Wyvern and Company (9 page)

"I saw you take their heads, so that's what I did, too,"
I said. "Is that the only way to kill them?"

"Yes. Guns don't work. You'd have to have a really big
bomb that covered a lot of area to make that an effective option, and the side
effects of that sort of attack are just too risky. They move too fast,
otherwise. You can toss a grenade at them and they'll outrun the blast. Same
thing with rockets, and weapons such as that. Only a few weapons exist that
will take them out, and those haven't been created yet on this world."

"Damn," Mack muttered.

"What do you mean, this world?" I whispered.

"Son, Earth is only one of many and not very advanced
compared to others," Dad said. "Get your clothes on; we'll show you
what we mean."

* * *

"I remember this, now," I said as Mack and I took in
the huge space that was part kitchen, part dining room. On one side was a wall
of glass at least thirty feet tall, and beyond that, far below the house, was
an ocean with tall, sharply spiked rocks standing in the water. I watched in
fascination as waves boomed and broke against those rocks.

"I thought this was in Australia," Mack whispered.

"Me, too," I whispered back.

"This is a private planet. It belongs to your mother,"
Dad said, settling a hand on my shoulder. "She brought me here shortly after
we met."

"You own a planet?" I turned to face Mom.

"I own three," she said and shrugged, like it was no
big deal.

"You own three?" Dad asked. "You never told me
that."

"You never asked," she replied. "They have to
be uninhabited, and I had to do something worthy of the award."

"Which ones, pray tell?" Dad sounded confused and angry
at the same time. I moved away from him. When he's mad, I prefer to be as far
away as possible. Mom, on the other hand, never backs away.

"One doesn't have a name, and it's pretty dead. All I get
from it is the minerals, gems and precious metals. The other is Tiralia."

"What the holy fuck?"

Dad never swears—at least when I can hear it. He was swearing,
now.

"What does that mean? What's Tiralia?" Mack mumbled
beside me.

"Tiralian crystal," Dad growled. "The most
precious and expensive gem in the known universes. That's what." He
stalked toward Mom. Mack and I backed up a second time.

That's when Joey appeared from nowhere. "Time to go to
the beach," he announced and pulled Mack and me away with the same
traveling trick that Mom and Dad used.

* * *

Adam's Journal

"I own the planet," she shrugged and walked away
from me.

"You have that much money at your disposal?" I
growled.

"It's my savings account," she said. "You haven't
told me about all the accounts you have everywhere, after all."

"Is that what this is about? Full disclosure?"

"No, it just never came up and you never asked. I don't
care about your money. I don't care much about my money. I own Tiralia. End of
statement. If you want Tiralian crystal cufflinks, I can oblige that request."

I could see she was upset. I couldn't stop myself from pushing
anyway. "I want Tiralian crystal cufflinks, cut and spelled by Grey House,"
I snapped.

"Will that get you off my case?"

"Mostly."

"I'll have them ready by your birthday in October."

"Good."

"Will you stop being an insufferable asshole, now?"

"I'm an insufferable asshole?" I pointed to my chest
in self-defense.

"That's what I'm seeing from my perspective."

"I'll have a record of all my accounts, profit and loss
statements and anything else you might want delivered to you on Monday," I
huffed. "Is there anything else you haven't told me in the twenty years we've
been together?"

"Plenty," she shrugged.

"Fuck," I muttered and stalked away.

* * *

Pheligar found me pacing the deck outside the house ten
minutes later. "There are some things she finds it difficult to tell
anyone," he said, forming a chair with power and pointing me toward it.

"Sure, tell me that now," I snapped.

"She earned Tiralia after she saved it, when it was
classified as not worth saving. Unfortunately, the remaining population killed
itself anyway, so the planet came to her afterward. It still has a cloud of
poison about it, so one has to be heavily shielded in order to visit it. Tiralia's
atmosphere would be toxic to most humanoids, no matter how well they believe
their suits will protect them."

"She goes there?" I stood again. Pheligar forced me
back onto the chair.

"She knows where all the veins of crystal are, and
Pulls
what she needs or wants away."

"All right," I muttered and scrubbed my face with
both hands, as if that would scour away the image of my wife going into a known
poisonous environment. Tiralia had killed itself with chemical warfare; that fact
was widely accepted. Nobody attempted a landing there—not if they wanted to
live.

"The crystal and the profits from it, instigated the war
to begin with, if you'll recall," Pheligar pointed out.

"I remember."

"She hasn't told you how old she is," he said,
forming a second, much larger chair and sitting beside me.

"No," I said. "She hasn't. I didn't ask,
because it's custom not to ask another vampire his age. It doesn't matter to
me."

"She's nearly fifteen thousand years old," he said. "Time
was bent to collect her, then bent again to deliver her to the proper place.
She has existed for nearly one hundred fifty of your Earth centuries."

I choked and coughed, until Pheligar put his hand on me to
relieve the onset.

"If she reveals her past to you, I hope it is with more acceptance
than what you displayed earlier," he said. "I regret not picking her
up myself, all those years ago. I sent Lion and Dragon, instead. It is one of
their favorite recollections. Perhaps you should ask them to tell it, sometime."

"I overreacted, didn't I?"

"Yes. And now she is upset—over nothing. She bears your
daughter. Does that mean nothing to you?"

"I don't know why I picked the fight," I admitted.

"You are frustrated. She is frustrated—with the way
things are and an unplanned pregnancy. No, do not think for a moment she doesn't
want your daughter," he reached out and placed a hand on my arm. "She
does. As she stated before, the timing is inconvenient."

"There's something you're not saying," I said.

"I worry that this is an arranged pregnancy," Pheligar
sighed. I'd never seen him so frustrated before.

"Arranged? By whom?" I was ready to stand and begin
pacing again. The Larentii held me down.

"I worry about many things," he said. "Perhaps
they are baseless. Perhaps not."

Yes, I worried, too, about the timing. This—this just seemed
wrong, somehow. All of it, from being forbidden to actively combat spawn to
this.

Justin's early turning worried me, too. "I thought you
had a power ward on Justin to prevent his turning—if it were possible," I
said.

"I did. I removed it yesterday. Soon, too, I wish to
discuss things with you and Kiarra, which will involve your son. I should wait
until his birthday for that discussion."

"You're thinking of putting him into this fight, aren't
you?"

"I see few ways around it. He does not belong to the Saa
Thalarr, but he has the ability to destroy spawn. You saw it yourself last
night. He and the werewolf child, too. Perhaps there is a higher hand in this,
gently unraveling the ties Thorsten has placed upon you."

"I hope we're shielded right now," I muttered.

"We are. I would never say that outside the strongest
shield any Larentii might place upon a conversation."

"Thank you," I sighed. "I worry for the race as
a whole, if spawn and their makers are allowed to run amok throughout the
universes and all we're allowed to do is react against a direct attack, instead
of being proactive."

"As do I," he replied. "I will do all within my
power to see that the race survives. You should go to Kiarra, now, to make your
best apology. She does not feel well."

"Fuck." I was out of my chair like a shot and
shouting Kiarra's name the moment I folded into the house.

* * *

After pulling her away from the toilet with Pheligar's help,
we settled her onto the bed with a cold compress on her forehead. She'd never
been this ill with Justin; Joey said so.

This child was different, in so many ways. "I don't feel
good," Kiarra mumbled as I stroked hair away from her face. "Adam,
somebody needs to get Justin and Mack and explain things to them."

"I'll get Lion and Dragon to do it," I murmured. "You
need rest, my heart. I'll stay with you."

"Joey can take care of me," she said. "Justin
needs his father right now."

"I will stay," Pheligar said. "I will ensure
that the sickness does not return."

I folded to the beach to catch up with Justin and Mack—at
least Joey had called Bearcat to stay with them until I could get there.

* * *

Joey's Journal

Shortly after Adam left to find Justin and Mack, I watched in
shock as Pheligar lifted Kiarra and held her like a baby in his arms. What
surprised me next was the sound he made. It was a beautiful humming noise, so
restful that my eyes closed and I fell asleep in seconds.

* * *

Justin's Journal

"Dad?" I said the minute he appeared beside me. Mack
was busy tossing bits of shell into the water, after he carefully examined each
piece. Few of them resembled what we'd find on any of Earth's beaches.

"Your mother isn't feeling well—morning sickness," I
explained. "I wish she'd tell me these things before letting me pick a
fight with her."

"That sort of upsets me," I admitted.

"I know. Nobody is going to hurt you, Son. Not your
mother or me, anyway. I think I send out vibes when I'm angry, and you pick up
on them. That's my fault. There's no way I'd hurt your mother, either. You'll understand,
someday, that people have disagreements, sometimes over things that don't mean
anything."

"Okay." I hung my head. "It just upset me to
see Mom so upset," I added.

"I know." He pulled me into a hug. "This is
supposed to be a good day for you. I'm sorry for ruining it so far."

"We have lots of questions," I mumbled against Dad's
shoulder.

"I know." He let me pull away.

"First," I said, doing my best to look Dad in the
eye, "What the heck are we?"

"Your mother and I belong to the Saa Thalarr. We're
supposed to be sterile. That makes you a miracle," he said. "And your
baby sister is a miracle, too."

"Seriously?" Mack had come to stand beside me—he was
just as curious as I was. "You and Mrs. G are gonna be parents again?"

"Yes," Dad nodded. "But that means several
things, the most important of which is this—your mother can't take her other
shape or use much of her power past three months, or it could harm the baby.
Therefore, she will not be fighting these creatures after another month has
passed."

I could tell Dad didn't like the fact that she was fighting
them, now. I let that go.

"The next thing," Dad said, "is that we're
immortal, unless the enemy finds a way to kill us."

"What?" I'll admit, I was surprised. As in
I
almost came out of my socks
surprised.

"Dad told me werewolves live to be two hundred or so,
unless they get killed," Mack grumbled beside me. "Immortal? Wow,
dude." He elbowed me.

"What's Mom's other shape?" I asked.

"I'll let her show you. Here's mine." He changed.

Boy, did he change
.

A huge, black Gryphon stood before us, looking fierce even
before he flapped his wings and his eagle head screamed a battle cry. Mack
cringed beside me, it was so loud.

In a split second, Dad was back. "Holy crap," I
shook my head.

"Here comes your Uncle Dragon," Dad nodded toward
the ocean behind us. Mack and I turned. Yeah, Dad is impressive, but there's
nothing like your first sight of the biggest red dragon ever, flying low over
the water.

He landed nearby and breathed fire before he turned. Mack dropped
to his knees in hero-worship. If he'd idolized Dragon before, it was just multiplied
by ten, at least. "Meet the former Falchani Dragon Warlord," Dad said
beside us.

"Falchani?"

"Falchan is a world hundreds of light-years from your
own, young werewolf," Dragon said and offered a grin after turning back to
himself. "Lion is coming."

He did come, arriving in his other form, a huge, black lion.
He roared for us and that's all it took.

"So Aunt Wolf and Aunt Tiger and Uncle Lynx?" I
asked.

"Are named after what they are," Dad said. "Your
mother is the only one who didn't choose her animal name for herself, at least
in some way. I chose Griffin as my last name instead of the first, for obvious
reasons."

"Yeah. I can see that," I agreed. "The school
might have a problem if I listed my dad's name as Griffin, one name only."

Mack snickered.

"Bearcat?" I asked. I'd only met him when Joey
introduced him on the beach. He'd wandered farther down, giving Dad and my uncles
time to talk.

"Is a shapeshifter, and was before he came to the Saa
Thalarr as a healer," Dad said.

"Wow," I said. "That's sort of awesome."

"It is," Bearcat suddenly appeared beside us. "I
have great hearing, thanks to what I am," he added. "It's called
folding space, by the way. You may be able to do it yourself, someday."

"It's really folding space?" Mack blinked at
Bearcat.

"Yes," he shrugged.

"Anybody hungry?" Joey appeared beside Bearcat. "I
am."

"Pheligar is with Kiarra?" Dad asked.

"He said to feed the young ones; he has things under
control," Joey said. "So I thought spaghetti might be a good idea."