12. The Birds and the Bees and the Science… Oh Please.
The Birds and the Bees and the Science… Oh Please.
Rez
It’s almost comical how some people set themselves up and then look at you like it’s your fault.
I mean, come on, Dad. You said you were here to answer questions; you didn’t say they had to be easy ones.
When he left, my world became a shitstorm of disasters full of heartache and confusion.
Thankfully, I still had Mom and Lynx to help me heal, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want answers.
Dad shifts slightly before setting down his bowl of fruit and giving me beseeching eyes.
“The simple answer is, I didn’t, but I know it doesn’t feel that way,” he admits, his voice cracking.
He sighs and shakes his head in disapproval as he continues.
“Purgatory makes being able to travel between realms seem so great, but it’s really a double-edged sword.
” He leans forward, resting his arms on his knees and looking down at the floor.
“There are time limits on how long you’re allowed to be on Earth depending on your status, job, qualifications, permissions, and such. ”
I remember Moni mentioning something like this the first day that I got here. She seemed so bummed about it because she automatically knew she wouldn’t be placed high because of her status as a PIMP—her words, not mine.
“The fact is, I didn’t have a time limit for Earth, because I wasn’t allowed to leave Nova,” he says matter-of-factly.
“How come?” Moni gasps, flashing between dark gray and light teal. My bestie can’t hide her worry at all, can she?
“As you will soon find out, sometimes being popular doesn’t always mean freedom to do as you wish.
” He looks at Levi, Zeke, Knox, and Ryker.
“As they might tell you, power and responsibility also come with a price. When I asked for leave to go to Earth, I was denied. I was told my services were needed here,” he admits before turning back to me.
“So, I did what any parent would do for their child: I broke the law and went to Earth on my own and hid the best way I could, as a true human, as long as I could. That is, until a storm shifter showed up on my front porch like a literal fucking red flag waving in the breeze for the Reapers,” he growls, giving Lynx a pointed look.
Lynx flinches at Dad’s words, and his jaw drops.
‘Dude, really? I was a kid, and it’s not like I was there for you!” Lynx scoffs. “I was following my mate bond to Rez, and how was I supposed to know the portal I made caused the storm that was a beacon for whatever Reapers are?’ he hisses, shaking his head.
I parrot Lynx’s statement and frustration back, and the room goes silent as Dad averts his gaze and bites his lower lip.
“How did you make it to Earth without the clearance?” Chester asks.
“Who denied you?” Levi asks, looking thoughtful.
“Did you explain why you needed to leave?” Knots questions.
“Where have you been all this time?” Ryker asks, spinning a blade in his hand.
I turn my head and lean my cheek against Lynx’s fur as I listen to my friends, my family, asking my father their questions. A part of me wants to jump in and save him from the onslaught of it all, but I’m curious also. I’m about to speak up when something catches my eye by the fireplace.
My backpack. Well, I don’t remember putting that there.
The last time I had that was right after coming through the portal from Hell.
It was sitting by my chair before I went up for the Gauntlet announcement, but I’m sure one of the guys carried it for me during the attack or shoved it in their own S.I.N. box.
“Hey guys, one at a time,” I gently remind everyone. “He’s only hum— well, you know what I mean,” I say, sheepishly.
“It’s okay, Nerezza. I have a lot to answer for, and that was the plan for this morning,” he tells me before turning to address my friends and their questions.
I low-key appreciate him more for owning up to that and for facing my crazy family and their questions, because I want to know the answers as well.
“Well, to answer your first question, you all know that the doors are the way through Earth and Purgatory, but there is another way,” Dad hedges, drawing my attention back to him.
“Yeah, the Sulks,” Knox spits out with venom.
“True.” My father nods. “That was developed out of desperation, but what I am talking about are the few that the Fates created.”
“What?” Levi perks up.
“What do you mean?” Knox asks.
“I don’t know the details of how they are made or anything like that.
I never had a need to,” my father explains before turning to me with sad eyes and a tight smile.
“Your biological mother, Liliwen, gave me a few stones before she died that allowed me to travel between the planes without the doors.”
“So who ended up denying you from Earth?” Levi asks once again.
“The Leaders of Nova. They said I was too valuable and that I was needed here to help track down L— someone’s body. But I knew going to Earth with Nerezza was more important.”
I don’t know if anyone else is picking up on what my dad isn’t saying, but that was a half-truth. His voice sped up slightly to hide his lie of omission; he’s not telling the complete truth. Should I call him out on it?
“Did they ever find that person?” Moni asks, her eyes wide as she strokes her tail.
“They found what they needed.”
Another lie.
“Did you tell the Leaders why you needed to leave? Tell them about Rez?” Knots asks.
As dad answers, I lay my cheek against Lynx, close my eyes, and squeeze him hard.
‘Thank you for being here with me and being you.’
‘Always, but this is costing you belly rubs, and I get to say how low you get to stop!’
‘Deal,’ I agree.
Once again, I see my backpack, and a nagging feeling hits me as JP asks a question that makes me pause.
“What I don’t understand is if you had a stone that could portal you to Earth, why didn’t you go back to be with Jillian and Rez?” JP asks, cocking his head.
It doesn’t take a genius to guess he’s trying to get inside Dad’s head, but if he’s as strong as Dean Caldron, I doubt JP will get very far. As if JP is reading my mind, he gives me an annoyed look and briefly shakes his head.
Called it.
Dad gives JP a knowing look and shakes his head as if to say “Nice try,” while I gently push Lynx aside so I can get up. I rush to my bag and return to my seat, rummaging through it as a thought hits me.
“You apparently have never met a Reaper,” Dad says bitterly.
“Consider yourself lucky, son. I didn’t have just one or two that came after me.
I had over twenty, since the Council was looking for me and somehow figured out I was on Earth.
They ambush, lock down your powers quickly, and strip you of everything you have, including stones your wife gave you. ”
“So, they still have them,” I conclude.
“Yes, but they don’t know what they truly have,” he confirms with a nod. “So much for your grandmother, Priestess Tanda’s pull,” he grumbles.
“What’s a Reaper?” Chester asks, leaning forward and placing his intertwined hands under his chin.
I finally feel the edge of what I’m looking for and groan as it slips out of reach.
“You okay over there, bestie? Are you trying to disappear?” Moni asks, pulling everyone’s attention to me.
“Ugh. No. Yes. Maybe,” I huff. “I’m trying to get this, and it’s just out of reach,” I admit.
“Bestie to the rescue,” Moni yells, and zooms straight for me while shrinking down. She reaches my arm and follows it down, her little feet pattering along my pebbled skin. “You’re turning into a landmine with your chickenpimples,” she yells.
“It’s not my fault you’re running along my skin,” I tell her, trying not to laugh. I swear it feels so weird having her run along my inner arm, like ants crawling along my body, or when my foot falls asleep.
“You can’t expect me to fly in this mess. What is that?” She shrieks, and I quickly lose sight of her.
“Are you okay?” Worry laces my voice as I try to keep my arm still, even though my muscles are spasming from her crawling all over it.
“Holy shit! Why do you have a blanket in here?” she asks, and I’m taken aback because I don’t remember packing a blanket or anything like that for the Trail of Worth.
“Oh, Angel Dust and Malt Baby Butter Bees. Is this your underwear? Was I just in your unmentionables? How does that not ride up your crack? Why are there four strings on this one? Was that clean or dirty? Please tell me this was not dirty, and I need to be steam cleaned and air dried.”
“MONI!” I yell, closing my eyes. Maybe if I can’t see them, they can’t see me.
“I need to know!” she insists.
“I swear, if you keep talking about unmentionables, I’m going to take my arm out of this bag and close it,” I growl, feeling my cheeks heating to atomic levels.
“What am I looking for anyway?” she finally asks. “Besides your oversized sunflower glitter dental floss frillies?”
No, you can’t kill your bestie, I chant.
“The picture,” I tell her with a clenched jaw.
I hear a few chuckles as I refuse to open my eyes until I hear Moni call out in victory.
“Found it!” She zips up and out of the bag as I glare at her. Didn’t she say she couldn’t fly in my bag? Wouldn’t that also apply to flying out of my bag?
Ugh.
“There you go!” Moni says, handing me the picture I was looking for.
“And I take it back,” she whispers, but in this crowd, there’s no point.
Everyone can still hear her. “If that’s the underwear you are wearing and the guys are ripping that off of you, you might as well go without.
” She gives me two thumbs up as she flies back to Chester, and I swear, I really wish I had some kind of power to make me disappear or have the ground open up and swallow me whole.
“She has a point,” Zeke snickers.
“It’s valid,” my Incubus agrees.
“You two are going in timeout,” I hiss, pointing them out.
“Mr. Delvin?” Chester starts, and all eyes swing to him, causing him to clear his throat. “Um—what’s a Reaper?”