by K J Carr
Marcus, my wonderful older brother, was solemnly holding a beautiful cake.
I have three typical meals that I ordered here – and the first two are breakfast or brunch oriented. The third was a bacon burger with fries. The cake was a replica of that meal.
Seriously. It truly looked like a burger with fries.
My brother could get a job in any top restaurant in the world, but he wanted to stay here at Luther’s, his diner in this remote New Hampshire town.
He set it down on the table, pushing it towards me as I slowly sat up. One candle flickered on the top. Thank goodness he hadn’t added sixty-five candles…or two candles in the shape of a six and a five. Anything that tacky would have taken away from the beauty of this cake.
I wiped my chin, hoping I wasn’t drooling, it looked that good.
Once the singing stopped, cries of “Blow out the candle!” and “Make a wish!” rang out. I glanced at Malak and Ridwan, and they both were grinning at me.
Sliding my eyes towards Inias, I saw him smile as well.
“Go on.” He mouthed. I think that shocked me the most, since I turned and stared at him. He tilted his head towards the cake.
“Nica.”
With that one word, he broke my amazed shock and I turned back. Taking a deep breath, I easily blew out the candle.
Which then instantly lit up again.
“Hey! No fair with the trick candle!” I grumped. The table laughed and Ridwan wet his fingers, pinching out the flame.
Kaitie reached across and tapped my hand. “I haven’t forgotten your reading, Nica.”
I groaned.
Every year, she did a reading on my birthday. It was more of a present for her than for me, since I didn’t believe in the tarot. Or at least, I never used to. Things have changed a bit in the last five years.
Cake? My other bestie, T’Koran, touched my leg.
T’Koran was a Chlarm daemon that I had bonded with five years ago. He had decided to come live with me here on Earth.
I am not sure if this was special to him or if all Chlarm daemons could do it, but TK supposedly could see my powers developing. He has also saved my life several times, starting with the first time I had met him.
I have taken the little daemon in and have provided him room and board for the times he has saved my butt on the daemon world. He is independent, though, leaving for days at a time, returning to stick with me for weeks afterward. He brings important news from the daemon world, but he also doesn’t give away any secrets unless it relates to me. And I don’t ask for those secrets, even if the Tennin have asked me to find them out.
I am not going to pressure my friend like that.
Kaitie interrupted my thoughts. “So, how does it feel to be sixty-five, Nica?” Her voice was innocent, even though the look on her face was mischievous.
“Well, brat, you should already know.” Kaitie and I had been friends forever. When her parents had died when she was a teenager, Marcus had become her guardian and we had basically become sisters.
The only secrets we had from each other were about the transitioning. Kaitie believed in a spiritual world, with Mother Earth and a Christian God, as well as the cycle of life and death. Her beliefs were very strong in this aspect. Given this, I didn’t think she had even been asked The Question – ”Did she want to Transition?”
Tennins didn’t interfere with people’s belief systems. They only approached those who were ready to hear the question and could make an informed decision. Even then, about seventy per cent of people decided becoming immortal was not for them. With that, their minds were wiped of the fact they were even approached, and they just continued living their lives.
The other thirty percent of us were then trained on skills necessary to live as a Tennin. Most didn’t get through the time between when they were asked and when they died, since daemons tended to target them for the power boost they got when a Transitioner was killed without a Tennin intervention. This had become a real problem for the Tennins as their growth numbers have been seriously constrained.
Me? I was targeted even before I had made my decision, making said decision a moot point. I also gained my first two or so powers at the same time. I could teleport and reverse a daemon possession in someone. Not to mention, talk telepathically to T’Koran, but that might be a one being thing.
Malak thought I might be able to talk telepathically without using touch, but that hasn’t come about. I am not good with touch telepathy, even though I can do it.
In any case, while I still had to say the words, I had the decision to transition or not taken out of my hands. Enoch was still searching for why this had happened to me. I don’t think he has figured it out yet, but then I rarely saw or talked with him.
Kaitie laughed, a bit nervously. “I am glad for every birthday now.” That was softly said.
I reached over and took her hand in mine. I smiled, holding it tightly. “I am glad for every birthday you have too, Kaitie.” Kaitie had a brain tumor about five years ago. She had gone through surgery and chemo and was currently in remission. Marcus and I were very happy she was still with us, since she was a critical part of our family.
I let her hand go and sat back, looking around the table. These people are now my family, including Millie and Teresa.
“Being sixty-five seems no different than being thirty-five, in my mind, except more aches and pains.” I shrugged. “I feel like the same person, even if my body doesn’t perform the same.”
Millie, who must have been in her late seventies, chuckled. “Since you have been working out, your body is doing just fine, Nica.” She raised an eye brow. “And you look much younger than your age.”
“Ha! You act like a teenager.” Marcus grumbled, shaking his head, and handing me a knife.
“Gee, thanks, guys.” I took the knife and made the first cut, pushing the knife and cake back towards Marcus. “Please finish cutting this beauty, brother dearest. I would hate to ruin it.” I grabbed a small chunk that had fallen off.
Kaitie reached out and swiped a bit of the frosting. “Mmmmm! The best ever, Marcus!”
He quickly picked up the cake, pulling it in closer to him. “We will bring you pieces. If we leave this cake in front of Kaitie, there will be no frosting left on it!”
I waved him off. “Yes, please. Kaitie on a sugar high, giving a reading, is not a thing anyone needs to see!”
We all laughed. I put some of the chunk of cake into my mouth, while quietly offering the rest to T’Koran under the table. He grabbed it and popped it into his mouth. Luckily, our ecstatic groans were in sync, so no one heard him over me. This cake was divine!
Kaitie glanced at me. “Why do people think that as you get older, that your mind goes or that life is really that different? Why are all the heroes in books and movies young and nubile? In today’s world, older people are doing amazing things. I mean, look at you! The person you were five years ago and today are like light-years different. You can lift more than most thirty-year-old’s, you run five miles regularly, and you can hike for hours among rough terrain.
“There are stories of women and men becoming body builders in their seventies, or yoga instructors in their nineties. What about that relay team that made a swimming record where all four of them were in their nineties?”
Kaitie’s face was getting red. She really didn’t like the unfairness in the universe against older people, particularly as we got older. I knew I wasn’t really going to die, because I would transition when my human body died.
Kaitie, though, was staring death in its face almost every day, even with her cancer in remission. I knew she wanted to work out with me, but she was still dealing with some of the issues around her treatment.
Luckily, Millie arrived with the first plates of cake. I caught her eye and nodded at Kaitie, so she put the second plate down in front of my best friend, after giving me mine, of course.
Teresa followed her, so soon we all were moaning over how good the
cake was.
“Best cake ever.” Torry sat back, patting his flat abs.
“Seriously, dude.” Ridwan licked his lips, his eyes closed.
Inias was silent, but I caught him sucking a little on the fork. After he saw I was watching, he quickly put it down. He stared at me challengingly until I smirked at him. Nope, not stepping down on this one, Ice Boy. He shrugged and turned away, but not before I saw the small twitch of his lips.
“Marcus keeps getting better, Nica.” Kaitie sat back and cuddled into Torry. I raised my eyebrows, but she ignored me.
Chapter 3
“Presents!” Malak chirped, lifting his gift. “I’ve got to leave soon so you should open mine first.” He pushed it towards me. I grinned back at him as I pulled the gift towards me.
The small flat box was wrapped in brightly colored paper that exclaimed Happy Birthday all over it.
“Where did you get this paper, M? In the children’s section?” I mumbled, tearing a corner of the paper off.
“Where else?” His lofty sounding retort caused me to snort.
“Huh.”
I ripped the rest of the paper off and opened the wooden box. Inside, nestled on dark blue velvet, was a large knife. I looked at him, expectantly.
“A CRKT Rakkasan. While generally, I would have given a woman a folding knife, you need something a little sturdier to fight with. The sheath is underneath, in the bottom part of the box.” He shrugged.
The knife was beautiful. Not too large. The blade was just a tad under five inches, but still long enough to do damage. It had a deep belly and the handle was a black textured steel. The overall length was a little over ten inches, which would mean it wouldn’t get into the way most of the time.
A warrior’s weapon, that could also act as a general use knife.
Kaitie’s eyes were wide. “Why do you think she needs a knife like this, Malak?”
I flinched from the high pitch of her voice and looked at him, my eyes wide at his slip. Kaitie was the only one here who didn’t know why I needed such a weapon.
Inias sighed and reached across to touch her hand.
“It’s not a knife like that, Kaitie. It is just a small pocket knife. See? Malak is just afraid that when Nica goes off on her own, she has no one around to protect her. Not that this will do much, but it is better than nothing.”
As far as mind-wipes go, this was an easy one. It was close enough to the truth, that she would believe it.
Kaitie relaxed into Torry as he tightened his arm around her. He squinted at Inias while the corner of his lips turned down. A line appeared in the center of his forehead.
I sighed. Here it comes.
Malak, though, patted his shoulder.
“We had to stop her from wondering, Torry. Kaitie doesn’t know what Nica has gone through, nor what she will go through in the future. She needs this knife, as well as other weapons. To protect herself, Marcus and Kaitie. Let it go.”
The anger was slow to leak out of the man. I was surprised; perhaps he really did care about Kaitie. Did that break some rule of some type? I glanced at Ridwan, but he just shrugged. Interesting.
Torry shook his head and sat back, pulling Kaitie in closer. I put the knife back into its case and closed it, pushing it towards Inias, who slipped it under the table to keep it out of Kaitie’s sight.
Malak hesitated. I then remembered that he had said he had Enoch’s present for me. I shook my head slightly and he nodded. Another time for that present would be best.
Inias tapped the table. I glanced at both him and Ridwan, and then sighed. This becoming a warrior meant that presents were generally war-like. It appeared that none of them had a present that they could give me that was safe for Kaitie to see. Darn.
Marcus appeared behind Malak and handed over a wrapped gift. I brightened. Leave it to my brother to help save the day.
“Thanks, bro!”
“Nica.” Marcus was generally somber since he had been possessed. I was worried because he just wasn’t acting as himself. I had hoped that this mood would pass on its own, but it hadn’t.
I had an idea, though, to help break through this setback.
As he started to turn away, I cleared my throat.
“One minute, Marcus.”
I waved at Teresa, who was stationed near the door, and she quickly went outside and then re-entered, walking backwards toward us with her arms full.
Distracting him, I met Marcus’s eyes. “I wanted to give you a present on my birthday, big brother. Because it will make me very happy. So…”
I pointed towards Teresa, who turned around with a Belgian Malinois puppy in her arms. Marcus stopped still, staring at the puppy. Teresa tried to hand it off to him, but he didn’t move. She looked at me worried.
“Marcus?”
His head turned slowly towards me. Tears were streaming down his face. I tapped Inias’s arm urgently and he slid out of the booth, so I could get to my brother. Grabbing his ears, I pulled down his head.
“Hey! You are supposed to be happy, Marc. This puppy is to keep you company. It will help keep the shadows at bay. He will be there for you all the times I cannot. Please accept him. For me.”
My words were for him only, even though I knew the Tennin could probably hear. I wrapped my arms around him and rubbed his back. He hugged me back tightly. After a moment, he nodded. I turned to Teresa and took the puppy from her, standing closer to Marcus.
“He is about eight weeks old and is not a German Shepard, but a Belgian Malinois. These were bred for both protection and for companionship.”
The puppy reached its dark, fuzzy muzzle towards Marcus and licked his arm. It started to struggle, trying to get closer to him.
“Eep! Marcus! Take him! He wants to say hi to you!” I laughed. Marcus reached out and plucked the small, black puppy out of my hands. The puppy then started to lick his face, his little tail wagging a mile a minute.
I stood back, grinning. “I think this is a match made in heaven, bro. He is definitely your dog.”
Marcus smiled, raising his chin a little so that the pink tongue could not get his own mouth. “I think you are right, Nica.” He chuckled, and then gently hugged the fuzzy bundle. “Thank you.”
I patted his arm, smiling. “This was simple, Marcus. You two needed each other. I just brought you together.”
Inias had remained standing, so I slid back onto the seat. “What are you going to call him?”
Marcus shook his head.
“I know!” Kaitie excitedly burst out. “He should be called Finn!”
I frowned at her. “Why Finn?”
Kaitie shrugged. “Why not?”
“Verndari.” Marcus’s voice cut over ours.
“Huh?” We turned to him.
“Verndari. His name is Verndari.” Marcus grinned. “And now, I think I need to take Vern outside for his first lesson.”
Teresa reached into her pocket and pulled out a leash, handing it to him. He attached it to the puppy’s collar and the two walked towards the door, the puppy scampering beside him, looking up at him adoringly.
“Verndari.” Inias repeated thoughtfully. “Protector.”
We all sat quietly thinking about that. Everyone here had known some of what had happened, even Kaitie, although her version of the incident was somewhat fuzzy in her mind. Marcus himself didn’t remember much of the episode, but I guessed he thought he needed a protector. And I just gave him one. Point for me, even if it didn’t give me quite the joy most of these points did. I am just sorry he even needed a protector of any sort.
Kaitie sighed, pulling out her cards. “Reading, Nica.”
“Ugh.” I couldn’t resist making a face at her.
Inias exchanged a look with Ridwan and Malak. The men moved to get up. “We will meet you at the car, Nica. We need to talk about business for a minute.” Inias slid out of the booth and stood watching me.
I glared at him suspiciously but waved him away. “I am sure this won’t ta
ke long. My future is never interesting.”
Ridwan and Malak headed for the door, while Inias hesitated a minute, before tapping Torry on the shoulder. “Join us, please?”
Torry looked up surprised. “Uh, sure.” He leaned over and kissed Kaitie on the cheek. “Be back in a few, babe.” He slid out and followed Inias outside.
“Weird.” I watched them move over to the far side of the parking lot where there was a bench.
“Uh huh.” Kaitie was shuffling the cards, intent on the reading. “Concentrate on what you want to learn about this year, Nica.”
I really hated this. I didn’t want to know my future. I figured I already knew too much. But this was Kaitie. And this was our yearly tradition.
I reached out and cut the deck when she indicated and thought about living through the year, yet again. I wasn’t ready to die. Even if I would just become immortal, I still had to go through the process of dying. That just sounded painful.
Kaitie laid out three cards. She had stopped doing the Celtic cross the year I had turned sixty for some reason. Turning them over, the Death card came up first, then the six of swords, ending with the Fool. The cards meant nothing much to me, so I always watched Kaitie’s face. The last time I saw her lose all color in her face had been five years ago. My stomach clinched.
Kaitie stared at the cards, her body still. She looked up at me, suddenly.
“Nica.” Her voice was barely audible.
I reached over and scattered the cards. “It doesn’t matter, Kaitie. It never does. I always overcome all obstacles.”
“Did you see the cards?”
“No. I never really look. I only watch you.”
She was startled by that. I don’t think she ever noticed.
She looked down and gathered up the cards, slowly putting them back into a pile so she could put them away.
“Then I will tell you what I basically tell you every year.” She kept her head down, her voice soft. “Be safe. Stay safe. I love you.” She looked up at me, her eyes wide with fear.
I moved around to her side of the booth and pulled her out, hugging her tight. “Always.”