Fort Lupton (42 page)

“
Megan has them tonight,”
Jill said.

“
Why?” Anjelika asked. She
went back to cutting green onions.

“
I wanted to spend a
little time with you,” Jill said.

Surprised, Anjelika set down the knife and
looked up at Jill. She gave Anjelika a bright smile.

“
What do you want?”
Anjelika asked.

“
Want?” Jill
asked.

“
Don’t pull that with me,
Jillian,” Anjelika said. “I’m the master of that particular
trick.”

“
I thought we could have
dinner and . . .” Jill nodded to the tray in her hands.
“Sandy made us some cupcakes.”

“
What if you just tell me
and we go out for dinner?” Anjelika asked with a smile.

Jill looked away for a moment.

“
Okay,” Jill
said.

“
Good,” Anjelika said.
“Now what do you want?”

“
You and Dad, you have a
contract, right?” Jill said.

“
Yes,” Anjelika said.
“It’s standard when a human marries into their kind. You’ll see
when your friend Heather’s parents marry. Eros isn’t a Titan, but
it’s similar. It sounds barbaric, I know, but it’s very
beautiful.”

“
He is supposed to come
whenever you call,” Jill said. “Is that right?”

“
Yes,” Anjelika said. “It
is sworn in blood. If I need him, I only have to call. You kids
too.”

Jill nodded.

“
Why?” Anjelika
asked.

“
I wondered if you would
call him,” Jill said.

“
He’s working, Jillian,”
Anjelika said. “I don’t call him unless I really need him. Anything
else would be disrespectful.”

“
I called him,” Jill
said.

“
I know,” Anjelika said.
“He said he would be gone for a bit to take care of something
rotten in the fairy world.”

Jill nodded.

“
Please?” Jill
asked.

“
You know your father
isn’t a toy,” Anjelika said. “You can’t just
. . .”

“
Mom!” Jill exclaimed.
“Dad’s in trouble.”

“
Oh,” Anjelika said. “What
kind of trouble?”

“
He’s trapped in the Sea
of Amber,” Jill said.

“
Good Lord,” Anjelika
said. “How did that happen?”

“
I have no idea,” Jill
said. “We know that Jacob and Prince Finegal are there. We assume
Dad, Delphie, and Keenan are there as well.”

Anjelika swallowed hard.

“
Call him,” Jill said.
“Some magic is more powerful than . . .”

“
Perses!” Anjelika said.
“I need you!”

Nothing happened. Anjelika scowled.

“
Now what?” Jill
asked.

“
This has never happened
before,” Anjelika said.

“
What about when he was
held captive?” Jill asked.

“
I could hear his voice
calling to me,” Anjelika said. “I knew he was captured, I just lost
hope and . . . It’s a long story.”

“
Try again,” Jill
said.

“
Perses! My love, my
husband, my life,” Anjelika said. “I need you.”

The condo was so still and quiet that they
could hear the click of Candy’s fingers on a keyboard in her room.
Anjelika’s eyes welled with tears.

“
Beloved Perses,” Anjelika
whispered. “Follow my voice. Hear my prayer. Come home to
me.”

Weeping, Anjelika dropped her face into her
hands. Jill wrapped her arms around her mother.

“
I thought it would
. . .” Jill started.

There was a loud
“
whomp
” from
something very heavy falling from a great distance onto the marble
entry. There was a swooshing sound as if something very heavy
sliding across the marble entryway.

“
Dad!” Candy screamed in
the hallway.

Anjelika and Jill ran out into the entry and
found Perses curled up in a ball. He was wet head to toe with
liquid amber, which hardened with each passing moment. Candy was
shaking his shoulder.

“
He’s not breathing!”
Candy said.

Jill dropped down and hit her father’s back.
He sputtered and spit out a mouthful of amber.

“
Get out of your clothes!”
Anjelika yelled. “The amber will kill you if it dries!”

Candy ran for a towel. Jill helped Anjelika
undress him. Candy gave Anjelika the towel before running back for
another. When Candy returned, their father was naked and holding
her mother. Jill took the towel from Candy and wrapped the towel
around him. He hadn’t yet said a word.

“
Dad?” Jill said in a low
voice to Candy.

“
I know!” Candy whispered
back. “It just came out. It’s just . . .”

Anjelika kissed their father.

“
He’s been so awesome, you
know, these last couple years,” Candy said. “About everything and
. . . our dad was pretty awful.”

Jill nodded in agreement that the father who
had raised them, Candy’s biological father, had been cruel.

“
Jillian?” Perses said
quietly.

“
Yes, Dad,” Jill
said.

“
You’ll have to
. . .” Perses collapsed.

Sun and earth

Candy and Jill screamed and rushed to help
their mother hold up his weight. Candy and Jill slipped on the
hardening amble. They all went down with a thud. Perses landed face
down on top of them

“
All right, girls?”
Anjelika asked.

“
Here, Mom,” Jill said.
Candy grunted.

“
Who can get out?”
Anjelika asked.

Candy pulled her legs out from under her
father’s body. She got up to lift her father a few inches off the
ground. With her help, Jill was able to scoot out. They lifted him
so their mother could get up.

“
Is he dead?” Jill
asked.

“
No,” Anjelika said. “Just
out.”

“
He was going to say
something,” Candy said.

“
We have to assume he
needs our help,” Anjelika said. “Let’s turn him over.”

“
But Mom!” Jill said. She
gave her mother an uncomfortable look.

“
What’s wrong?” Anjelika
asked.

“
He’s naked!” Candy
said.

Anjelika swore in Russian. She pointed to
Perses. Candy backed away. Anjelika said something else in
Russian.

“
If you’re trying to make
us help, you could at least do it in a language we understand!”
Jill said.

“
Net vremeni! Speshite!”
Anjelika said. Having heard it all of their lives, they knew it
meant “Hurry up. We have no time.” Or something like
that.

Jill bent across Perses’ body to grab his
left side. Candy didn’t move.

“
Candace!” Anjelika
said.

Candy shuffled to Perses. She grabbed his
leg.

“
Close your eyes if you
don’t want to see him,” Anjelika said. Anjelika held onto his
shoulder.

“
Eyes closed, Mom,” Jill
said.

“
Candy?”

“
Shuttered,” Candy
said.

“
Good,” Anjelika said.
“Because I am not paying for therapy for the trauma of seeing your
father’s genitals.”

Jill snorted a laugh, and Candy groaned.

“
Better,” Anjelika said.
“Now, one, two, three.”

With great effort, they rolled their father
over. Candy turned her back, and Jill closed her eyes.

“
Mom!” Jill
said.

“
Forgive me. I was
enjoying the view,” Anjelika said with a laugh.

Candy made a gagging sound while Anjelika
placed a towel over his genitals.

“
Candy, sit.” Anjelika
pointed to Perses head. Candy dropped down and crossed her legs.
She scooted up and put Perses’ head on her lap.

“
Jillian, I will take his
feet.” Anjelika trotted to his feet. “Candy, you and I will
ground.”

“
Yes, Mom,” Candy said
with a nod.

Jill watched her mother sit at Perses’
feet.

“
Would it be okay if I
tried something?” Jill asked.

“
What?” Candy
asked.

“
I thought of it before,
when I had foresight and all those crazy powers, and really it was
Heather that made me think of it — you know I’ve been reading this
book about Hedone — and it might not even work and . . .”
Jill started.

“
Jillian!” Anjelika said.
“Your father asked for your help!”

Anjelika pointed to Perses.

“
But . . .” Jill
said.

“
Just do it, Jilly,” Candy
said. “If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work.”

Jill nodded to her sister and rubbed her
hands together.

“
Speshite!” Anjelika
said.

Jill put a hand on Candy’s heart and one on
her back.

“
Love you,” Jill
said.

“
Whoa,” Candy
said.

She went to her mother and did the same
thing.

“
What is this?” Anjelika
asked.

“
Now,” Jill said. “Focus
on loving him.”

“
Why?” Anjelika said.
“This is not the way we do it.”

“
I think it enhances our
power,” Jill said.

“
We use the same technique
as our ancients,” Anjelika said.

“
Time for an upgrade,”
Jill said.

“
But . . .”
Anjelika said.

Jill gave her mother an impatient look.

“
Okay,” Anjelika said.
“We’ll try it, but . . .”

“
Yes, Mother, we get it,”
Candy said.

“
Go on!” Anjelika
ordered.

Jill rubbed her hands together.

“
Focus on loving him,”
Jill said.

She crouched and placed her hands on his
heart.

“
We love you, Dad,” Jill
said.

She felt a rush of power flow to her father.
Feeling woozy, she dropped to her knees. Before her, she saw the
Sea of Amber. She felt the stuck, desperation that was slowly
suffocating the people she loved. She watched Perses fight to get
them out before succumbing to the desperation surrounding him.

“
We love you, Dad,” Jill
said.

“
I love you, Dad,” Candy
said.

“
Perses, my love,”
Anjelika said.

Minutes passed, and they hung on. Jill
focused on the things she knew her father loved — the open ocean,
long white ski slopes, laughter, a good meal, and her mother. She
felt the tide shift. Desperation eased, and Perses began to rise
again.

“
Made of sun and earth,”
Jill said. “Perses the Titan, we ask you to return.”

He opened his eyes and saw Candy.

“
Candace,” Perses said.
“Have you seen your mother?”

Candy nodded to his feet. Perses smiled at
Jill before leaning up on an elbow.

“
There you are,” Perses
said.

“
Welcome back, my love,”
Anjelika said.

Perses’ eyes flicked to Jill.

“
Made of sun and earth?”
he asked.

Jill shrugged, and he laughed.

“
Come on, Candy,” Jill
said. “They want to be alone.”

Jill helped Candy to her feet and they went
to Candy’s bedroom near the back of the condo.

“
How do you feel?” Jill
asked.

“
Like I could do
anything,” Candy said.

“
Love again?”

“
Maybe.” Candy smiled.
“Just maybe.”

Jill laughed.

“
Girls!” Anjelika called
from the front of the condo. Jill leaned out of Candy’s rooms.
“Let’s get dinner. Say in an hour?”

“
Good plan,” Jill
said.

They heard their mother giggle.

“
Wanna play a video game?”
Candy asked.

“
Something loud?” Jill
asked.

Candy nodded.

“
I’m in,” Jill
said.

~~~~~~~~

Tuesday evening — 6:25 p.m.

“
Dad!” Tanesha whispered
into her phone.

She was sitting in the end stall of the
bathroom next to her lab classroom. She only had a five minute
break. If she wasn't standing at her lab bench in exactly six
minutes, the teacher would mark her absent for the entire class —
even though she had been there since four.

“
What’s wrong?” Rodney
asked.

She heard him close the door to his
home.

“
I think I’m losing my
mind,” Tanesha said.

His footsteps on the concrete told her he
was walking out to his truck.

“
What do you mean?” Rodney
asked.

His truck door slammed closed.

“
I’m
seeing
things,” Tanesha
said.

“
What kind of things?”
Rodney asked.

His truck started.

“
The answers, for one
thing,” Tanesha said. “Like I’m supposed to separate out this
chemical, but I forgot to read about it last night. It’s not a big
deal because no one did. Then I was holding the beaker and I
could
see
how to
do it.”