It would take all of fifty seconds, but I"m sure we"d figure out how to keep ourselves occupied for the rest of the forty-nine-plus years.
Brace was distracted from his questions by Larissa emerging, carrying a tray filled with small bowls.
"It"s ready now. You use these metal p.r.o.ngs to cook the food." She demonstrated a few times before leaving us.
The setup was similar to something I"d heard of on Earth. A fondue, where you submerged food into the flavored broth until it was cooked. It took a while for the various meats, vegetables and seafood to cook, but Brace and I chatted the entire time, never running out of things to talk about. I had to be careful not to let on about all the information I already knew about him.
"So if half-Walkers are not supposed to be possible." I said supposed because there were clearly seven of us. "Does that mean Lucy and Colton cannot have children?" The intricacies of Walker reproduction were lost on me.
Brace flashed me a full mouth of white teeth. His smile had my heart flip-flopping like a fish in my chest.
"Are you asking for Lucy or yourself?" He tilted his head to the side.
I didn"t answer, and after a minute he continued.
"No, Lucy and Colton will not be able to have children. I"ve never heard of anything less than two full Walkers being able to reproduce." He looked away from me for a moment. "Although now that you half-Walker girls exist, I"m not sure what the rules are. So if Fury as a half could have children with Dune or not? I guess only time will tell on those ones."
I"d had many dreams of having babies with Brace not for like a hundred years or anything right then I was not interested in the responsibility. But to know it might never be possible. Struck me hard.
I lowered my eyes, hiding the emotions that I was surely leaking everywhere. I distracted us both by reaching for the second pot that Larissa had left. My mouth watered as I revealed a melted pot of chocolate. It was glossy and a rich brown. Very close in color to Brace"s eyes. As distractions went, it was stellar.
"It"s not Earth chocolate, but I"m hoping the First World equivalent is just as good." He hadn"t moved, seeming content to watch me as I tried not to lap it up like a puppy.
We had a variety of fruit and cake to dip in, but by the end I was just spooning the smooth, creamy liquid into my mouth. It was a little nuttier in flavor, but very similar to Earth chocolate. On First World it was called it alamonlette. It was made from the alamond nut and some other fig.
By the time we were done I was so full I could barely move. The twinkling lights and stars above us, teamed with soft music and the fragrant smell of the petals, was hypnotic. I could barely keep my eyelids open. Each blink was longer than the last. But I didn"t want to lose any of this time with Brace.
"You can sleep if you want." Brace"s eyes softened. "I"ll keep you safe."
I had no doubts he would.
I didn"t want to sleep, but exhaustion was tugging at me. Since I"d broken the bond I"d had barely any real rest. I propped my eyes open, pinching myself to help me concentrate on the stories Brace was telling about his life on Abernath. But I was fighting a losing battle. My blinks slowed, until finally I drifted off.
I awoke some time later, to find myself snuggled under my fluffy covers, the cloud-like softness of my mattress cus.h.i.+oning me. I had a brief recollection of being carried. Brace must have brought me home. I lay in bed, recalling every second of the dinner, letting the memories wash over me.
I thought I could still smell the spicy sweetness of the flowers, and sure enough when I turned my head petals surrounded me. I lifted my arm, disturbing more colored silkiness. I was lying in a bed of flowers. And as I sat up I noticed a note on the pillow next to me. I didn"t hesitate diving across to grab the folded card and, smoothing it out, read it in the low light.
These flowers are native to Abernath. They have healing properties and should help you rest. Tonight was beyond any expectation. Sweet dreams.
As I ran my hands across the soft petals, I just knew they were from the vines that grew up the side of Brace"s house on Abernath. He was so sweet, picking the flowers from his home. The ache pierced my heart again, and I knew I could fall apart; I was alone, no witnesses. Now was the time to feel the flood of loss that engulfed me. But instead I chose to close my eyes, bury my face in the sweet scent and dream of every beautiful second I"d spent with Brace that night.
The next morning, after breakfast, I was waiting in the front room. Colton had contacted me to let me know they were on their way back and I could feel Brace. He"d just opened a doorway onto the front gra.s.sed area. I got to my feet. I was wearing all black: boots, jeans and a thick jacket. Grantham had said it was cold on Nephilius and that we"d find the surroundings interesting. But the cagey Walker wouldn"t say any more. He didn"t want to ruin the surprise.
Brace exited the doorway. He strode across the lawn with his typical strong and confident movements. He was dressed in what I liked to call his warrior garb. Black boots, army-style pants with the big pockets, and a dark gray hooded pullover s.h.i.+rt. He looked tall, s.e.xy and intimidating. I wouldn"t want to be fighting him. Nope, but there were plenty of other things I wanted to do with him. d.a.m.n, I had to stop thinking about those things; it was weakening my resolve. My strength.
"How did you sleep?" His eyes roamed over me when he reached my side.
I grinned at him. "Great. I"m sorry I fell asleep on you last night; you shouldn"t be so boring."
He returned my grin. "What can I say? I"m a hit with the ladies."
A few peals of laughter rang from my lips. "Just doing my part to keep your ego in check."
He moved closer. "You"re succeeding."
I very much doubted that.
We turned as another doorway opened. My front yard was like grand central station for the Walker world. Colton strode out, followed by a flying Lucy.
"Using your wings like a champ, hey?" I called to her.
She grinned widely at me. "Well, I wouldn"t be using my legs like a sucker."
Colton held her hand. With her new pixie appendage, they were much more equal in height.
"Did you learn anything from Malisna?" I asked, hoping Lucy could tell me about the visions without revealing everything to the men.
She knew exactly what I needed to know. "The visions were definitely planted. Malisna showed me how to block them off so that it can"t happen again. But ..." Lucy broke off, her face falling. "There was no way to know if my prophecies were placed there by friend or enemy, and therefore we have no way to determine if they"re accurate."
"Considering that some of them most definitely came true, we have to accept that there is some accuracy to them," I said with a sigh, blowing out a huge puff of air. "What else did you learn?" I shoved aside my disappointment.
She wriggled her nose at me, before comically raising and lowering her eyebrows. "I can do this." And in a flash she sucked her wings into her back. They literally disappeared, and then she dropped in a graceful movement to the ground. And then in another flash her hands waved about and she opened one of those pocket things and stepped inside.
"Pixies can use pockets between two dimensions of First World to cloak themselves."
Colton had that little grin on his face which told me he thought Lucy was cute as h.e.l.l.
Brace chuckled. "Very useful, but did the pixies tell you that Walkers could do this."
He reached into the spot Lucy had just been and with some sort of similar hand movement and a blast of energy he yanked her out. She was swearing and glaring as she became visible again. Colton gave Brace a shove before removing Lucy from his grasp.
"How did you do that? I didn"t know we could manipulate the dimensions." Colton looked surprised and p.i.s.sed off, his brows drawing together as he too glared at Brace.
Brace shrugged. "Walkers and pixies have been friends for a long time. There was this pixie I knew once who taught me some of their secrets. I"m guessing the queen wouldn"t be too happy to hear about it, so I"ll keep the name to myself."
I noticed then that Lucy was in fresh clothes. She had on dark-blue jeans, and a white ribbed long-sleeved s.h.i.+rt. The back had two little tears for her wings. And with her new s.h.i.+mmery green skin and hair she looked so lovely. Ethereal and earthy all at the same time. I stepped between her and Colton, hip-shoving him out of the road so I could hug her.
"I"m so happy for you, Luce. Who would have believed both of our families were on First World?"
She gripped me tightly, not letting me move back. "Malisna and I are very sure that we were placed together for a reason. She senses a true bond between us. A blood bond."
At her words I glanced down at my hand. The mark from when Lucy had cut me as a kid so we could be blood sisters wasn"t there anymore, but the moment was permanently imprinted in my mind.
"The blood bond?" I widened my eyes, pulling back to see her face.
Lucy grinned. "Told you it was important."
"So what other abilities do pixies have? Besides the cloaking and flying thing."
I figured everyone else knew ten times more about pixies than I did.
"We have some affinity for nature, excellent sense of fas.h.i.+on, and the ability to bespell lesser beings."
"Bespell?" I asked.
"Female pixies can work their wily ways on males."
Colton snorted and I couldn"t tell if he was impressed or annoyed with that development.
"Right, lesser beings. I get it." I winked at Lucy.
"Alright, I think it"s time we moved on to our next venture." Brace interrupted us before the women versus men debate got violent.
Trickles of nerves and excitement flooded through me. Each new planet brought with it complications, but I genuinely loved meeting the new half-Walkers and discovering the worlds. Our sisterly girl-power was not something I"d give up for anything. People searched lifetimes for the type of true bond the half-Walker girls had.
Brace opened a doorway, but before we could step through a shout had us turning around.
"I know you"re not leaving without saying goodbye, Supes." Fury was striding across, Dune next to her. "Hey, Pixie, Wolfboy and Bada.s.s."
Apparently, we now all had the privilege of a Fury nickname. Following close behind them were Talina and Ladre. Ria and my parents brought up the rear. And then I was bowled over by an enthusiastic two-headed dog.
"Cere!" I protested with a wheeze; he was squis.h.i.+ng the air right out of me. Brace came to my rescue, wrestling the giant puppy away.
I could see the girls were disappointed to not be venturing with us, but we"d decided that the natives wouldn"t appreciate a ma.s.sive group of outsiders storming in. The other girls would stay and continue their training, both with each other and the princeps of their Walker clans. I felt a little better knowing I could tether to them from a distance. For some reason when we were away from each other unease plagued me.
"I need to check in with Klea again." Ria gave me a hug, her earthy warmth surrounding me. It was like being hugged by the sunlight. I was happy that her sadness from yesterday seemed to have disappeared.
"I"ll take you," Josian said. "I"ve already promised Talina and Ladre that they could visit Spurn."
"Don"t forget us." The strong, but generally silent Dune spoke up.
"Ah, yes," Josian said. "And Fury and Dune want to check on their dragoona. So we"ll have plenty to do while you"re gone."
"We"ll be back each night," Brace said. "I don"t think the Nephilius" natives sleep, so we"ll rest here, in safety."
"They don"t sleep?" I blurted.
d.a.m.n, how strong were they?
"As far as I know, they don"t sleep, and they don"t need to eat. They take their sustenance from some type of energy in their land." Brace shrugged, like this was no big deal. He didn"t look worried at all.
And I wanted to say: what the eff?
While Walkers don"t require anything to live, they will weaken and slumber without food. I attempted to picture what these Nephiliuses would look like. Robots probably.
"Stay safe and I"ll see you soon." Lallielle wrapped her arms around me. "I love you."
"Love you too, Mom." I pulled her a little closer.
I knew I still needed to have that chat with her about Josian, but he"d been back to normal again so the worries were pushed aside.
My mouth dried out and a lump formed in my throat as I took one last look at my friends and family.
Every time I left I feared that something would happen and this might be the last time I had them all with me. I had no idea what the next day would bring and it scared the h.e.l.l out of me.
Brace opened a doorway again.
We had time for one last round of hugs. We waited patiently while Josian gave his standard warning to Brace and Colton about looking after us.
I hid my grin; his lectures often left me fighting the urge to either kick my father in the s.h.i.+ns or hug him again. I didn"t bother to remind him that we weren"t helpless little girls, he knew that, his warnings simply stemmed from fatherly love and worry. And no one can really complain about that.
Finally we stepped into the doorway. The vacuum surrounded us and I could see that it looked very white and bright at the end of the tunnel. Linking hands, we moved toward Nephilius.
Chapter 8.
The chill in the air was the first thing I noticed. The breeze was cold but also soft; gently caressing everywhere I had exposed skin. We"d stepped out into a world of white, the mists of Nephilius swirling in fast-moving arcs. I had no problem breathing, although it was making me a little light-headed, as if it was less dense than the air we normally inhaled. And then as I took my first step to follow Brace I practically bounced a foot in the air.
"Whoa," I said, landing heavily and holding both hands aloft as I tried not to fall. My second step ended up the same way. "I"m guessing the gravity is lighter here." As I spoke I tumbled to the ground.
I groaned; I"d landed face down. Opening my eyes, I had a firsthand view of the land. What the h.e.l.l was it made of? Something white and fluffy. I gasped as Brace picked me up and planted me back on my feet. Colton and he seemed to have adjusted within a few steps, walking around like c.o.c.ky a.s.shats, and Lucy was flying so she hadn"t noticed. I, on the other hand, took about five minutes to get the hang of this gravity.
"This is going to make the fight interesting." Brace caught my eye, giving me a wide grin.
And then in a flash he had bounded away into the white, and before I could blink he was back again. So fast that his normal Walker speed seemed to move up to super speed.
"So how are we going to figure out where we should be?" Lucy was fluttering her wings, but she looked cold as she hugged her arms tightly across herself.
Colton wrapped his arms around her as well. He"d keep her warm. All Walkers ran hot, and being a wolf he was even hotter.
"I can"t see a d.a.m.n thing, even with my awesome new pixie vision."
She was right. I also couldn"t see any further than a few feet in front of us. "Why is it so misty here?"
There was nothing eerier than standing in these white swirling mists, so quiet and cold. Almost as if we were dead and no longer existed in the First World star system. It was freaking me out a little. My brain tried to process the images it was receiving.
"It"s not mists; it"s cloud," Brace said.
"What?" Lucy and I both screeched.
"Are you trying to tell me that we"re standing in the freaking clouds?" I spluttered. No wonder the ground looked white and fluffy.