Miami Days and Truscan (25 page)

“Now that was not as easy as it sounds. As Tess said, there was no time for explanations or introductions. She was rather—difficult to handle at that point.”

Carlos laughed. “You knocked her out, didn’t you?”

“Yes.”

“Hey!” I protested. “How’d you figure that out so fast, like it’s just what you’d – c’mon, you’d never have knocked me out!”

“I’ve never been in a life and death situation with you. If we had been? Hell, yeah. In a heartbeat. And I can’t believe it, but I
might
be beginning to like this guy, Tess.”

“Laugh at Tess, go ahead. Anybody want anything else before I start talking again?”

“This is very good, Tess, I didn’t know you could cook.”

“You never asked.”

Dalph picked up his last strip of bacon. “And this, bacon is it? Is really good, what animal does it come from?”

“Pigs,” I answered, without thinking. Dalph quickly dropped the strip back onto the plate.

“
Pigs?
”

“It’s okay, it’s not like—pigs in this world are stock animals, Dalph, bred for food. It’s not like you’re eating a Prian!”

“Huh?” asked Carlos, a bewildered expression on his face.

“Prians aren’t really human, sorry, haven’t gotten to that part yet. They’re humanoid, but they look a lot like pigs. Yes, for really real,” I added, before he could ask. “Trust me. I’ve seen one up close and personal.” I turned back to Dalph. “And what’s the matter, anyway? Haven’t you eaten Prians before when the Tornans patrol?”

“Most certainly not! We only tear them apart.”

“I’m sure they appreciate the distinction.”

“The Tornans?” asked Carlos.

“The other shape-shifters, the night riders, Dalph’s elite.” I picked the story back up and talked and talked. Dalph occasionally clarified, and it was late in the morning by the time I finished.

“And so I called you. Don’t you feel special?”

“I’m not sure how I feel, really. It’s so incredible.”

“Johnny’s got a pet phrase for it, sums it up nicely. ‘Tess,’ he tells me, ‘you ain’t in Kansas anymore.’”

“There’s just one thing I have to ask. You’ve been gone
two months
and you come back married. Apparently quite happily. I’ve asked you to marry me at least once a week for the last two years!”

“Yeah, but you were jok—” I broke off when I looked at his face, at the micro-expression that flitted so briefly across it before vanishing. But it was Dalph who spoke.

“No, he wasn’t joking. He was just waiting for you to realize he wasn’t joking so he could press the issue.”

I was seldom speechless and apparently, Carlos found the moment most amusing. He broke into laughter.

“God, Tess, you’re such a ball-buster! The only way to
survive
you was to let you keep thinking I was the spoiled brat playing a grown-up you took me for, and a pretty damn stupid one at that!”

“I—Carlos, I’m so sorry. I’ve changed so much since I’ve been gone. I didn’t know myself very well at all, and I never knew how much that affected how well I knew anybody else.”

“And now you do?”

“Yes.”

“Because of him?”

“Yes.”

“And you love him.”

“Completely,” I answered emphatically. Let there be no question as to that point, ever.

He turned to Dalph. “And how did you get through to her in less than two months when I’ve been trying for two years?”

“Possibly because I didn’t wait two years to tell her how I really felt or make her see me as I really am. Tess doesn’t trust easily, especially men, so she doesn’t see them clearly. You can’t just sit back and expect that someone who doesn’t see clearly will see what’s really there.”

He really would have been a great psychiatrist. I could almost see Carlos’ brain turning as he processed the words.

“Well, I’ll be damned,” he said slowly.

“Don’t let him fool you, he didn’t come squeaky clean all at once,” I said, with a lifted eyebrow turned to Dalph. I had no intention of letting him create the impression he’d been completely honest at all times.

“Maybe I kept a few small things back to share later.”

I laughed. “Yeah, like fealty oaths really being marriage ceremonies and your mother being an English Professor—”

“You’re kidding on that one though, right? American maybe, but an
English Professor?
” asked Carlos.

“Have you
heard
the man talk? She taught at freaking
Harvard,
no less, and of course, being a shape-shifter’s a real small detail!”

“On occasion, a very handy one.”

“No argument from me on that. I’d just have been a lot happier knowing it was you chewing through the ropes that night than a wild wolf, that’s all!”

“It’s just not fair!” interjected Carlos.

“What’s not?”

“You’ve been over there with Truscan Kings and invading Prians and shape-shifters and Ratas and Power Stones, and I’ve been stuck over here with all the damn business details and Board Meetings! It’s just not fair! Do all you guys shape-shift?”

Actually, I wasn’t completely clear on how that worked either and waited for Dalph’s answer.

“No, it’s somewhat unpredictable. You never really know if a child’s a Tornan until he shifts the first time, and the time of the first shift varies. Usually before the first birthday, though.”

“And is it always a he?” I asked.

“Oh, yes, now that’s always constant.”

“Naturally. Men have all the fun. Did all your brothers shift?”

“No. Brenden and I did, Madison and Gareth didn’t and thank Trusco if only one other of us changed it was Brenden, because he would have been hell to live with otherwise.”

“Johnny says ordinary men have to go out with the Tornans to tend the camp and horses, though,” I observed.

“Yes, and if he’d had to stand and watch the Tornans run free while he tended horses, we’d have had to kill him ourselves to be able to stand him.”

Enough diversion, I thought. “Okay, boys, now back to business. We were sent back for a reason. Dalph, tell Carlos your last two visions. In as much detail as you can remember.”

He complied, his voice again expressing the frustration he felt when he exclaimed, “But there’s nothing, no weapon I know of, that will do that! Explosions of fire here, but not there, all of it at the same time, all at once total flames, no wait for the fires to catch, no matter whether it’s wood or stone!”

“There’s nothing in
your
world that’ll do it,” Carlos said, smiling as he looked at me. “There is in this one.”

I smiled back and we spoke simultaneously.

“Plastique.”

Dalph looked from one to the other of us. “Plas—”

“Plastique. It’s an explosive compound we have. Very powerful, very stable, very versatile,” Carlos explained.

“And we can get it?”

“It’s not just used as a weapon, though it’s a very powerful one. It’s also used in mining operations. Ramos International owns several mining companies, not just in the U.S., it has some in South America and Africa, too.”

“And it will do these things I see?”

I leaned forward, smiling. “Well, let me put it this way. We can’t nuke ’em, but we can damn sure do the next best thing. Carlos—”

“I can get it here in a couple of days.”

“But how would you know the size of the charges to ask for?” I asked. “And can you get somebody to teach us how to use it?”

“I don’t need anybody else. I can do it. Dalph, draw me a diagram and I need to know how big the buildings are, what they’re made of, as much as you can tell me.”

“You?” I exclaimed.

“Tess, you are
really
such a ball-buster! I spent every summer from thirteen to twenty-one in the Argentinean silver mines. I’m a demolitions expert. You never knew?”

Apparently, I knew nothing about anybody, and I was getting really tired of having to apologize to Carlos every five minutes. Maybe I should tend to some errands I wanted to do and leave them to their diagrams and calculations.

“Well, before I insult you again, maybe I should leave you two alone to plan mayhem and destruction. Can I use one of the cars?” I asked.

“Sure. Just don’t get in a fender-bender. You don’t have a license anymore, you know. And you probably need this, too,” he said pulling out his wallet and handing me, without looking, a wad of bills.

“No, I don’t.”

“Yes, you do. You’re dead, Tess. You’re bank account’s closed, you have no credit cards. So if you plan to do anything but walk around, you better take it. I can’t give you one of my cards, they might ask for ID. Which you also no longer have.”

He laughed at my expression. I’d always been very sensitive about using his money.

“Go ahead, it won’t bite.”

“I don’t need all this,” I said, stripping some off and handing the rest back. “And why on earth are you walking around with this much cash, anyway?”

“New York, remember? I’m supposed to be in New York. Your Power Stones are working overtime.”

Weren’t they just?

“And here,” he said, handing me his cellphone. “Just in case. Just don’t answer it if it’s not the house number.”

“Duh!”

I went up to change into Mall casual and left them to it. Carlos was heading to his office off the living room, presumably to fetch paper and pencil. When I came back down, they were sitting at the table. Dalph was sketching and Carlos was making notes.

“Okay, guys, I’m off to do girly stuff. Figure out how to kick some Prian ass while I’m gone.”

“On it!” Carlos called back. I didn’t remember the last time I’d seen him this enthused about something.

Chapter Twenty-Four

I didn’t want to go to a Mall I usually frequented, so it took me a few minutes to get my bearings. And I didn’t like going blind to a new hairdresser, but I couldn’t exactly go to my beloved regular. But there was
no way
I was going back through the Truscan Badass with even a chin length pageboy. I stood in front of the shop, and there it was on one of the posters—exactly what I was looking for. Short and sassy, a modified helmet cut with a high crown, a little spiky but nothing punk, with lots of lift. The style was still very feminine and wonderful for oval-shaped faces, which I thankfully finally possessed after surviving the round face of my teenage and early twenties years. And it would be fabulous with the riding clothes that I had decided I was pretty much going to live in for the rest of my life.

I grinned, already anticipating the reaction I’d get when I walked back in the house. The look on Dalph’s and Carlos’ faces would be completely priceless. I walked in the shop and sat down.

I was just as happy when I walked back out. I felt sassy, well-groomed, and feminine. The guys would just have to get used to it. Then I walked back over to a Mall Directory for my other stop, and found a bookstore.

I went a bit crazy when I searched the stacks and had to restrain myself a good deal. Only so many paperbacks were going to fit in a backpack on the way back to Trussa, but Dal was going to read, in their original versions, the legends of King Arthur and Camelot and the Knights of the Round Table. I got several editions and included Tennyson’s
Idylls of the King
, and that one, I got as much for me as for him. I’d been a business major because I was determined to be, if not rich, at least extremely well-off, but if I’d been able to pick a profession for personal pleasure, I’d have been an English professor myself. I also got
Alice in Wonderland
and
Alice Through the Looking-Glass
. Dalph had grown up on the portions his mother had memorized; I wanted him to be able to read the entire original books. For Johnny, because he wasn’t in Kansas anymore, I grabbed
The Wizard of Oz
. I looked some more, debating between Alexandre Dumas’ swashbuckling trilogy
The Three Musketeers
,
The Count of Monte Cristo
, and
The Man in the Iron Mask
, and
The Lord of the Rings
set, all of which would fascinate Dal and were perfect for any Truscan-American child, and in the end, I couldn’t decide and bought them all. And for future use, I picked up
Winnie-the-Pooh
before making myself stop. They were all paperbacks, I told myself; it wasn’t
that
bad.

Extremely pleased with myself, I headed back to the beach house, noting that it was almost five o’clock in the afternoon, and that I didn’t know if there was a full moon tonight. I’d have to check on that. I also stopped and picked up Chinese on the way, though I didn’t get any dishes with pork. I figured Dalph had gotten freaked out enough on the bacon.

They were
still
at the kitchen table, which was now full of paper, which meant that Carlos had probably pumped Dalph for hand-drawn maps of pretty much the whole known world and the total deployment of all the Truscan forces, and probably every past battle Dalph was familiar with. I hadn’t thought Carlos would be so enthralled by military strategy. The smell of Chinese preceded me through the door and caught their noses.