"What about the—you know," Dad protested.
"I'm not directly involved," Mom pointed out. She sounded huffy, too. "All I can offer is advice. I'll sing two songs into a microphone, and hire local musicians to give them some extra money. Works for everybody, right?"
"If you say so," Dad grumped.
"And we need groceries," Mom said.
"I'll make sure we have people ready to go to the store," Dad agreed.
"So we do have our priorities, don't we?" Mom said sweetly and flounced out of the kitchen.
"You didn't eat," Joey yelled at her.
"Then bring me something," she yelled back. "I have plans to make."
"I'll take something to her," Merrill offered. Joey didn't argue, so Uncle Merrill filled a plate with scrambled eggs, fruit and cheese, placed that and a glass of milk on a tray and hauled it toward Mom and Dad's bedroom.
Dad hesitated for a barely a second before following.
* * *
Adam's Journal
I think Merrill would have been happy to feed Kiarra by hand if she'd allowed it and I hadn't shown up steps behind him. As it was, he set the tray on the bedside table, offered her a smile and the glass of milk.
Yes, I should have realized that he'd been watching her carefully for years. She loved cold milk and drank half the glass before giving him a smile in return. He offered her a napkin, which she gratefully accepted and wiped the milk moustache off her upper lip. The smile turned into an all-out grin.
"These came while you were away," I interrupted the breakfast interlude.
"What?" Kiarra leaned forward, peering around Merrill's broad shoulders to see what I meant. I held up the box containing her Grey House earrings.
"Are those earrings?" she asked eagerly.
"Yes. I already have my cufflinks—they're very nice. As is Merrill's ring and the boys' watches."
"Gimme," she held out her hand. Stepping forward, I placed the small box in her hand with a mock bow.
"I'm wearing them," she announced, fumbling with the lid on the box for a moment. Merrill took the box gently from her hands, opened it and revealed the earrings nested inside.
"Pretty," Kiarra breathed and lifted one up to examine it.
"Here." Merrill took the earring and slipped the wire into her ear.
"Does it look nice?" she asked.
"It is lovely," he smiled. "Let me do the other one."
He did. She now wore both earrings, which dangled delicately from her ears. The gray jewels were designed carefully and would reflect anything she wore, effectively matching all her clothing.
If Raffian Grey designed them, he'd done a magnificent job.
"Thank you for this," Merrill held up his hand, displaying the ring he wore.
"I asked for something for you, but left it up to them," she blinked at him. "It suits you."
"Good. Now finish your breakfast, before the eggs go completely cold," he coaxed.
Those words should have been mine. I should be sitting there, convincing her to eat. Warming the eggs for her with power. Telling her how much I loved her.
Merrill held words of love back, although they were in his eyes as he watched her eat.
* * *
Justin's Journal
"Why don't we clean the kitchen?" Gina asked when school was over for the day and we sat at the kitchen island having peanut butter and crackers as a snack. It was practically all we had left in the house.
"Huh?" I said, confused for a moment.
"Your mother isn't feeling well, so somebody has to do it," Sarah laughed. "Come on, you and Mack can help." With all four of us working, the dishes in the sink were placed in the dishwasher, counters were wiped clean and a grocery list began to take shape.
I wasn't sure what meats to place on the list, but Gina and Sarah offered suggestions and Mack took it from there. "Chicken—for sure, either for fried chicken or chicken and dumplings," he said. "Maybe something to make meat loaf or burgers? What about grilling fajitas?" Mack was still hungry—and still growing, looked like.
"Maybe Uncle Lion will go with us to the grocery store," I said.
"Maybe Uncle Bearcat and Uncle Joey will go with you, in your dad's SUV," Joey and Bearcat walked into the kitchen. "We have orders from your mom, and she gave us a list." Joey pulled a folded paper from his pocket. "Let's coordinate and go. We can drop the girls off while we're out."
"Sounds great," Gina giggled. "Can we go to the store with you?"
"Sure," Joey shrugged. "I'll let you be in charge of fruits and vegetables."
* * *
Adam's Journal
Karzac pronounced Kiarra run-down and suggested she take it easy for several days. It hadn't been very long, after all, since the attack and near-miscarriage. "Take it easy around the house, too," he ordered. "No heavy housework. No lifting more than ten pounds. Do I need to go on?" His green-gold eyes informed her—and me—that there would be no argument over this.
"But," Kiarra began.
"No. The answer will be no," Karzac held up a hand. "This pregnancy has already proven itself fragile enough. Do I have to find someone to babysit you?"
"No." She turned away before he could see evidence of her pout.
"Good. Kiarra," he turned her toward him, "Please do this. For me. For Dragon. For all of us. Things are so critical, now. You understand that, don't you?"
"Yes." She hung her head and nodded her agreement.
"Good. I hear supplies are being bought. Do not skimp on protein, and eat regularly, even if you do not feel hungry. You have lost weight the past few days. I do not wish to see that continue."
"I know."
"Good. Let Adam care for you. That is his duty after all, to you and his child."
"Karzac Halivar, I hope you've noticed by now that we're having a spat. I trust your doctorly duties do not include interfering with that?" Kiarra lifted an eyebrow.
"While doctorly may not be an actual word, I will bow out of the tiff for now. However, that will not stop me from shouting at both of you, if your disagreement becomes detrimental to all involved." Karzac displayed his stubbornness, which could rival Kiarra's any day.
"Great. Out. Out—the both of you," Kiarra pointed toward the door.
"Sweetheart, I want to talk to you about disappearing spawn," I reasoned. "I can't do that very well if we're in separate parts of the house."
That brought on a string of curse words—in Refizani. I'm sure she did it on purpose; I saw Karzac cringe at least twice.
"Dearest," Merrill interrupted, "I'd appreciate your words in a language I might understand. That way, I can agree with confidence, rather than relying on instinct."
Kiarra stopped in mid-sentence, blinked at Merrill and burst out laughing.
Thank you, I sent to Merrill later as he, Kiarra, Dragon, Lion, Joey, Bearcat and I sat on comfortable chairs around the indoor pool, discussing missing spawn, the little we knew about Sirenali and what—if anything—we might do about all of it.
You're welcome, Merrill replied, his face never revealing the fact that we were having a mental conversation. Somehow, in all this mess, there had to be an answer, we just hadn't arrived at it, yet.
"Invite me?" Darzi walked in, dropping cross-legged onto the tiled floor surrounding the pool.
"Hi. Sorry we didn't think to send for you," Kiarra smiled at him. He smiled back. "We're trying to think of a way to find the spawn that are disappearing. So far, we haven't come up with anything. I've tried Looking into the future for towns or cities that get hit, but nothing is showing up."
At the time, I didn't think a shapeshifting lion snake with limited English could come up with anything, or know what Looking actually meant. He nodded at Kiarra anyway and appeared to be considering her words.
The rest of us had reached a standstill.
"Maybe they use random selection," Darzi said after a moment. "Like casino. Random number generator."
"You mean they might not be targeting thes
e things—that they're relying on a machine to do it for them?" Kiarra stared at Darzi.
"Possible," he shrugged. "You not find by Looking, because there nothing to find—yet."
"This is impossible," I rubbed my forehead. "The first town was small. They took ten away. The second was somewhat larger and they took nine from there. All of those were men, tall and strong. That's what they're looking for. Didn't you say that the military could end up being a target?" I turned to Dragon.
"That would make sense to me," he said. "As a military leader at one time, if I were recruiting, I'd carefully select my candidates. The problem, as we all know, is that until now, spawn haven't discriminated as to their turns—after they sate themselves on the more tender victims, generally consisting of women and children, they only bite what they can't consume afterward. With them, it's instinctual."
"Unless something interferes with that instinct," Kiarra pointed out. "Tell me again how an obsession works? Doesn't it stay in effect until the victim dies? Does that mean completely dead, or does it carry over to the spawn made from the victim?"
"Holy, fucking hell," I snorted. "Spawn with an obsession? That could make them a hundred times more dangerous."
"Darzi agree," Darzi said, jerking his head in a nod.
"While hell may be a topic best left to philosophers, I agree with the gist of your comment," Pheligar appeared. Lifting Kiarra from her chair while she squawked and slapped at his hands, he enlarged the seat with power and sat, Kiarra held carefully on his lap.
"That doesn't help us at all," Joey tossed up a hand in resignation. "Anybody with a laptop or a tablet can do a random selection of small towns. Maybe they're building up to grabbing the National Guard troops when they arrive at the scene, or maybe they're planning to take an entire base somewhere. We don't know the answer to that."
"What did you say?" Kiarra struggled in Pheligar's arms. He pulled her closer and soothed her with gentle hands.
"Which part? The National Guard part or the military base part?" Joey asked.
"The military base part," she said, making another attempt to escape Pheligar's embrace. He didn't allow it. After a brief tussle, which lasted barely three seconds, she gave in and relaxed against him.
"It's possible," Dragon replied. "But which one? What would they want from there? The most men? Technology? Equipment? All three?"
"At this point, it's still conjecture," Lion observed.
"Very good conjecture, from my point of view," Kiarra said. I watched as Pheligar tucked pale blonde hair behind her ear. "It could be impossible to figure out where they're going to strike next. We may have to gamble on the military base thing and work from that end."
"So they're looking to produce superspawn that have an obsession to achieve an unknown goal?" Bearcat asked. "But why? Regular spawn have no trouble taking any world in very little time if they're not stopped."
"We know that we're targets, but what if there are others we don't know about?" I asked. The idea had concerned me for a while, but it was now at the forefront of my thoughts and I wasn't sure why.
"Who else would the Ra'Ak target?" Bearcat asked. "Aren't we the ones they're worried about the most?"
Nobody had an answer, but I could tell that Kiarra, Dragon and Lion were concerned about it, too.
* * *
"Adam, we bent time and moved to Fresno two years before Corpus Christi happened, when Justin turned four years old," Kiarra told me later. The others had finally left us alone, going somewhere else to ponder the conundrum for a while. Pheligar had gone too, and I'd had to approach Kiarra carefully.
She allowed me to sit with her and then pull her against me.
Always, she feels good in my arms. I wrapped her up as much as she'd allow and rested my cheek against her hair.
"I remember," I said. "It was a better time and fit, and we knew to stay away from Corpus during that time. We bought the beach house afterward, for our anniversary."
"Something about all this bothers me," she shivered in my arms.
"I know. It bothers me, too, but I have no idea why."
* * *
Justin's Journal
Mack got his wish on dinner—we had steak and chicken fajitas with tortillas, grilled onions and peppers, rice, beans, salsa, sour cream—the works.
I had no idea Darzi could cook. He said he learned from the best, but didn't elaborate. Actually, his exact words were, "I learn from best cook. I not as good, but do fine enough."
He was the one who grilled the vegetables separately so Mom could have veggie fajitas. The beans were vegetarian, as was the rice he seasoned and served. She was very happy with what she got and offered Darzi a hug for being the chief cook at dinner.
Mack and I cleaned the kitchen after we ate; Gina called shortly after. Until I talked to her that evening, I thought I was the only one getting hot under the collar when we kissed.
"Justin, I, uh, I've been thinking," Gina said after we'd talked about homework assignments. Actually, I'd been working on mine when she called. I didn't mind the interruption.
"About what?" I said, studying the equation in front of me and attempting to work it out in my head.
"Well, you know, most guys are pushing to have sex after the second date."
"What?" That put the brakes on doing two things at once.
"Well, you know—they are," she said. "Sometimes I don't go out with them after that, because, it's just—you know, uncomfortable."
"Baby, I haven't asked you for that," I began. I had no idea where this had come from and had even less of an idea where it was headed.
"Well, that's, oh, this isn't coming out right," she fussed. "Look, I wouldn't mind. If you did ask, that is. We're both eighteen, and we're responsible. I guess that's what I mean," she finished lamely.
She wanted to have sex? I couldn't breathe for a minute.
"Are you sure?" My voice sounded almost normal, which was a real shock.
"I'm sure. I want your arms around me. I want you to uh, touch me like that. I want you to be the one, Justin. You."
I could have bet that she was blushing. My face felt heated, too. That didn't mean I wanted to turn her down.
Hell, no. I just didn't want to disappoint her.
"Okay," I said after taking a deep breath and releasing it. "Let's just take things slow. I don't want to rush this and risk not making you happy."
"Oh my gosh, Justin, that may be the nicest thing any guy has ever said to me. About sex, anyway."
At that moment, I wanted to pound anybody who'd been rude to her before. I didn't want to Look for their names—that would be dangerous. After all, I could pound them into pulp if I let my wyvern and my temper get away from me.
I was also grateful that we weren't at Valley High anymore. There were no jeers or whispers about our relationship—no speculation and no gossip. Mack and Sarah knew—that's it.
As for the sex part—I wasn't willing to share that with anyone. That was between Gina and me. I worried that Dad might guess, but then I probably should have a talk with him anyway. Sure—most people my age knew the mechanics of sex, but there was so much more to it than that, and I didn't know where to start.
* * *
"You'll need these. Not that you'll really need them," Joey said, handing a box of condoms to me after knocking on my door later. "But it will reassure Gina, and that's what matters most."
"How did you?" I sputtered.
"It's my job," he shrugged with a grin. "And, as your father is so famous for saying, sex is natural between people who care for one another. You're of legal age and nobody expects either of you to remain celibate forever."
"This is unbelievable," I muttered, rubbing my forehead.
"I had no idea what I was doing when I was your age," Joey said. "So you can either let your Dad give you pointers, or your Uncle Lynx. Or Merrill—he's the one who finally gave me the scoop. All good advice, I might add."
"What about you?" I mumbled, lifting my eyes a
nd staring at Joey. He was way too cheerful for my current frame of mind.
"Seriously? I've never had sex with a girl. Sorry, dude. Can't help." Joey was now smiling. Definitely too cheerful.
"Well, uh, wow. This is embarrassing." I now rubbed the back of my neck. I realized I didn't want to discuss this with Dad—no way. The fact that he and Mom—well—she was pregnant, so both of them had to be involved.
"You should probably decide soon, just in case," Joey shrugged. "Your choice."
"All right," I whispered. "Just don't go—announcing it to everybody, okay? What if Mom finds out?"
"Why do you think your mother will mind? As long as it's consensual, you're both of legal age and both enjoy it, why would she mind? Pheligar already says you're sterile and you're not susceptible to diseases."
"Sex complicates things," I huffed, feeling angry that Pheligar knew about my sex life—or lack thereof.
"Says the guy who's never had it," Joey retorted.
"Will you shut up?" I hissed. "I don't think the neighbors half a mile away heard you, yet."
"You're approaching this as if you and Gina are both virgins," Joey began.
"Whuh—what?" That fell on me like a load of bricks.
"You won't be her first. Her mother knows. Mrs. Allen likes you a hell of a lot more than Gina's ex."
"TMI, Joey," I flopped against the wall next to the door, my head in my hands.
"What do you want, then? To go into this blind and just fumble along? Very few people are happy with their first time, Justin. The guy lasts thirty seconds if he's lucky and the girl gets absolutely nothing out of it. Be better than that." He turned to walk down the hall while I dropped my hands and watched him go.
* * *
"Your nose is more sensitive than you think," Merrill said.
No, I couldn't sleep, so I went to the back porch to sit a while. The night was nice, fairly cool and I'd found Merrill sitting there having a glass of Scotch. Before I knew it, I blurted out my problem to him.
"But," I began.
"Let it help you," Merrill said. "Keep your eyes open, too. There are signs that tell you—apart from the scent of arousal—that your partner is ready to couple."
That night, a two-thousand-year-old vampire gave me instructions for making love. He wasn't embarrassed in the least and I found it easier and easier to ask questions as he explained things.
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