“Good, I was worried. From now on I shall tell you my Dreams right away,” Sasha said.
“This isn’t your fault. Like you said earlier, this is the first time you’ve gotten a Dream that happened so quickly.” I moved the boxes from the antique store into the bag from the dress shop and threw away the antique store bag, just in case. “Do you remember anything else?”
“Two, the walk-in has to leave at two. I’m not sure why—I think it’s something to do with the host.” Sasha sighed. “I’m sorry. I wish I knew more.”
“Sasha, you did great. Thank you. If you hadn’t warned me, who knows what would have happened. I guess I’ll stay out until two, I don’t want to lead them back to all of you.”
“You should call Nyota, she can help,” Sasha said.
I relaxed a little. “Great idea thanks.”
“Take care, and let everyone know what’s going on.” Sasha hung up.
I called Nyota first.
“Hello, Sapphire is everything okay?” she said.
I never called her so I suppose there was cause for concern.
“Not really. I just ran into a walk-in, and I have an artifact from Akasha which he was sent to get. Oh, and there is a selkie with me,” I said.
“Glad one of us isn’t having a boring day,” Nyota laughed.
I ran my fingers through my hair they got caught on tangles. “I don’t want to lead it back to the hotel or the gym, and I’m not sure what to do.”
“Can you feel it now?” Her voice sounded far away—she must have put me on speaker.
“No. A few magical creatures helped us out and led it away, but Sasha said he Dreamed about it last night, and the walk-in will be active until two.”
Nyota muttered, and I heard a zipper. “Is there a restaurant nearby?”
“I suppose, hold on. Ramsey, is there a restaurant close by?”
“Yes, about two blocks is the Queen Victoria Pub.”
“Okay, great,” Nyota said. I guess she heard him. “Go to the pub, sit, order something, and I’ll catch a taxi and meet you there. I have a portable field generator. I’ll bring it with me, and we can hang out until it’s safe to come back,” she said. The snick of a door closing echoed through the phone.
“Okay, we’ll see you there,” I said.
I stared at the screen for a moment before sending out a general group text. Ran into walk-in, got away, Nyota coming with field generator, will be back after two, please stay at the hotel.
“Come on,” I said and explained what Nyota wanted us to do.
“So she has created a machine that sends out a vibration which masks your magical signature so the walk-ins can’t find you?”
“Yes,” I said focusing on keeping my energy contained but open enough to feel the walk-in and not run into anyone. The constant chirping from incoming texts was a bit distracting.
“Do you think she could make one for me? For my band?” Ramsey asked.
I shrugged. “I guess. At this point I think Nyota can do anything she wants to. You can ask when we see her.”
“Cheers. We’re almost there. Do you feel anything?” he asked leading me down a busy street. Christmas light twinkled as we moved through the crowd.
“No, nothing strong, but I still feel kind of gross being that close to it.” I shivered.
“There.” Ramsey pointed to the corner where a deep red building with gold trim stood.
Stepping inside, Ramsey turned to me.
“I don’t feel anything bad,” I said.
Once seated, Ramsey ordered a pint of bitter while I chose a hot chocolate. Scanning through my texts I saw that everyone was safe at the hotel. I looked around the room. It was bright and warm with light wooden tables and wallpaper that looked like a sunset, with metallic gold patterns on top of a red-orange background. The open space and natural light from the windows made it seem warm instead of gaudy.
Ramsey sipped his drink and glared at the table. I guess he was still irked about the whole Jewel thing. Should I tell him? Did I trust him enough? What if he treated me differently after he found out?
I twisted my mom’s ring, the midnight blue stone sparkled like stars in the sky. “So did you still want to know about the Jewel comment?”
Ramsey frowned. “If you want, if you think you can trust me.”
I rolled my eyes. “I barely know you, so getting snippy about trust is a bit much don’t you think?” Hot anger flared from Ramsey. I continued. “I am sure you have plenty of secret things that you aren’t ready to share with me.”
Ramsey sighed and tugged on the yoga bag strap across his chest. “Okay, sorry, you’re right. I would like to know, if you feel comfortable telling me.”
I smiled and took a stalling sip of hot chocolate. “So you know I’m a Child of Fire, but I am the strongest Child of Fire. I am like Shamash and Aya’s first children.”
Ramsey frowned. “Shamash and Aya?”
“The Phoenix King and Queen.”
“My gran used to tell stories about them, but she died when I was little.” His brow furrowed. “Isn’t there a myth about a Child of Fire being able to open a doorway or something?”
“Yes, my family and I are strong enough to open the portals to Akasha,” I said.
Ramsey leaned back in his chair, away from me. His energy contained. “So you’re going to send us all to Akasha?”
Rude. Did I seem like the kind of person that forces people to do something they don’t want to? “No, I open the portal for beings to go through if they want to. I don’t ‘send’ anyone.”
Holding up his hands, he leaned closer to the table. “Okay, sorry. That was harsh. Bloody hell, I have never thought about going to Akasha. I didn’t think it was anything more than a faerie tale.”
“Like selkies?” I asked, grinning.
He laughed and warmth flowed through me. I saw Nyota’s dreadlocks, damn it. I waved to her, she sat down ordered a pint.
“Nyota this is Ramsey. Ramsey, Nyota.” See, I have manners.
“So it’s not here,” she said setting her bag on her lap and fiddling with something inside.
“No. I haven’t felt anything since we called you.”
She nodded. Something clicked then there was a soft hum. Smiling, she set it on the floor. “There, the pub is safe. So lunch?” She picked up the menu. Her sleeve fell back and a pink burn marred her mocha skin.
“Nyota, what happened?” I asked.
“Oh that,” she said, glancing at the burn before going back to the menu. “I bumped into one of the stage lights last night.”
“Did you go and see Miu?” Nyota didn’t have a lot of Phoenix Magic in her but there was enough for Miu’s healing powers to work with. Even if she couldn’t heal things directly, Miu always had some cream, tea, or foul herbal concoction that made you feel better.
“It didn’t seem that important. I’m fine,” Nyota said.
“You need to see her, she can heal it.”
We ordered and then handed our menus to the waitress. Nyota turned to me. “Have you told Gavin and Anali yet?”
I flinched. “I texted them along with everyone else.”
“That’s mental,” said Ramsey. “You can’t text something like this. He’s your guardian right, you have to call him.”
Sighing, I pulled out my phone and called Gavin while Ramsey asked Nyota about her dampening field machine.
After the fourth ring I was hoping it would go to voicemail. “Hey Sapphire, I almost missed your call. My phone is on vibrate. Anyway are you having fun?”
“Um, yes. Well, I’ve hit a tiny snag.”
Ramsey snorted. Rude.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes, I’m fine. Nyota is here and her portable dampening field is working great, so no need to worry.”
Nyota’s head hit the table, her dreadlocks fanning around her and her shoulders shaking with laughter. Ramsey shook his head. I glared at him and he looked away taking a sip of his bitter.
“Sapphire,” Gavin said his voice sharp. “I would like you to start from the beginning.”
“There’s not much to tell. I was shopping with a friend.”
Ramsey mouthed “friend” miming sticking a knife into his heart. Nyota, the traitor, laughed.
“I felt something from Akasha, and bought it. There will be a big charge on my credit card, sorry,” I said.
“I don’t care about the card, finish your story,” Gavin said.
I twisted a curl around my finger. “Well, a walk-in came into the shop. I assume for the necklace I bought. Anyway, we got away, not a single hair out of place, because Sasha warned me in the nick of time. I called Nyota because I didn’t want to lead it back to you guys, and I knew she had a portable dampening field machine. So now we’re going to wait at this pub and have some lunch.”
“What?” he asked.
“Oh, I ordered a veggie burger and chips.”
Gavin groaned. “No, Sapphire, not what did you order. What are you doing? And what pub? And are you wearing your contacts?”
“The Queen Victoria Pub and the plan is to wait until two, Sasha said it would be gone by then, and yes, I have my contacts in,” I said.
“Did you tell anyone else?”
“I texted everyone.”
“Ah, yes. I see a bunch of texts. I’ll call and make sure everyone is okay. I want updates every ten minutes.”
“Uncle Gavin, I’m fine, you don’t have to …”
“Every ten minutes,” Gavin said.
I sighed and fought the urge to pout. “Okay.”
“Take care and I’ll see you soon.”
“Bye.” I tucked the phone into my pocket. Ramsey and Nyota were chatting about her field using words I didn’t understand and drinking beer. I sipped my hot chocolate getting whipped cream on my nose. What was I, five? The urge to pout came back.
Instead, I used my empathy to scan the restaurant. Layers of emotions crashed over me. I filtered out the people. The transparent images of the past came into sharper focus, especially the few images of people who had died in the pub. I took a deep breath and did my best to ignore them and their stories. There was a group of brownies or ‘broonies’ living in the basement of the building, but other than that everyone else was human.
The waitress brought our meals. I blinked and strengthened my bubble to protect myself from the swirling emotions filling the pub.
“Sorry, Sapphire,” Nyota said, as she spread cilantro chutney on her roasted eggplant and paneer wrapped in naan. “I got excited about being able to talk with someone who understood what I was saying.”
“It’s okay,” I said with fake maturity. “I had to talk to Gavin any way.”
“She’s going to build us a field generator,” Ramsey said cutting a piece off his fried fish and dipping it into a fancy looking tartar sauce. “Of course, I’ll have to figure out how to tune it to mask our magical energy.”
“Like I said, you're welcome to email me with any questions.” Nyota took a big bite of her sandwich.
I took a bite of my burger. The flavors were unique with a hint of Indian spices which warmed my tongue. The rich, hot food made the residual itchy sick feeling from the walk-in fade.
“I love their chips,” Ramsey said, picking up what I would call a French fry. It was crispy and flecked with spices.
I jumped when Gavin burst through the door. Okay, in reality he walked, but his energy burst through the pub. He was full of anger, worry, and fear. I could feel it when he found us—on the outside he was calm and polite but his green eyes were hard, scanning the room as he walked toward us.
“Are you okay? Have you felt anything?” He knelt in front of me and reached out to touch my face. I squeaked, his fingers cold on my cheek.
“I’m fine, Uncle Gavin, and no I haven’t felt it since we came into the pub.”
Squirming, I did my best to meet his gaze. “Why didn’t you call me right away?”
“I knew I needed to get to a safe place, and Nyota was the one with the field generator. Are the others safe? Is it okay that you left Anali?”
“Yes, they’re fine. Why didn’t you call me?”
Guilt fluttered in my stomach. “I’m sorry I didn’t want to call until we were safe. I didn’t want to upset you and Anali.”
The muscle in his jaw jumped and his anger prickled against my skin.
“Sir,” said the waitress, “can I get you anything?”
Gavin stood, his body tight. “Yes, I’d like a mocha and a veggie burger please.”
“Right away.”
“The generator is working,” Nyota said. “And I checked the one at the hotel and gym yesterday.”
“Good, thanks.” He sat and rubbed his face. He seemed to do that a lot around me.
Ramsey cleared his throat. I frowned. He rolled his eyes, and looked at Gavin then back to me. Oh!
“Uncle Gavin, this is my friend Ramsey McDaniel. Ramsey, this is my uncle Gavin Marsh.”
“It’s very nice to meet you, Mr. Marsh,” Ramsey said holding out his hand.
Gavin shook his hand. “So you are the friend.”
What? Gavin normally asked to be called by his first name and smiled when he met someone.
“I guess so,” Ramsey said molding to the chair as he sipped his drink.
Their energy sizzled in the air. I looked at Nyota, her eyes crinkled as she ate. I didn’t understand what was happening.
“He plays the cello in the band we saw the first night here, and I ran into him when I was training with Shin. He helped me get back to the hotel.”
Gavin sniffed, leaned back in his chair, his eyes focused on Ramsey. Of course, the whipped cream covered drink ruined his posturing.
“Do you want to see what I got?”
“The necklace?” Gavin said, focusing on me, and his body softened a little.
I nodded and dug through the bag, shaking the boxes. I wouldn’t want to pull out the wrong one.
His fingers ran over the braided silver metal. “It looks Viking, but the features of the dragon are more delicate and the blue jewels aren’t something they would have had. I’m glad you found it. Was there anything else there?”
“Well,” I glanced at Ramsey. He nodded. “Ramsey noticed a sporran that was made from selkie skin.”
“Are you?” Gavin asked.
Ramsey nodded.
“I’m sorry.”
“Who would do such a horrible thing?” Nyota asked.
“Someone could have found the skin and not known, thinking it just a seal skin. I’d like to imagine it was an accident, but our skin is our connection to our magic and the sea. If it’s destroyed our magic fades away and we die,” Ramsey said.
I clasped his hand under the table, his sorrow cold against my shields.
Gavin arched an eyebrow and stared at the table. I refused to let go of Ramsey’s hand. “Do you want it? I wouldn’t know what to do with it.”
“Do you mind?” Ramsey asked. “I’ll take it home and we could bury it. Maybe my family heard of this happening, so we could bury it with the person, if possible.”
“Of course I don’t mind,” I said.
“Thanks. I can pay you back,” Ramsey said.
“No, don’t worry about it. It’s fine, right, Uncle Gavin?” I said.
He nodded. “Yes, of course. It’s part of the whole helping magical creatures gig.”
“Are you sure?” Ramsey began when his phone rang. “Sorry. I should get this. Hello, Solange.” He stood and stepped outside.
“You met him how?”
I sighed. “I bumped into him while doing the test for Shin. And we recognized each other. It’s not a big deal.”
Gavin arched an eyebrow. “It sounds suspicious to me. How did he recognize you from the pub? You didn’t dance, it was dark and there was a crowd around the stage.”
“Oh, well.” I ate a chip and tried to think of how to say this without getting into trouble. “He’s a se
lkie, so is his brother who plays the drums, and the flutist is one of Pan’s descendants. Both the singer and violinist are sirens.”
“This doesn’t explain how he was able to pinpoint you,” Gavin said.
“Oh, well, you know, I felt them and opened up my empathy to figure out what they were doing. The sirens draw energy from the crowd during shows.”
“You mean they were feeding off the crowd,” Gavin said. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
“You and Anali were having fun, and they weren’t feeding off of the people, more like soaking in the energy they emitted into the air. And I assumed we’d never see them again.” Taking a bite, I stopped the frantic attempt to find an excuse Gavin would like. Judging by the cold sharp irritation against my shield I wasn’t helping the situation.
Gavin buried his hands in the hair. “Sapphire, we need to talk.” The waitress set his food down. Gavin inhaled, his chest expanding. “Oh this smells good. I’ve been eating bland foods to avoid upsetting Anali.” He moaned in happiness at his first bite.
Nyota smiled at me. Yes, yes, I had lucked out, for now. I was sure Gavin would come out of the happy food place and remember our conversation.
“I have to go,” Ramsey said eating the last of the chips off his plate. “My cousin woke up and saw my text and is freaking out.”
“Be careful.” I handed him the box containing the sporran.
His jaw tightened as he took it. “Thank you, I’m sorry I have to go.” Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out some money. “This should cover me.”
“You don’t have to,” I began but his dark eyes held determination. Maybe this was one of those male ego things.
“It was nice meeting you,” Nyota said. “I’ll have Sapphire contact you when I get your field generator ready.”
“Text me to let me know you got home safe,” I said.
Ramsey winked at me. He was trying to be light hearted but his worry tugged at me. “Don’t worry about me, hen, I’ll be fine. You take care. Nice to meet you Mr. Marsh, Nyota.”
Nyota and I said “bye.” Gavin snorted.
“What does hen mean?” Nyota asked.
“Not sure. I think it’s like dear or honey.”
“I don’t like him,” said Gavin. “He looks shifty.”
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