by Bonnie Lamer
Proving that his patience can be as short of mine, Kallen calls out when a third dinosaur joins the mix, “We really do not have time for a reunion with all of your reptilian friends.”
Raziel glances back at us sheepishly. “Of course, sorry. They bring me peace, and I lose track of time here.” Since dinosaurs have limited mental capacity, they do not constantly badger him for information.
“Dinosaurs bring him peace?” Sam asks in surprise.
I just shrug. “To each their own.” I figure Raziel’s reason for liking it here is personal. I’ll let him share if he wants to do so.
“I guess,” Sam agrees. Then he asks, “Do you think they will let us pet them?”
“Absolutely not,” Adriel drawls, bursting his dinosaur dream bubble.
A shadow falls over us for a second before moving on toward Raziel. A high pitched shriek not much different than the one we heard earlier pierces the air, though different enough to know that it is not the pteranodon again. “That’s a pterodactyl, right?” I ask Josh and Sam.
“Pretty sure,” Josh says, then admits “but seeing them in real life is definitely different than seeing drawings in books. I can’t be certain.” Understandable.
The question is answered when the giant bird creature lands next to Raziel and nuzzles at the pocket holding leaves and fruit. Raziel turns and nods at us. Yes, this is the one. “Great,” I sigh. “That thing has a wingspan at least twenty feet wide.”
“Probably only fifteen or so,” Kallen corrects.
I glower up at him. “Yes, that five feet makes a huge difference when it comes to concealing it in the Cowan realm,” I snark.
He raises a brow. “It could have been worse. Some have a wingspan as great as forty feet.” I guess I should be grateful we didn’t end up with one of those.
After whispering in the pterodactyl’s ear, Raziel creates his own harness with a leash. It’s much less restricting than the one Kallen made, which makes me nervous. Raziel slowly puts the harness over the creature’s neck and moves around to fasten it behind its back and wings. When it is secure, he leads the thing back to us. The other dinosaurs give him what can only be called forlorn looks before turning back toward the direction they came. I didn’t even know dinosaurs could feel forlorn let alone express it on their reptilian faces. I suspect these dinosaurs are not quite the same as the ones we had back in the Cowan realm.
Jenna takes several steps back as Raziel approaches. “Does it bite?” she asks him.
“Only other dinosaurs and fish,” the Fallen Angel replies with a smile.
Jenna is not convinced. “You’re sure it doesn’t want to find out what people taste like?”
“Being eaten by a dinosaur is not in your future,” Raziel assures her with a wink. I raise a surprised eyebrow in his direction and he shrugs. “I am not affecting her freewill by telling her thus.”
“Uh huh. So, if I list off possible ways I could die, will you tell me yes or no?”
“No.”
“That’s what I thought.” Turning my attention to the more immediate matter, I ask, “Is it going to follow you through the passageway?”
“More importantly, is it going to obey your commands, or will it try to escape once in a new realm?” Kallen asks. I’m not sure that’s more important. I would say our questions are equal. I try to convey that idea with my sour look in his direction.
“Rest assured, she will cooperate,” Raziel says, absently petting the pterodactyl’s wing.
“Good enough for me,” I say. “I’m too cold to walk back to the cave, so I’m going to open up a passageway here.” Without waiting for a response, I do so.
From out of nowhere, the stupid little raptor like dinosaur comes tearing through the snow. It leaps through the passageway like it just found the world’s largest free buffet of gourmet food. Which it may have. I’ve personally never tasted Fairy, but anything would have to better than other dinosaurs.
“That can’t be good,” Sam says. Unnecessarily, in my opinion.
Through the passageway, I find Isla glowering at us. “I certainly hope you plan to catch that.”
Fortunately, Kallen is already on it. With a lasso of magic, he impressively ropes the small dinosaur and drags it back through the sand to its own realm. I smile up at him, promising with my eyes to make it up to him later. He winks at me and nods.
“That was awesome, man!” Sam exclaims.
With a proud smile, I agree. “Yes, he is.” Sam rolls his eyes as he meant the action, not necessarily the Fairy like I do.
“You two are almost as bad as them,” Sam complains, jabbing his thumb toward Eliana and Josh. This earns him a solid punch in the arm from Josh.
“Perhaps you should come through before another mishap occurs,” Isla drawls.
She’s correct. We step through the passageway from the frigid cold to the warm, salty air of the beach. Kallen pulls his magic back and the parka’s and boots disappear. Raziel is the last to come through, and he was right. The pterodactyl follows him without any fuss at all. It’s probably too much to hope for that the rest of its time with us will be this easy, though.
Darn it. I keep telling myself I won’t challenge the universe like that. When will I ever learn? I am just going to ahead and assume it will be never.
27 Chapter
“What the hell is that?!” a deep voice booms from the Giants’ tent.
Startled, the pterodactyl stretches out its wings, knocking Sam and Jenna to the ground in the process, and lets out a loud shriek. It pushes off the ground and prepares to take flight. Kallen and I both pull magic to keep it grounded, but Raziel already has the situation under control. He lays soothing hands on the prehistoric creature and is able to calm it.
Since he has that under control, I have plenty of time to turn and glower at the Giant Chieftain. Between gritted teeth, I grind out, “If you scare it away, I am going to send you to its realm to get another one. And trust me when I say, she’s just a baby compared to the other creatures who live there.”
Since the pterodactyl stands about as tall as Quinn and has a much greater wingspan, the Giant blanches. Something he quickly tries to cover up with bravado. Puffing out his chest, he says, “I will gladly hunt more creatures such as this one.”
I roll my eyes and mutter under my breath, “I would love to introduce him to a T-rex.” Beside me, Josh covers his snicker with a cough.
Kallen has helped Sam and Jenna back to their feet. They don’t look injured, thank god. Still, I ask, “Are you two okay?”
Jenna nods but she’s rubbing the arm that was hit with the pterodactyl’s wing. “I might be a bit bruised tomorrow, but I’m okay.”
“Same,” Sam says.
“No, you won’t,” I assure them. I move closer, careful to make a wide path around the now calm pterodactyl, and put my hands on both of them. I use my magic to heal any part of their bodies that may have been injured.
Jenna smiles widely. “Thanks.” I suspect her arm hurt a lot more than she wanted to let on.
“I am going to bring her around back,” Raziel says. He begins to lead the pterodactyl toward the back of the house.
“Now will you explain what manner of creature that is?” Quinn asks.
I glance toward the pterodactyl to make sure Quinn’s voice hasn’t startled it again. He was quieter this time, but maybe the creature didn’t react to his volume last time, but his stupidity. Hmm, if the thing really does have an internal stupidity meter, it might be worth keeping around after all this is over. Then again, stupid tends to out itself sooner as opposed to later in most people all on its own.
“It is a dinosaur,” I explain. I give Sam a warning look when he opens his mouth to say that is not technically true. He closes his lips and bites his tongue. Something I suspect doesn’t happen often.
“I thought all the dinosaurs were extinct in the Cowan world,” an Elf I don’t recognize asks.
“We did not retrieve this one from the C
owan realm,” Kallen tells her.
“Then where did it come from?” a Sasquatch asks. It might be one I know. The Sasquatch are very similar in appearance with their androgynous faces and hair covered bodies. I am not always discerning enough to pick up on the subtle differences in the shades of white of their hair.
I open my mouth to respond, but Kallen grabs my hand. “We need to prepare for departure as it seems everyone has assembled.” He nods a greeting to Arie and Kai, but ignores the Siren standing with them. I guess he still holds a grudge against the Sirens for allowing their leader to kidnap him and try to enslave him for all eternity. He’s funny that way.
Kallen tugs on my hand and I follow him up the terrace steps and inside the house. Our friends follow after. Once we are far enough from the beach that no one out there will hear me, I pull my husband to a stop and demand, “What was that all about?”
With a raised brow, Kallen responds, “Do you really want the Sasquatch or the Giants to go looking for the dinosaur realm?”
I am not the only one confused. “Why would that be a problem?” Josh asks. “Could they even access it without Xandra’s power?” He knows I am the only one who can tear holes in the fabric of the realms.
Then it hits me and I stare up at Kallen in disgust. “You think they would try to weaponize dinosaurs?”
He shrugs. “Let a giant carnivore loose on an unsuspecting population and suddenly you have a new realm to live in.”
“Who could be that horrible?” Jenna exclaims. Her eyes travel toward the beach and there’s a little more fear in her expression than there was a minute ago.
“No one, if we can help it,” I mutter, determined as Kallen now to keep the dinosaur realm a secret.
“To answer your other question,” Kallen says to Josh, “there are access points between all realms. You simply need to find them.”
“No one has found the dinosaur realm before now?” Sam asks in surprise.
Kallen shrugs. “If they have, they have not returned to tell about it.”
Understanding the implications of that statement, Jenna shakes her head and says, “Eew.”
“You have returned,” a tired Dagda says through a yawn. He’s standing in the doorway to the kitchen with a cup of steaming coffee in his hand.
“Didn’t get much sleep last night?” I ask.
He shakes his head. “I spent the evening fielding requests and demands from our guests. I had to send more guards to keep the Sasquatch and the Centaurs apart.”
A little bit of guilt tries to climb up my spine. We were right here last night and could have handled all of that. Then I think about how Kallen and I spent the evening, and I am suddenly feeling more glad than guilty that we were not interrupted.
Following at least part of my train of thought, Dagda says, “I thought it best to let you rest. You may have quite a fight ahead of you today.”
“Maybe the Phoenix will be so impressed we gathered everyone she insisted upon that she will say, ‘Okay, I’m ready to die again now.’” My words obviously fall upon unanimously unbelieving ears from the looks everyone in the room is giving me. “It could happen,” I say defensively. This was as unconvincing as my first sentence. “Fine,” I grumble. “It’s going to suck.”
Clearing his throat, Dagda says, “I should prepare the others for departure.” He strides forward, gives me a quick hug and a kiss on the top of my head, then disappears out the terrace door. His uncharacteristic behavior does nothing to soothe my nerves, but I smile. I like having two fathers who care about me.
When Dagda is out of sight, Jenna asks Eliana, “Are you sure you don’t want us to come along?”
Eliana shakes her head. “I would feel much better knowing that you are safe.”
“Technically, no one is safe,” Sam points out. “If the Phoenix refuses to die, we are all goners.”
“Helpful of you to point that out,” Josh snarks.
Sam glares at him. “My point is, what difference does it make if we are in danger here or with you?”
There is sympathy in her eyes as Eliana answers him. She understands his desire to fight for his future, but he simply doesn’t have the power necessary to be of actual help to us. “Because Xandra and I already have a crowd of people to keep safe. We have no idea what is going to happen, and if there is to be a fight, we already have our hands full.”
I know that Sam is about to argue something along the lines of ‘what difference does two more make’ when Jenna elbows him in the ribs. “We understand. After all,” she gives Sam a pointed look, “we did promise to not argue about going along for the dangerous stuff if you let us come here with you.”
A sheepish expression washes over Sam’s face when he is reminded of this. “Yeah, I guess we did.”
“We’ll stay here and see if we can figure anything else out about the Phoenix,” Jenna adds.
I smile appreciatively at her for ending the argument with such efficiency. She is used to handling Sam and his curiosity. I don’t blame him for being curious, but what Eliana didn’t say was that she will protect those outside to the absolute best of her ability. But, if one of them dies on her watch, she would not be devastated like she would be losing one of these two. It sounds harsh even thinking it, but it doesn’t make it any less true. Nor does it mean she won’t fight as hard for the strangers on the beach. I get it. I would feel the same way if Alita wanted to come with us.
Glancing down at the jeans and long sleeve sweater I donned this morning to travel to the frigid dinosaur world, I say, “We should change into something a little more suited for the desert. Then we’ll head out.”
“After breakfast,” Kallen insists much to Josh’s relief.
Oh, yeah. I got so wrapped up in dinosaurs that I forgot we left for their realm before breakfast. As if on cue, the smell of bacon wafts into the room. A blur of black shoots past us toward the kitchen. He goes by so fast, I’m not even certain which direction he came from. I shake my head. The only thing that gets my Familiar moving that fast is bacon.
“After breakfast,” I agree and the rest of us follow Taz into the kitchen at a little less hectic of a pace.
28 Chapter
“So,” Sam begins around a mouthful of pancakes, “how are you planning to get everyone to the Cowan realm?”
I’ve been wondering that myself. Opening a hole between the realms in the middle of the desert is risky. Keeping it open long enough for everyone to get through it is riskier. The chance of an Egyptian government satellite picking up images of Dragons, Goblins, Giants, Centaurs, Sasquatch, Fauns and dinosaurs? That’s the biggest risk of all. At least the rest of them could pass for Cowans. The Elves might have to hide their pointy ears, though.
Surely, someone would be sent out to investigate once the images were seen. What if they showed up in the middle of whatever is going to happen? But, there is no way I can bring everyone through my old house in Colorado and then teleport them all to Egypt. I considered asking the Angels for help until I remembered that we weren’t supposed to receive any help from immortal beings. The Phoenix’s rules suck in this sick game of ‘Try to Save the Universe’.
Reading my mind, Kallen puts a comforting hand at the small of my back. “I cannot think of another way, either.” Sam gives him a quizzical look and Kallen explains. “Xandra will have to simply open a passageway between realms in the middle of the desert and hope that we avoid any type of surveillance the Cowans may be using.”
“Considering where the Phoenix temple is located, I doubt there is much surveillance out there,” Josh says. He takes a swig of his orange juice in an effort to hide the doubt in his expression.
“If it was farther away from the Heliopolis area, I would agree,” Eliana sighs. “Since it’s not, we would be taking quite a risk.”
“Why don’t you get ahold of Agent Amman and see if he can do something to prevent anyone from getting satellite images?” Sam asks before shoveling more pancake into his mouth. He obviousl
y appreciates Tabitha’s culinary skills.
“I don’t think that’s his department,” Eliana replies. “Besides, it’s not only the Egyptian government’s satellite that could be an issue.”
“Not to mention, I don’t think anyone would be able to keep it quiet. Dragons? Centaurs? Big foot?” Josh shakes his head. “It would be on the front page of every newspaper in the world.”
I sigh. “Then, we hope we get lucky.” Please, universe, do not take that as a challenge. Pushing my nearly empty plate away, I stand up. “We really need to get going.”
Eliana stands and circles the island counter. She pulls Sam and Jenna into a big hug. “I’ll see you soon,” she promises.
I am impressed by how believable her words are. Either Eliana is way more confident than I am, or she is a better liar. Since I am not feeling like bugs are crawling on me, I guess it’s the former. I can’t help but smile. I am so glad she’s on my team.
Josh gives Jenna a hug, but Sam just gets a fist bump. “Don’t get killed,” Sam tells him.
“I’ll do my best,” Josh replies dryly. I would wonder about the closeness of their friendship if the concern and fear wasn’t so apparent in Sam’s eyes. He meant his words. He is ordering his friend to come back alive. Since the only way Josh can die is if Eliana dies, and the only way Eliana is going to die is if I die, and the only way I’ll die is if Kallen dies, or vice versa, I’m going to do my damnedest to make certain Josh follows his friend’s order.
Jenna and Sam leave the remnants of their breakfast and follow us out to the terrace. Dagda has the band of misfits we will be travelling with assembled in a line in the sand. There is a bit of jostling for first in line, but Dagda works it out. When he wants to be, he is a master negotiator. That’s never really helped him in our relationship, but it’s good to see that others listen to him.
“They got bacon in this realm of yours?” a voice asks from my ankles.