by Nesa Miller
“I’ll get in touch with some of the smaller clans to help in the human realm,” Rhaps said.
Cappy turned to Master G. “Anything in the LOKI area?”
He conferred with the dark-eyed young man at his side before he answered. “I wouldn’t count anything out.”
“Aramis, contact Savage. Put them on alert,” the Ambassador ordered.
“Ra is on his way to the castle as we speak,” Aramis said, headed for the door.
“Good.” Cappy addressed his fellow Ambassadors. “The entire Alamir realm should be on high alert.”
Etain stepped out of the way while the room cleared. Her gaze came around to Master G, who smiled and tipped his head. “Maybe next time, E.”
She shrugged, her small smile disappearing when she noticed intense brown eyes set on her. The strange young man cocked a curious brow as he followed Master G out of the dining hall. Angel, followed by Tonos, was close behind.
Tonos smirked, muttering as he passed Etain, “When all this is over, it’s you and me in the arena, girl.” The Mobius Arena, a sacred dome where the Alamir met to settle their differences. Two would walk in, but not necessarily walk out.
Etain felt a warm flush, her scalp tingling. “With no one to save your ass.”
“Are you okay?” Robert’s voice made her jump.
“Oh, Robert. Sorry. I’m a little wired. Care to take a walk with me?”
Standing in the shadows outside, Etain and Robert watched the last of the chieftains depart. They remained hidden until the Ambassadors, Linq, and the others went back inside. She walked along the smooth path at the edge of the graveled courtyard, her brother at her side. Robert offered his jacket against the chill of the night.
“Is it true what the man said about Dar’s clan?”
“Thanks,” she said, pulling the jacket close. “Can we not talk about that right now?”
“Sure.” Robert slid his hands into his front pockets. “These people take the Bok pretty seriously, huh?”
“They are serious. Attacking COL is a bold move, but I don’t want to talk about that, either.”
“Right.” They walked along in silence for a short time.
“Tell me how it was living with Midir.”
“Midir?” He shrugged, his hands still in his pockets. “Life was good. He gave me everything I needed…good education, nice clothes, a safe place to live. He took care of me and opened my eyes to a different way of life. He even set me up in business once my talents became apparent.”
“A different way of life… I’m sure,” she murmured, shaking her head. “So what are your talents?”
“You were in my shop. I have a knack for the organic. I’ve created many a magic spell, some even used by Midir in his business.”
She stopped and faced him. “Have you any idea what his business was?”
“I knew enough.”
She rolled her eyes. “He murdered our parents.”
“A mercenary killed our parents,” he scoffed. “Midir arrived in time to stop him from killing me. If only you hadn't run...”
She shot him a narrowed glare. “You told me to run. You have no idea how many nights I spent scared and alone, asking myself why it happened. Midir planned the whole thing.”
“Etain, you have it all wrong.”
“He told me himself, Robert.” Her hands balled into fists. “Midir hired that demon because he wanted me. He wanted my power.”
“Aren't we full of ourselves tonight?” he said, having none of it. “He saved me that night, and never showed a moment’s interest in you.”
“Are you sure about that?” She ran a hand through her hair. “There’s so much you don't know about him.”
“I think you’ll find it’s the other way around.” He turned away.
“Look at us.” She sighed. “I’ve just gotten you back and here we are, already acting like brats. I’m sorry I upset you.”
He wouldn’t look at her. “Midir was good to me. I won’t have anyone bad-mouthing him, even my sister.”
“It’s been a long day. Why don’t we get back to the house?” She touched him on the shoulder. “Tell me how it happened for you while we walk.”
Robert looked over his shoulder. “How what happened?”
“Your initiation into the Alamir.”
He turned, facing her. “What makes you think I am Alamir?”
“How else could you live in his realm or be in this one?”
“I have no idea, but I assure you, I’m not Alamir.”
She frowned, pinching the bridge of her nose. “My head hurts and I'm too tired to figure that one out tonight. I'm going to bed. We can talk tomorrow.” She kissed him on the cheek and left him alone in the courtyard.
Walking through the front doors, Etain bypassed the living room, toward the stairs. At the steps, she removed her heels and walked up. Her mind elsewhere, finding the two dark-skinned young men on the landing startled her. She paused, looking from one to the other.
The one with light eyes spoke. “Hello. You’re Etain, right? Etain Rhys?”
“VonNeshta.”
The two men exchanged a glance. “But you were Etain Rhys before that, correct?” asked the other young man.
Etain stepped down a step. “What’re you doing up here?”
“Forgive me. I forget we’ve not been introduced. I’m Krz.” He motioned to himself, then to the man at his side. “This is my brother, Kane. We are of the Haluci clan.”
“I’ve not heard of the Haluci clan. What do you want?”
“She doesn’t believe you, Krz,” Kane said. “Look, if we weren’t who we said we were, you really think we would’ve made it past the front door?”
“Easy, Kane,” his brother advised. “Etain, we’re a small clan who operate on a covert basis.”
“Yet you show up here today.”
Krz took a breath. “Covert in the human realm. Thoric and the other Ambassadors are familiar with our work.”
“Forget this, bro. We haven’t the time.”
Krz concentrated on Etain rather than his brother. “I overheard your conversation with Thoric. Do you want to help? Will you go with us?”
She stepped back another step. “Why would I go with you?”
Kane stepped in front of Krz, turning his back on Etain. “They could already be closing in on the family. We have to go!”
Krz gave him a steady look. Etain recognized the communication between the two. She shared the same with Dar. Kane stepped aside, crossing his arms over his chest. Krz turned his gaze on Etain. “Your father was James Rhys.”
She considered the handsome, light-eyed man and his brother. “My father?” Etain stepped up onto the landing. “Did you know him?”
“No, unfortunately,” Krz said, “but we know someone who did. It’s her place we’ve acquired as a portal. Would you like to meet her?”
Etain bit her bottom lip. First, she found her brother, who she thought dead, and now, an opportunity to speak to someone who knew her father. Was it too good to be true? Should she trust these men? They seemed sincere. Their auras were good - one blue, the other orange. She looked at Kane. “You mentioned a family.”
“Who could be dead by now, thanks to you!”
“Give me five minutes.”
“Kane…” Krz turned to his brother, “Get UKElyte. We’ll meet you there.”
Tiny explosions of light sparked in the dark of night as the Alamir stepped into the human realm. Alamir teams appeared wherever there had been the most Bok activity - Boston, Rio de Janeiro, Tokyo, and Perth.
Etain and Krz appeared in a bar in L.A.
“I swear. I’ll never get used to your lights,” said a woman coming out from behind the bar. “I duck and run for my gun every time!”
Krz laughed. “A burst of cardio’s good for you, Jackie.”
“Stop it,” she said, laughing. “We need to tweak the plan a bit. Just appearing in the main bar area isn’t gonna keep your operations cove
rt.”
“You have a point. We can alter it to the storeroom if you’re on board with that,” Krz said.
Kane and members of the UKElyte clan sparked in. Jackie nodded in their direction, then her whiskey gaze widened, falling on Etain.
Krz cleared his throat. “Um, Jackie P,” said Krz, “meet-”
“I’d know this girl anywhere.” Jackie’s smile faded as the women stared at one another.
Dressed in leather pants and a “Rock or Die” t-shirt, she appeared to be acceptable by aura standards. Etain had no recollection of the older woman but suffered her scrutiny, waiting. If this were a trap, she’d be damned if she’d be the one to give anything away.
“As I live and breathe,” Jackie said, looking Etain up and down. “You’re the spitting image of your mama, but I’ll be damned if I don’t see the same steel in your eyes as your dad.” Etain blinked, hearing her own words repeated. The smile returned to Jackie’s face. “You’re a far cry from the girl I last saw.” She looked at Krz. “She was always pretty, but could Aurelia ever get the girl into a dress?” Her gaze came back to Etain, beaming with what Etain interpreted as pride. “Hell no! The little sprite insisted on living in jeans and t-shirts. A girl after my own heart.” If possible, her grin widened even further. “But the worst part for Auri…” Jackie laughed, looking down. “Nice boots, Ms. E. You’ve certainly grown into ‘em.”
A familiar spark lit in Etain’s mind. Gazing at the woman, a memory…fuzzy, yet warm…began to take shape. Only one person ever called her mom Auri. “Jacleen?”
Kane smirked at Krz. “What’re the odds, bro?” Krz shrugged, watching the unexpected reunion.
“Not anymore, babe,” Jackie said.
Etain wrapped her arms around the woman, squeezing her tight. “Holy hell, Jacl…” She pushed her back to arm’s length, “Jackie!” Despite the woman’s business dealings with her dad, she had proven a good friend to the family. “With all that’s gone on… Holy crap…” She laughed, pulling her close again. “I worked so hard to put things behind me. I’m sorry I never-”
Jackie patted her on the back. “Don’t you worry about that, Ms. E. I’m glad to see you’re alive and well. I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you.”
Releasing Jackie, Etain swiped the tears from her eyes. “You couldn’t have known where I was. Hell, I didn’t know where I was for the longest time.” She gave a nervous laugh. “What brought you to L.A.?” she asked, finally noticing their surroundings. “A bar? I mean, I didn’t know your business with dad, but… A bar?”
She laughed. “It belonged to an uncle who passed away a while ago. I thought about selling but decided it was time for a new life, so I packed up and moved out here. If I’d known it’d bring you back into my life, I’d have moved sooner.”
“Excuse me, ladies,” interrupted Krz, “but we have more pressing business now.”
“Sorry, Krz,” Jackie said. “They’re in Beverly Hills for some fancy campaign dinner. I’ll get the address for you.” She headed back to the bar. “It’s just up the road a spell. Won’t take long to get there.”
Etain turned to Krz, her opinion obvious on her face. “A politician?”
“Not just any politician. She’s a Presidential candidate.”
“Since when did running for President become dangerous?”
Kane answered this time. “Since her opponent decided to hire a Bok assassin to level the playing field.”
Jackie returned with a piece of paper. “Here you go, Krz.” She eyed Etain. “Come with me, girl.” Sitting Etain on a barstool, Jackie went behind the bar, grabbed a couple shot glasses, and a bottle of Patron. Placing the glasses in front of Etain, she filled each one to the rim.
“What’s this for?” Etain asked.
“You’re whiter than a sheet, Ms. E.” Jackie picked up one of the shots. “This’ll help with that.” She winked and downed the tequila.
Etain ran a hand through her hair, then picked up her glass and slammed the amber liquid down her throat. A warm glow blossomed out from her belly, spreading up her throat and to her outer extremities. “One more,” she gasped.
“Make it quick,” said Krz. “We have some ground to cover.”
“No time for that.” Kane grabbed Etain by the arm before she could pick up her glass. “Gotta go now.”
She pulled from his grip. “You asked me to trust you. Now it’s your turn to trust me.” Etain finished off her second shot. After blowing out a breath, she smiled. “I know a really quick way. Show me a map of where we’re going.”
“The general direction is northwest of here,” Krz said. “Beverly Hills.”
“Can you zero in on an address?”
“Here.” Jackie slapped a piece of paper on the bar. She shrugged at Krz’s questioning look. “Makes sense. Big campaign, big target. I never trusted the asshole she’s running against.”
Etain reached out, grabbing Krz by the arm, who made a grab for the paper, shoving him into his brother. “Meet us there,” she yelled at the clan. At impact, the three lit in a blue shimmer. “I’ll be back, Jackie!”
Materializing in the middle of Rodeo Drive, Etain looked up and down the street. “Which way, Krz?”
It took a few moments for the men to regain their bearings. “What the hell was that?” Kane shouted, closing his eyes.
Krz held onto his brother’s shoulder. “Whatever it was, I wanna do it again.”
Etain rolled her eyes. “I thought time was of the essence. Which way, Krz?”
“Um, oh.” He looked around them. “The Four Seasons is…” Krz turned until he came back to his original position, “this way.”
It was then they heard the sirens, saw the glow of flashing lights. The three shared a look and took off in a dead run toward the hotel. People, too busy looking over their shoulders, ran at them, terror in their eyes. The hotel was in chaos with policemen yelling, children screaming, women crying, men running, emergency techs heading into the fray.
Standing in the middle of the fracas, Krz leaned toward his brother. “We have to split up. Find the family, get them out.”
Kane sneered at Etain as he spoke to Krz. “If it isn’t already too late.”
“Just find them.” Krz gave him a push, setting him on his way, then turned to Etain. “Are you okay?”
“I can feel it…them,” she said, staring at the entrance to the hotel.
“The family?”
Her gaze went to Krz. “The Bok. They’re still here. We may have a chance.” She shoved her way through those exiting the main doors.
“Wait, Etain!” he yelled. “You don’t have a weapon.”
Keeping to the outer walls of the corridor, Etain made her way through the onslaught of humans who were desperately trying to distance themselves from whatever evil lurked within the hotel. She heard whispers of “shooting” and “terrorists”. It was forbidden to interact with humans while on their terrain, but finding the right room was extremely difficult. Having made the decision to ask, damn the consequences, a set of double doors burst open at the end of the hall. People in formal evening wear poured through them, fleeing with the other guests. Etain inched her way to the open doors and slinked inside.
Looking toward the stage, the large banner across the back confirmed she had found the right place. A movement to the left of the stage caught her attention, seeing a girl with dark hair about fourteen years old. Etain followed her frightened gaze toward the stage. A man and woman were on their feet, staring in the same direction as the girl. Etain could tell they were her parents, her hair being the same color as the man and her profile similar to that of the woman. Her gaze moved to what had them frozen in place.
Seeing an undulating black wall, Etain gasped, staggering back. The years since her parents’ deaths melted away, making her feel as though it were happening again. Much like that day, she was mesmerized by the sense of evil radiating off it.
A gunshot snapped Etain out of her paralysis. The woman on th
e stage touched her head, blood flowing down the side of her face. Etain thought the bullet must have just grazed her scalp. The girl’s scream set her into motion, running between the tables, her great wings extending when she stepped onto the platform. Diving for the woman, another shot breezed past, just missing Etain’s head, hitting the woman’s shoulder. Etain’s wings wrapped around her and the two fell to the floor. Although her wings softened the blow for the candidate, Etain grunted from the impact.
“Oh my god. Are you okay?” the woman asked, her eyes wide, seemingly unaware of her own injuries.
“I’m good. Don’t worry about me. How are you?”
“Oh, I’ve had better days. Feeling a bit woosy,” she said, closing her eyes.
“You’re doing great. Just stay with me, okay? The EMTs should be here soon.”
“My head hurts.” The woman’s eyes popped open. “My daughter! Where’s Chloe? Where’s Ed?”
“I’m here, Mom,” said the teary-eyed young girl, Krz standing behind her. “I’m okay.”
Kane stepped up from the other side, his hand on the man’s shoulder. “I’m here, Caroline,” said her husband.
Caroline smiled at each one, then at Etain. “Thank you all. Thank you.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Caroline,” Etain said, smiling. “Shall we keep this between us?”
Caroline gasped, the pain finally registering with her brain. “Meeting my guardian angel in the flesh? Who would believe me?”
Etain laughed, looking up at Krz, who nodded. “Caroline, the EMTs are coming.” She released her wings, grimacing with the effort. “These brave young men will meet you at the hospital to ensure your safety. You take care of you and your beautiful family.”
Chloe dropped to her knees, taking hold of her mother’s hand. “Mom, are you sure you’re okay?” Her father kneeled next to her, placing an arm around her shoulders, his eyes on his wife.
“I am, thanks to…” Caroline turned her head. “Where did she go?”
“I’m right here, mom,” Chloe said, tears streaming down her face. “Dad’s here, too.”
“The blonde…in black. With wings?” The terrified looks on their faces reminded Caroline of what her angel had said. “Nevermind, I must be in shock.”