Chapter 13 #2
“Of course I won’t.” Kizzy managed to click the speaker function off before her father could answer for her. He took off into the next room. Maybe he was getting Nick, but there was nothing a PI could do that she couldn’t. She strode back into the kitchen. “Now, let’s talk terms.”
Suddenly, Kizzy heard a loud explosion over the phone, and then silence. She gasped. “Noah?”
When she was met with no sound at all, she cried louder, “Noah!”
Nick rushed into the room with Brandee. She grabbed Kizzy’s hand. “Let’s go!”
Kizzy found herself floating in a cool, hazy place, still holding onto Brandee.
Everything was surreal. She seemed to be staring at the immediate aftermath of a giant explosion.
Flames leapt from pieces of wood, which were tumbling everywhere, like matchsticks falling to earth.
Sparks and smoke flew upward from a dark cloud.
Strangely, out of that, two birds appeared. They were glowing white, but as they flew, they turned brown with the exception of their tails. Almost like the fire they had flown out of, the long feathers were orange, yellow, and red.
“What… Where are the Fierros?” she asked the minor goddess.
Brandee just nodded toward the birds.
“That’s them? Noah and Dante? Are they all right?”
“Yes. They will be.”
She breathed a sigh of relief, then realized he was much smaller than earlier when he’d shown her his bird form. “He looks different than he did when he shifted before.”
“He was full grown. He’s a baby bird again. They both are. They’re flying home.”
“Home? Where is that?”
“The family home in the South End. I’m not at liberty to share anything more.”
“That’s all right. As long as I know they’re okay.” She let out a breath in a whoosh. “I know where to find them. Thank you.”
Brandee nodded, and they reappeared in an unfamiliar kitchen.
“Where are we? Is this their parents’ house?”
“No, it’s mine. I want you to see where the other book is hidden now.” With a flick of her head, she indicated that Kizzy should follow her. “Since we all agreed the books are safer kept apart, Nick and I are guarding it with our very long lives, right here in our own home on Beacon Hill.”
In what looked like a library, Brandee pulled a certain book’s spine, like a lever. A hidden door sprang open, revealing a small panic room.
“My husband built it before we got together. Now that he has me, he doesn’t really need it, but we have it to use for a sort of paranormal underground railroad or, when necessary, when the kids need a time-out.”
Kizzy’s brows shot up.
Brandee burst out laughing. “Kidding! They don’t even know it exists.”
“That’s wonderful. I’m grateful to you, but I also really want to see Noah. I have to know he’s all right.”
“Yes, you should explain events—to the best of your ability—to their parents. Leave out the part about the books, of course. The Fierros will know what to do for them, but I imagine they’d like to know something about what happened to their sons.”
“Can’t the guys shift back and explain it themselves?”
“Not for a few months.”
“Months!”
“Well, several weeks, at least. I’m not sure exactly how it works, but the Fierros can fill you in. Do you have their contact information?”
“I was supposed to go there this weekend for Sunday dinner. I guess I can look them up online.”
“Good. Then I’ll leave you to it.”
In the blink of an eye, Kizzy was in her own kitchen again.
* * *
Mallory hadn’t been able to reach Dante all afternoon.
Maybe his phone’s battery needed to be charged.
She had hoped to talk to him before he went in to work at six.
She hated to call him at the station, but she really wanted to talk about her parents coming home and let him know what he should and shouldn’t say to them.
She probably had a few days, it wasn’t an emergency…
But she didn’t know how many days he would be on duty.
“Shoot. I really wanted to talk to him.” Who else could she talk to? Maybe Mrs. Fierro—er, Gabriella, Dante’s mother? Would she understand? She certainly knew what it was like to be a parent of someone with a paranormal secret. Maybe she’d be the perfect person to talk to.
She took a deep breath, remembering that Dante programmed their phone number into her contacts as well as his own and Noah’s personal numbers. Maybe she should call Noah. No. He was on the same schedule.
Don’t be a chickenshit, Mallory. Call Gabriella. She brought up her name and connected.
“Hello?” Gabriella answered in a musical voice.
“Hi, Mrs.—I mean Gabriella,” Mallory said. “I was just wondering if you were busy.”
“Well…”
The long pause concerned her. Mallory began to backpedal. “If you’re tied up right now, it’s okay. I can wait.”
“No, darling. You don’t need to wait. In fact, it might be a good idea for you to come over.”
“Come over? I was just thinking we could chat on the phone.”
“Oh? Are you busy? If you only have time for a phone call, that’s fine, but I have something to show you…something important. It may take a while to explain. Can you come for dinner?”
Dinner. She hadn’t even thought about dinner yet. It would be nice to have a home-cooked meal, other than her own crappy cooking, and talk face-to-face about paranormal things.
“Yeah, I’d like to come to dinner if it’s really okay. I didn’t mean to invite myself over.”
“You didn’t.” Gabriella chuckled. “I invited you. Just now.”
Mallory giggled. “I guess you did. I’ll just need a few minutes to get there. When are you planning on having dinner?”
“Whenever you get here. I have some leftover manicotti I can reheat. Antonio will be out with his old firefighting buddies for the evening, so it will just be the two of us. They’re going to a Red Sox night game. I’d like the company.”
Mallory felt better knowing that she wasn’t an imposition. Also, it sounded like they’d get some privacy. “Thanks. I’ll see you in thirty or forty minutes, probably.”
“Great. I’m looking forward to it.”
* * *
Gabriella hung up the phone and turned to her husband, who was placing bits of raw meat into the birdcage.
“What time are you leaving for that game?”
He turned, a surprised look on his face. “Are you trying to get rid of me?”
“No, it’s just that Mallory is coming over, and it sounded like she needed to talk. Just in case it’s girl talk, I thought it might be easier if you weren’t here.”
The little bird that was Dante hopped up and down and chirped at the sound of Mallory’s name.
“That would be Dante’s young lady, correct?”
“Yes. I can feed the boys.”
“I thought you wanted Kizzy here too. Since they both need the same information, I didn’t think you wanted to go through it twice.”
“It would be easier for me to get the whole explanation out at once, it’s true, and it might be nice for them to have each other to sympathize with, but Mallory—well, she seemed a little nervous at even the mention of Kizzy’s name when she was here for Luca’s graduation dinner.
Did you notice that? I think there’s something between those two.
Noah and Dante denied any rivalry with each other, but something was clearly going on. ”
Dante hopped up to the edge of the cage as if he were listening intently.
“And you’re sure you don’t want me here?”
“You can stay if you want to, but it sounded like maybe Mallory wanted to talk to me alone. I don’t mind going through it again with Kizzy.”
At that moment, the doorbell rang.
“Coming,” Gabriella sang out. She walked to the door, and upon opening it, she saw the beautiful brunette she had met at the basketball game. “Kizzy! Please come in.”
She held the door open wide for the young doctor and shot a questioning glance at Antonio.
Kizzy seemed hesitant but entered and held out her hand as if to shake Gabriella’s.
“Oh, we can’t have that. No handshakes here,” she said and grasped the girl around her back. Both of them were petite, so it was a treat for Gabriella to hold someone her own size.
“Thanks, Gabriella. I needed that.”
“I’ll bet you did.” She took Kizzy’s hand and led her into the dining area where the birdcage was. Her son, the baby bird Noah, hopped up and down and flapped his wings.
Antonio strode over and stuck out his hand for a handshake. Kizzy looked confused but took his hand and shook it. He laughed, then pulled her into a hug. “It’s nice to see you again, Kizzy. Apparently, I’m on my way out to a night game at Fenway.”
“Apparently?”
“Well, that was the plan five minutes ago.”
“Oh. Aren’t you curious about what happened?” She pointed to the cage. “That’s what I came to tell you.”
“I certainly am.” He looked at Gabriella. “Are you sure you want me gone for the evening? I’d really like to stay. I can go to a game anytime. That’s what season tickets are for.”
Gabriella smiled. “Of course you can stay. It’s your house. If we need some privacy for girl talk later, we can just move to the man cave and turn it into a woman cave.” She winked.
“Or I can lock myself in my man cave and let you have the whole rest of the house.”
Gabriella giggled. “That would probably be better. Let me put on some tea, and we can all get comfortable while you tell us what you know, Kizzy. Or would you rather wait for Mallory?”
“Mallory is coming?”
“Yes. She called a few minutes ago. She’ll be here for dinner in thirty or forty minutes. I hope you can stay for dinner too.”
“If it’s no imposition… I’d like to get to know Mallory better—oh, and you two, of course!”
“Wonderful! Have a seat. I’ll be right back with some tea.”
Kizzy and Antonio sat at the dining room table while Gabriella filled the electric teapot and plugged it in. Wishing she had something fancier on hand, she settled for putting some cheese and crackers on a plate and brought that over first.
“I’m afraid we only have one type of tea in the house. Good old Lipton. Is that all right?”
“Perfect,” Kizzy said.
Gabriella put a teabag right in each cup and set them on a tray on the kitchen counter.