Alone, Sky stood in the street, staring at the closed doors for the longest time.
What the hell had they done to deserve this?
Why were his brothers cursed with such a disease?
Was it even a disease in the first place?
Sky hated that he couldn’t do anything for his younger brothers. Storm and Seath were scared and confused, and as their big brother, he should be comforting and protecting them.
Instead, they were trying to protect him. From themselves.
Sky knew he needed to find a cure for his brothers. He couldn’t let them do this. His brothers had always been cheerful, affectionate and outgoing. But now they closed themselves off from everyone, including him.
He needed answers. He thought he had done everything he could, but clearly he hadn’t done enough.
CHAPTER FIVE
Sky stepped into his house and threw his keys on the table. He warmed up the pot of stew and sat down at his dining table to eat.
Mechanically, he spooned the stew into his mouth. He chewed and swallowed, but he tasted nothing.
Sky kept thinking, and the more he thought, the angrier he felt.
He wasn’t angry with Storm and Seath. They were trying to protect him, in their own way. But he was their big brother. He should be the one protecting them, comforting them, and making their problems go away.
But as Storm pointed out, they didn’t even know what the problem was.
Sky pushed the empty bowl away and sat back in his chair. He didn’t even turn on the lights. He just sat alone in the dark, thinking hard.
He needed answers, and he needed to find a cure for his brothers.
His two brothers had always been healthy and strong. The three of them were tall and well-built, and they very rarely got ill. But about a year ago, Storm and Seath started having these...symptoms. Scale-like patterns starting appearing on their bodies. There had been no warning at all.
Sky remembered the first time they saw the marks on Seath’s body. Seath had woken them up with a bellow in the middle of the night, and both Sky and Storm had rushed into Seath’s room to find their baby brother flailing in bed with his limbs covered with throbbing red marks. The scale-like patterns boiled and rippled just under Seath’s skin, and the poor boy was screaming and thrashing in agony and terror.
“Help me! They...burn!” Seath had yelled, clawing at his skin until he drew blood. “Get these…things out of me!”
But they couldn’t. They couldn’t get rid of those marks unless they tore his whole skin off. The pattern appeared just under his skin, pulsating and throbbing as if trying to break through to the surface. Seath was feverish and hysterical, and Sky had bundled the boy into the car and sped to the doctor’s house.
But by the time the good doctor shuffled out of bed and opened the door for them, the marks had vanished from Seath’s skin. Seath had worn himself out and had fallen asleep in the back seat. His body temperature had cooled down, and the doctor could find nothing wrong with him.
A few nights later, it happened to Storm.
They were seated around the table having dinner when Storm reached for the salad bowl. Storm had dropped the bowl in shock when he saw the red marks running down his arm. It was the same scale-like pattern, and it spread rapidly up his arm to his neck and face.
Dropping to the floor in pain, Storm had dragged himself to a corner and refused to let his brothers touch him. By the time Sky wrestled him into the car to drive him to the doctor’s, all the marks had vanished.
This went on for a few more weeks. The marks would appear and disappear at random, but they noticed that these marks never appeared during the day.
The brothers were living in Howling Hills then, a town they had lived in almost all their lives. Seath had been born in that town. They went to see every doctor in town, but the doctors could detect nothing wrong with Storm and Seath.
Sky even drove his brothers to a big hospital in one of the neighboring towns, but even after all those blood tests and scans, the doctors couldn’t tell them why Storm and Seath were having these strange symptoms. And those bizarre marks never appeared when they were visiting the doctors.
So they had gone back to Howling Hills without any answers or cure. Sky could only hope that this mysterious disease would just go away on its own. So far, no red marks had appeared on his skin so maybe he was immune. He had gotten himself tested as well and the doctors had declared him healthy as a horse.
Howling Hills was run by a wolf pack, and one of the doctors they had visited was the pack doctor. Sky should have known that pack loyalty overrode everything else, even doctor-patient confidentiality.
The pack doctor had gone and told his Alpha about Storm and Seath’s condition, and even relayed Sky’s worry that the disease might be infectious.
Sky had opened his door one evening to find the Alpha of the local wolf pack, Erick Rodriguez, standing there with his lieutenants. The wolves wanted the Fireblood brothers out.
“You and your brothers don’t belong here,” was all Erick said. “We’ll wait while you pack.”
Sky saw more than a dozen wolves surrounding the house. There was no way he could fight them.
The wolves wanted them out. They were being driven out of the town they had grown up in. These people, these wolves, were their neighbors, and yet…
These people had helped Sky look after his younger brothers after their mother died. It was hard, but they managed. But now, they had to leave because all of sudden, they didn’t belong? It didn’t make sense. None of it made any sense.
Some of the wolves averted their eyes. They didn’t want to do this, but they knew. They knew that his brothers had been infected with some strange, inexplicable disease. And they didn’t want the disease to spread through the town.
The wolves had escorted the Fireblood brothers to the edge of the town. “We thought you were human,” Erick had told Sky gravely. His tone wasn’t unkind. “Your Ma was a good woman, and I don’t want to do this to you boys. But I have to do what is best for the pack and the town.”
They had to be cut off, like a tumor.
“What the fuck did he mean?” Sky said to the darkness.
We thought you were human.
They were. Weren’t they?
Their father had died in an accident just after Seath was born, and their mother was a hardworking, loving human woman.
Why were his brothers suddenly struck with this mysterious, inexplicable affliction?
Was it infectious, like Storm and Seath believed? Would it kill them eventually?
When they came to Shadow Point, Storm and Seath stubbornly refused to share the house with him. They wouldn’t budge despite his pleas and threats. Because their marks only appeared in the evenings or at night, Storm and Seath concluded that the “virus” only became active after sundown.
So after much discussion, which involved a lot of swearing, cursing and yelling, Storm and Seath agreed to work with Sky during the day. But when the sun set, they kept away from Sky and everyone else.
Sky scrubbed a hand down his unshaven face. Ever since they came to Shadow Point, Storm and Seath hadn’t shown any symptoms of that dreadful disease.
Had they left the disease behind? Maybe the disease hadn’t followed them to Shadow Point.
Sky could only hope. But hope was a dangerous thing. It could bring on a lot of heartache and heartbreak, and Sky didn’t want his brothers to get hurt.
Life could be cruel, but people could be crueler.
CHAPTER SIX
The sharp, loud knock on Sky’s front door jolted him out of his thoughts.
Sky cringed and held his breath, sitting completely still. He would wait this out. He knew it wasn’t either Storm or Seath. Those two were convinced they could save the world from themselves if they quarantined themselves after dark.
Sky wasn’t in the mood to entertain any visitors. Besides, he never got any visitors.
He didn’t know anyon
e well enough in this town. He worked with them but he didn’t allow himself to be friends with them. He didn’t want to be let down again by people he thought were his friends and neighbors.
The knocking continued and Sky grimaced. He just had to be patient.
The whole house was in darkness, so if he waited it out, whoever was at the door would just think that nobody was home and go away.
But nope.
From the sound of it, they weren’t going away.
The knocking became louder and more insistent. Sky thought that sounded like a lot of fists, and those fists evidently belonged to some very persistent people.
That was when he heard their voices.
Sky stifled a groan. He recognized those voices. Those two witches were tenacious and persistent. They could do this all night.
“Sky! Sky, open the door! We know you’re home!” Gramma and Ne-ma shouted.
“You’re not going to shut two sweet little old ladies out, are you?” Gramma sang.
“You won’t do this to us on our birthday now, would you?” Ne-ma cooed. “You would never hurt our feelings, right Sky?”
Sky sighed and got up. Tristan Gray had warned him that Gramma and Ne-ma never gave up once they’d set their sights on something. Those two grandmothers were tough and stubborn and they never backed down from a challenge.
Well, Gramma and Ne-ma had raised four big, brawny, bear shifter grandsons, so that feat in itself was testament to their grit and strength. The two petite witches raised Tristan Gray and his brothers after their parents passed away. Gramma and Ne-ma seemed to have boundless zest and energy. They ran Broomstick Inn together, boasting to anyone and everyone who would listen that their inn had been featured in a very posh and popular travel magazine. The said magazine occupied pride of place on the wall behind the reception counter.
Gramma and Ne-ma seemed to have made it their mission to draw Sky and his brothers out of their shells. They knew that Storm and Seath listened to Sky, so they focused all their efforts on Sky.
They had repeatedly asked Tristan to invite Sky and his brothers over for dinner. But Sky always found a way to decline politely.
But there was no way out now.
Gramma and Ne-ma were just outside his front door, and Sky could hear them whispering and arguing on his doorstep. “He’s home, I know he is,” Gramma was saying.
“But the whole house is in darkness,” Ne-ma shot back.
“He’s in there. I’m sure.”
“Maybe we should climb in through a window,” Ne-ma suggested. “Just to check.”
“You’ll break something,” Gramma objected.
“Ha! The window maybe,” Ne-ma cackled. “But every bone in my body will be intact. I’m a great climber. Watch me.” There was the sound of running and scrambling.
“Glynda, don’t just stand there!” Ne-ma’s muffled voice floated in through one of the windows. “Come over and give me a boost, will ya?”
CHAPTER SEVEN
Sky shook his head and got up quickly. He’d better open the door before Ne-ma started hauling herself through one of the open windows at the side of the house.
Sky sucked in a breath, braced himself and opened the door.
A small, hard fist stopped just inches from his nose.
“Oh, sorry,” Gramma said, drawing her hand back just in time before she hammered his nose in. “I was about to knock, again.”
Ne-ma came running round from the side of the house. She skidded to a breathless stop and flashed him a very innocent smile.
“Hi, Gramma, Ne-ma,” Sky greeted the two elderly witches. “What can I do for you?”
“Why are you sitting in the dark?” Ne-ma asked, pushing her glasses up and peering past him into his house.
“You haven’t eaten, right?” Gramma said brightly as she elbowed Ne-ma.
“As a matter of fact...” Sky began.
“We want you to come to our birthday party,” Gramma said.
“You and your brothers,” Ne-ma added. “Today’s our birthday, and we booked the whole restaurant for our party!”
Sky inhaled sharply. “Well, I’d love to but...”
“Great!” Gramma tugged at his arm. “Let’s go. Neveah, go get Storm and Seath. We’ll get you boys out of the house. Lots of people will be at the party. You should get out and mingle...”
“Wait!” Sky shouted as Ne-ma bounded down his front steps and started towards Storm’s house.
Ne-ma turned and her eyes widened. She’d heard the desperation and urgency in his voice. “What is it, dear?” she asked quietly.
“I...Storm and Seath, they’re not feeling well tonight. I’ll go to your party, but I don’t think they’ll be able to go,” Sky stammered. “I’ll go, really. But it’d have to be just me okay? My brothers...they can’t...”
He really hoped that Gramma and Ne-ma didn’t see the panic on his face. They’d come all this way to get him, so he had to go with them. It would be extremely rude to turn them away. But he hoped that they wouldn’t insist on getting Storm and Seath as well.
What if those cursed marks appeared on Storm and Seath while they were at the party? Everyone would see and everyone would know. They would be driven out of town again.
A look passed between Ne-ma and Gramma. “Okay,” Ne-ma said softly. “We understand. Your brothers prefer to stay home tonight. But you can come, right?”
Sky gave a jerky nod.
Gramma smiled encouragingly. “Come on then. Our granddaughters-in-law baked us the nicest, most awesome birthday cake. You won’t want to miss this.”
Gramma and Ne-ma linked their arms through his and practically frogmarched him down the steps. “We ran all the way here, but we’ll take your truck back to the restaurant. Drive us to Chow’s Delights, Sky. It’s that lovely Chinese restaurant at the corner of Sparkle Street. We’re celebrating our birthday in style!”
As they walked to his truck, Sky began, “How old…?” He stopped himself just in time. It wasn’t appropriate or polite to ask them their age.
But Ne-ma and Gramma simply giggled and said, “That’s actually a very good question. We don’t even remember ourselves!”
CHAPTER EIGHT
Leia Bailey zipped from table to table, pouring tea for all the happy, noisy guests. The restaurant was fully booked tonight. Gramma and Ne-ma’s grandsons were throwing a big birthday bash for their beloved grandmothers here at Chow’s Delights, and all the tables had been reserved for Gramma and Ne-ma’s guests.
It was initially supposed to be a surprise dinner, a small, intimate family gathering. But no one could keep a secret from Gramma and Ne-ma for long. So Gramma and Ne-ma had taken over the planning of their own party and the guest list had grown.
But they couldn’t invite everyone in town, so they finally agreed to invite only their oldest friends and closest neighbors. As it turned out, Gramma and Ne-ma had a lot of old friends and close neighbors. Good thing Chow’s Delights had enough tables to accommodate all the guests.
Chow’s Delights was one of the best run family restaurants in town. And the food was great. The restaurant had a team of very talented chefs but Mr Chow was still the head chef in the kitchen.
Leia’s shift had ended an hour ago but she’d insisted on staying and helping out. It was a very busy night, and Mr and Mrs Chow needed all hands on deck.
“Hey Leia,” Mrs Chow called. “Can you get some extra napkins from the drawer?”
“Yes, boss!”
Mrs Chow huffed and rolled her eyes. Leia grinned. Mr and Mrs Chow were her bosses, but they were more like family to her. Leia’s mother, Sandra, had worked at Chow’s Delights since Leia was a little girl and Leia used to do her homework with Mr and Mrs Chow’s children in the restaurant. Mr and Mrs Chow treated their staff like family, and when Leia’s mother fell ill and could only work part-time, Mr and Mrs Chow continued paying Sandra her full salary, even though she only came in twice a week.
After her mother passed away,
the Chows took care of Leia and looked out for her. Leia was happy to accept a job at their restaurant when they offered. She wanted to repay their kindness. She worked hard and often put in a few extra hours after her shift. Despite her protests, Mr and Mrs Chow always made sure Leia got paid for all her hours.
“It’s okay, Leia. I’ll get the napkins,” Peiling said, giving Leia a wink as she hurried past. “You have your hands full.”
Peiling was Mr and Mrs Chow’s eldest daughter, and the woman was as smart as she was beautiful. She was the one who’d persuaded her parents to streamline their operations and start a catering business as well as a bakery. Her younger sisters took care of the bakery, while Peiling kept an eye on the restaurant and the catering arm.
Leia had heard Peiling and her sisters finalizing plans to open a branch in the city. The Chow girls were ambitious and capable, and Leia had no doubt that they would take the family business to dizzying new heights.
Peiling had asked Leia if she would like to manage their new restaurant in the city when it opened. It was generous of Peiling, but Leia turned down the offer. Sure, it was a great opportunity and it sounded fun and exciting but Leia didn’t want to move to the city.
She liked it here in Shadow Point. She was a small town girl, and she liked her life here. She was just a simple girl, with simple dreams and wishes. She just wanted to get married one day and have a family of her own. She wanted her kids to grow up in Shadow Point, surrounded by caring friends and neighbors.
She had seen how everyone in Shadow Point had rallied around to help when her mom got sick. Neighbors came round with food and helped clean the house. They supported Leia and made sure she knew that she wasn’t going through this alone. Their love and friendship meant so much to Leia, and she didn’t want to leave all this behind and move to a big city.
Shadow Point was home. The town was changing and growing, but still, this was where she belonged.
Skyfire Dragon Page 2