by M. K. Eidem
"What are you looking for?" Jamis asked, watching from the doorway as Taarig moved around the room.
"My shirt. What did she do with it? All our other clothes were here."
"Maybe one of the Meddygs picked it up."
"Before we left the room?" Taarig gave him a disbelieving look. "Why would they do that?"
Taarig leaned down to look under the bed and stilled. Lifting his hand, he was shocked to see it covered in the distinctive yellow color that only Sion Viper blood had. "What the ruk is going on?!" he demanded, showing Jamis his hand.
Jamis moved across the room and crouched down beside Taarig, suspiciously touching the spot with two fingers. "Could the viper have been injured while in Tecumseh's dress?"
"And not have immediately reacted?" The Meddygs had inspected Tecumseh's dress and discovered she altered it not only to keep the viper hidden but dormant, a state of inactivity hard to maintain with vipers because they had a highly-developed sense of self-preservation. Any perceived threat or injury had them instantly attacking, just as the viper in Jamis’s office had.
"We need to have another conversation with Xanto and find out what really happened here."
"Agreed, but first, you and I need to have one." Taarig returned to the living area and sat back down.
"Concerning?" Jamis asked, resuming his seat.
"Cali."
"We already settled that."
"No! We didn't," Taarig stressed. "You did, and I agreed because I understood your reasoning, but what happened here has changed my mind."
"Why?" Jamis all but growled.
"Because our life spans could have ended, Jamis!" Taarig roared as if it should be obvious. "The whole reason you were against Cali becoming our Lalla was that her life span would end before ours. What's happened proves that may not be the case. Cali has triggered both our creation spheres, and I'm no longer willing to ignore that."
"And if I am?" Jamis asked quietly, his eyes searching the male that was more than his friend.
"Then Cali will be mine and only mine," Taarig told him. "Because I'm no longer going to refuse a gift, the Gods have seen fit to give us, even if you are."
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
Xanto kept a silent vigil beside Cali's rejuvenation tank, watching for the slightest change in her condition. He should have contacted the Paramount, or at least the Supreme Chairman, but hesitated because he knew Cali wouldn't want that. He would have done it anyway, though, if the intense glow of the renewal liquid hadn't returned to its normal state, an indication Cali’s injuries were healed, and it was now restoring her energy levels.
He hadn't realized how worried he'd been until the liquid's color finally changed, and Xanto felt like he could breathe again. He'd never witnessed the end of a Zagreus' life span; he wasn't sure anyone had. He just knew that he didn't want Cali to be his first.
Renewal liquid was an unusual living substance. It enveloped the being in the tank, but when the being rose, it returned entirely to the tank, leaving the being dry. Using the tank was considered an extremely private thing for the Zagreus, intimate even as most were naked while in it. They were also vulnerable while submerged, so most used them behind sealed doors or armed security posted outside.
Knowing Cali was going to be fine, he went into her cleansing room and retrieved a towel. She wouldn't be wet when she got out of the tank, but there would be a slight residue that she'd want to remove. With that done, he went to deal with the dead vipers and to alter the lens feeds to make sure there was no record of Cali leaving the Commander's office.
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
Cali's eyes slowly opened as her face broke the surface of the renewal fluid. Taking a deep breath, she tried to remember getting into the tank but couldn't. Sitting up, she reached for the towel lying nearby and gasped. Gods in heaven, her hand was lit up brighter than a supernova. Looking down, she saw that her entire body was in the same state. How long had she been in the tank!?!
"Nearly eighteen hours," Xanto answered the unspoken question he'd seen cross her face.
Her gaze flew to Xanto and found him standing just inside her resting chamber. "Eighteen? What the ruk!"
"It took nearly six for the fluid to repair all the damage you'd done to yourself by absorbing so much viper venom." That brought everything back to Cali. The vipers. The Si female. How close to death, both Jamis and Taarig had been.
"Are they alright?" she asked, getting out of the tank.
"Once the last viper was eliminated, yes."
"Last viper?" Cali's knuckles whitened as she gripped the towel. "I missed one?"
"It was dormant in the female's dress," Xanto paused then told her what she needed to know. "It was a mature dame."
"What?!" Cali didn't even try to hide her shock or disbelief. "But how?"
"Tecumseh altered the dress not only to transport the vipers but to keep them in a state of dormancy."
"Gods! What the ruk was she thinking?"
"About getting revenge for the death of her sestra."
"Sestra?" Cali's head snapped around to Xanto's.
"Apparently, the Commanders had a relationship with her before she left the Star Base and returned to Sion where she found her mate."
"That's no cause for revenge."
"Except, according to Tecumseh, the Si female you subdued, Commander Dexxirs seduced her sestra into betraying her mate when he was on Sion over a year ago. Because of it, her sestra threw herself into a viper pit."
Unfortunately, Cali could believe Jamis was involved with a mated female. After all, he'd said as much when they'd been stranded in that survival shelter together. His exact words were…
'It's not my concern if the female is committed. It's hers. If she is and doesn't wish to stray, all she need do is state that fact.'
While Cali disagreed, Jamis also wasn't wrong. He wasn't the mated one, so if he'd maintained his 'high standards,' it meant the Si female had willingly betrayed her mate. She'd then felt so much guilt over it that she killed herself in the most painful way possible.
Cali shook her head at the waste. "So, this Tecumseh is in custody?"
"No. The dame attacked her before Commander Dexxirs was able to kill it. She died instantly."
"But no one else was hurt?"
"No one, although the Commander's office is going to need repairing."
"Then I'm going to go cleanse and try to figure out how to explain this," she lifted a glowing hand, "to Mae."
"You'll be explaining things to me first. Otherwise, I'm contacting your parents and telling them everything that's been happening here."
Cali wanted to argue but knew she couldn't. After all, she'd promised. Nodding, she entered the cleansing room.
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
Taarig braced his hands against the counter and stared at his reflection in the mirror. He'd returned to his quarters to try and get some rest before the start of the next light shift, but that hadn't happened. His mind wouldn't calm. He kept getting flashes of what had occurred, but most of it didn't make sense.
He remembered seeing his glass on the floor. He understood that. Tecumseh had laced the skotsk with viper venom.
But after that…
Cali's voice.
Life span draining pain.
Cali's touch.
Being filled with power so immense that he'd felt it in his soul.
None of that could have possibly happened…
Could it?
Reaching up, he rubbed the spot over his heart that still ached. He instantly felt connected to Cali but didn't understand why. All he knew was, with or without Jamis, he was going to have her in his life. For as long as the Gods allowed, starting today. Once she forgave him for even considering being with another female.
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
Cali tipped her head up and let the steaming water flow over her. How had her life span become so complicated? Oh right, a month ago, her’s and Jamis’s orbits had collided. Had it only been a
month? For some reason, it felt so much longer than that.
Because of that collision, she had to explain something about herself to Xanto that even her family didn't know. She looked down at her glowing skin. The question was, could she trust him with her secret. Oh, she knew he wouldn't go around telling just anyone, he was too loyal for that, but would he feel obligated to tell her parents? She guessed she'd find out.
Stepping out of the unit, she wrapped a towel around the long, dark strands the tendrils of renewal liquid had unbraided. She hadn't realized how long her hair had gotten. It was now a thick, glowing mass that hung halfway down her back. Knowing she'd have to figure out later how to deal with it, she went to her clothing area and pulled out a caftan. While it was loose and free-flowing, it completely covered her from ankle to shoulder, showing only a hint of cleavage. Her mother had given it to her, and it was something she enjoyed wearing when she could just be herself.
Pulling the towel from her head, she ran her fingers through her still slightly damp hair. She hadn't given the towel enough time to completely dry it, but she wanted to get this over.
Entering her living area, she raised a glowing eyebrow at Xanto. It seemed he'd made himself right at home, rearranging the furniture, so the couches were now separated only by a low table filled with covered plates.
"I knew you'd need to eat after being in the tank for so long. I ordered some of everything."
She wanted to be upset with him; after all, these were her quarters, but Cali knew he was right and sat down. "Thank you, Xanto."
"You're welcome. Also, you need to contact Mae," he told her, sitting down across from her. "She's been beside herself because you haven't been answering your link."
"Ruk!" she swore. "I never even gave that a thought. I haven't been out of contact with her for this long. Well, except when I went to Vavis Prime to sign The Brink's ownership papers."
"I already informed her that the reason you hadn't answered was that you were resting and had silenced your link."
Cali looked at her timekeeper. She'd disturb Mae's rest if she linked her now. "I'll contact her once she wakes, although I don't know how I'm going to explain my new look."
"May I make a suggestion?" he asked, removing the covers from the plates.
"Of course," Cali said as she picked up her utensils, humming her enjoyment as the thick, flavorful stew hit her tongue. It was as if every taste bud in her mouth had become super-charged, letting her experience every individual nuance in the stew.
"Mae believes you to be an Earthan. Tell her you've come down with an Earthan illness, that while not life-ending or contagious, you didn't want to take any chances with her so close to delivering her offspring and will remain in your quarters until completely recovered."
Cali thought about that as she finished her stew. It was plausible and would calm Mae's concerns. Unfortunately, Cali was going to need more than the few days having a cold gave her before she could show her face in The Brink. "That'll work for the short term, but I'm still going to need a way to conceal all this extra energy."
"Morph for a few days," Xanto said as he finished his stew.
"What?" Cali asked, frowning at him.
"Morph," he repeated, then seeing her confusion questioned. "You do know that the form Triz maintained while he was here wasn't his true one?"
"Of course, I do. I know what my brother looks like."
"Then what aren't you understanding?"
"How morphing will help deplete my excess energy!"
"You've never morphed before?" Xanto found that hard to believe.
"Of course, I have."
"But you never maintained it during one of your 'life spans'?"
"No, I don't need to. Triz morphs to hide his natural features because they are strongly Zagreus, and he prefers to appear to be a being with a shorter life span. I don't have that problem."
"So, you're not familiar with the amount of energy required to maintain a different form."
Cali gave him a confused look. "You're saying the reason Triz spent so much time in his tank was to maintain his form?"
"Yes." Xanto gave her a considering look. "Why did you think he did it?"
"He said it was so he could satisfy a female multiple times."
Xanto coughed into his hand to cover his surprise. He knew Triz was nearly twice Cali's age, but still to discuss something like that with his sestra. The Paramount would take Triz to task if he knew.
"While that is a side benefit, the real reason Triz did so was that it gave him access to the volume of energy he needed to maintain his morph for several days at a time. Less-gifted Zagreus aren't able to store that much energy and are quickly drained, leaving them defenseless. As you were after healing the Commanders."
Cali ignored his last comment. "So, you're saying if I morph into a huge and complex being, it will drain the excess energy I absorbed?"
"Yes, although it will take several days as I'm beginning to believe you are more like your father than any of your other siblings."
Knowing it was time for her to explain, Cali still hedged as she settled back into the couch. "What makes you think that?"
Xanto studied Cali through narrowed eyes, taking in her relaxed position, but he was beginning to see it for what it was, her own type of morph. As a small, unassuming being that others readily overlooked. He knew he always had, but not anymore.
"Because you can heal and have been hiding that fact."
"My gift is my own," she told him, "to use or not use as I see fit."
"Agreed, but that's not the point I'm getting at."
"Then what are you getting at?" she snapped.
"That you have the most prized gift in the entire universe and have been able to conceal it from the Paramount your entire life span successfully." That made Xanto realize something else. "Which also means you have another powerful gift, that of blocking."
"All Zagreus have the ability to block," Cali reminded him.
"Not against the Paramount, and you've done it without him realizing it," Xanto's gaze sharpened on her. "Unless you're suggesting he does."
"I'm not."
"Then you need to convince me why I shouldn't inform him, because you are out in the universe, completely unprotected, and it is unacceptable."
"I don't need to be protected," Cali all but spat. "What I need is to be allowed to live my life span the way I wish, just like every other being does."
"But you're not like every other being, Cali," he gently reminded her. "You have the power not only to heal but to save beings."
"Which no one knows about but you," she reminded him.
"Cali, you have to know that your father needs to be informed."
"No, I don't know that. What I do know is that if my father learns of my gift, he will immediately take control of my life and use my gift the same way he does his, for his benefit and his benefit alone."
Xanto was shocked by the amount of scorn in Cali's voice by the time she finished speaking. Did she really think so little of her father?
"Don't look so shocked, Xanto." She could easily read his expression. "I know who my father is. I've seen the lengths he'll go to get want he wants, no matter what it costs others. I won't be one of those beings he uses."
"Cali…" Xanto whispered, a terrible thought suddenly entering his mind. "What did he do to you?"
"Not to me." She wouldn't allow Xanto to think that. "To my mom and dad."
There was clearly something going on in Cali's family dynamic that Xanto was unaware of. He'd come into the Paramount's service shortly after Caradoc had melded with Dakota and Paul. While he wasn't privy to what occurred within the triad, he'd always believed there was love and respect on all sides. At least that was the impression he'd gotten from Triz and the other male offspring they'd produced together. Now he wondered, and it had him rethinking the Paramount's need to know.
"I will remain silent on this matter on one condition," he finally said.
"And what's that?" Cali asked carefully.
"That you vow to start retaining more power than you currently do. You can use some of it to dim the visual effects it has while still being able to protect yourself if you need to."
As well as Cali could block her thoughts and hide her gifts, Xanto easily read every emotion that crossed her face. The distrust and suspicion he saw there hurt his hearts. Did she believe he'd intentionally harm her?
"Why?" Her soft question seemed to confirm that.
"Because I care about you, Cali. Not because you're the Paramount's datter or Triz's sestra, but because you are a truly kind but aggravating being. You genuinely care about those entering your orbit even though you know you'll grieve when you leave. You, of all beings, have the right to live your life span in whatever way makes you happiest."
Cali wasn't sure anyone had ever supported her the way Xanto just had. Oh, she knew her mom and dad would fight for her, but melded with the Paramount, she couldn't rely on them going against him. As for her broders, well, they were all trying to gain the Paramount's approval in one way or another. It's why she'd never confided in one of them or asked their advice.
"Thank you, Xanto. You don't know what that means to me."
"I will do everything I can to assist you, Cali, but you have to know that eventually, the Paramount will find out."
"When that happens, I'll deal with it."
Chapter Eighteen
"Are you sure you're going to be okay?" Mae's concern came through Cali's link and made her feel guilty for deceiving her.
"I am," Cali made sure to put some raspiness in her voice. "I just need a few days of rest."
"You don't want me to contact the Meddygs?"
"No, I've had this before, Mae. It's not unusual for Earthans, but I don't want to risk you. I know you can handle The Brink, Mae, but if anything does come up, link Xanto or me. Also, bring in as much extra help as you need. See if Crimson wants more shifts. She can handle the floor, which will free up Ujana. She can manage the shifts you don't work, and you will only work one shift, Mae! If I find out you do more, I well, I don't know what I'll do, but I will be furious and disappointed."