Chapter Eight
Monday morning, she made her confirmation calls to the venue for the gala, the special desserts, videographer, and the DJ, as well as the live singer that had been requested by the commander who had control of the agents.
The singer had a lovely, sultry voice, and she was going to arrive early on Thursday for a soundcheck.
Her mold maker was already at work making vacuum molds for the event on Saturday.
Krys went through the new recruitment posters and smiled at the ones that were aimed at female recruitment. The woman on the poster was sweaty, had shifter canines in a fierce grin, and was kickboxing in an XIA sports bra and leggings.
Other images of the same woman in the different tasks of the XIA. Driving, attending accidents, comforting those injured, and wrangling drunks. A male depicted the same images, and they looked really different.
The XIA were about to have a baby boom. Time to get some fresh blood into the uniform.
Krys got the images ready and sent them to the administration for authorization.
The ad campaign was set to roll out in ten days, and then she and other volunteers from the different teams would be going to colleges in the area and promote enrollment into the XIA.
She probably should have mentioned that to Reynal.
When her watch chirped, she smiled and tidied her desk.
She had a quick visit with the happy couple, but that wouldn’t be until later.
Her new phone was in her purse, collecting emails.
Reynal wasn’t wrong about her possibly needing an assistant.
Maybe Sable wanted extra duties. She didn’t need to sleep and had a great phone voice.
Voice. The singer’s voice. It wasn’t Sable’s, but it was astonishingly easy to listen to. Where had she heard that voice before?
She walked past the boardroom, and Miika was there. “Hey, Miika, how is recruitment going?”
“It’s a bit embarrassing being one of the faces of the campaign, but my mom is super proud.” Miika chuckled. “She leaves me a voicemail to that effect every morning.”
“My mom used to do things like that.”
Miika laughed. “I doubt they were like this.”
Miika, my love, I want you to kick ass, take names, and duck when you are fighting minotaurs. They can’t see down that well. Get up, over their heads, sit on their necks, and grab their nose for control. Snotty but effective. Go team!
Miika chuckled. “She leaves a different message for a different species or race every single day. She’s not wrong. It works if you have enough power to get you behind the horns.”
Krys stared. “That voice. Miika, does your mom sing?”
“Yeah. She’s singing at the gala as a tribute for Neekil. They used to be partners on the job.”
Krys blinked. “What? I thought it was all Kaerik and Emmers.”
“Nope. Until they made things into threesomes, they just split them along compatibility lines. Mom’s one of Neekil’s great nieces via his mom’s family, way back. They got along really well.”
Krys was still reeling. “Neekil’s niece? Did she... is she... are you coming to the wedding?”
“I don’t think so. I don’t think he knows we are back in town.”
“We? How many we?”
“Uh, Mom adopted the four of us seven years ago. Uncle Neek helped us get a house, but then we had to go into hiding because the guy Mom saved us from came after us. So, we left, but when Kori finished high school last year, we came back. We heard he woke up, but he has a fiancée and a new life, so we are just happy that he’s moving along. ”
Krys blinked. “You... who else is in your family?”
“Winnie, but you know her, and Akra.”
“Winnie’s mom, what’s her name?”
Miika took her hand and walked her through the hall to a wall of retired agents. “That’s Mom.”
A woman in the formal XIA uniform stood with her hair twisted into a tight bun, her white hair with a black streak very distinct, her eyes black and red. And very familiar.
“Elida Danforth. Siberian tiger shifter.” Krys paused. “I remember something from a few years ago.”
“Eight years ago. An enormous tiger carried four teen girls to the only hospital that had the blood to save them.” Miika cocked her head. “She hates that picture. She says it belongs in a comic book.”
“I am going to ask Neekil if he wants you five at the wedding. Are you all adults?”
“Yup.”
“Nice. We should be able to make room without any trouble.”
“This is his day, and a number of mages worked to expunge us from memory. We ceased to exist in Redbird for the last seven years.”
Krys quickly typed a text to Neekil. She expected a response late at night, but he got back to her immediately with one question, Where are they?
Here in Redbird.
I mean now.
Miika is here with me. She’s an XIA recruit.
She looked to Miika. “Where would your mother be right now?”
Miika laughed. “She’s at the house. Same house he helped us set up.”
I am grabbing Hannah and going there now.
Krys blinked. “Huh. He is grabbing Hannah and going there now.”
Miika checked her watch. “I am heading home for lunch. Wanna come watch the fireworks?”
“No. This is family stuff. I just needed to know if I needed an extra table and if any of you needed plus ones.”
Miika nodded. “Oh, you will know by the end of the day.”
Miika went and spoke to her supervisor about a family emergency and then ran out of the building.
Krys looked at her phone. Reynal had asked her to lunch. That seemed like fun.
* * * *
Hannah was staring at Neekil’s expression. Hopeful and eager, he was driving as fast as was socially appropriate. “Sweetie, where are we going, and why are we awake and dressed?”
“Because I just learned that my cousin is back in town, with all of her kids. I want to see them and invite them to the wedding. I haven’t seen them in so long,” he said softly.
“Five years?”
“Seven. They had to leave town. They were being hunted, and it was causing issues with the locals. They were put into a witness protection until the girls were all adults, and I am guessing the youngest just crossed that threshold.”
“The girls?”
As Neekil drove, he explained it all: the trafficking operation, Elida getting the kids and convincing them to get on her back, and then the streak of white fur covered with red blood as the agent formally known as Elida got the kids to safety while the rest of the agents mopped up.
Hannah blinked. “The tiger run?”
He grinned. “You remember it?”
“I heard of it. Nylora’s flight is an echo of the tiger run.”
“Same destination, too. Danforth General. Same reason, too. Elida had been shot, and all four of the girls had dark fae bloodlines. They needed transfusions and specific medical care.”
“Wow. This area is fancy.”
“Yup. Elida used to have chickens. I don’t know if she still does.”
“Wait. She has chickens. Here?”
“Yup. She owns the block.”
“Elida Danforth. Oh, wow.” Hannah looked at the manicured lawns and the immaculate mini mansions.
Neekil turned down a drive and parked at the edge of the concrete. He grinned. “Come on.”
“How old are her kids?”
“The youngest would be eighteen, or she wouldn’t be here.”
The house looked warm and friendly, and as soon as Hannah left the car, she heard the soft sounds of chickens with the occasional rooster crow.
Neekil took her by the hand and hauled her around the corner, where three dozen chickens were running around and seeking bugs.
“Elida!” Neekil called out, and a woman in a gazebo looked up and got to her feet.
“Cousin Jackass!” The woman, with pale skin, red and black eyes, and waves of white hair with a thick black streak, got up, wearing a loose sundress and putting her phone down.
She walked over, barefoot and stunning. Her features were pure elf, as were her ears, but the smirk on her face was Neekil’s.
Elida glided up to Hannah and extended her hand. “Miss Hannah Lee, I am pleased to meet you. Congratulations on your engagement.”
Hannah shook the super soft hand and smiled. “Thank you. You are his cousin?”
“Technically. I also call him uncle as he is old and decrepit.” She smirked.
Neekil was fidgeting.
Hannah whispered, “What is going on with him?”
“He wants to hug me but doesn’t want to insult or offend you.”
Hannah pointed at Elida. “Hug.”
The young woman laughed, and Neekil squeezed her hard, spinning her over and over. “I forgot you.”
“I know. And then you got dislodged by the mansion.”
“Yeah. But then the brave and intrepid real estate agent came and rescued my pretty self, and now she’s mine and I am hers.”
Elida cupped his face. “As is right and proper.” She gave him a smacking kiss on his cheek and said, “Now, put me down. Shit’s getting weird.”
Hannah heard cars pulling up, and Elida smiled. “Miika notified everybody.”
Hannah watched, stunned, as four girls of very different races came around the corner of the house. Elida stepped aside and spoke to Hannah. “I adopted the girls after I recovered from that last mission.”
“What happened?”
“They were trafficked. Two had already had children. They were in rough shape, so I called the hospital, and then I shifted, and Neekil got them onto my back. You probably know about the tiger run.”
“Yeah, but rumour has it the tiger was sixteen feet tall.”
“Well, I am a big fucking tiger. I learned the shape before I knew how large they were supposed to be. A bit embarrassing, but no one held it against me.”
Neekil was hugging the girls, all adults now. “I used to ride her into situations where the cars couldn’t go. You should see the expressions on the face of perpetrators when a seven-hundred-pound tiger jumps into their midst.”
Elida snorted. “He nearly peed himself laughing. Which was unfortunate since he was on my back at the time.”
Neekil lifted his head, beaming. “It was still funny.”
“Shadow-skinned twit.”
Hannah suddenly understood the relationship between them. Elida was the grown-up.
Neekil looked at Hannah. “Can they come to the wedding?”