“But?”
“It can’t be left as is. Afterward, we’ll need to sort out this black wolf,” he admitted.
“Minder is she with them?”
“Yes, so are Shellena and Lance.”
“OK, What about Kaya? I thought she was right behind me? I’m not sure what happened to her,” I said, turning back to look. “It’s fine. She most likely ran into Nayla. We would’ve brought Tri and Starla in, but-”
“But?”
“It wouldn’t have been a good idea,” said Nayla trotting up to me. “Starla is going to have to be awake at the crack of dawn. I can hear her complaining now,” she muttered.
Out of nowhere, Kaya ran up to Nayla almost knocking her over. She skidded to a halt a few inches from her nose.
“Nice of you to join us,” Nayla commented raising an eyebrow.
“We’re on our way to the reflection room,” I admitted. Then started walking again.
“I see that, so they aren’t in the dining hall now?” asked Kaya, continuing on with us.
“Nah, Cavin didn’t want Sika messing it up,” answered Jones as we passed pictures of past clan members.
Down the hall, a door creaked open. Lance peeked his head out into the hallway. “You need to get in here! You’re going to want to hear what Sika has to say,” he said, holding the door open.
We filed in and took our places in the circle with the other members. Shellena and Cavin, nodded to us. Sika was in the middle of the circle seemingly-calm for the description given earlier.
“So,” I said, turning to Shellena. “What now?”
Sika let out a low growl, but simply stood there staring at us. It looked like he’d been placed, in a trance.
“I went out to give them their evening meal. Sika was yelling crazy phrases. He wouldn’t stop talking about a shadow,” said Shellena.
“That’s what I told you! It’s trying to smash through the force field you placed around our cage. It’s been stalking us for two days now,” Sika stated in a groggy tone.
Minder broke the circle. She stepped back over to stand near him. “Why did you wait this long to tell us? Weren’t you concerned for the clan’s safety?”
“I’m more concerned about our well being than yours,” he admitted. Then brought his handcuffed hands to his forehead head. He massaged his frontal lobe for a few minutes, and let them fall back down in front of him. He slowly bent his knees and sat down.
“Well?” I demanded.
“I wasn’t alarmed, till it began voicing threats. Well, they did,” he started ringing his paws. “There’s more than one of them. It spooked Gladiator pretty badly. He’s one of my best sidekicks,” he responded.
“Sika, you’ve been threatening members of our clan since your capture. Now you expect us to believe you when you cry wolf!” shouted, Shellena. It was more of a statement than a question.
Cavin raised his eyebrow, “she has a point,” he added.
“While I agree, we should take precautions. I’ll see if I can get the Trinity pack to monitor our parameters this evening,” Jones suggested.
“It would certainly take the pressure off of Mike,” said Lance. He stepped up to Sika, crouched down, and looked him directly in the eyes. “You’d better not be lying about this! Tomorrow, I’ll be ready to step up if needed during the interrogation.”
Sika snickered, “Whatever. You’re not the one that worries me.”
Nayla trotted up to Lance, grabbed one end of his T-shirt with her mouth and tugged till he rejoined the circle.
“What are you doing?” he howled.
“We’ll be doing the grilling tomorrow,” she stated, standing next to him.
“I can’t believe you trust him,” Lance grumbled, frowning in Sika’s direction.
“I don’t, but we have to be cautious.”
“Nayla’s, right. We can’t assume anything at this point. We must keep our guard up,” I answered.
“Good call, Dan. Jones, please inform the Trinity pack. Ask them to take turns monitoring our area until the trial.”
“Okay, Cavin. Should I meet you back here afterward?” asked Jones.
“It's not necessary, unless Sika has any other information to give us, that is,” he said, glaring at him.
“You’re not going to make me go back in there! I won’t, not tonight!” he yowled.
Cavin shook his head. “You’re not staying here. We can’t trust you!”
“River Rouge, Kidnapping, and perhaps Du-Vance’s death! Do you think we’re fools!” he yelled, throwing up his hands.
“Lance please take him back to the cage. Shellena, help him,” suggested Kaya.
They marched over to Sika. He struggled a bit as they each grabbed an elbow. He must still be highly sedated still verbally, he put up a fight. Shellena and Lance dragged him towards the door. He made ill attempts to flee, kicking the whole way. I staggered to the exit. Jones followed me. Once there, I held the door open for them.
“You still have the entity contained in that necklace, right?” I asked Cavin, shutting the door as they left.
“Yes, it’s stored in our vault. There’s no way anyone could have triggered an escape,” he replied.
“Okay, well, that’s one we can check off the list,” I commented glancing down at my watch.
“Is there someplace you need to be?” asked Cavin.
“Dinner with Tri.”
“Ah, Then you should go.”
I hesitated, “Jones has things handled then. The Trinity is securing the park?”
“It’s fine, we have it under control,” Nayla responded.
“Have a good night. We'll see you in the morning,” Cavin reminded me. He joined Kaya's side, and Nayla trotted up to them. I turned the door knob and let myself out.
Chapter 45
(Starla)
I drained the noodles, poured them back into the pot on the stove and mixed in the tomato basil sauce. Yum, that should be just the right amount, I thought. Afterward, I placed the burner setting, on low. That way it wouldn't boil over. I reached up and grabbed the plates out of the cupboard plopping them down on the counter. Then twisted my body around to find my mom pinching garlic salt onto the bread.
“Can you skedaddle? I need to get this into the stove.”
“No, problem,” I answered, moving out of the way.
Once she finished, I went back to stirring the spaghetti. I hoped Megan wasn’t too angry. Last I had known, she was OK with not taking part in our clan. Then again, she looked up to me. Which meant, she wanted to be like me.
“So, your father should be home any minute. Why don’t you check on your sister? I’ll finish this up. Then we’ll eat.”
I wanted to tell her Megan was mad at me. That she wouldn’t listen to anything I had to say. Instead, I just nodded and headed out of the kitchen, pausing at the front door. Did I hear knocking? I pulled the door open. Nothing, but the headlights of cars in the parking lot. I shrugged, slamming the door closed and ran upstairs.
“Megan, it’s almost time to eat,” I shouted leaning against her bedroom door.
“I’ll be down in a minute. Leave me alone!”
“Come on, earlier today you were telling me about Chaz. What happened? Why am I the bad Fox all of a sudden?”
I stood there, waiting for a response until she opened the door.
“Might as well come in,” she offered.
I shimmied past her sitting myself down on a chair at her desk.
“Would you like to come to a clan meeting?”
She shrugged. “What could I do there? I don’t have any magical super powers,” she clarified. Then slide across the floor in her stocking feet to her bed. She sat down, slouching.
“Well, I’m sure Kaya could find something. One of the main worries is your keeping it all hush hush. I haven’t done too well myself.”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“Maine’s on board. She’s studying Wicca. She and Molly, are experi
encing technical difficulties at the moment. It has me concerned.”
Megan sat up straight, her eyes wide-open.” And you trust me with this information?”
“Sisters are supposed to share secrets and be able to rely on each other,” I admitted.
“I could use it against you,” she taunted.
“Yeah, you could, or we could form an alliance. I have a gut feeling that there’s going to be another mission. Mom and dad. They aren’t going to...”
“Starla, and Megan! Dinner,” Mom hollered from downstairs.
I got up from the chair as Megan jumped off the bed.
“We’ll continue this conversation another time,” I said.
“Sure thing, race ya downstairs?”
I grinned, “why not?”
We sat down at the table ready to eat dinner. I picked up my fork and dug in. Yum! Lots of oregano too! I must have been more famished than I thought. I slowed down a bit to enjoy each savory bite. Megan reached for the Parmesan cheese. She practically covered her spaghetti in it!
“You girls sure made a racket running down those stairs. I don’t know what it is about you two, and competition,” said my mom looking up from her spaghetti.
I swirled my bread into the sauce. Then took a bite, chewing in silence. Faint footsteps approached the back door. I bolted upright in my chair, and Fritz dashed out of the laundry room. He paused at the back door. A low growl emerged from his throat, which turned into a bark.
I laughed at myself, “It’s probably Dad.”
The back door swung open. “Hey, girls. Sorry, I’m late. The meeting ran longer than I’d expected. The spaghetti looks good,” he said, gesturing towards the table. “I’m starving.” Dan took a deep breath, then exhaled. “Um, I have news.”.
“Why don’t you come sit down? Everything's set up at the dining table. Then you can fill us in,” suggested Tri.
He nodded, closing the door, then bent down to pet Fritz. “Has anyone fed him yet?”
“No, I hadn’t even thought of it,” I answered.
“Poor Fritz,” said Megan, pushing her chair back to stand up.
“I’ll take care of it, girls,” he said. Then, stood, grabbing Fritz’s food off of the counter.
He leaned down to his bowl and poured the Dog-Chow into it. “Good boy, did those ladies forget to feed you?”
As I stifled a laugh at the dinner table, Megan elbowed me to shut up. I gave her an angry look. Dad pulled out a chair next to mom. He kissed her cheek and sat down.
“OK, what happened?” she asked.
“Sika has gone from a bully to a coward. It hasn’t changed his ability to taunt us, though. Shellena went to take them their evening meal. He was talking crazy. I guess, for a few days, two to be exact. According to him, they’re being threatened by shadows.”
“Shadows,” I said, putting my fork on my plate.
“That’s what he says. Jones is having the Trinity watch over the park this evening. They’re monitoring it.”
“Logical,” answered Tri.
“I guess, everyone assumes it’s the black wolf,” I groaned.
“No, actually it wasn’t even brought up. These spirits did not show themselves. If they are spirits,” said Dan.
I picked up my fork and began to eat. My head felt funny. Shadows, had I seen them before? How could they be anything but harmless? Perhaps some water would help? My hand wobbled as I grabbed the glass nearly dropping it. Then took a sip of water. Afterward, I carefully set it down. Mom and dad ate for a moment in peace. When they'd finished, I stood to clear the table.
“Starla, I want to show you how to use those cards I gave you this evening,” said Tri.
“Okay, I’ll just put these in the sink.”
“That’s fine. Megan, you can join us if you’d like.”
“Um, me? You’re going to let me into your gang now?” she asked.
“Megan,” I scolded filling the sink with water.
“Move over, Starla. I’ll finish this up. You gals should go with your mom.”
I moved, letting my dad take over. He turned on the water before rinsing the plates. Megan got up from her seat at the table ready to make her great escape.
“Let’s go. I’ll teach you the basics of Tarot,” said Tri.
“Mom, I hate to tell you this, but Starla already knows how to use those.”
My mom’s eyes widened in awe. She turned to me with her hands on her hips, “Starla, is this true?”
“In my defense, I saw it on Buffy,” I replied holding up my hands. Then brushed my hair away from my face. “I had em stashed in my locker in L.A. I’m sad to report there still there.” I stumbled backward towards the hall stopping in the doorway. My mom lowered her hands to her waist. I grabbed the door frame.
“Megan, you don’t know how to use them, do you?” asked Tri.
“No mom, I’m the good one,” she replied, joining me at the entrance.
“Come on, I’ll race you upstairs,” I said pushing my sister. We took off, and mom followed behind us.
Megan pushed open the door with a grin on her face. She’d beat me upstairs. I shook my head as I walked into the room. Then flicked on the light. Mom slipped into the room between us. Nothing was out of place. I stared up at the fox poster then at Buffy. Should I redecorate? No time to consider that. Tarot cards, I told myself.
“Care if I make myself comfortable?” Megan asked.
I raised my eyebrows at her. “Knock yourself out,” I answered, shutting the door.
“The cards I gave you hold special meaning. Star gave them to me long ago. Where did you stash them?” Tri asked, sitting down on my bed.
“I’ll get them. They’re in my nightstand drawer.”
“This one?” asked my mom touching the nightstand next to her.
“Yep, that’s the one,” I answered.
She opened it, pulling out the cards she’d given me. “Are you going to stand there all night? You’re not afraid of the cards are you?”
I shuffled over to the bed and stood beside her. “No, not especially. What are you planning to ask the cards? If I remember correctly, the responses are vague.”
“Sometimes, but not always. It’s been ages since I’ve done this. I’ll be a bit rusty. Why don’t we have your sister start? I only want to familiarize her with the process. Then I’ll let you ask a question.”
“I want to know about Chaz! Oops. Apple bits! I spilled the beans,” announced Megan.
“We’re not playing that game,” I grumbled, sitting down next to my mom.
“Girls, let’s be serious! Star and I’ve successfully used tarot in the past. Megan, if you want to be a part of the clan, it’s important.”
“I didn’t think, it was, what you wanted,” Megan stuttered.
“No, but this is, what it's come down to the trial with the bandits, followed by the search for the scientists.”
I put my hand on my mom’s shoulder, then took the cards from her.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“A reading for you. The Celtic cross is our best bet,” I replied.
“Okay. I’ll need to shuffle them first. Also, you’ll need this.”
She handed me a small booklet. I took it and quickly looked through it.
“What about Chaz?” Megan complained.
“If we have time, we’ll find out about him. I don’t know why you’re so interested in me. Everything is currently surrounding you.”
My mom shuffled the cards. Then handed them over to me.
“So, I’m going to lay them out. After that read them to you as they lay.
“Okay, that’s good.”
“Right, so you were thinking of a question when you shuffled? What was it?” I asked.
“How do I deal with what's to come?”
“Okay,” I placed the cards on the bed in the form of the Celtic cross. Then uncovered them while I read each importance.
1. Seven of cups: “Mom, this represents
your hopes and fears. You might not recognize what your best move is. It’s a struggle for you to determine your place in the clan. You're feeling it out.”
“Right, go on,” she urged.
“The Magician: represents a strong positive man, entering your life. It’s most likely Dad. He moved back in with us. He’ll inspire you even when you face obstacles. Are you worried about him? It says here that this card represents something the inquirer is concerned about,” I stated, looking up at her.
“I always worry about your father,” she replied. Then reached over me, to reveal the next card.
“The king of pentacles. It’s reversed.”
“This one makes no sense at all. What get rich quick schemes are you interested in mom!”
“Starla it could signify something else. Are you certain that’s what it says?” she asked, leaning towards me to view the booklet.
“Of course. It discusses financial situations. It says be leery of get rich quick idea’s that are offered to you,” I answered.
She pressed her lips together in frustration. “Well, I’ll keep that in mind. It may mean being leery of being misled by someone. Let’s move forward.”
I turned over the next card. “The Page of Pentacles, there will be good news. Maybe things will work out. We’ll find out who killed Du-Vance. You’ll find your place with the clan.”
“Perhaps,” she responded.
Megan got up, taking out one of my magazines. I could tell she was already bored. Mom grabbed it from her, setting it aside. Megan glowered at her, sighed, and I continued the reading.
The Page of Rods, “Ah, this is me! I’m under 25, fun, spirited, and, enthusiastic. Not sure what it has to do with you, mom.” I almost threw down the cards. It seemed pointless. I didn’t recall them being this dysfunctional.
“Hey, it could be me!” Megan piped up. “How do you know it’s you?”
Mom laughed, “ It could be either of you.”
I turned over the sixth card. My mom took it from me, “The Queen of pentacles, It could represent myself or a friend. So I’m supposed to listen to myself, or him or her?”
“Apparently. Have you talked to Cal’s mom lately?”
Spirit Guide (Myth-Series Book 2) Page 22