billy teased with a lopsided grin.

  “We need to have a talk, young man,” Mack said. “Uncle Silas, Aunt Rosalee, you’d best join us. This is gonna get wild.”

  BIG RED WAS NO LONGER parked next to Busster.

  “Did Liam and Pilar take Presley up on her offer?” Mack asked.

  “No, they just moved into one of the cabins, but they did run down a serial killer down in Idaho last week. Some kind of warlock, making pacts with demons, paying for his magic in human blood.” Silas shuddered. “Nasty piece of business.”

  “What’s a warlock?” Billy asked.

  Silas flushed. “Dang it. Forgot he was in the back seat.”

  “He needs to know,” Mack said. “Billy, I’ll explain it when we’re in Busster, okay?”

  Mack pulled his new trailer up beside the Big Blue Busster.

  “I’ll get Billy out and onto the bus while you get the trailer situated,” KC volunteered.

  Several minutes later, Mack had the Airstream leveled and plugged into the ranch’s water and power. As he was finishing Liam and Pilar arrived with Rosalee.

  “What’s going on, brother?” Liam asked.

  “And what’s up with the fancy plungers?” Pilar added.

  “You’ll see in a minute,” Mack said.

  The four of them went aboard the big blue skoolie. Billy was happily wheeling himself from one end of the bus to the other, and KC was happily watching him do it.

  “We should probably re-install the wheelchair lift,” she said to Mack as he came aboard. “Do we still have it?”

  Mack frowned. “Unless Uncle Silas sold it, it should be stored away in the shed with all the other mechanical junk we’ve salvaged and saved over the years, but we probably won’t need it, remember?”

  KC smiled. “I know. I’m thinking for appearance’s sake in the near future.”

  “Billy, I need to talk to you,” Mack called out.

  “Sure, big partner,” Billy called back as he stopped in the bathroom. “Hey, what if you need to get back to your bedroom, but somebody’s already in here on the toilet?”

  “The doors don’t really lock, so you just knock and pass on through without looking,” Mack replied. “Besides, there’s a privacy curtain we can put up for the toilet.”

  “That’s still gross,” Billy declared as he rolled into the living area.

  “Alright, kid, I need to explain some things to you. First, the real reason KC and I don’t feel comfortable with the idea of you living on the bus with us is because of what we really do for a living. We hunt monsters.”

  Billy blinked. Then, he grinned. “No, you don’t!”

  “I’m afraid we do because we know monsters are real.”

  “How?”

  “Because we are monsters.”

  “You’re monsters that hunt other monsters.”

  “We’re good monsters that hunt bad monsters.”

  “Really?”

  Mack let his eyes turn golden as his hair turned white. He held up his left hand, which went from human to the enormous paw-hand of his battle form to the paw of his wolf form.

  “Whoa! What are you?”

  “Mostly, I’m a werewolf. My dad was a werewolf. Uncle Silas and Aunt Rosalee are werewolves. All their children, natural and adopted, including me, are werewolves. Pilar there is a werewolf, but she’s no relation to us.”

  “What about KC?”

  “I’m a dhamphir, sort of like a vampire except that I’m alive, not undead,” KC said. She let her eyes turn red and showed Billy her fangs and claws.

  “Neat!” Then, he frowned. “Are you gonna turn me into a werewolf or a vampire?”

  “No,” Mack chuckled. “It doesn’t really work that way. Good werewolves and vampires are born, not made.”

  “Oh.” Billy looked crestfallen.

  “Hey, what’s the matter?”

  “I just figured it out. I’m normal, not special like you guys. You’re afraid for me that I’ll be a monster snack if you take me with you.”

  Mack winced. “Yeah, pretty much.”

  “It’s because I don’t have legs. I can’t run away good.”

  “Hard truth is, Billy, even if you still had legs, you probably wouldn’t be able to run away. Here’s the thing, though, monsters are real because magic is real, too.”

  “Can you use magic to give me back my legs?”

  “This is where it gets complicated. There’s probably somebody out there somewhere who knows the right kind of spell that can regrow lost limbs, but they probably wouldn’t because that class of magic is so heavily regulated that it might as well be banned. So, okay, my mom wasn’t a werewolf. She was a Tuath De...”

  “A what?”

  “Tuath De. Okay, do you remember the old Bible story about angels having babies with human women?”

  Billy nodded.

  “Not all of those women were strictly ‘human’. A bunch were Sidhe.”

  “I thought all girls were ‘she’.”

  “S-I-D-H-E, pronounced ‘she’,” Mack corrected. “Basically, they’re like the elves from the Lord of the Rings only they don’t have pointed ears. The Tuatha De were the children of angels by elven women, okay?”

  “And that’s what your mom was? So, you’re a half-werewolf, half-angel/elf?”

  “Pretty much. So, my angel/elf mom had a younger brother, who is also an angel/elf, my Uncle Ebenezer.”

  “Ebenezer?”

  “My name is Hieronymus. I don’t make fun of other people’s names.”

  “Good point, big partner.”

  “My Uncle Ebenezer designed medical devices and prosthetics for a living. He was also a Tuath De Smith. That’s kinda like a wizard who specializes in making magical tools and gizmos. He was inspired by an ancient legend to use up his magic to make these for you.”

  “Plungers?”

  “I don’t think he thought the initial form of these things through very well,” Mack chuckled. “They’re not plungers. They’re silver legs, or they will be once they’re attached to what’s left of your real legs.”

  “So, I’m getting peg legs?”

  Mack rubbed his chin. “That’s just what they look like now. When we attach them by these cups, they’re gonna graft onto your body, sort of merge with it. I’m not gonna lie, Billy: it’s gonna hurt because the silver will connect itself to your nerves and blood vessels. Then, the silver and the wood will start to grow. The wood part is gonna replace your lost bones, and the silver will replace the muscle and skin. Ebenezer poured his Grace, his angelic power, into these legs, so it’s gonna be just like having real legs. They’ll be a part of you; they’ll grow with you, and, according to Ebenezer, they’re enchanted with some special abilities that we’re gonna have to learn about and teach you to control.”

  “Teach me to control? Who’s gonna teach me that? You and KC?”

  Mack nodded. “Yeah, because whether you accept the legs or not, KC and I want to adopt you. Busster is really set up for a family of two, but we’ve got that new trailer, which has two bedrooms, sort of, and one can be all yours. We’ll be staying put in Montana for right now, but
we’ve got a lawyer coming in who is gonna help us through the adoption process. If you want.”

  “Yes, I want!” Billy shouted with a grin. “Wait. I can’t just suddenly show up with legs when I see my social worker, can I?”

  “All the social workers who work with us know about paranormal people like us,” Rosalee assured him. “How else do you think we were able to adopt and raise five werewolves?”

  “I have so many questions!” Billy exclaimed.

  “And KC will be happy to answer them,” Mack laughed.

  “Hey!” KC exclaimed, giving Mack a playful shove.

  “Before we start, though, KC and I need to discuss some business with Liam and Pilar. Then, if you want, we can attach your new legs. If it’s alright with your legal guardians, you can stay here with us on Busster until other arrangements can be sorted out, okay?”

  Billy nodded. “Do I have to go to the back or something? While you discuss grown up stuff.”

  “We live in a little over three hundred square feet, Billy. We don’t keep many secrets. I snore like a snowblower, and KC farts like a trumpet.”

  “BUSINESS” BOILED DOWN to KC explaining to Liam and Pilar the partnership arrangement that she’d worked out with Athena. Liam countered that he and Pilar had completed a job on their own, which would allow them each to bring more capital into the business, therefore, they both deserved a larger share than ten percent. So, KC increased their partnership share to fifteen percent each. She and Mack would take twenty-five percent shares each, and the remaining five percent interest would be set aside for the Double M Ranch to help cover operating costs for the group home.

  With the basics of the new partnership arrangement figured out for the time being, the time had come to give Billy his new legs. Mack opened Ebenezer’s laptop, which contained a detailed instruction manual on the silver legs and what all they would be capable of doing.

  “Okay, little partner, once the legs are attached, you’re not gonna be instantly able to jump up and start running around. You’re gonna have to learn all the basics of walking all over again, sort of re-establish your muscle memory in your artificial flesh and bone,” Mack explained.

  “Am I still gonna be stuck in this wheelchair?”

  “The way you move around in that thing, I’d hardly call you stuck,” Mack chuckled, “but we’re not throwing it away yet. No, you’re probably gonna need crutches or canes for a little while, just like if these were mundane prosthetics. Now, one of the abilities that the silver legs have is a sort of shapeshifting and illusion disguise capability. They’ll start out looking like real prosthetics while you’re learning to walk again; they’ll even look like you’ve taken ‘em off for the night when you go to bed. Later, when we’ve moved on from here, you can make ‘em look like your real legs, so people won’t know that they’re prosthetics.”

  “Cool.”

  “Let’s get started. Brace yourself.”

  KC was standing behind Billy, and she placed her hands on his shoulders. Mack took the first silver leg and placed the metal cup over the end of Billy’s shorter leg, the one amputated above the knee. Mack touched on his own Grace. As his hair whitened and his eyes glowed golden, Mack felt the touch of Ebenezer’s Grace in the leg, which activated the magic.

  The metal cup writhed to life, swirling up around Billy’s leg before clamping down like vacuum-sealed plastic. Billy gasped in surprise. Then, his eyes widened and he cried out in pain as the metal appeared to melt into his flesh, fusing the prosthetic to his leg. The metal cup elongated, forming into a mechanical knee. The wooden portion grew out until a silver foot sprang from the end. Tendrils of metal began flowing down the wooden “leg bone,” forming into a perfect replica of muscle and tendons. Within a moment, the “fancy peg leg” now looked like a perfect silver replica of a healthy human leg.

  Billy was breathing heavily and sweating.

  “Do you need a minute, or do you want me to attach the other one?” Mack asked.

  “Do it,” Billy gasped.

  Mack took a deep breath and nodded. Then, he attached the other silver leg to the long stump, the one that had been amputated below the knee.

  The silver flowed up over the knee before clamping down and fusing with Billy’s real leg. The process of growing out was much quicker with this leg since it had a shorter distance to grow. Now that they were both attached, the silver legs began to glow. Delicate lines of silver began to grow through Billy’s flesh following the network of his own blood vessels.

  “What’s happening?” Billy asked.

  “Ebenezer’s Grace is fusing with your body, Billy,” Mack replied. “It’s sort of re-writing your DNA to accept the silver legs as your real legs, and it’s probably turning you into a quarter half-angel fae. Like me.”

  “Cool.”

  “How are you feeling?”

  “Exhausted,” Billy admitted. “But also, really good.”

  The silver lines in Billy’s flesh had reached the top of his head. The silver legs’ glow began to fade, and as the glow faded, so, too, did the silver lines fade away.

  “And we’re done,” Mack declared when the silver lines had completely faded.

  “I’m very proud of you,” KC said, giving Billy a hug from behind.

  “I wanna stand up,” Billy said.

  KC braced the wheelchair as Mack lifted Billy to his feet.

  “Whoa!” Billy cried out as he almost fell.

  “Learning to walk again is gonna take time,” Mack said, “and KC and I will be here to help you. So will everybody in our family. None of us are going anywhere for now.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Big Sky, Montana

  Friday, May 31, 2019

  BEING APPROVED TO BE Billy’s foster parents until the adoption could be finalized was faster than Mack or KC expected. Billy’s case worker, Karen Fields, was a mundane human of Fae descent. Mrs. Fields gave every visual indication that she fit the stereotype of her internet-hated namesake. From the severe, asymmetrical bob known as the “Can I Speak to your Manager” haircut to her orangish spray tan to her stern demeanor enhanced by the reading glasses perched on the tip of her nose, Mrs. Fields presented a terrifying image of herself. An image that was the exact opposite of the truth. Mrs. Fields was kind, polite, intelligent, even charming and witty, and she was surprisingly well versed in practical magical theory. Karen was the odd one out in her family, having inherited none of her parents’ or grandparents’ magical abilities, unlike her siblings and cousins. On the other hand, her extensive knowledge made her highly appreciative of the silver legs Ebenezer Llewellyn had created for Billy.

  “Living in a trailer isn’t too unusual,” Karen was saying, “and this camper, frankly, is nicer than most of the houses my kids have been placed in. The bus, too, for that matter. I’m curious as to how you guys plan on making this work out?”

  “We are, too,” KC admitted. “We suddenly have more vehicles and housing than we need. We’d joked about using the bus to tow the trailer, but it’s looking more and more like that’s what we’re gonna wind up doing.”

  “Or get a smaller bus and convert it; use it for office and home school space and live in the Airstream,” Mack added.

  “Better to have too many resources than not enough,” Karen opined. “Well, now that you’re approved and have assumed legal guardianship of Billy, you can resume your business trips, but I would highly recommend that for the next year, you stick close to Bozeman or Big Sky so that I can continue to make inspection visits. The more good reports I can make the better it’ll be for you guys.”

  “Okay, but we are gonna have to take a few, um, business trips as you put it if we want to have enough money to pay all these fees and things,” Mack stammered.

  “Look, I understand what it is you guys really do, and you’re well suited for it, but don’t share any details about it with me. It’s all research for your novels, understand? That’s the kind of story I want to hear. Or how it was an edu
cational trip for Billy. That sort of thing.”

  “Don’t worry,” KC assured the case worker. “I have no problem with looking at things from a certain point of view.”

  “Hi, Mrs. Fields!” Billy called out.

  He’d adapted quickly to his new legs and was no longer using his wheelchair. He was, however, making use of a pair of crutches to sell the illusion that he was still learning to walk with “plastic” legs. The truth was that in private, away from the eyes of the other children, Billy was already running, jumping, and engaging in gymnastics.

  “Hello, Billy!” Karen called back. “It is now officially official: Mack and KC are your foster parents until the final adoption hearing in six months.”

  “Yes!” Billy exclaimed, jerking one arm down and back in a victory gesture. “So, what do I call you guys now?”

  “What do you mean?” KC asked.

  “Do you want me to call you ‘Mom and Dad’ or what?”

  Mack placed a hand on Billy’s shoulder. “That’s up to you. I’m not gonna ask you to do something that I can’t and don’t do. I’m fine with ‘Mack’ or even ‘big partner’.”

  KC snorted. “Forget that! I wanna be ‘Mom’.”

  “Whatever you decide to call us, Billy, we’ll be okay with,” Mack continued, ignoring KC’s outburst.

  “I like ‘Mama’, too,” KC added, counter-ignoring Mack. “Whatever comes natural, whenever you want, Billy.”

  THAT AFTERNOON A LEXUS SUV drove up to the ranch. Athena Duchen exited her car and looked around. She’d driven instead of flying with the idea that she should probably get acquainted with traveling long distances since that was Mac & Mac Enterprises’ standard operating procedure; go where the work is.

  The ranch was a bustle of activity. Children were actually outside playing. Some of the older ones actually appeared to be doing chores and looking after the younger ones. A very attractive blond woman came strolling down the stairs from the main house.

  “Hello? Can I help you? The Double M doesn’t take guests anymore, I’m afraid.”