Chapter Four #2
Arden chuckled. “Right. Let’s finish the final update, and I will head home to finish packing.”
“You haven’t finished?”
“No. If this goes well, I will get one of the others to transport my stuff to me. I am not good with non-living transport.”
Estelle grinned. “I am glad you have something you aren’t great at. When I am around you, I get a complex.”
Arden smiled. “Right. Two mates, adorable child, and a successful business, and you are the one with the complex.”
Estelle coloured and said, “How do you find a mate?”
“Well, a bunch of mages have hooked up with the pixies. Ask Ekhart about describing a dark elite pixie to you. It’s hilarious.
Okay, now the seedlings in building two are a little overheated, so they need the fan on right until seven.
” She smiled as Estelle took out her phone and hit the voice recorder.
She had a lot to say and less time to say it.
* * * *
Ted looked at Nemia and the orcs. “So, what is going on here?”
Mik looked innocent. “I think they wanted to see us in action. Or rather, you in action.”
Ted snorted. “I just did what I have really wanted to do since I got the download. A pity my part was over so soon.”
Mik paused, “Your part?”
“Oh, those mages are going to be screaming into the abyss until higher beings completely absorb their bodies. In this case, plants.”
“So, the humans aren’t ingesting the mages?”
“No, just the residue, like the exhaled nitrogen or carbon dioxide.” Ted smiled.
Ekhart was talking to Avor, and he was staring at the orcs. “Do we need them?”
Nemia chuckled. “Aw, they are scared of the big green guys.”
Avenget smiled. “With good reason. We are the frontline force when a hard impact is necessary. We are the hammer of the empire.”
Avor said, “They are the hammer and the cannon, along with other species who are useful as shock troops. When matches for them arise, we will be preparing to introduce them to this world as well.”
Ted nodded. “Very sensible. Well, I have gotten rid of that pain in my ass, so I am going to go visit my father, and then, I might get a good night’s sleep before my family wants to see me.”
Nemia laughed. “Oh, they are going to want to visit with their pepper in the milk.”
Ted snorted. “They stopped calling me Pepper when I entered university. Once I explained to my cousins what it referred to, they were appalled.”
“Yeah, nothing like making racism cute.”
Ted sighed. “If I got freaked out every time an old Russian said something racist, I would have an aneurysm. It isn’t worth my outrage, and most of them have learned over time. All I can hope is that I have left them a little more open to the world around them after each meeting.”
Nemia smiled. “I wonder how many other women out there are stuck like you were.”
Ted froze. “I will look into that tomorrow. Well, I will send the search out tonight.”
Mik said, “I will look. You rest. Go, do family things. If one of them is out there and needs help, I will find her.”
Ted looked at the seriousness in Mik’s features, and she felt relief. She wasn’t alone in this anymore.
Mik smiled and wiggled her fingers. “Go. Visit. Reclaim part of your life. I will be in touch in the morning.”
Ted closed her eyes. “Thank you for that. I will thank Arwell and Win as well. Maybe a nice fruit basket.”
Mik grinned. “I like fruit.”
“Arwell is gone?”
“Yes, she’s picking up her son from school. Her mates are still courting and aren’t able to pick him up yet.”
Ted blinked. “She has a son?”
“She does. Adopted, but very much hers. I saw him at a local convention a few weeks ago. He’s cute. His sister was adopted by one of the red djinn. They were both rescued from somewhere that neither mother explains.”
“I didn’t think about you having kids.”
“Win is waiting for her next heat to get pregnant. She wants to transform Alexi before she lets a little one start forming.” Mik smiled. “A lot of the ladies are into families now that they have partners who will carry part of the load.”
“Transform?”
“Yes, she is compelled to make Alexi into something else, and it was finally decided that it should be an earth-born djinn. They just had to wait for life-fire to be clear, and she just had her little boy, so she’s good to burn off his humanity.”
“Wow. Sounds painful.”
“It might be. He’s up for it. He’s part of a triad with a dragon and the dragon’s omega, and they are both for the change.”
“Why is Win so keen?”
“The magic has been giving her a compulsion. She’s the blood witch, and that does funny things to her mind. She also has a light elite mate. One of only two so far. Luna doesn’t count.”
Ted smiled. “Yeah, hers are more of a power supply.”
Mik chuckled. “I keep forgetting that you have seen it all. Is there anyone you want to see after your father?”
“Yeah. My cousin Lucia hasn’t been coming to family gatherings. I am getting a little worried, but no one else is worried, so I want to talk to her.”
Mik nodded slowly. “Okay. If you need help tracking her down, I know a shit-ton of people who can help.”
“I have your number.”
“Good. Don’t hesitate to use it. I have gotten into flitting from disaster to disaster.”
Ted looked at the orcs lined up and talking to Avor and Ekhart. “What are you going to do about talk, green, and pretty?”
“I will figure something out, but I am not getting with a guy who can’t support himself. That way lies madness. So the new arrivals will get sorted and figure out what they want to do, and I will continue to have fun being me. It is remarkable fun, by the way.”
Regis came over and smiled. “You should head out. They are calling Poppy. They are taking what is becoming the traditional route.”
Ted smiled. “Back in time?”
“Yup. They are going for their degrees, and Avor recognized them when they came in, so they are already out here somewhere. Time travel gives me a headache.”
Ted chuckled. “I am not even going to try. Right. I am heading out. Have to make visiting hours.”
Mik hugged her. “Call for any reason, even if you don’t want to spend the night alone. Not that way.” She wrinkled her nose.
Ted nodded. “Thanks for the offer. I will keep it in mind. I might call.”
Mik nodded. “Yup. I want you to. How is Nora’s baby, by the way?”
“At home with the nanny most days. He has a cold that he got from the other cousins.” Ted smiled. “He’s still super cute, though. It’s a good thing Sabin can fight. He’s going to have a house full of omegas.”
Mik smiled. “I don’t think he’s going to complain. Good thing the family can protect them.”
Ted thought of her enormous extended family. “Yeah. We can. Right. Have a great day. Congrats on the green giant. I am betting he comes back as a therapist.”
Mik blinked. “Interesting. So I should watch my office for an encroacher.”
Ted looked over at the slick-looking orc. “Yeah, he has encroaching all over him.”
He turned his head toward them and winked.
“And he has the freaky hearing. Okay. I am gone. That is too funny.”
Mik laughed and saluted, and Ted portaled to the memory care home where her father sat and stared out at the open fields and distant lake.
She signed in and went to find her father.
When she sat near him, he held his hand out to her.
She smiled with watery eyes. “Hi, Dad. I am back. I have missed you so much.”
He patted her hand on his. “Do you know my daughter Therese? She’s about your age.”
Ted smiled. “Tell me about her.”
They sat there in the sun and watched the lake, and he told her about the daughter who lived in his fading memory and nowhere else. He had always remembered her even when he didn’t know her. It was a wonderful place to be.