Chapter One #3
She got out, and Demuel came around to help her lower the wheels and ease the gurney out.
Skip checked the patient in, and her mother was at her side.
Nylora got back to the computer, detailed the equipment and medication used, and the fact that they had to get a new gurney.
She watched as Skip snagged one from the hospital, waving the acquisition slip as he went.
He and Demuel loaded it up, and it was time for their official first break. Dem-rah’s it was.
When they got there, Demuel paused. “Are you sure you don’t want anything?”
“Oh, I want it. Can’t have it yet.” She met his gaze and realized what she said. “Shit. I mean the tacos.”
He grinned and nodded.
She dug out her sandwiches and had her passenger seat picnic. She was chewing like a squirrel when her door opened. Demuel held out a container for her. “Non-spicy lemonade. He insisted on making it while I watched.”
She swallowed. “Did he put sugar in it?”
“Simple syrup.” He smiled.
She took a sip and smiled. “It’s really good.”
“Good. He feels horrible that you are the only one who doesn’t get a hot meal when you need it.”
“It’s fine. I know what his specialty is, and I don’t discourage anyone else just because I can’t enjoy it right now.”
Dem-rah walked up and held out a container. “Here. Pregnant fae special. Chicken quesadilla with only flavour, no heat.”
She took the container. “I...”
“If you can’t tolerate it, I will think of something else, but this was all I could manage since I heard about my granddaughter.”
“Oh, shoot. Saretha is related to you?”
He chuckled. “Yes. My daughter’s child. She called me to tell me about the crew that got Saretha and moved her with barely a bump, not knowing who she was.”
“I try to do that for all teens, especially the ones with so many limbs.” She opened the box and saw the grilled soft tortillas with cheese and meat in between. She picked up one wedge and bit down. She sighed happily. “This is really good, Dem-rah.”
A vehicle pulled up, and Jennel got out and walked toward them. “Hey, Dem-rah, I have an official question for you.”
Dem-rah smiled. “Sure, granddaughter.”
“Right. I have this item, and I want to know if you recognize it.” She had an evidence bag. She handed over the plastic encased tiny, grubby smock. The kind that infants in a variety of races wore.
“It’s an infant smock. Demon zone manufacture.”
“Do you remember seeing a child wearing something like this?”
“Not for forty years. There was a little girl sniffing around my new food truck, and I fed her, but she didn’t speak and didn’t know her own name.
She didn’t speak, but she consumed as much as I could give her while we waited for the agents to come by.
” He shrugged. “They came and left with her. I never found out who she was.”
Nylora snorted. “It took me two more years to learn how to speak. I was only three weeks old at that point. Your food also wasn’t so spicy back then.”
Dem-rah turned and stared at her. “You were blue.”
“Yup. Well, my hair was blue. When my baby hair fell out, it came back black.”
Jen stared. “That was you. You looked different in the visions, so I couldn’t tell. Since the fuss that Solor made, the XIA wanted me to examine everything they could find in connection with you.”
“Matthias has my blood, so the genetics will match what is on the baby gown.”
Jen looked at the tiny gown. “This was really yours?”
“Yes. Our mother thought she was doing what was best. Someone had to walk through the portal, and it was going to be one way, so it couldn’t be a demon.
Her father already wanted to bleed one of us to use in a recipe.
She made me bigger, put Isocar in my arms, and opened the portal.
Neither of us register as demon, so I walked through.
She didn’t count on the snowstorm. I walked to the mansion in the woods and left her with Mage Lavrel.
After that, I didn’t know what to do, so I just walked.
” She kept her focus on the tortilla she was systematically consuming.
“And then I smelled tacos. I didn’t know what they were, but they smelled good. ”
Dem-rah stared. “You remember that?”
“Sure. They were some of my first memories.”
Jennel was staring at her. “Your scars are amazing.”
“Oh. Thank you. I designed them with my friend, and she did the marking and tattoos for me.”
Jennel asked, “Is she still around? I still need my orc wedding marks, as does Day-ek. Can she tattoo an under-the-bed monster?”
“She can mark anyone. Did you want her number?”
“She works on a multitude of races?”
“Yeah, that’s her magic. The marks she makes can access the entirety of the magic contained or can even it out and let the user control the output. That’s what she helped me do.”
Jennel grinned. “Gimme, gimme. Corit has his clan now, so he’s wanting to get his scars and marks as soon as he can.”
“I might have to go with you. She doesn’t like strangers.” She got a pen from her pocket and tore off some of the cardboard of the quesadilla box. “She will need to know what kind of pain level you want to experience. She can go from painless to feeling like your body is on fire.”
“Okay. Well, Corit has to feel it, but I think he is more concerned about looks. Also, we need a clan member there to witness it, so if she agrees, I know what Day-ek is doing on his next day off.”
“She also speaks nineteen languages and can read and write them fluidly. You can actually get the words that mean the sentiment in the correct syntax.”
“Excellent. Well, Dem-rah, can you sign this statement that you recognize the baby dress?”
“Of course. Why is it important?”
“There is some kind of legal trace of her origins going on. The baby dress is the link between the demon zone and the XIA.”
Demuel wasn’t surprised.
Nylora smiled. “Solor is going for some kind of registry for Bump.”
He smiled and nodded.
“Light court or dark court?”
“Both.”
She blinked. “What?”
“He’s the shifter chief for both courts, light and dark. Everybody turns to him. It’s why his team is in the neighbourhoods and I am in the downtown.”
“Oh. Right.” She looked at the empty container. “Thanks, Dem-rah. I missed coming here.”
The sharp-toothed goblin’s smile warmed her heart. “You eat a lot, Nylora. That is a good thing.”
“I know.”
“Of course, now that I am catching the scent of this one on you, perhaps your appetite will curb.”
“That’s a doubter.” She chuckled. “Our contact was under magical duress on all sides. Now we just have to live with the result. The result will either be adorable or weird-looking. Either way, Bump is mine.” She smiled and patted her belly. It was weird not to have the heavy layers over it.
Skip hopped into the driver’s seat. Demuel finished his food and got into the ambulance, and they waved farewell to Dem-rah and Jennel. They backed up and got out of there. It was time to get back to work.