I announced across the inert body on the cot, “I give you my word no harm will come to her while you’re in the Web with Silver. Even if you hate me, at least trust me that much.”
Fragile tiny veins visible on the delicate skin covering Corinne’s eyes, made her face look ghostly as she whispered back, “Agreed.”
Mez did a one eighty and scanned the motionless bodies on the other cots around the room, then frowned at the silence.
Maggie put out a palm in greeting toward Silver’s lover and shook his larger hand with a quick one-two pump. “They were being too noisy so I told them all to talk in the Web. Thankfully, we didn’t have a lot of wounded with the bomb or the tornado. It would’ve been worse without Cass and Silver here.” Maggie turned to Kal next. “I don’t know what made you send them home when you did, but it was timely. Thank you. And thank you for keeping your promise to watch over them and return them to us in one piece. I won’t forget it.” With those solemn words she sidled away to confer intently with David who was keeping track of the downed councilwoman’s vitals.
My gloves were making our hands feel clammy so I began to tug each finger free as I watched my aunt work. Who knew, maybe we’d need an energy boost later when Silver got to the action portion of her plan to ‘fix’ Corinne’s mother. I was beginning to think we needed to stop wearing them all together and let our talent as a Vector have free rein. Weren’t we supposed to help Earth evolve? Absently, I shoved the painstakingly tailored pieces of flaccid empty leather back into our pockets.
Mez clicked his teeth. “I like her. She is strong.” He motioned expansively to the room full of ‘sleeping’ Weavers and their children. “Your aunt commands respect. How many husbands does she keep?”
I coughed into a cupped hand and smiled crookedly before answering only half-jokingly with our right hand in a bunny ear, “Two.”
Kal frowned at my intentional misinformation but Mez said, “Only two?”
Axsian marriage was generally ‘come and go’ for the men and the women. The more partners you allied with for breeding purposes the higher your status. Being called to your soul-mate or Bindao was a different matter altogether and considered an even greater emotional attachment than a blood relation. Mez’s title for Silver—Leoght Cor or Light Heart—was meant only for a Bindao, a person that Annis dreamed you to, literally. That story was too long and twisted to explain but suffice it to say Silver and Mez were forever connected unless separated by death. Sustor Cor was just something the big oaf made up to include me though I had no doubt he cared for my welfare, especially since it was intertwined with my sister’s.
My good humor evaporated when I remembered Kara’s upset flight from the room and I looked to Kal. “Can you honor my words to Corinne while I check on my friend?”
Mez straightened, all business. “We will.”
I touched his warm velvety soft forearm. “I’ll tell you how it goes with Silver.”
In the back of my mind, if I concentrated, I could feel faint whispers of my sister’s emotions as she worked in the Web. No echoes of alarm or distress filtered through, only intense thought. Our energy levels were holding steady as well, so I didn’t think Silver was to the action stage of her plan yet, whatever it might be.
Last second, as I headed to the hall I decided to check in on Melody and the kids. The door’s hinges creaked as I pulled it ajar. Somehow Melody had managed to get the twins to lay down on Maggie’s beat up couch and she raised a finger to her lips to indicate silence as she rose gracefully from her cross-legged position on the floor. I was awed anew at the raw power and beauty of her build. Melody was the female version of Malcolm and he was a freight train of muscle. She didn’t work out like her brother so her strength wasn’t as bulky, just naturally amazing. She walked with soft steps to the partially opened door and tugged on our coat sleeve, silently urging me further into the room.
Melody’s voice was low as she said, “I’m glad you’re back. Maggie can stop worrying about you girls so much.”
Her long strong arm tucked us into her side for a hug and I patted her lower back in return. The shirt she had on was relatively clean but you could tell it had been wet at some point and then dried stiff.
Dark brown almost black eyes locked with light brown as Melody spoke. “So I guess the secret’s out about Silver’s healing methods? It was already buzzing around the Web before the storm hit.”
I tried to shrug, but she was holding on so tight it came across as more of a twitch. “You predicted it would come to light anyway. It’s better that we revealed ourselves at a moment of our own choosing. Right now, Silver’s in the Web trying to help Corinne heal her mother. We tried to bring the Harris’s some peace about Calvin by admitting our part but it didn’t go well. Cora lost it and Corinne had to put her under somehow.”
At the mention of the Harris women Melody’s back straightened as if a current of electricity had caused the muscles along her spine to contract.
Alert, I asked, “What’s with you and Kevin Smith?”
Her greater height turned, looming and ominous as her usually smooth forehead wrinkled in consternation. Melody let out a breath of release. “I rescued Kevin and unofficially adopted him. He lived with me until he decided to act all grown up and move into the barracks with all of his friends. We’ve been trying to work out a truce regarding his relationship with Corinne but I can’t stand that girl. She’s cold and I wouldn’t put it past her to use him up and spit him out. If she hurts him I’m going to…” Wordlessly she grunted under her breath in real frustration.
Melody’s fingers flexed and I snagged them still. “It’ll be okay. I think we all may have misjudged Corinne. Listen to Kevin and give the girl a chance. If she screws up, you can always bust her teeth in later.” I smiled toothily and added, “I’ve gotta go check on Kara. Gerome and Malcolm are working on a plan to get us all evacuated somewhere. I know Maggie will be in here as soon as we get Cora squared away.”
When I turned to open the door I caught sight of the cot and its two tall sentries standing to attention at its foot. “Oh and by the by, Silver has an alien boyfriend named Mez who just showed up with Kal to help us with the Shiva situation. Don’t freak out about it.”
The white of Melody’s eyes expanded impressively as she crossed to the doorway. Kal turned as our movement drew his attention and did a double take at the figure our aunt’s best friend cut leaning against the door frame. Our mentor’s gaze travelled from Melody’s smooth unlined face down to her toes then settled back again on her face. His scrutiny was intense.
Melody shifted nervously then backed away and closed the door behind me with a muted snick. I walked with heavy feet down the hall connected to the laundry room, when I didn’t hear any voices coming out of the bathroom. My heart began to race in anticipation of what I might say to Kara and James. How do you console a friend who’s been violently raped, and admit to your sister using your body to sleep with her lover in front of your other lover that’s her brother? So confusing on so many different levels…
I could hear their voices talking low and then when they heard my footsteps, silence. Walking into the whitewashed room, I took in the familiar setting. A shower was on my right next to a washer and dryer with shelving on the wall stacked with clean linens. On the left were two industrial-size metal sinks and beside them rested a bright yellow mop bucket filled with dirty water. Apparently some cleaning had been going on today. James cleared his throat and my eyes turned to his reluctantly.
He asked, “Everything okay out there?”
I nodded, glad we were still on speaking terms. “Silver’s in the Web with Corinne trying to fix Cora right now and I’m on standby. Kal and Mez are keeping watch so I can check on you guys.” Kara refused to acknowledge my presence by staring a hole in the floor. James raised a palm up discreetly at his side as if to indicate his helplessness. I gave a finger wave toward the doorway to the hall, hoping he’d pick up on the hint to leave.
&
nbsp; He did.
With a last pat on his silent sister’s shoulder his body language telegraphed relief as he moved toward freedom. “Holler if you need me. I’ll be right outside.”
My heart’s weight lifted as a breath rushed into our lungs filled with hope that James and I could weather this new obstacle. At the last second, voice near hoarse, I said, “Hey, be quiet if you can. Melody got the twins to take a nap in Maggie’s office.”
His finely arched brows rose to create corduroy thin rows in his forehead before he responded, dashing hopes of dodging trouble, “Don’t worry I won’t pick a fight with Silver’s troll-faced, piranha-toothed boyfriend if that’s what you’re worried about.” With that parting shot he was gone.
Our palm wanted to smack our face…hard. I resisted valiantly in my opinion and reached out to touch Kara’s upper arm but she shrugged away. Hurt feelings, frustration at a situation I couldn’t help and rage at the unfairness of life made my next words sharp when they shouldn’t have been. “So what, now I’m dirty because Silver loves Mez?”
Brown-ringed irises snapped up and tears gathered on the lashes of the lower lids just waiting to get weighty enough to tumble over. Anger twisted Kara’s mouth as she spat, “How could she love someone like that, Cass? How can you let him be inside you? It’s heinous!”
All of my misplaced emotion evaporated and calmness settled in my center. “Kara, I’m sorry. I should have realized what Shiva did when you said he hurt you. Silver and I should’ve figured it out then but we were distracted with…everything. Not all Axsian’s are evil just the same way Earthlings aren’t all good. Mez would never do what Shiva did. Please believe me.”
Her gaze went back to the floor and I saw teardrops fall before her fingers covered her eyes. I moved closer cautiously then, and like a magnet held too close to a piece of metal, Kara closed the distance in a blur of motion. Cheek smashed against her sternum I tried to breathe through her hard squeeze and pat her bony back at the same time.
Kara’s pointy chin dug into scalp as she spoke over our head, “I’m tired of being the victim, Cass. First, I was lost in the Web and Silver had to save me, then I was afraid to go in the Web after y’all left. Now y’all saved me again from an alien mind invasion and other things…I’m done with being weak. I’ll only cry to you, Dynamite, and no one else. Will you help me be stronger? I can’t keep living this way.”
I pushed back a little and Kara gave one last squeeze before releasing her hold. We both stood awkwardly for a moment, and then I cleared my throat to avoid any emotion leaking into my voice. Sadness wasn’t an option. Grieving for my friend’s travails wasn’t helpful or needed, so I replaced those feelings with anger and a desire for revenge. Into the humid air of the washroom I announced, “Kal and I have a running bet. If he kills Shiva first I have to buy him a pair of boots and vice versa. You want in? Mez says there are only two rules—Rule one: Don’t die. Rule two: refer back to rule one.”
Roughly, like a small child recovering from a temper tantrum, Kara wiped the wetness away from her jaw line with the back of her hands and stood taller. “I’m in.”
I smiled in a lopsided head tilting way and smacked her shoulder. “Let’s go back out there and tell Kal. Three makes it more of a challenge anyway.”
As we walked down the hall, right before we exited into the open air of the cavernous treatment room, Kara asked, “Are you sure they won’t mind?”
Kal turned away from the cot holding Cora Harris to speak as if he’d been in on the conversation from the start. “I have no objection to two new pairs of boots. Size twelve will do and black cowhide should suffice.”
James stood against the wall by Kevin while he monitored Corinne. David and Maggie were still by the head of the bed periodically checking Cora’s vitals. Mez and Kal waited at the foot of the bed. As we drew even with the towering aliens Kara’s eyes flickered a little in unease as she took in Mez’s undisguised differences.
Her voice came out strong though as she said, “Change of prize for me, you can both buy me an outfit at the store of my choice. I have expensive tastes, so save up.”
Mez chuckled deep in his chest. “That is permissible.”
Kal made a show of objecting. “The game is set, she cannot change it now.”
I snorted. “What does it matter? If you win, as you were so convinced of just seconds ago I might add, then you ‘buy’ her nothing anyway.” My fingers went up in quotations around the word ‘buy’ to indicate I knew there would be no monetary exchange if Kal had to ante up.
Kara cocked a hip, getting a feel for the back and forth. “Besides, Cass said there are only two rules. I was changing the reward not the bet itself. You scared or something?”
Kal’s bland face turned even more expressionless as he answered, “Double or nothing?”
Smoothly, Mez inserted, “Triple would be more entertaining.”
Kara gave a sideways glance to Silver’s alien lover and frowned. “Whose side are you on big boy?”
I laughed, delighted. “His own side, as always. Triple it is.”
Kal murmured, “Agreed,” before his attention was drawn to the cot where Cora began to thrash in a wild melee of stick thin arms and legs. David and Maggie dove to their knees on either side of the narrow cot to hold down the struggling councilwoman’s arms.
Maggie grunted out, “Cass, what’s happening?”
I felt an energy pull that made our knees buckle and I grabbed for Kal and Kara’s arms. It was Kara who put on an extra burst of speed to keep our body upright and the electric charge between us hummed but it wasn’t enough.
I wheezed, “James…”
He was already on his way, but at the sound of his name he burst into motion. As soon as his arms surrounded us our circuit closed. We all gasped as the energy rushed in. The pull was still there and it was draining off our power at an alarming rate. Mez placed a massive hand on our shoulder in concern and got a taste of what we were channeling invisibly.
Mez jerked back, ending the brief contact to utter an urgent, “Silver?”
Through the link from my twin I could sense intense concentration but no panic. If I interrupted her at a critical moment just to check on her it could be dangerous. Silently, with the extra resources I sent along reassurance to my sister and hoped to hell Silver knew what the heck she was doing.
Out loud I said, “Give it a minute. Silver’s working on something and she needed a little more juice to make it happen. I don’t sense any alarm or fear…just concentration. Maybe they had to partially release Cora to do what they needed to do or maybe she’s fighting back? I don’t know yet.”
From the wall where Kevin stood next to Corinne, the petite blonde’s knees buckled and what little color she had in her skin vanished until it resembled an empty scaffold of tissue, devoid of blood. She looked like a corpse in Kevin’s arms.
I barked, “Get her over here!”
Kevin looked back at the three of us distrustfully. “What did you do?”
Exasperated I answered, “She needs a boost—her batteries are drained. Get her over here so we can share the wealth, dangit.”
Maggie grunted as she continued to hold down a struggling Cora with David, almost catching a wildly bicycling knee in the chin as she ordered, “Now, Kevin, or so help me I’m gonna spank you in front of everybody with Melody’s blessing when this is over.”
A fast sour look flashed across his features at my aunt’s threat, then he swung Corinne into his arms, snuggling her close to his chest like an infant, and walked over to our group of three.
James lifted an elbow in a handicapped come hither motion before saying, “Get her hand and put it on Kara’s shoulder.”
With a somewhat dubious expression on his face Kevin complied, then a little of the power surged through him as well as he whispered, “Holy shit!”
As if it had a memory of its own, Corinne’s shield began to creep back over us. I could feel it questing for pathways it had trave
rsed like water seeking the path of least resistance downhill. James shuddered when it flowed from his sister and up his arm to his shoulder then his neck. Fear flashed in his eyes as the veneer stretched over his nose and mouth. I could sympathize. Your brain tried to fool you into thinking you might suffocate.
Maggie yelled, “Hey, Tall and Taller, get over here and help me hold her legs.”
Kal and Mez jumped in surprise as they tore their attention away from our foursome. They both knew everything there was to know about our gifts but they hadn’t seen some things in action, and Axsians are insatiably curious.
Kal pointed at the cot and gave a sideways tilt of his head at Mez who walked over to snatch a kicking leg one handed and gently force it to the mattress as he knelt on the floor. With his free hand he grabbed the other loose trouser-covered appendage and pushed it down to join its mate then held them together in one giant mitt.
Maggie smiled brightly. “You’re useful, Taller. Here, hold her arm too so I can take her vitals again.”
Mez accepted the spot Maggie’s much smaller hand had vacated on Cora’s forearm and grinned. “Anything for you, Dragon Lady.”
David watched the interchange and used all of his strength to hold Cora’s one arm without hurting her. Something like jealousy rose to the surface as he saw how easily the big alien held their struggling patient still, then it morphed into admiration.
Maggie smirked. “I’m taking that as a compliment.”
Mez’s lenses flickered rapidly on his eyes. “As you should.”
Stethoscope in place, Maggie listened to Cora’s heaving chest and then dropped the shiny metal to take the still agitated woman’s pulse. Worried, she turned to say, “Girls, you better hurry it up. Whatever’s going on in the Web is causing Cora’s heart to work triple time. If this continues she could die. Tell Silver she’s running out of time.”
VECTOR (The Weaver Series Book 3) Page 27