Terran Realm Vol 1-6

by Dee, Bonnie

  “Don’t leave just yet. I’ll try his cell phone. He has it with him most of the time.” Gabe entered his fast dial code for Donovan Callahan. Amazingly, it was picked up on the first ring. Gabe put him on video and speaker so the others could hear and see him.

  He got Donovan up to speed and waited for his response.

  “Incredible! Congratulations, guys. I agree that you need to explore his home base. There’s just one problem: Nolen knows you all. I understand that Ethan could probably cook up some Singer spell to disguise you, but why chance a slip in his concentration? I’d recommend enlisting Aviva Shiron’s assistance. Aviva knows what’s at stake and she’s also a Singer.”

  “No!” Ethan’s vehement rejection startled Brigid and Gabe. “Aviva’s not that strong a Singer. She can’t possibly understand the depth of Nolen’s madness. If she goes there, she’ll be alone and at a disadvantage. How is she going to get there in the first place and how the bloody hell will she get home? No! No way in hell!”

  “Easy, man.” Donovan tried to calm Ethan. “I know the risks are high, but think of the alternative. A blind attack is far chancier. Besides, you have to give Aviva the right to say no. If she declines the mission, we’ll think of some other alternatives.”

  Ethan took a deep breath. “I’ll speak to her. See if she’s willing. But not before we have a plan mapped out and find out everything we can about Nolen’s new identity. He can’t have appeared from out of nowhere and bought this bloody huge place without any questions.”

  “He could if he used a go-between or purchased it online,” Gabe said. “Talk to Aviva. Bridge and I will find out what we can about Arven Lowery.”

  “Listen to Gabe, Ethan. That’s his talent. Thinking and acting as a Protector. When you’ve decided on a definite course of action, let me know.” There was a moment of silence. Donovan looked like he was going to say something, then changed his mind. They could see him visibly compose himself before he finally spoke. “I wish you luck. There’s a lot of crap going down right now. It would be a change of pace for something positive to happen.”

  The connection broke, leaving the three Terrans at a loss for words. But, of course, what could they say?

  * * * *

  Greenwich Village, New York City

  Once again, Ethan stood before Aviva’s door, staring at it with such intensity he swore he could see through it. He had thought Aviva would hang up on him and tell him to politely fuck off. But she hadn’t. She’d told him to come on over with Ceol Mhor. So he had grabbed his harp and asked Anthony to drop him off at her home.

  Aviva responded immediately to his ring, buzzing him inside. He climbed the stairs to her studio level and paused, his hand in mid-air, poised to knock. Issuing faintly from within were the strains of one of the themes Ethan had recorded for her, dubbed, Playtime.

  What was going on?

  He pushed open the unlocked door and found three seated musicians—Aviva on guitar and two other musicians on the fiddle and the bodhran drum, performing an arrangement of the melody.

  “What the hell is going on here?”

  The notes dribbled to a halt and Aviva swung around to face him. “Ethan, what do you think? I wanted it to be a surprise for you.”

  He pulled up a chair and ran his fingers through his hair, trying to assimilate what he’d just heard. “When did you do this? Who are these people? What do they know?”

  She rose, placing the guitar on its stand. “They know that the theme belongs to you and that I merely arranged it. I did add something in the next section you’ll especially enjoy. Why don’t you take out your harp and jam with us? Here’s the sheet music.” She smiled, with just a hint of teasing. “Oh, wait. I forgot you can’t read music. Kol b’seder. Just jump in whenever.”

  With Aviva adding just a smidge of her Singer ability to coax him into complying, he unveiled Ceol Mhor and shifted to a more comfortable position.

  “Let me introduce my fellow musicians. Guys, this is the fellow I told you about, the composer of the theme, Ethan Clark. Ethan, that’s Mike on the fiddle and Perry on the drum. They’re both Irish and regulars at The Pennywhistlers’ Pub. Come on. Let’s give him a performance. Start at the beginning and we’ll play it all the way through. On my count.”

  And they were off.

  Ethan couldn’t believe the effect the piece had on the two other players. At first they merely smiled with delight. As he got into the swing of the piece, he plucked Ceol Mhor’s strings with fervor, adding his power and the harp’s to the performance.

  That’s when things began to disintegrate. The theme, Aviva’s Singer talent amplified by the guitar and his and Ceol Mhor’s participation sent Mike and Perry into a paroxysm of laughter. They put down their instruments, tears of mirth flowing down their face. Unable to speak, they continued to laugh until Aviva and Ethan also stopped playing. Aviva had joined in the laughter. Only Ethan had remained immune.

  Mike gazed perplexed at Aviva. “Why did we stop playing?”

  Perry shook his head. Ethan presumed he was trying to dislodge the discombobulated feeling clouding his thinking. “I know I enjoyed the piece, but it wasn’t quite the same … did you change the arrangement, Aviva?”

  Aviva cast a glance at Ethan and a smile flitted across her lips. “You might say that. You were wonderful, guys. What do you think, Ethan? Yafeh m’od.”

  “Yaf—what?”

  Aviva giggled, a delightful sound that went a long way to setting Ethan’s fears to rest that she truly hadn’t forgiven him for his earlier behavior. “It means ‘very nice.’ And it was, wasn’t it?”

  “Astonishing is more like it.” Ethan directed a look to the two human males still holding their instruments quietly. Exerting just a bit of his Singer ability, he added more of a push to his next request. “I’m sorry to cut the music short, but I need to speak with Aviva alone. You fellas were brilliant. I’ll try to get over to The Pennywhistlers’ Pub some evening.”

  Still wearing puzzled frowns, Mike and Perry packed up their instruments and left the studio.

  Ethan waited a beat until he heard the front door shut behind the two before he spoke. “What just occurred here was astounding.” His brow furrowed as the reason he’d come to see Aviva resurfaced. Now he had to see if she were even willing to help.

  “I knew you’d be amazed at the effects of the music,” she said. “I wove your spell of forgetfulness into it so they wouldn’t remember just how powerful an effect it had on them. I must make a confession. When I played alone with them the results weren’t nearly as strong. It was you and Ceol Mhor that produced such a miraculous emotion.” Aviva put the guitar back in the stand and stood. “Why did you want to see me? I thought we said our farewells the other day.”

  Ethan set aside his harp and grasped Aviva’s hands. “I don’t want to lose your friendship.” He took a deep breath. “And now I’m going to ask you to do something that may—” He dropped her hands and turned away from her, then swung back around. “Jesus, Aviva, forget it. I can’t do it. I won’t put you into jeopardy.”

  Now it was Aviva’s turn to reach out and she gripped Ethan’s fingers and clung to them. “Sit. Tell me what you came here to tell.” She tried to smile, but failed. “Listen to me. I’m older than you.”

  Ethan slumped onto the chair. “We know who Nolen has become and where he is. It’s not that far; only upstate New York.” He hung his head, his hands hanging limply between his knees. “Neither myself nor Gabe or Brigid can confront him at his home base. He’d recognize us immediately, even if we used a glamour and changed our appearance. We can’t just go barging in on the bastard. Who knows what sort of booby traps he has planted? We need someone to reconnoiter—”

  “When do you want me to go?”

  “Dammit, Aviva. I don’t want you to go.”

  She moved over to him, fell to her knees, lifted his head and peered into his eyes. “Listen, dodi, Ba’al is as much a foe to me. With Nolen as his henchman, who
knows what horrors will be inflicted upon the world? Tell me what you need of me. My father was a Protector and maybe, somewhere lurking deep inside me there is a warrior begging to come out.” She grinned and stood up. “After all, I did serve in the Israeli Army … and Mossad. So, what is the plan?”

  “Come back to Gabe’s house and help us formulate one. Now that you’ve decided to throw in your lot with us, we can proceed to the next step.” He placed Ceol Mhor in its case and lifted it in his arms. “Bring your guitar. I want to demonstrate the power of your music to Brigid and Gabe.” Ethan broke out into a loud guffaw. “I can’t wait to see Gabe laughing hysterically. Sometimes I think he’s channeled Mr. Spock.”

  Aviva’s throaty chuckle answered his hearty laughter. “I’d say he’s due for a surprise, yes?”

  “Oh, yes, indeed!”

  * * * *

  East 92nd Street

  “Aviva agreed.”

  Ethan’s bald statement was greeted with a second of silence before Brigid rushed over to Aviva and hugged her, grabbed her guitar case and leaned it against the study wall. Brigid jigged over to Ethan and clutched his hands. “I told you, Ethan. I knew she would agree. And we have great news! While you were gone, we did an intense search and we’ve found out a lot more about Nolen’s new identity.”

  Gabe strode over and embraced Aviva. He released her and held her at arm’s length while he looked carefully into her eyes. “Come and sit down. Marty’s sent over some food while we talk. We’ve uncovered a tremendous amount of data. We’re still searching for a way to get someone into the estate without arousing his suspicions.”

  “Tell me what you have so far. Perhaps looking at it with fresh eyes, I might see something you’ve missed.”

  Gabe pulled out the round table he used when he had more than one client to deal with, and they gathered around it. Ethan and Aviva shared one laptop and Gabe and Brigid shared the other.

  “Here’s what Bridge and I dug up. Under the name of Arven Lowery, Nolen bought up a Canadian import-export business. Business news reports call him the ‘reclusive CEO’ of Drona Import and Export.” Gabe grimaced as he revealed the more dismaying results of their search. “One of the upper echelons of the company died in a mysterious house fire. Recently a branch head met with a deadly accident in the car park at the company headquarters in Toronto.”

  “We were able to find out a bit more information about this James Macalister, the new Toronto branch head. He’s been promoted and will be setting up a New York branch office this spring.” Brigid paused. “In fact, it appears that he’s already left Canada and is in New York now.”

  “We hit a gold mine with Macalister. An online Canadian magazine interviewed him for an article about Canada’s up and coming young business people.” Gabe pulled up the site. “Here’s the piece.”

  Four pairs of eyes scanned the text and accompanying picture of James Macalister.

  “Jazz!” Aviva’s exclamation startled everyone into silence as she formulated a plan. “If he’s as big a fan and amateur performer as the article states, he’ll probably visit some of the jazz clubs in the city. If we focus on the clubs that have open mike nights, we might be able to track him down. At least we have his picture to show to the staff—”

  “And I can wipe out any memory of our investigation,” Ethan added.

  “So? Assuming we can find out his hangouts, what do we do with the information?” Brigid tried but failed to hide her impatience. “If Nolen has moved up the date to Lughnasa, we have even less time to defeat him.”

  “We still have a window of opportunity.” Aviva infused her words with optimism. “Once we find out if he goes to some places more regularly than others, I can use my Singer talent and compel Macalister to introduce me to Nolen. Kol b’seder. Everything’s okay, chavera sheli—my friend.”

  Brigid smiled back. The Desert Terran embodied determination and confidence. Aviva probably was using her Singer talent to foster positive thoughts, but Brigid didn’t care. Right now she’d take a Pollyanna rather than a Cassandra.

  Gabe got up and started to pace. “You’ll need something other than simply using your Singer talent to keep him interested.”

  Ethan drummed his fingers against the table in a steady rhythm, increasing the tempo until he smacked his palms against the smooth wood and jumped to his feet. “You’ll sing. Incorporate appropriate themes in your music and use them as a lure. Make him want to bring you to Nolen as a musician.”

  “We’ll find out whether or not he’s ensconced at Nolen’s estate. Either way, he’s bound to know where Nolen lives and can take you there.” Gabe halted, a broad smile vanquishing the lines of tension etched in his face. “We’ll get the most recent blueprints of the mansion. I’ll see if I can track down any pictures of the grounds.”

  “Let’s get a list going on the clubs. We’ll divvy it up and check if and when they have open mike nights.” Brigid opened an online yellow pages and pulled up Manhattan jazz clubs. The list wasn’t as long as she feared. “It’s a start.”

  Ethan picked up Aviva’s guitar and offered it to her. He grinned. “Let’s keep our little surprise for later. Why don’t we go to the library and work on a series of incantations to incorporate into the songs. We’ll record them and see how you guys react.”

  “I say when, not if, I make contact with Macalister, I can give him a CD of my music to play for Nolen. Ethan and I will make sure the songs have the right affect on him.”

  “Go on. Bridge and I will get on the details needed. You and Aviva will supply the ammunition.”

  Aviva took in Gabe’s immediate dismissal of their presence and his new concentration. He had already eliminated any extraneous distraction—good behavior for a Protector planning strategy. She turned to Ethan. “Show me the way.”

  * * * *

  Aviva admired the sophisticated equipment and the impressive piano in the library. Unable to resist, she ran her fingers over the keys and smiled. Well tuned. “Do either Gabe or Brigid play?”

  Ethan shrugged. “You know, I haven’t the slightest idea?” He grinned. “We’ve had other things on our minds.”

  Aviva took a deep breath. “You’re lovers. All three of you. I knew the moment I entered the house. I didn’t need to be told.” She turned her back to him. “There’s a … connection? A balance among you three. I could never be a part of it.”

  Ethan moved from his seat by the fireplace and stood behind her. He drew her into his embrace, wrapping his arms around her waist, but she broke away and knelt to open her guitar case. “Get Ceol Mhor and let’s start. A seductive song first. Yes?”

  Ethan clenched his fingers. He knew she was hurting, but he could do nothing other than offer her his friendship. He wished it could be enough. But knew it wasn’t.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Manhattan, East 92nd Street

  “No more, Ethan. You’re making me cry.” Aviva held her guitar close to her body, caressing its neck. Tears streamed down her cheeks as the last notes Ethan plucked faded and she sniffled and wiped the tears with the back of her hand. “It’s a good thing I’m the one who’ll be singing and playing or the entire audience would want to commit suicide.” Now she strummed the melody, making sure the rhythm and tempo were the same, improvising, returning again and again to the original theme. “What do you think? Will half a dozen songs be enough to convince Macalister that I’m a dedicated artist?”

  Ethan set Ceol Mhor aside and flexed his fingers. He and Aviva had sequestered themselves for three hours. Fortunately, she had previously arranged three songs. Most importantly, though, was her incredible talent for quickly creating a true composition with harmony and depth of feeling. Add her voice and lyrics. Lord, when she sang along with her guitar or at the piano … he needed to exert every fiber of resistance not to succumb to her Singer ability.

  The next test was to try the music before Gabe and Brigid. Hopefully, they’d gotten a list together of the jazz clubs in Manhattan. Gabe h
ad initiated one brief contact to inform them that they’d tracked Macalister to Nolen’s home. One less thing with which to be concerned. “Shall we have them join us here, Aviva? They can hear how effective the songs are when played on the piano.”

  Aviva rolled her head in a circle, loosening the knots before she answered. “Tov m’od. Very good.” A smile flitted across her face. “You may need to hold on to Gabe.” She licked her lips and lowered her eyes in mockery. “Our seductive melody is very … passionate.”

  Ethan chuckled. “I think you’d better wear a raincoat if Brigid takes affront. Of course, she could also give you a hotfoot.”

  “Hot feet?”

  “Hotfoot. Remember Brigid is also a Fire Keeper.”

  “So I’d better make sure not to tease her, kayn?”

  “Leave the teasing to me, a chara.”

  * * * *

  “Aviva downplays her talent. I only presented the theme. Although I do have a few more elaborate pieces—well, listen and tell us what you think.” Gabe and Brigid got comfortable and Ethan joined them on the deep-cushioned couch. This was Aviva’s show.

  She seated herself by the piano, completely at ease, and smiled. “I’ll perform the music without lyrics first and add them afterwards. Not all of the works have words. We thought it would be better to leave a couple of them as instrumentals.” Taking a deep breath she raised her hands and let them fall upon the piano keys.

  The first song was the one she’d played for Ethan in the studio. Even without the additional musicians, the music was infectious. Soon Brigid and Gabe were laughing uproariously. Even Ethan wasn’t totally unaffected.

  “Stop. Stop. My sides hurt!” Brigid gasped and grabbed onto Gabe’s shoulder. Gabe slowly slid to the floor, dragging Brigid with him, still laughing. Aviva turned from the piano, a satisfied look on her face and a fit of the giggles overwhelming her.

  The staid Gabe Kawsantower, laughing his head off. Imagine. Ethan caught his breath, applauding as Aviva rose and dipped her head in acknowledgement. “If the other songs are as effective as this, we’ll have to worry about the entire audience dying of laughter. We’ve incorporated a safeguard that will dampen the effects when Aviva sings. The tracks on the demo CD will include this, except for the song that will instill in whoever listens to it a compulsion to see the singer.” Ethan smiled with approbation at Aviva. “When Aviva performs, she’ll improvise any additional effects she wants.”