by K W Quinn
“There has to be order, Mardav. Actions need to have consequences, or things turn to chaos!” Annika roared. She gripped the arms of her chair now, leaning forward. Would she actually lunge at him?
“I’m not asking you to not have rules.” He struggled to moderate his voice. He wanted to explain. It did him no good to try to bully them. “Punish the criminals, but don’t criminalize the things people have to do to survive because you won’t give them the resources they need.”
“They have to earn it. We can’t give it all away. No one would work if we didn’t give them some incentive.” Annika squared her shoulders and stared at him.
Marv shook his head. “Actually, economic theory has proven that’s not true. People, on the whole, do work. Because they like it. And when they don’t feel trapped, they work better and are more innovative.”
“That’s a fantasy peddled by idealistic dreamers.” Annika shook her head and waved her hand. “You can’t just remove the foundation of the economy—”
“The foundation of the economy? Nikkie, they’re people.”
“Criminals,” Annika scoffed.
“Because you make them into criminals. Unjust laws—”
“For argument’s sake,” Annika interrupted, “you say we should set all the Bonded free. Then what? Who collects the trash, cleans the streets, and tends the public spaces?”
“Free people. Not slaves. People who are paid for the work they do. It’s not that hard of a concept,” Marv said through his teeth.
Anessa, his favorite sister, who had most often been on his side, was silent. He wanted her input, some understanding, something.
“And are you going to dedicate your money to paying these people? Because the money has to come from somewhere,” Annika said.
“You know, just a little off the top. One percent of your generous salary would cover the salaries of—”
“And why should I pay for this?”
“Annika, honestly? Because you’re the daughter of the Mountain. We have a responsibility—”
“Since when did you care about responsibility? I’m not going to let the economy fail over your overactive sense of justice.” Annika had no problem refilling her glass. She emptied it again just as quickly.
“How do you know it would fail? Have you ever tried it? Just one city. Try it somewhere far away and see if it works. Try something new for once. The international branches have.” Marv threw his hands up.
“A bunch of intellectuals drinking tea and inventing utopia doesn’t warrant risking the lives and productivity of real people,” Annika said, settling in her chair. Her voice was cold. She sipped her drink, and Anessa stared at the floor.
“I thought you might be open to hearing me, but you are as stubborn as ever. The perfect little Boulders,” Marv replied. So much for making peace.
“You should go,” Annika announced, standing suddenly. Anessa was frozen in her chair. She wouldn’t look at him now.
“I’m on my way.”
“It won’t always be like this, Marv. Father won’t rule forever, and you should stay on our good sides,” Anessa cautioned. She still stared at her lap, but at least she was speaking.
“When you have a good side, I’ll be on it,” Marv said, closing the door behind him.
Together
The fire shed its circle of light, and they all crowded around it. Andy let the heat from the flames push against his skin, moving closer than anyone else.
Amel and Charly had arrived with blankets, chairs, and cryptic words about a surprise for later. Too tired to even begin to imagine what they had cooked up, Andy let Cass do the explaining, only chiming in when Cass’s natural flair for the dramatic turned a notch too exaggerated.
Dez was surprisingly quiet during the retelling, just sipping her cider and passing the bottle around.
“Are you really telling me that you turned to theft in a heavily Earth-populated town?” Charly asked, voice quiet like the striking of a match.
“Just once,” Cass protested. “Andy wouldn’t let me keep it up, but I was really good at it. I’m adding pickpocket to my list of skills.”
Kaida snorted from her spot next to Cass. Dez had only sighed heavily when the other woman had walked back into the fire’s light, too busy with other coincidences to be angry at Kaida’s refusal to go away.
“I’m glad Andy at least had some good sense. Cassiopeia, why in the name of all the spirits would you tempt Fate by committing more crimes?”
“First, it’s Calisto.”
“Your mother wanted to name you Cassiopeia if you were a girl. Andy was going to be Andromeda,” Charly interrupted.
“Second,” Cass continued with a raised eyebrow, “I was perfectly sneaky. No one even noticed. I get so sick of those No Airs signs on fancy shops.” Cass crossed his arms, nose wrinkling as he complained. “Like there are enough of us around anymore that you have to advertise that we’re not wanted? Might as well put up a No Unicorn sign.”
“While I appreciate your outrage at injustice and the results of generations of genocide, I did not spend a grueling night under a gibbous moon trying to protect you on this journey to have you so flagrantly disrespect all those protections,” Charly fumed, the heat from his words making Cass cringe.
“Sorry,” he mumbled. “I was trying my best with what we had.”
“Earth isn’t happy unless they’re asserting their superiority,” Amel said, rolling his eyes and taking a deep pull from the cider bottle.
“So, I lifted one wallet, and we had one meal. After that, Andy kept us on the starving-and-narrow path.”
“Until you met Dez,” Amel said.
“Excuse me?” Dez said, pressing one of her delicate hands to her chest. “Are you saying I don’t belong on the path of the righteous?” Dez poked a finger at Amel.
“Something about shoes fitting or pots and kettles,” Charly mumbled.
“I resemble that remark.” She chuckled.
“Oh, really?” Cass chirped. “Are you a doer of nefarious things, Nadezda?”
“The things I do would put hair on your chest, puffer, but they are not up for discussion.”
“Hey, how do you know . . . ?” Cass started, but the words died on his tongue. Andy followed Cass’s wide-eyed stare, and his mouth fell open in shock.
“It’s rare for Air men to have chest hair, Cass. Can’t fight genetics,” Andy’s mother said. She walked slowly into the glow of the bonfire, holding Cass’s mom’s hand in hers. Andy looked around the circle at the confusion on the ladies’ faces and the lack of surprise on the witches’.
“Surprise,” Charly said, words falling into the cool night.
Andy scrambled to his feet, rushed to his mother, and crushed her in a hug. He squeezed the air out of both of their lungs before he let go.
“What are you doing here?” It was a stupid question, too obvious and unnecessary. She had no choice but to explain her presence, but he couldn’t think through the haze in his brain.
“Charly told us to join you. Sorry we’re late,” she answered. “Let me look at you. Are you hurt? Have you been eating enough?”
Andy shook his head, then nodded. “But Mom, what about you?” He searched her face for signs of fading bruises out of habit.
“I’m fine,” she said, patting his hand.
“I’ve taken good care of her,” Mama Lori said, voice muffled by Cass’s shoulder. He hadn’t stopped hugging his mom yet.
“But why are you here?” Andy repeated.
“Should we excuse ourselves?” Dez asked, looking at the emotional reunion.
“No, I’m not repeating this story again if I can avoid it,” Mama Lori said. “Besides, Charly says we have you to thank for saving our boys.”
Dez smiled and bowed her head slightly. “I’m Dez, and I don’t know how much saving I did, but I’m happy to have been helpful. I didn’t do it alone, though. This is Kaida.”
“Yes, and our gratitude to you,” his mom said,
nodding toward Kaida.
“Oh, I didn’t do anything. I’m just—”
“Oh, Mom, she’s great. She just stumbled into our little group—”
“Group? Boys, you’re not a part of this,” Dez said with a laugh, gesturing from her shoulders to her hips. Andy watched her hand do a tiny dance and felt the fire heat his face.
“Focus, please,” Mama Lori said, untangling herself from Cass and moving to sit at the fire’s edge. “This is a sweet reunion, but vile things are in motion, and we need to put the pieces of this puzzle together.”
Andy nodded and pulled his mom onto the sand.
Charly cleared his throat and rested his palms on his knees. “Now that we’ve gotten the dramatic tale of what you were doing”—he paused to smile at Cass—“it’s time I tell you our part of the story.” Charly’s eyes flicked over Kaida, and he squinted.
Andy had been impressed with how Cass had danced around the subject of why they were running and why they needed protection during the retelling. But how could they talk freely with Kaida here?
“Why don’t you start with how you know Dez?” Cass asked.
“Oh, that story is boring,” Dez said with twinkling fingers. “I meet all kinds of people on my path.”
“Like these ridiculous boys,” Charly agreed.
“Yes, indeed. But how they came to me from you, without planning, is truly a work of destiny, and that is what I’m interested in. Amel, did you know that Cass here is a Mistwalker?”
Amel choked on his sip of cider, and Mama Lori gasped, crushing Cass’s fingers in her grip.
“No, I’m not,” Cass said, trying to wave his hands. But Mama Lori had grabbed his face and was peering into his eyes while Amel reached for his hand and stared at his palm.
“Why didn’t I see that?” Amel muttered.
“You never showed any signs,” Mama Lori said, thumbing down Cass’s eyelid.
“Please, stop,” Cass protested.
Pinched in his mom’s grip, Andy couldn’t move to Cass’s defense.
“You knew?” Dez asked, jabbing a finger at Amel. “I thought I was bringing you a delicious surprise.”
“Not this one. His mother,” Amel answered, not bothering to look up.
“Cass tells me you pulled a little rain down now and again,” Dez asked, voice floating above the flames.
Mama Lori shrugged. “It’s not a title I like, and it’s a dangerous thing to be.”
“Which is why we’re here,” Andy’s mom said. “When Erick was arrested—”
“Finally!” Cass exclaimed.
“Shh, darling, don’t interrupt,” Mama Lori said.
“Erick was arrested, and the young man who did the collecting was trying to help. He offered to buy the house and said he was a friend of yours.”
“Marv,” Mama Lori added.
“Marv arrested your dad?” Cass said, eyes meeting Andy’s. All Andy could do was shrug.
“He did, but in the process—”
“In the process, he put his hands on Miyana, and I may have lost my temper,” Mama Lori finished.
“What does that mean?” Dez asked, looking to Charly for clarification.
“It means she called down a rainstorm and scared the piss out of the son of the Mountain.” Charly crossed his arms and sighed. “Then they ran to us, looking for help.”
“Like mother, like son?” Mama Lori said with a grin.
“I still can’t believe you kept this from me all these years,” Amel grumbled. “Years of study that could have been aided by a real-life Mistwalker.”
“Amel,” Mama Lori sighed. “No. You want a legend. I’m just a woman trying to live my life.”
Andy’s eyes flicked back and forth between them. His family wasn’t the only one with dark secrets, only his hadn’t been secrets from Cass. The general public didn’t look too closely at the private lives of a cop, his Air wife, and mixed-mutt kid. But Mama Lori’s secret was much bigger and deeper. The whole world would change.
“I didn’t know it was so dangerous to be a Mistwalker. Or what it meant,” Cass said.
Mama Lori nodded. “I didn’t want to tell you too much. I was afraid you would only get curious, and once you get an idea in your head, Calisto . . .” She sighed.
“I know.” Cass chewed his bottom lip and flicked his thumb against the sand on his pants. Silence stretched around them, growing hot and tight. Andy looked at his mom, at Dez and Kaida, then at the witches, but everyone watched the fire.
“Is it hereditary? Was my father a Water?” Cass asked finally, cracking the moment like an egg, tension leaking out around them.
“No. Absolutely not. He was an Air.” Mama Lori’s eyes tightened, but her shoulders slumped. “He might have had Water heritage. I know I do.”
“You don’t sound proud of that,” Dez said, stone in her voice.
“I’d love to be more like Dez,” Andy offered. Across the fire, Kaida had pulled her knees up and wrapped her arms around them. She must be regretting her decision to invade this mess. She had no idea how tangled things were going to get.
Mama Lori shook her head. “Apologies. There’s good in every Element. People are people.” She nodded to Dez, who bowed her head in acknowledgment. “But the Element Water. I have a hard time with Water. I don’t like to use it unless I have to.” Her voice cracked as she looked at Cass. She reached for the bottle of cider and took a long swallow before starting again.
“Some Waters have a talent for understanding and influencing emotions.” Her eyes flicked to Dez, who nodded.
“Like the moon with the tides, they pull emotions to themselves,” Dez added. Her eyes were inky and framed with thick, dark lashes. Even as she spoke about the worst of her people, her back was straight and her voice steady. Amazing. Andy could barely talk about the good parts about Fire without feeling ashamed of the other things they did.
Mama Lori handed Dez the bottle. “Some of those Waters use that talent to stir up fear. Terrorize people to rob them. Or worse. We were attacked when we were young, and it was worse.” She paused again, holding Cass’s gaze until he nodded.
“I’m sorry,” he said, looking helpless. Andy’s thoughts were ablaze with the things he’d witnessed his mother endure. And the sounds of the things he hadn’t seen. And the bruises of still other things.
“They pull up your memories, trap you in your most painful moments, and . . .” Mama Lori swallowed hard. She reached for her best friend’s hand, squeezing her fingers gently.
“You don’t have to talk about it,” Cass said. “I’m so sorry, Mama Yana.”
Andy’s mom shook her head but didn’t speak. Andy squeezed her hand again.
Taking a deep breath, Mama Lori started again. “So, when I started showing Water talents, it wasn’t well accepted at home.” Her laugh was bitter and pushed the smoke into acrid swirls. “Dual talents? No one wanted that kind of trouble. I didn’t fit.”
Cass nodded his head in agreement.
Mama Lori puffed out a breath and let her hands fall to her lap. “So I put it away. Thought I would never ever use it.”
Amel grunted, and Charly reached for the cider.
“But you helped our garden?” Andy asked. This whole history was spilling out, and he couldn’t let it end.
“When necessary, yes. But I didn’t want anyone to know. Being an Air was bad enough. I can’t imagine what the Earth would do if they got their hands on someone they thought was a real Mistwalker.”
“Like Cass,” Dez said, her voice like a gong in the stillness.
“No, not like me,” Cass argued, pulling his hands up and looking at his mom. “It’s coincidence.”
Mama Lori didn’t move, just held Cass still with her gaze. Andy felt like a child being searched for wrongdoing again, and he wasn’t even the one being stared at.
“I watched you so closely as a child, waiting to see if it would turn up in you.”
“But it didn’t,” Cass protested, shak
ing his hair out of his face. Amel and Charly huffed out matching sighs, and the mothers clucked their tongues.
“What if it did, Cass?” Andy asked. “What if you are?”
The question floated in the smoke, twisting in the breeze off the ocean. Cass shook his head again, leaning into his mother’s side.
“You should at least try, love,” Dez said softly. “All the signs are there.”
Everyone stared at Cass, but Cass stared at the stars.
Andy looked up at the distant fires, burning impossibly far away. They were all outlaws now. Mama Lori on the run for being a Mistwalker. Cass on the run for selling his soul. Andy held his breath, grateful that he was just a simple Helio and an escaped Bonded, presumed dead and free from the burden of his flaming father.
“You should try, Cass. Prove us all wrong, if that makes you feel better.” Andy’s mother’s voice was sweet in the dark night, a wisp of hope that things weren’t just a storm away from changing forever.
“Just to prove you wrong,” Cass echoed.
Andy bit back a grin. Being contrary was his specialty, not Cass’s, but for now, he was happy to be a bad influence. Just like old times.
Andy stared at the stars, but his mom kept staring at him.
“Are you sure you’re all right?” she asked, voice soft as the breeze.
“Mom, I’m all right. Better than ever. Really.” Andy placed his hands over hers. She leaned closer, searching his face. “I’m stronger than you think.” He dropped his voice, and she dropped hers too.
“Baby, you’re the strongest of us all, and I’ve never doubted it. From the first time I felt you kick, I knew you were going to change the world.”
“All moms feel like that.” Andy waved her compliment away. He glanced at Dez and the witches, but no one was watching them.
“Not just my world. You’d already done that.”
“Yeah, by chaining to you an abusive, power-hungry—”
“You didn’t chain me to anything. I married Erick. I chose him. I wanted a baby, and I wanted you.”
“But without me, you could have left. You wouldn’t have had to stay in that flaming little town.”
“Is that what you think?” She searched his face. “Baby, no. You’re so important to me, but you are not in control of my choices. I stayed for so many wrong reasons, but not a single one of those was because you had trapped me.”