Resurrection (8 page)

He bowed his head slightly, “I think you’ll find Prometheus quite persuasive and we are willing to do whatever we need to do to get down to the bottom of this.” His shoulders pulled back. “We thank you for including one of the herd.”

The Fae King’s laugh was loud and booming…yet eerie. “Don’t thank me yet.
Everyone
is a suspect.”

“As it should be,” Wendy interrupted. “Everyone should be questioned about their whereabouts. Nothing like that should ever happen.” She fought the urge to blink as her head swam. A bit of anger bubbled in her chest, confusing her further.

His crystal blue eyes danced as he smiled down at her. “I agree, Ms. Baker. Pardon my intrusion; try to enjoy the remainder of the day.”

As the Fae walked away from them, she gave a shudder.

Zoltar stood back and eyed her. “You okay?”

“I felt a bit dizzy for a moment…then a little angry.” She waved her hands in front of her face. “I’m being silly. Ignore me.”

“You’re not being silly.” He patted her arm. “He was searching your mind to see if you had any ill feelings toward the others. He dug swift but deep. It’ll leave you feeling off balance. He’s the most powerful Fae I’ve ever met, which is probably why he is the king.”

She had nothing to hide and had no fears of the Fae King discovering that for himself. “Let’s go in.”

When they entered the building, his gaze fell on a group of gnomes who looked exhausted. “Need a lift?” he asked.

A little female wiped the back of her hand on her forehead. “Thanks, Z. It takes us forever to get anywhere in this castle.”

“Motorized cars!” The words flew out of Wendy’s mouth before she had time to consider them.

“What?” Zoltar asked with a snicker.

“Come on, Engineer. You know, those little toy cars. Can’t we retrofit them for the Gnomes?” She smiled as she lifted two of them in one arm. “You guys know what I’m talking about?”

“I’m Mary,” one of them said to her. “And I would love a car. It took us an hour just to get to lunch. We can’t waste that kind of time now that we’re on a schedule in this huge castle.”

“Well, Mary,” Zoltar nodded and smiled, “I think our Headmistress is onto something. It wouldn’t be hard to retrofit the stairs with ramps. I’ll have to stabilize the steering. Those little cars are all over the place. But with that and more battery life…we might have a viable means of transportation for you.”

The gnomes gave them directions to their rooms. The two didn’t hesitate to run into town after a short stop to report to Grace where they were going.

“This really is brilliant,” he said as they strolled through the toy aisle.

She filled the carts with every motorized toy car that he suggested would be viable. “There’s what—thirty of them or so? This should be enough. We have five backups.”

“There’s a hardware store next door. I can get the rest of what I need there.” He paid the bill and they filled the moving truck with their purchases before heading over to the hardware store. She watched as he carefully selected tiny gears, springs, wire and rechargeable battery packs. He continually did calculations on a small notepad before selecting each piece. When she snuck a peek at his tablet, it looked like hieroglyphics. She had no idea what any of it meant.

Finally at the checkout counter, the lady behind the register stared at him like he was a god. “Find everything you need?”

“Yeah,” he said looking at the pile on the counter.

“Everything?” she asked leaning in, squeezing her boobs together.

Wendy could not contain her laugh.

The gaze of the cashier shifted to Wendy, narrowed and full of anger.

“Z, are you sure you found…
everything
?” she mocked.

He smiled at her and rolled his eyes.

Looking back to the items on the counter, the teller fanned herself as she scanned the items.

When the bill was paid and they were outside, she let it go. She leaned over and put her hands on her knees as she belly laughed.

“What is so funny?”

“That human!” She stood up and wiped her eyes. “If she had any clue…if you would have let your hormones go, she would have ripped her shirt off right there.”

He shook his head and placed his hand on her back, giving her a gentle push forward. “I’m glad you find this amusing.”

“
Everything
…like perhaps boobs were on sale, and her shit was half off!” She laughed as she climbed in the truck.

Relenting with a laugh of his own, he shook his head. “Okay, okay, I can see how funny it is to you. You don’t live with it. It’s really annoying after decades.”

After the truck roared to life, he put it in gear, and grabbed her hand. “Since you’re not too busy, would you mind helping me with this project?”

Her phone chimed. She dug in her bag and pulled it out. “Looks like it’ll be an after-dinner project. My phone tells me we are about to be late.” She shook her head. “Xander really thinks I need an alarm for everything.”

When they arrived at the castle, he had two of his men help carry the load into his office. Each of them eyed Wendy, making her stomach tense. Did they not appreciate the fact that she had captured the eye of their king? Wasn’t she good enough?

Dinner was in the dining hall, which had been set with several candelabras to set the mood. They found empty seats and filled their plates.

“What were you two up to?” Theron asked as he shoveled a spoon full of pudding in his mouth.

And now his Beta is asking questions. They really don’t like me.

“Shopping,” Zoltar answered as he sawed into his ham steak.

Theron dropped his spoon. “Z, I was being serious.”

He smiled. “So was I.”

Theron leaned back in his chair and looked at her. “You had him shopping? What have you done to our King?”

She winked, hoping to gain his friendship. “Don’t worry. We went to the hardware store.”

“They bought a bunch of toys and electrical shit,” one of Z’s men said. “We just took it all to his office.”

“Toys?” Theron scratched his head.

She looked at Zoltar for some cue. Why was he being evasive? “Why don’t you just answer him already?”

Roman approached and took a seat. “Z, what is this about transportation?”

Theron looked at everyone around him as if he hoped to piece together a complicated puzzle.

“The Gnomes,” she started in an effort to quell the uneasy feeling she was having, “are having a difficult time navigating this large property in a timely fashion. So, I had an idea and Z is running with it. We bought a bunch of toy jeeps that should work.”

Zoltar reached in his pocket and pulled out his notepad. He ripped out two of the small sheets and handed them to Theron. “I want every stairwell fitted with these ramps and small guard rails.”

“Wendy!” Roman slapped the table. “That’s damned brilliant.”

She shook her head, happy to have another ally at the table. “They shouldn’t have to be carried around like children. It’s going to get demeaning and look,” she pointed to the dining entry where a group of exhausted Gnomes shuffled in, “they’re just now making it to dinner and they look absolutely exhausted. It takes their tiny legs so long to carry them. It just seems humane.”

As they walked up the ramp to their table, every single one looked like they’d pass out from exhaustion. They dragged their feet. Their heads hung and their shoulders slumped forward. She scooted back from her chair, walked over to their table and knelt on the floor near them. “I know you’re all so tired. But can I have one volunteer to work with Z and me on your cars?”

Mary stood up. “I’ll do it!”

She smiled at the little woman. “Thank you very much. I’ll come back in a bit when you’ve had a chance to eat.”

“It doesn’t take long to fill my belly.” She waved her hand in the air. “I’ll be ready in five minutes.”

A thought had occurred to her, one of pack mentality. “Have you ever run with a Lycan?”

Dropping to her knees, the tiny woman looked up at her, exasperated. “Are you messing with me? Look at my legs.”

She winked. “Five minutes. I’ll be back.” And she was. She carried the little Gnome on her shoulder as she walked with Grace, Roman, and Zoltar to the tree line. “After I shift, climb on by my neck and hold on to my fur as tight as you need to. Don’t worry, you can’t hurt me.” She placed the little creature on the ground and shifted. Once in wolf form she nodded and squatted for the little one to climb on her.

Mary hugged on to her neck. “Don’t drop me.”

As soon as the others shifted they started off along a path that had already been cut. She remained conscience of the tiny fragile being that screamed and giggled while holding on for dear life.

“It was so good of you to bring her. Look how much fun she’s having.”
Grace’s voice came through loud and clear.

When the run was over, she bowed so her passenger could safely climb down, then she shifted.

“Did you like it? It wasn’t too hard to hold on, was it?” she asked as she picked Mary up and placed her on her shoulder.

“That must be how humans feel on roller coasters. It was scary and fun all at the same time.” She leaned her head against Wendy’s. “Thank you.”

“Ready to work on these cars?” Zoltar smiled at Mary.

“Oh yes! I’m more awake than I have been in a week!”

* * * *

They’d worked for two hours on the first car, having Mary test out each feature as they went along. Without adjustable seats, they had to make the steering column longer and put an actual footboard in the little vehicle. Zoltar had managed to rig up the throttle on the dash at first, then with a spring and some wire put it on the floor like a normal car.

She zipped around his office and soon drove like she’d been doing it her whole life. However long that was.

“We’ll take you down to the main floor. Then you can drive your car back to your living quarters. I’ll finish the rest of them up tomorrow for everyone else now that I know what I need to do.” He stretched his neck. “The ramps should be done by the end of day tomorrow. Theron is very good about delegating work for maximum efficiency. So your people won’t be so exhausted every day.”

“What about the battery things?” Mary asked.

“We’ll deliver them. Everyone should keep a spare here,” he said pointing to the trunk. “So when the first battery dies, you have a fresh one to swap out.”

Wendy stood and stretched. It was then she noticed the drawings on the wall—blueprints for the school, all hand drawn. Each measurement has been penciled in. “Z? You planned out this entire project by hand?”

He nodded at her as he picked up the little car. “Yeah. I didn’t sleep for a week.”

It was then that she realized how taken he had been with the project. He’d mentioned how proud they should be about the integration…the school. This project held meaning for him that she’d not recognized before. He built a school that reflected the beauty of an idea…an idea that they could all live with one another in peace and a future for his people.

She walked along the wall, gazing at each page. He had fortified the structure to withstand weather, time and serious use. He had a wind map attached to one, storm history to another. There were pages of statistics on thermal values of stone versus wood.

“That’s why the living spaces are more enclosed. There won’t be outside drafts making us cold.” He pointed to an aerial map. “The wind turbines are over here, so they’re not an eyesore on the property.”

“Guys?” Mary interrupted. “I’m really exhausted.”

Wendy scooped her up. “Let’s get you to the main floor.”

She carried Mary as one would a child at first, on her hip. “Oh dear, I’m sorry. This must be awkward for you.” She moved to switch Mary to her shoulder.

“No. It’s nice. You’re warm and I’m so tired.” Mary kissed her cheek. “You’re very sweet, Lycan. I always thought you guys were so scary—that you would eat us.”

The absurdity made her laugh. “Well then you relax. I’ll carry you downstairs and you can get to bed. You’re my friend now. We’re all friends. Lycans don’t really want to go around eating Gnomes.”

“Where were you last night? No one can account for your whereabouts.” A Centaur that must have been Prometheus had cornered a Dwarf in the hall. Beauregard stared at him, potentially digging into his brain the way he had done to Wendy.

She elbowed Zoltar and nodded in their direction.

Zoltar chuckled as he carried the car. “Almost there.”

Interrogation is not that entertaining!

When they reached the main floor, Mary climbed in her little car and drove off toward her apartment. They watched with smiles on their faces.

“We did a good thing today,” he said as he put her arm around her shoulder.

“We did. Considering how the day started, I’m quite happy with how it ended. Why did you laugh at those two interrogating that Dwarf?”

His big shoulders rose and fell. “A Centaur and a Fae interrogating a Dwarf? That’s overkill. But Dwarves have never had anything against Pixies. It wasn’t a Dwarf that killed her or the angle of the cut would have been much different.”