Storm
A rough, damp tongue flicked across
her cheek. Opening one eye, Storm found
Pac Man staring at her, tongue hanging out in a soft pant. His tail started thudding against the floor. Storm groaned. Her stomach rumbled in response to the
glorious scent of breakfast. Pac Man
licked her again.
“Okay, boy, okay. I am coming.”
Storm rolled to her back and stretched, her body protesting to the
movements as the babes gave a light roll through her core. Now she could feel them it seemed more real,
more magical than she ever imagined. Storm rolled up and swung her legs over the
edge of the bed. Pac Man plopped his
head on her knee. “I said I’m coming,
what more do you want?”
Pac Man snorted and bounded out of
the room. Storm stretched her arms
overhead and arched her back. As she
pulled on a pair of sweats, the outer alarm sounded, blaring through the house
and causing her to jump. Storm met
Sophia, the Phoenix, and Lucian in the hall.
“It is the front gate. Soph, go with Storm back to her room.” Lucian
kissed his wife lightly on the cheek and took off down the stairs, two at a
time.
“I hate it when he does that.” Sophia Bedeaux inclined her head as the
Phoenix leapt onto her back. “We are not
helpless to be banished to hiding.”
“I know. I have more power in a hand than they have
between the pair of them. It doesn’t
matter, they really need to stop overreacting, it is just Frederick.” Storm rolled her eyes. She reached out and petted The Phoenix. “You would not let anything hurt either of us
would you?” The creature whipped her
tail around Sophia’s waist and licked at Storm’s hand, her soft humming filling
the hall. “She is lovely, isn’t she,
Sophia? Have you made any progress with
a name yet?”
“Well, I - wait, how do you know it
is just Frederick?” Sophia frowned.
Linking her arm in Sophia’s, Storm
led her new friend toward the staircase.
“Easy, he called last night to say he would be over first thing. I told him to join us for breakfast. Ryder forgot to give him the new code and I
would recognize the sound of his motorcycle anywhere. He still needs to get it into a
mechanic. Honestly, if the men would
just try to use their other senses once in a while…” Storm trailed off as they
reached the foyer. Frederick leaned
against Ryder, his face covered in blood and dirt, barefoot and clothing hanging
from him in shreds. “What the hell?
Ryder, take him upstairs. Lucian,
re-seal the gate and change the code again.
Sophia, could you please grab one of the first aid kits from my
bathroom?”
Frederick groaned and tried to
speak as Ryder dragged him toward the stairs.
Storm hurried to the study to collect one of the many healing potions
she crafted with Sophia over the past few weeks. Good thing she had so much time on her hands
lately. Two weeks, four days, and
thirteen or so hours to be exact. Storm
had not left the security of Willow Wood since they decimated Elba. She would not have minded so much if Roane
turned up. Damarra, Angeline, and the
Scots had been searching for her grandfather since that night and it unnerved
her to be left behind. Storm shook off
the warmth from her hands and forced the frustration away. She needed to focus her energy on Frederick
right now. Storm grabbed a salve and
vial of her homemade morphine.
By the time she made it back
upstairs, Ryder was waiting for her outside the guest bedroom beside the
nursery. “Sophia is cleaning him
up. He will only speak to you, Storm.”
“I think we should wait for
Lucian. I will help Sophia and make him
more comfortable. Would you bring some
breakfast up for us? It smells
delightful, Ry.” Storm pushed up on her
tiptoes and kissed her man, gently at first but with growing intensity until he
withdrew.
“My love, you know what happens
when you kiss me like that.” Ryder’s
eyes flashed silver in the low light of the hall.
“Sorry, sometimes I can’t help
myself either, you know, hormones and all.”
Storm pulled back and ducked into the guest room. The Phoenix curled into herself at the foot
of the bed while Sophia wiped at his wounds with a rag. She looked up when Storm entered, a deep
frown etched on her face.
“Poison. He’s been poisoned, Storm.” Sophia went back to cleaning Frederick’s
face. Storm walked to the opposite side
of the bed and looked for herself. Sure
enough, the gashes across his chest were bubbling with an iridescent
liquid. Storm leaned in and sniffed,
withdrawing quickly.
“Hemlock acid. Gross.”
Storm opened vial of salve and handed it to Sophia. “This will work on his lesser wounds at
least. Good thing we made the morphine,
he is going to need it. What do you
think did this? I would say banshee
judging by the gouges but the brutality reeks of weres or goblins. Either way, why use hemlock acid? The shifter in him will burn it out in a day
or so.” Sophia shrugged and kept
working. Storm fell silent as well,
tossing the possibilities over in her mind.
Too many unknown variables and Frederick would not be able to speak
until the hemlock acid wore off.
Dammit. “He knows something
Soph. Whoever attacked him just wanted
to silence him for a while.”
“Then we need to get him
talking.” Storm turned to see Lucian
filling the doorway, a satchel in his hand.
He crossed the room in two strides and cast it on the bed. “This was the only thing on his bike. There is nobody around the perimeter so
either Frederick lost the attackers or coming here was never their endgame.”
Sophia continued cleaning
Frederick’s wounds. Storm marveled at
how many he’d sustained yet still managed to stay alive long enough to make it
to Willow Wood. The hemlock acid
continued to bubble and sizzle in the wounds across his chest. She popped the vial of morphine open and
knelt on the bed next to him.
“Do not give him that.” Ryder stayed her hand and deftly recapped the
vial. “Do not dull his senses yet. I have an idea. Sophia, can you and the Phoenix direct the
flame to the poison and help him burn through it faster?”
Sophia looked skeptical. She did the strange silent communication
thing with the Phoenix who nodded her scaly white head and slithered up the bed
toward Frederick. Storm was continually
struck by the beauty of the creature though it sometimes reminded her of a
dragon. Yes, the Phoenix looked more
like a bird but something about its movements and tail brought the
comparison. Her. Her movements. Her tail.
Storm still found it difficult to think of the Phoenix as a female. Regardless, Storm slipped off the bed and
stood beside Ryder, taking his hand in hers to watch as Sophia and the Phoenix
worked on Frederick. A white flame
rippled across his skin but Frederick did not move. The poison hissed and returned to liquid
form, dribbling down his abdomen. Sophia
wiped it up, careful not to let it touch her skin. A few minutes later, the Phoenix withdrew and
curled up beside Frederick. Sophia wiped
the last bit of hemlock acid from Frederick’s chest and deposited the rag in
the basin. “He is clean but weak.” Frederick remained limp, his head lolled to
the side, eyes still closed.
“Storm, why not do your glow thing
over him? That should help, like a
little jolt to wake him.” Lucian did not
take his eyes from the Phoenix as he spoke, his face a strange mask of curiosity
and repulsion. Storm wondered if he
would ever accept the connection between his wife and the Phoenix he carried as
a burden for five centuries. The last
few weeks had seen an uneasy truce between man and beast but a truce
nonetheless. Ryder squeezed her fingers.
“I suppose that could work.” Storm knelt on the bed again, allowing power
to well in her fingertips when Frederick’s eyes opened. He registered her face and offered a weak
smile.
“I made it. Emerald, you must help them.” Frederick grasped her hand, his eyes more
pleading than his whisper. “It is a
trap. They think they have found him but
it is an illusion. You must call them
here; summon them, whatever you need to do to turn them away from their
course.”
Storm forced the power out of her
hands, watched the glow recede, and settled back on her heels. “Who Frederick? Who is close?”
“All of them. Ang, the Scottish Immortals, the
Goddess. They all have been given false
leads. It is a massive plot to trap them
all.” Fear flickered in Frederick’s
eyes, “You have so many enemies, I did not realize, I was just trying to
help. I tried to help but they caught
me. I am sorry.”
“Frederick, we need more information. Who did this to you?” Ryder spoke up from behind her.
Frederick looked over her shoulder
at Ryder. “Call them back. They do not
know what they are up against, it is so big.
We have all been betrayed.” His
eyes flared once and then the familiar passed out.
“Shock him, Storm, we need more
than that to go on.” Lucian’s voice
sounded eerily cold.
“I can’t, Lucian. He is too weak now. Look at him.” Storm noted how suddenly Frederick paled, his
breathing shallow and erratic. Too much
blood lost, he needed rest. “Frederick
needs sleep. We can call the others back
and give him some time to recuperate.”
“She’s right, Luc. Look at him.
I will finish patching him up while you guys call everyone else
back. If he says anything else, I’ll
call you.” Sophia had taken to petting
the Phoenix whose gentle hum seemed to be soothing Frederick. Ryder handed the morphine vial to Sophia.
Storm nodded to Sophia and backed
off the bed pulling Ryder after her.
Lucian grudgingly followed, silent until they reached the study.
“This is foolish. We needed more information.” Lucian headed straight for the liquor
cabinet. He had cut back so much since
being free of the Phoenix. Now he poured
a tall glass of scotch, muttering to himself while Storm prepared to summon her
grandmother.
“You can shut up any time now,
Lucian. It does not help my
concentration and it does not change our plan.
Go call the Scots back.” Ryder
already appeared to be on the phone with Angeline. For the hundredth time since they left, Storm
wish they had decided against splitting up.
Now it seemed pointless but what if the Scots were out of range of a
cell tower again. What if they didn’t
reach them soon enough? Storm’s hands
glowed brightly, she turned her focus to Damarra, picturing her face, dancing
eyes, flowing gowns, long unruly hair.
And it came, completely unbidden, the room went white.
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