by Amber Lynn
When I was cleaned, armed and dressed, I made my way back down to see if anyone else was ready to go. In the living room, I ran into a woman I’d never seen before, but yet something felt familiar.
She was my height and general build with long, blonde hair and blue eyes. Her hair actually looked like it was dyed, because I could see some dark roots sticking out.
“I don’t think we’ve met before,” I said, walking over to join her. “I’m Avery.”
The closer I got, the more I felt like there was something familiar about her. I knew I’d seen her somewhere before. There’d been so many people coming and going between the meeting with different uniques and the conferences that I had trouble keeping track of everyone.
“Ah, my queen,” she said, bowing slightly. “I’m Cynthia.”
My spidey senses immediately told me that her name wasn’t Cynthia and I really hated when people lied to me. She didn’t seem like a threat, but I knew she was hiding something. I also knew I’d eventually figure out what that something was.
“Have we met before?” I asked, curious whether she’d continue lying to me.
She looked me straight in the eyes and said, “Chances are you’ve seen me around once or twice in the past millennia.” She had kind of an evil smile going on, like she knew something I didn’t, but her words rang true, so I should’ve known her.
“Can I ask what you’re doing here? Not that all uniques aren’t welcome, but I haven’t seen a lot of people who weren’t part of the troops.”
I was actually a little surprised that I’d been left alone for more than five seconds with a person I didn’t remember. The guys were usually much better at being buffers for me. I’d had to live through a few awkward conversations, where the other party didn’t fully comprehend I wasn’t firing on all cylinders.
“I’m visiting family in the area and I have some old friends in your organization, so I thought I’d stop over and say hi,” she responded. “Everyone seems a little busy this morning, which is understandable after the excitement from yesterday.”
I racked my brain for where I’d seen her. It had to have been within the last year, because before that I didn’t really pay attention to other people. I thought about places I’d been with Nate and finally remembered it was on Nate’s phone that I saw her, not actually in person.
He showed me pictures of his motorcycle once and in one of them the lady was sitting on it. He’d said she was a sister of a friend and there was never anything romantic between them.
I had no problem believing that to be true. It was just odd that she’d shown up in the middle of our chaos. I gazed off out the nearby window, while I thought, and then looked back at her.
She had to think I was crazy, spacing off in the middle of a conversation like I had. She’d moved her hair to the side, so I could see she was wearing a necklace. That caused flashbulbs to go off in my head, which were annoying, yet very welcome.
“Mirari, what have I always told you about lying?” I asked, realizing who the woman really was.
Nate was going to have to be punished for not telling me one of our daughters was around. Freddie and Charlie were more than likely going to feel my wrath too. My eldest daughter had to be tricky, or have really good blackmail, to get by them and to me, but that didn’t mean they shouldn’t have warned me.
“I’m sorry, my queen, but I don’t know why you called me that,” she said, looking around, probably sending out an S.O.S. to her father.
“From what I remember, you were always the one finding stones. In fact, the ring on my finger is one you gave your father to give to me,” I told her, holding up my hand to show the evidence. “Stones like the ones in your necklace that just happens to match one I have upstairs in a shoebox.”
I reached out to touch her necklace and scenes started flashing before my eyes. I saw my first daughter growing up, and the many accomplishments she’d achieved up until the end of my last incarnation; including her winning a Pulitzer for a newspaper article she wrote almost a century ago and her finding her soulmate. I still got nothing from the month leading up to my bonfire, but most of it was better than none of it.
“You said you were visiting family. Why don’t give your mother a hug,” I said, opening my arms for her.
She rushed into my arms with tears in her eyes. “Do you remember me, Mama?” she asked.
“Yes, my angel, I remember you.” I told her, squeezing her with all my might. “Oops, maybe I shouldn’t squeeze so hard. I hear congratulations are in order, even if I’m way too young to be a grandmother.” I stepped back from her to get a good look at my little girl.
“Yeah,” she said. Her face glowed the way a lot of my female companions did those days. “I talked to Dad last night and he mentioned a little birdie told you guys the news. I refused to miss your wedding tomorrow, and Dad thought it would be best if you saw me ahead of time, in case you did some crazy flash during the wedding. He’s really excited that you decided to go through with the wedding, even if you guys already resynched.”
“I know he tries to hide that excitement, but it’s impossible for him to keep it from me. How’s your soulmate? The last I knew he was going by David.”
She managed to glow even brighter when I brought up her man. I’d learned when the memories of Nate returned that phoenixes were suckers for our mates, and Sophia wasn’t any different.
“He goes by Gavin these days. He works with me doing investigative reporting. Usually we’re undercover, so we won’t be able to hang out with the family with all the media around you guys right now. That isn’t stopping me from going to the wedding. Dad has promised the media won’t be at the event.”
“We have the ground and air covered, and the house is searched for hidden cameras and bugs daily. With all the people coming in and out, we don’t like to take any chances. Plus, the security makes it so Nate doesn’t lock me in a room somewhere. So, how does Gavin feel about the baby?”
“I’m not sure there’s a word in any language to describe how strongly he feels about being a daddy. Elated, euphoric and jubilant combined are too mild of words to describe the emotions pouring off of him. We thought we’d found each other too late to have a family of our own, or that we were a pair of phoenixes who weren’t meant to have children. Conceiving our little one is our greatest dream come true.”
The tears in her eyes hadn’t really stopped from the time she realized I knew who she was. When she spoke of her child, they rolled out a little steadier.
“That’s great to hear. I sense your father is on his way and once I realized I recognized you from somewhere, I started blocking him, so he doesn’t know I remember. Do you want to have a little fun?” I asked with an evil chuckle.
“You’re so mean sometimes, especially to Dad. Let’s do it,” she said with a nod. “I’ll follow your lead.”
Nate entered the room and I waved him over. He smiled, seeing the two of us together. With Sophia’s blonde hair, people may not realize we’re all family. I hoped she changes it back to the natural color soon.
Nate was hiding his thoughts from me, so I didn’t feel a tinge of regret about what I was going to do. He had to know any blocking on his part spelled something awry for me. He’d been so open with his thoughts that morning, I hadn’t realized there was something he was keeping from me.
“Hi, honey,” I said to him. “I’m sure you already know, but this is Cynthia. She told me she’s a phoenix too and I’m trying to hook her up with Charlie. Don’t you think they’d make the cutest couple?”
I imagined the thought of two of our children hooking up would normally make him cringe, but his initial response was to keep a straight face. He glanced over at Sophia with an odd look in his eyes, and then focused back at me.
“Of course, my little butterfly, but I don’t know that Charles will like you playing matchmaker. With us phoenixes, we don’t get to choose who we end up being bonded to.”
I was a little surprised he didn’t ju
st tell me they’d already met and they aren’t mates. It was his easy ticket out of me trying to push the relationship.
I turned to Sophia to said, “Isn’t that the truth. If I could, I would trade him in for two half his age. He’s impossible to live with. You know me and him have had five children together and he’ll only let me talk to about half of them. What kind of father keeps his children away from their mother?”
“I totally understand where you are coming from, Avery. The guys in our species always believe they know what’s best for us. I don’t think they realize that we run things, whether they know it or not,” she replied.
“Don’t worry, you’ll love Charlie. He has to be one of the smartest people I’ve ever met, but he still loves to have fun. I know I sound like a farmer trying to sell his best cow, but you’ll have to just blame it on the fact that I’m his mama. I think he’s wandered the earth long enough without a mate, and it’s time I get involved.”
The last statement should’ve been a dead giveaway that something wasn’t right. It made me sound like my own mother, and I had to stop myself from laughing as I’d said it.
I glanced over at Nate and saw we were making him even more uncomfortable than I’d expected. I could tell he wasn’t sure where to steer the conversation, so I decided to take pity on him, even though we weren’t really that nasty. I mean, we could’ve pretended to be having a catfight.
“Mali, Cynthia is here visiting her mother,” I said, using the nickname I’d been trying to use more since I remembered him. “They haven’t seen each other in about fifty years and they’re both really happy to be reunited.”
I grabbed his hand and open myself back up to him. After the initial fear that I’d never have my own thoughts again, it was surprising how easy it was to put up walls. I felt it was something that had to be done, especially if I was to see the future off and on. There were things I knew I’d already seen that I wanted to keep secret for as long as I could.
He stared at me with his mean face. “To use one of your favorite phrases, you are such a jerk,” he said, pulling me in for a hug. “I was hoping you’d remember, but I didn’t want to push you after yesterday.”
Sophia and I laughed as he pulled her into the hug. “I was actually just congratulating her on her bundle of joy. You know, come to think of it, how weird will it be for me to become a sister, grandmother and mother all within a short time?”
Nate released us so we could talk without being squished. Sophia was allowed to take a few steps away, but he kept me close to his side.
“It’s a unique combination that I doubt has happened before,” he responded.
“Wait a second, are you guys expecting?” Sophia asked, glancing at my stomach. Even if I was, she wouldn’t have been able to tell, just like I couldn’t see a bulge on her.
“No, but Daddy has been promised a wedding night for a while now, and I don’t expect he’s going to be denied. With Eva wandering around in baby-making mode, I can only guess that I’ll find myself pregnant in the next couple days.”
“I don’t know what we’re going to do with all these babies,” Sophia said, smiling. “You guys need to take care of this threat, so they don’t grow up with any worries. It’s hard to understand exactly what’s been going on here, since I’ve been stuck remotely, but I know I don’t want my baby growing up having to worry about getting killed.”
“Speaking of the threat, is everyone ready to head out?” I asked.
“We’re just waiting on you. Vinnie has the address and it isn’t too far from the arena,” Nate replied.
“Great, let’s go find ourselves a warlock, so we can get back home,” I said, walking over to Sophia and giving her a quick hug before following Nate out to the rest of the troops.
CHAPTER 9
Extra, Extra, please don't read all about it