Chapter Six
Hatcher was seated near her sister with her own cupcake and coffee when two imperial djinn and a dragon walked into the kitchen, along with Avor, the biggest dragon.
Ax grinned. “Oh, so that is the other kind of djinn.”
The male stared at Ax and then Hatcher. “That shouldn’t be possible.”
Hatcher wiggled her fingers at him. “What? Aren’t djinn omegas just thick on the ground where you originate from?”
The woman stared. “Wow. You are both djinn, and you are an omega. How can you be a beta?” She asked Ax.
Ax shrugged. “Not really. I am a delta. Just a girl delta.”
Tekumi stared. “That is what I have been staring at.”
Hatcher giggled.
Ax glared at her. “Quiet, you.”
Hatcher cackled. “I know something you don’t know.” She sang it.
“You always know something I don’t know.”
The male omega was staring at them. “Siblings?”
Ax nodded. “I am fourteen months older.”
The woman walked up to them and peered at Hatcher’s ears. “Wow. This is so cool.”
Hatcher paused. “They are, but I wouldn’t touch them, Asel.”
Asel paused. “You know me?”
“Sure. You have entered my life, and I know all who have entered my life, but it is when contact is made that I can see your future and your past. A lot of people don’t want to share themselves.”
Vemel stared. “You are a seer? And an omega?”
“Yup. And oh, darn, I missed the emperor ordering the female djinn to the court. Vega was great and old.”
Regis chuckled. “She is my granddaughter.”
“I know. She taught me how to use what I had. I taught Ax what I could out of that.”
Ax grinned. “She is a good teacher.”
A new voice said, “Holy shit. Can I make a wish?”
Ax barked a laugh. “Come on, Wizard. Join the party.”
Hatcher grinned and waved. “Come on in, Giggles. Ax and I just learned that we aren’t elf mutations.”
Vemel blinked. “Well, we sort of are. But you shouldn’t exist. Who were your parents?”
“An Elite omega and one of the Dark Elite.” Hatcher grinned. “So, hot elf-on-elf action.”
Avor stared. “Seriously?”
“Yup. Dorian and Emily Overton. He’s in real estate, and she’s into owning daycare centres.” Hatcher smiled.
Avor stared. “I have met Dorian. He doesn’t feel like one of ours.”
Ax snickered. “He is, and he isn’t. The Stronghold was leaking Dark Elite as one or more of you just got out. Our great-grandfather is Ekvano.”
Avor’s eyes got huge. “Is he still alive?”
“Yup. With our great-grandmother, Jane. Our other grandparents are alive as well.”
Avor murmured, “Can you contact Ekvano? Tell him that Sirrush is here?”
Hatcher nodded. “I will make the call outside.”
She got up and moved through the kitchen, and everyone watched her go.
* * * *
Ax giggled madly. “She really hates that. Everyone watches her.”
Vemel looked at her. “You are truly a delta?”
“As far as we can see. I am particularly good in a fight, athletic, but still female and no heats. So, I am not a beta but not an omega either. My great-grandfather said we have deltas in the family. One of my brothers is one, so I have no reason to doubt the guy who put it in the family line.”
Asel stared. “Vemel, why aren’t they supposed to be around?”
“Well, they appear after generations of the Dark Elite are in the bloodlines, which, I suppose, is the case here.”
She nodded. “Great-Grandma is an Elite omega, and Grandma is an Elite omega, and my mom is an Elite omega. So...”
Regis stared. “Seriously?”
“Seriously.”
“I thought this was new.”
“It is... and it isn’t.” Ax grinned. “A nice lady named Kay chatted with Hatcher, and after that, she tried to tell you, but we were blocked. We couldn’t get in. We are hell on wheels in a fight.”
Avor nodded. “Yes, you would be.”
Regis blinked. “There is just one thing about that particular barrier. It wasn’t mine.”
Ax paused and then snorted. “Kay was keeping us out. That makes a certain amount of sense.”
Avor blinked. “It does?”
Hatcher came in with an older couple and said, “She didn’t want us out in the open when Vaayu showed up.”
Avor looked at the people she had brought and grinned. “Ekvano!”
Hatcher held her great-grandmother’s hand as the two men hugged. Avor’s eyes were wet with tears. The hug went through a few cycles.
Ax looked at Vemel. “Do you know what is going on?”
“Ekvano was in command of a distant outpost. He was assumed to be dead after the attack that changed everything.” He chuckled. “They are cousins on their mother’s side.”
Ax nodded. “Okay. That makes sense.”
Regis smiled. “They told him that Ekvano was dead. That the entire outpost was gone.”
Ekvano grinned and moved back. “It is good to see you again. What are you called now?”
“Avor Rush. This is my wife, Regis. Our daughter is upstairs. She’s eleven.”
Ekvano said, “I had one son, and he had one son, and he had two sons and two daughters.”
Hatcher and Ax waved and said in unison, “Hello.”
Avor grinned. “Hello, little cousins.”
Regis blinked. “Seriously? They are family?”
“They are family. It also explains how they are lesser djinn.”
Ekvano winced. “I was wondering about that. I also would not call them lesser. They are strong women, descended from strong women. They are not lesser in any way.”
Ax said, “I like earth-born djinn.”
Hatcher nodded. “Me, too. I don’t feel lesser. I can prove I am not lesser.”
Ekvano looked toward Vemel. “No, precious. You don’t need to prove it.”
Hatcher crossed her arms. “Okay, Poppop.”
He walked over to her and smoothed her hair, rubbing a hand between her shoulders. She relaxed.
Great-granny Jane was smiling. “Hatcher is the more hot-headed of the two. She needs contact to calm down. And we really need her calm.”
Vemel asked softly, “She fights?”
Ax nodded. “And she wins. A lot. Sometimes it’s a little gross. Her most effective method of dealing with attackers is porting their hearts into their hands, still beating.”
Ekvano looked to Ax. “Can you?”
Ax sighed, turned, and hugged her sister. Hatcher muttered, “Sorry about that.”
Ax saw Wizard sitting on a counter with a cupcake and wide eyes. “I thought me and Dex were messed up.”
Hatcher chuckled. “See, not lesser.”
Ax laughed.
Ekvano took Jane’s hand and kissed it. “We made one alpha, he made one alpha, and that one went nuts, and now we have four great-grandchildren and four more great great-grandchildren. These two are the only girls in the mix. Do you have any sturdy warriors around? Ones who can take a hit?”
Ax laughed. Hatcher giggled then paused. “Poppop! Stop pimping us out!”
He looked at her. “You have terrorized every alpha who has gotten near you. The Omega Centre has pronounced you unmatchable.”
Hatcher had a slow grin forming.
Jane tutted. “Stop acting like a cartoon villain, Hattie.”
“Meemaw, you are wrecking my fun.” Hatcher grinned. “And no one calls me Hattie but you and Poppop. Just like no one calls Ax Acina.”
The hug continued, but Ax made it slightly tighter. Hatcher laughed.
Jane walked over and hugged them both, taking on her full elf appearance. “Come on, Hatcher. Calm down.”
Hatcher breathed slowly. “I am calm. I promise.”
They leaned back, and Hatcher was back to looking stunning and calm.
Ax said softly, “You good?”
Hatcher nodded. “Yup. I had to be here for this. I just have to get going soon.”
Ax whispered, “Why?”
“There will be a call, and if I am here, I will be asked to go, and I don’t wanna.”
Ax caught on. “Oh, so tonight is your night.”
“Yup. And I don’t want it, so I am going to say goodnight. You can use my account to get everyone home.”
“I can use my car.”
“Oh, right.” Hatcher smiled, and she lifted her voice. “I am so happy everyone can get together here. Meemaw, Poppop, Ax says she will make sure you get home. Your Highnesses, toodles; Your Majesties, lovely meeting you. Gottagobye.”
She waved and headed for the exit. She thudded into a large alpha and said, “Out of my way, scales.”
He grabbed her arms and said, “They want you to remain.”
She felt the strength of his grip and then looked him in the face, and Ax called out, “Let her go. Seriously.”
He snorted. “Cute omega.”
Asel said, “Themak, let her go. Something is happening.”
Gold fire burst out of Hatcher, and Ax ran for her, “Fuck, fuck, fuck.”
The alpha watched his hands smoke, and then he let her go. Ax chased her sister as a phone began ringing with Wizard’s ringtone.
Ax wrapped her arms around Hatcher from behind. “Easy, Hatcher. Calm down. Pull the fire in.”
Hatcher looked at her and said, “Can you tell him I am sorry? I didn’t mean to burn him.”
“You told him to let go. He didn’t. You scorched his hands. Now he has learned that his fire isn’t the be-all and end-all.”
There were footfalls behind them, and Wizard came in. “I can heal him, but the fire is still burning.”
Hatcher inhaled, and the flames around her went out. “I pulled it back.”
Wizard nodded. “I got a call from my boss. He’s at Ford’s, and they would like to know if we could do the recording in his studio. We had some kind of reverb in ours.”
Hatcher slumped. Ax held her. “Um, I think so. Yes. Hatcher, you can sit somewhere and remain on fire if you need to burn it off.”
“Okay.”
“That was the call?”
She nodded. “I am going to go sit outside.”
Ax nodded and let her go. When she returned to the kitchen, Tekumi asked, “Is she all right?”
“One of her visions is coming to pass, and it is going to involve her finding a mate.”
Wizard was lining Themak’s hands with leaves that were emerging from her hands. Vemel and Asel focused on the big dude.
Everyone else was watching.
Her great-grandparents came close to Ax and said, “Is she okay?”
“Yup. She’s burning one off right now.”
Understanding flared in her family members.
Tekumi paused. “She burns off her heats?”
“Yeah, when we looked it up, it is called life fire.”
He looked around, and when she focused, everyone was staring.
Vemel said, “Life fire? Is that what you said?”
“Yes. We found it in a book that Grandpa brought home for us.”
“That is... the mark of the royal family. It is never found in... not imperial djinn.”