Chapter Two
Hemma frowned as Salat took a different route. “Where are we going?”
“Baola told me to take the coast road, so I am taking the coast road.”
“Right. Did she say why?”
“Uradda is coming for you, and they won’t mind taking Kessie, so we have to make sure that they don’t get you.”
“Right. Did she say when?” She started rolling her pendant in her fingers.
“She said you would know them when you saw them, and you would also be able to get very efficient help.”
“Okay. I know who to call, and I know how.”
Kessie asked, “Is something happening?”
“I hope not.”
“Who will you call?” Kessie’s voice was calm.
“Zephyr.”
Salat blinked. “I thought she was a myth.”
“Nope.”
Salat’s hands tensed on the wheel. “Whatever you are going to do, now would be good. This vehicle is bulletproof, but without a gunner, I can’t do much.”
Hemma looked back and saw a cloud of vehicles moving fast. She took the pendant in her fingers and snapped it. “Now, we wait.”
They didn’t have to wait long. Kessie gasped. “It’s a vortex.”
The body of water was swirling, and then a figure emerged. A woman who had to be close to a hundred feet tall came out of the vortex, swept her arm across the highway right behind them, and pulled all of the chase cars into the lake.
Just like that, there was no one behind them, but it seemed that defenders and agents were arriving.
Hemma exhaled and leaned back. “That was Zephyr.”
Salat’s shoulders started shaking as he grinned. “I get it now. Baola said she had bigger breasts than Khytten, and damned if she wasn’t right.”
Kessie giggled, and they continued to Salat and Khytten’s manor, where the walls were heavily armed, and so was the lady of the house.
Khytten checked Kessie for damage, and Hemma held one of the toddlers who had walked up to her.
A familiar power surge got her attention, and she walked over to the disappearing vortex and smiled. “Thanks for coming, Zephyr.”
“Aksalla’s finest are cleaning up the Uraddan retrieval team.” She said it softly. “Is there anywhere I can get a shirt?”
Salat had followed, and he was staring. “Shirt. Right.”
He turned and headed for the house.
Zephyr looked down and shrugged. “I can’t afford an outfit that changes with me.”
Hemma smiled at her pale silver glory with her metallic gold hair and deep copper eyes. “You are still gorgeous.”
“Thanks. Do you think he will be able to find me a shirt?”
“Yeah. He will. I would offer my dress, but it’s a loaner. I got blood on the last one.”
“Ouch. That doesn’t come out.”
“I think it’s on its way to Hyreno for analysis right now. Eh, saves me from running the tests. Those things are pricey.”
“Who is the little dude in your arms?”
“One of Khytten and Salat’s older littles.”
Khytten’s voice said, “Ciro. His twin is Cira. Baola is our oldest at sixteen.”
“I am Zephyr, and I got a little too big for my britches. Literally.”
Salat walked up and held out a shirt. “You have an impressive physique. May I sketch you?”
Zephyr snorted. “This size or tall?”
His eyes glittered. “Tall, please. Can you hold Khytten on your hand?”
Khytten frowned. “What?”
Hemma held out her hand and took the shirt. “I’ve got it.”
Zephyr looked at Khytten. “May I pick you up?”
Khytten began to get suspicious, but she nodded. “Sure.”
Zephyr grew to fifty feet tall and then picked up Khytten, holding her on her palm.
Hemma had seen it before, so she didn’t look up.
Salat had his com out, and he must have been using local drones to get a good look. When Khytten was set on her feet, Zephyr came down, and Hemma handed over the shirt.
Her friend scrambled into it, and Hemma shifted the toddler to Khytten before going to hug Zephyr.
“Aw, sweetie, I missed you. Thanks for calling.” Zephyr hugged her, and Hemma felt delicate next to her. “Thanks for making it out.”
“You know about the fall?”
“Yeah. And... uh... There are more Uraddan actives than anyone thinks.”
Hemma leaned back. “What? Where?”
“They are safe, they are healthy, and they are thriving.”
“Where?”
“Um, Renovik?”
Khytten stared at them. “That’s a myth.”
“No. It is just very exclusive. They like their own genetics and are militant about bringing their own home. Guess where Uradda got a lot of its starter genes?”
Hemma blinked. “Wow.”
“Ten percent of the created actives had Renovik genes. Including me.”
“I had no idea.”
“Me neither. Can I get a cup of coffee or something with sugar? I have burned a bit of energy.”
Khytten grinned. “Of course. Come with me. Ignore Salat. He’s drawing a cartoon of you for sales at the live ranges.”
“What? Why?”
“The money is paying for upgrades to children’s hospitals around Aksalla. Some of it is helping children in foster care find placement.”
Zephyr smiled. “A worthy goal. I just hope he can figure out how to obscure me.”
Khytten shrugged. “You have an amazing body. All curves and muscles in the right amounts.”
Hemma sighed. “Khytten is sexually omnivorous. She feels you are on the menu.”
“Oh, sorry. I am special order only.”
Khytten laughed, and they headed back to the patio with Zephyr dressed in a Blackout shirt with Heraina in all of her purple-energy glory. The hemline was just above her knees.
Khytten said, “I am going to get that coffee. Cream and sugar?”
“Black. I am just after the caffeine.”
Khytten slumped. “Right. Black coffee.”
Zephyr asked, “Why is she so depressed?”
“She doses people with health or transformation with milk.”
“Milk?”
“Her milk.”
“Oh. Got it.”
They sat in two of the loungers while Kessie and Baola chatted happily, heads close.
Hemma said, “So, you are in Renovik?”
“Oh, no. I have been selling hot dogs at a stand in the capitol for the last two years.”
“What?”
Zephyr pressed a finger to her lips. “I am hiding.”
“From what?”
“Uh. A guy?” She winced.
Hemma blinked. “Really? Which one?”
Zephyr rubbed her forehead. “Do you listen to music?”
“Yeah. It isn’t Ekron, is it?”
“Oh, god, no. Have you heard a band called Trisk?”
“Yeah. They are hot. Their music is easy to move to. Is he in the band?”
Zephyr groaned. “He is the band. He’s a three-in-one. Three manifestations that can become one body. Or one body that can become three manifestations. Take your pick.”
Hemma flipped through her com and grinned. Music started playing about a woman who turned into the elements and made lightning weak.
“Is that about you?”
“When was it out?”
“Six months ago.”
Zephyr shrugged. “Probably.”
Hemma cackled. “Why aren’t you with him?”
“He’s a them. A them. He splits into storms. They are the ones who form the band.”
“Oh, the element you are missing. Nice.”
“What?”
“Air.”
“No one needs that much air. Especially where he wants to put it. I don’t think it’s right, plus the lightning tickles.”
Hemma blinked. “Wow. I... wow. Wait, so you have a comfortable situation in Renovik?”
“Yup. A cute little house just for me and everything. A tiny garden and a stipend to buy clothes and food that I don’t grow. Well, I did. I don’t know if it has been reassigned. It probably has.”
“You think that Trisk is still after you?”
“Pretty sure. This has set off an alarm for them, and I have a few hours before I need to hide again. Fortunately, they can’t see through water, so if I hang out in a pool, I should be good. If you hear thunder in a clear sky, I am out of here.”
“Can I show you where I work? We have a pool, and you can hide there.”
“Sure.”
Khytten came back with a mug. “Here you are. Why are you hiding?”
Hemma filled her in while Zephyr sipped the coffee.
Khytten blinked. “Trisk? Like Trisk, Trisk?”
Zephyr nodded and slurped more coffee. “Yup. Believe me or not, he’s gonna show up here in about thirty minutes.”
Hemma asked, “How did you meet him?”
“He was my point of contact when I fell through my first vortex. I ended up at his feet, and I was brought to the council. Then, I returned to my cell, and I worked at sneaking out actives in mortal danger, one at a time, stealing their records as I went.”
Hemma was stunned. “How many did you get out?”
“Uh... over a thousand.”
Hemma started laughing. “They are all alive?”
“They are. Now that the walls have fallen, a few might want to get in contact with family, but these were all the ones without immediate family to leave behind.”
Hemma grinned. “I hope Keska tells Salmet.”
Khytten nodded. “If she doesn’t, Salat will. Or I will. Hang on.”
She made a call and briefed the Prefect of Aksalla. The shriek of “What!” was heard as Khytten laughed.
“I need to talk to her,” the voice said through the open com.
“I may be in Aksalla for a few days. Contact Keska in a few days, and she will be able to get in touch with me, or contact her housekeeper, Hemma. Or just contact the Prefect of Renovik.”
“How?” The voice was wary.
Zephyr beckoned, and Khytten angled her com over. The code and routing needed were quickly entered. “The code will be good for two days.”
“Thank you, miss. You will be staying at Keska’s?”
“Just for a few days. I am dodging someone.”
“The law?”
“Nope. The would-be lover. He’s hot, and he means well, but he’s a lot.”
“Okay. I will steer clear of giving away your location.”
“Thank you.”
In the distance, there was the clap of rolling thunder, and Zephyr looked up at the sky. “Gotta go. Hemma, see you at home.”
A portal opened, and Zephyr was gone.
Hemma looked to the nannies and the babies and shrugged. “She wasn’t kidding.”
Khytten sighed. “Sorry, Salmet, she’s gone.”
“No problem. The code is going through. I thought Renovik was a myth.” Salmet was frank.
Hemma nodded. “Most of us thought that.”
Salat brought out a tea set and frowned. “She’s gone?”
“She’s gone. Oh, shit. I need to warn Ekbert.” Hemma typed quickly and sent the message.
Salat held out a cup. “Tea?”
“Thank you. Normal milk or Khytten’s creation?”
“Cow all the way.”
“Oh, good.” She put milk and sugar into her tea and sat at the table. “How are the sketches coming?”